Whilst i don’t disagree with any of the advice in above posts I am in a similar situation with a single center mounted carb and I decided not to change against advice from many- as whilst it does have a little hesitation at very low speed it has functioned fine and for example last year I drove over 18k in a 6 month road trip all over Europe inc alps and Pyrenees without any issue apart from a little reduction in power at the highest points . My previous bus had (original) twin carb set up and I had quite a few issues with balance etc so thought I would keep as is and save some money. I have not noticed any real difference in fuel consumption as let’s be honest that’s terrible in all situations I am not saying don’t do it - in fact if you make the change I would be very interested to follow this thread and maybe do the same one day of it goes well with your chosen solution and I can afford it!
Stock solex’s if you can find a decent set with the air filter and associated parts. The last set I bought of here for £100 just needed a clean, one new idle cut of solenoid, and they where good to go. No faffing about with jetting, pressure regulators or cut off valves.
1 - A decent set of original Solex carbs. 2- A set of Dellorto 36 or 40’s 3- A set of Weber ICT’s or IDF 36 or 40’s Option 2 or 3 will need jetting correctly for your engine. Dells swing it over Webers as they don’t seem to suffer with dodgy needle valve wear & flooding. However a set of viton tipped needle valves would help with the Webers. Dells are quality but very pricey.
Unfortunately they do, I have first hand experience, the needle valves wears and the floats stick, the viton tipped needles apparently don't suffer from this problem. I personally didn't suffer fuel in my oil, thank goodness.
There's a reconditioned Solex set just appeared in the For Sale section Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
l Well that’s Eurocarb for you . I’ve bought a couple sets over the years and my 36DRLAs were sub £200 and my 40’s £250 inc manifolds etc . I don’t know what them Alfa guy on eBay is charging a set ?
They've gone up to 2-3-4x that now. Alfa last sold a batch in January for £623+ £36 post for just the carbs. By the time they're fitted and jetted you'd be near £1,000. Still cheaper than a Wayout Westie ICT kit, I know which I'd go for.
Although I've got webers on my van, this looks to be a pretty complete setup and I do like the idea of going for standard fitment of things. Very tempted...
That may not have been your carb, but your timing. There's a rule of thumb that suggests one degree of advance for every 1000ft above 4000ft above sea level. I can't offer any direct experience on this though. I was prepared to make changes on Chip because over the space of 2 days we went from 9945ft crossing Tioga Pass in Yosemite to -282ft below at Badwater Basin in Death Valley. He didn't miss a beat but maybe that was due to FI. Dunno. Just a thought for you to take on your travels
The air is thinner so the mixture is richer. Richer mixtures like more advance so advancing the timing helps to burn the richer mixture and is easy compared to farting about with jets on top of a mountain. If you went high enough you'd be forced to change jets at some point?
Thanks - billy bean made it through thick and thin so was just relieved he kept moving to be honest but will think on about this next time I decide to go up crazy hills - down was worse with pads and discs getting very hot
I had a 1500s Notchback when I was posted to Nairobi that went pretty well. Kept up with the Peugeot 504's considering the altitude. Took it down to Mombasa and it was a different animal. Really good fun on the murram roads, went like a bush rat. Carbs are specked by vw for specific engines as they did their research and development. I have a type-4 1800 127 "industrial engine' in my westy that is fitted with twin single throat solex 40's and it is more economical than the previous 36 dells in my 1700 ca engine. I would try and keep to the standard set up as far as possible unless of course you want to race it down the Smiddy.
Marty smarty cat, sorry typo. thanks all for your help. Today managed to change the ignition barell too after lots of attempts but I did it!
you gotta run an AFR gauge to set them up and run the correct size vents and jets My Dells are more economical that og twin carbs
