Weber IDF vs Dellorto DRLA, Opinions?

some argue they are better than IDF's...more user friendly...

they are going to be used on a pretty mild

you won't buy carbs "already tuned". they may run out of the box, but they wont' be tuned properly to your engine. I prefer the dells to the idf's, but others don't....

The common arguments are that Webers are very picky about correct settings, and are harder to jet & tune. And some say that they need to be tweaked constantly, while Dellorto's keep their tune longer. I think it's because the Dell's are more forgiving and work well with 90% correct tuning, where the Webers require 100% and no deviation. This doesn't mean you should settle for 90% correct tuning as your goal, with Dells.

I like Dellortos, they are fairly easy to work on and parts are easy to find (At least where I live) and they interchange. I have very little expereince with Webers, mostly because I started out with Dellortos almost 2 decades ago and I have been satisfied. I understand them. As much as a backyard mechanic can ever understand a carburator :)

I agree 100%. No matter how detailed specs you give, you can't, and you should not run them as is, right out of the box. There are VERY FEW parts that can reliably do that.

Each engine is slightly different, and your location affects it too (altitude). You can get a good, educated guess for jets, venturies and settings from someone, but it will only be a baseline that will get the engine running well enough for you or someone to finish the fine tuning properly.

Almost everything today requires some touching up and fine tuning and finishing. The differences are minimal sometimes, but at the end, if you just slap parts together, blindly trusting the manufacturer, you will have a ton of minimal little imperfections and a dog of an engine that won't take you to the grocery store and back without having a fit of some kind.

Be aware of what you buy and have, and what you need to do to make the most of it.

Jan

More user friendly. Sounds great to me.

If a set of carbs come already synchronized, Do I need to adjust the air bypass screw to tune it to my engine? or can I set them using the other screws?

Karls

MEchanically synchronized means that when they are installed on the engine, and you are fitting the linkage, you make sure that they open simultaneously and precisely as much. That's synchronizing. The other part of the story is fine tuning with the screws, that can also be seen as synchronizing because also that setting you try to harmonize between the carbs and throats.

But you can't get them synchronized from the box. Mechanically synchronizing is obvious because you need to do that when the parta are installed on the engine, but also the screws have to be adjusted when the engine is running. I don't think you can get them "ready to run" in any way, everything needs to be adjusted properly for YOUR engine during installation.

You can maybe make it run without touching anything, but not run RIGHT. That's even more unlikely than winning the lotto jackpot.

Jan

Perfect. If they are more user friendly than IDF's then I can do it. Does the cheap synchrometer i have, the one with the vertical tube, fit them? is the process similar to an idf? There is no place around here that can tune it properly for me, so I'll have to do it myself

Hi Karls

When are you going to install the carbs? I would like to have some opinions on this setup.

Joao

72 Super 1302

I'll have to build the engine first. But since this is my first engine, I'll be documenting everything and posting questions for every bolt and nut I have to touch. So, You'll surely will find out the moment I install them.

BTW, does any of you know a good place to host a website about this particular project?

And another question: Is it possible/easy to convert a 36DRLA to a

40DRLA? if this is possible, maybe I'll get the carbs now and use it on my stock engine while I build the new one. What are the differences besides venturis and jets sizes?

Karls

Good luck to your project.

..or a website with information how to tune dual Dellorto with and without a dynamometer. Jan should have one, but I can?t find it ;-

Joao

72 Super 1302

Found something. Looks like great deals and hard to find products aren't the only things you can find on ebay. This user sells carbs, and has a pretty interesting description on basic carburetor tuning and jetting.

Karls