Aren't These Zenith Carbs?

[Emery DeWitt]

This car is a re-list on ebay - either it didn't reach the reserve, or the guy had a deadbeat buyer.

cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1805194222

It is described as having "4 downdraft Weber carbs, replacing the the original Bosch Fuel injection". Besides the fact that there aren't 4 carbs (!), the picture looks like the one in the Anderson book for Zeniths. Am I right?

I mailed the seller last time it posted, and he said he'd be back to me, but never did.

I'm trying to learn all I can about this, in preparation for finding my own early 911. From my reading, seems like the Webers are much preferable to the Zeniths. Why?

What do you think of his "Buy It Now" price?

Thx,
E.

[jluetjen]

Hello Emery;
You might want to check out this thread that reviewed the car the last time that it came up on Ebay.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=56487

Regarding the question about Zeniths vs. Webers. On a "T" with stock tune, I doubt that there is much between them. The neat thing about the Webers is that they are really tunable. There are a wide veriaty of jets/tubes/venturi available for them so they can be set up for a very wide range of engines, from bone stock "T" to an all out race engine. I don't have any experience with Zeniths (my car as the MFI), so I can't tell you how they will work on an engine with an "E" state of tune.

IMHO; The buy-it now price is most likely not too far out of line for a car with some issues, but which are fixable. Especially if the car is intended as a daily driver.

-- ASSUMING.... --

1) That you enjoy and are capable of doing the work yourself
2) The car has very little rust, >>> and none in critical areas <<<
3) The engine runs soundly.

Keep in mind that for another $4K you could get a really nice early 911. As a data point I bought my '69E for about that "Buy it now price" and it seems to be in similar condition. It's got issues, but I enjoy fixing them and playing with the car. So for me it wasn't an issue. Besides, for that price I don't feel like I'm defiling a holy icon if I make a modification. But keep in mind that it passed my 3 assumptions.

You also might want to check out the E-Registry at: http://www.911eregistry.org/

Good Luck!

[steveW]

I know the answer!

I have seen 4 downdraught Weber carbs on a 911. Two are mounted on each bank with the foremost choke of the front carb blanked off. The carbs use a tall inlet stack so the unused choke of the carbs clears the sheetmetal above the bellhousing.

This supposedly makes it all very peaky, but it seems to be a cheaper alternative.

Cheers

[dad911]

I had zeniths on my 71T when I bought it. They were very hard to tune, always seemed to have a dead spot w/hesitation. As it developed into a track car, we tuned them to run best wide open.

I now have webers on the car. Much better, more power throughout whole range, without hesitation. One of the best mods I made.

[Emery DeWitt]

Wow, that earlier thread had tons of good info - thanks. Enough to scare me away from that car, I think.

I hope to find a project that matches my abilities, just to play with. I am NOT a body man, and have no desire to learn. I'm probably at the level of "two to three mechanics, out of four" on the difficulty scale in the "101 Projects" book.

Years ago, I rebuilt a Datsun 260Z, including a complete motor overhaul. I put on triple two-choke Mikuni carbs - looked great, but didn't make it run much faster!

Seems to me that rebuilding a Porsche motor is a whole 'nother thing, though. Would it help to practice on a VW engine first??

E.