Weber Conversions

[bemumford]

I bought a 67 912 Targa about a year and a half (and 5000 miles) ago, but I only recently discovered this bulletin board. Don't know what took me so long. Looking through old posts, I see that my Solex problems are not uncommon. I'm now looking at converting to Webers. Who sells the best (and most economical) conversion kit with adapters for the Solex intake manifolds?

Ed Mumford

[C. Clark]

You will get several answers on this, I bought my Weber 40's from http://www.cbperformance.com
I found at the time they had the best price, service was good and I've run them on my 69 over a year with no problems. I would suggest buying the Weber manual that CB sells, read it before doing the change over. It may save you some trial and error stuff if your new to Webers.
"Weber tech manual" by Bob Tomlinson.
Chas. 69/912

[ron69912t]

Bought my 40 IDF Webers fron CB too. They came with new intake manifolds that the "Maeistro" say are too short and make it harder to get at the plugs so I bought a set of flange adapters from PMO for $65.00 which fit great and gave me a little more room under the carbs.

Take off the choke levers the new carbs and cover the holes with the plates from the kit. The right carb will not sit flat on the manifold if the choke lever is on the carb, it will hit the fan shroud.

A little fiddling with the linkage to fit the Webers and new gas lines.

CB will knock off $20.00 if you don't take the intake maifolds. I paid $617 for the kit with the manifolds.

Good Luck,
Ron

PS Night & day difference with the Webers..they are a dream!!!

[bemumford]

Chas. and Ron --

Thanks for your advice. I appreciate your additional comments as well. My Christmas list is now complete! Ron, I found your installation photos elsewhere on the board, and they were helpful too.

Ed

[adot]

Hey ED

I found this one site that has the kit for $459. Im sure you would have to buy bigger jets as they are set for a VW. I have never used these people, but it might be worth the call.

site : www.actionimport.com

http://www.actionimport.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=EMPI-43-7317-0

GoodLuck
Brett

[bemumford]

Brett,

Thanks for your note. That's a great price, but I'll probably pay the additional $$ and stick with something that has worked for others since I'm pretty new to 912's. If it were a car I had more experience with (mostly British), I'd 'give it a go."

Ed

[Green 912]

There are some easy “recipes” for tuning a set of Webber 40s for use on a 912. Get the best price and then you can just change the jets if needed. Takes 5 min to rejet a Webber and that’s the first time you do it. Jets are about $2 to $3 each and there are 3 for each cyl. Main, Idle and Air correction, There is also the Emulsion tube but this is only sometimes changed if there have been big changes to the motor.

PMO is a good company to get info and stuff from. You call and leave a message or send a fax and they will call you back. They have the adaptors and the GOOD thick gaskets. Don’t forget air filters! The old ones from the Solexes don’t work on Webbers.

[ron69912t]

Ed:

FYI

My Weber kit from CB came with air cleaners too.

Ron D

[Franco912]

Hello,

I just looked at CBs site and only found a 44mm Weber kit for $607. Is that what everyone istalking about?? There appears to be a kit for a 356/912.

Frank

[bemumford]

The kit I'm looking at has CB''s part no. 6411, and it includes a pair of 40 IDF's. Price is listed at $599.

Ed

[Franco912]

HI again,

Is there a reason to get 40 IDFs vs 44IDFs? I'm totally ignorant of carburated systems as I've spent most of my time with fuel injected engines.

Regards,

Frank

[C. Clark]

Frank,
This is just my opinion but, I believe that 44s are to much for a stock or even a semi-stock 912. There was a guy who used to post here who ran a 912 with 44s, whatever else he had done to the car I'm not sure, but, it seemed like he was always messing with the car, not driving very much, several others mentioned the 44s might be contributing to his problems also; he ended up parting the car out or selling it out right, I'm not sure.
Duane Spencer who has written several books on the 356, A, B and C, and has one coming soon on the 912 has never mentioned using 44s to my knowledge, the 356 C is nearly the same as the 912. Tried and true, 40s for sure work.
Chas.
69/912

[Green 912]

Mr. Clark is spot on. 40s are the way to go. When you look at the induction volume, and the air velocities required, the 44s are too large for all but the most race-prepped, cammed for top end motors of 1750CC or less and those don't idle well under 4000rpm. For a 912 44s can be made to work sort of but it is a matter of compromise in many areas and will not work as well as 40s. Not an opinion, just good old physics.

[Franco912]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the primer. PCs kit at about $600 seems to be fair then?? What else would one need to get to have everything necessary to do the job. Is there a special linkage needed to make it work wih the stock system? My carbs smell and the car starts v e r y s l o w then builds a higher idle after awhile. I need to play with the throttle a bit to get it to idle before it will warm up.

Regards,

Frank

[C. Clark]

Kurt,
Is that your 912 in Duane Spencer's, "356 Performance Guide" it's the dyno picture... just wondering.
Chas.
Mr. Clark was my Father....

Frank,
Yes linkage is important, you want the carbs to move simultaneously, this helps greatly when synchronizing, I bought my linkage from CB but everybody sells it, the linkage just needs to be tight and the carbs must move together.
Tuning is a personal thing, for me it's a knowing your engine thing...
C.

To our colleague from Falls Church, glad they got those MONSTERS!!!
Chas. 69/912

[Green 912]

Chas
Say hi to your dad.

Yep that is my green 912, I am told that it will be in the upcomming 912 book as well. I met Tim Berardelli through the guy I got the car from and when I wanted to rebuild and improve I went to him for ideas. We hit it off while building that first motor and have been working together on them ever since. He has a loyal group of 356 owners in the Washington DC area and just recently opened a full time shop. He is the motor guru and I do the electrics troubleshooting and upgrades. As the dyno runs show, it is a strong running motor and a good recipe for a street motor with some extra pull. I had to rebuild it after a K&N air cleaner speed nut came loose at V.I.R. and got sucked into #1 cyl obliterating the head, piston, valves and jug. 2 seasons of track time and a bunch of street time and every thing still looked good. (Other than #1 cyl looking like someone took a hammer to it)
I am building type 4s for 914s and am trying to talk Tim into them as well, but with little luck as he has enought with the good folks of the Men In Plaid gang

Franco, When you start working on your carbs a good synchronizer will pay for itself quickly. Get the gray plastic one with the flapper not the metal bobbing red ball type. Pelican sells them. You also want to check that the butterflies not only open at the same time but move at the same rate. I measure using drill bits. I use the butt end and check that both sides are same throughout the range of motion.


We are all glad that they caught those 2 sick B*st*rds that were killing people around here.

Kurt

[C. Clark]

Kurt,
Sounds like you have made a name for yourself in the DC area.
I have friend who's son lives near DC, he races cars but I don't know the type, Brad Burns is the guys name, I was wondering if you might know or heard of him.
Today I'm going with a friend to look at a 70 or 71, 911 Targa that's been setting for a while, I know nothing about the 911 engine, I'll be doing some homework if I get interested, but I knew nothing about the 912 eighteen months ago when the adventure started, so it may turn into another learning experience, probably expensive....but it's fun !
I drove a hot rod 914 recently and was amazed at the the cornering, steering, the overall handling. It's the mid engine placement I suspect. A client has a 2000 Boxster and it feels similar, but heavier.
I have pre-ordered the 912 book from Gordon Maltby at RPM, do you have any idea when they will be shipping? If it's anything like the 356 book it should be a great resource, he's really writes well.
Thanks for the info and good luck with your car, BTW I put a spot of lock tight on my air cleaner fittings after reading either your story or a similar one.
Best of luck,
Chas. 69/912
PS Dad says hello...