Weber Carbs, Converting a '73 914-4 2L FI to Carbs Options

[velum]

Hi!

I took the decision to convert my '73 914-4 2L FI to Carburetors. My MPS is broken, new ones are not available anymore and from what I read, rebuilds are not as good as original ones. Moreover, rebuilds are not cheap either, and other parts of my 914 fuel injection system are bound to fail in the near future. Many of these parts are no longer available or are very expensive. Hence my decision.

Now, my question: Which carbs? I think I will go with Weber carburetors. I know that some people prefer Dellorto, but they are hard to find and you cannot buy them new. Plus, they are a bit expensive. I am not racing with my car. I am mainly using it to go to the country side during the weekends. So, I am not looking for performance parts. I am just looking for something with which my car will run fine, and economically.

I was hesitating between these two models:

http://www.webercarbsdirect.com/ProductDet...97&CartID=2
http://www.webercarbsdirect.com/product_p/wk412.htm

But Webcarbsdirect does not ship to Canada, and am in Montréal. However, I found similar parts at Carbs Unlimited:

http://www.carburetion.com/weber/Dataresul...912%20,%20914-4
http://www.carburetion.com/weber/Dataresul...912%20,%20914-4

The K297 would be easier to maintain. However, someone told me that a 2L 914 won't run very well with them. That the gas will mix with the oil. I did not understand the whole explaination. I am not sure if this is true. The K1412 would give better performance, but they are a bit more trouble to adjust and have no choke.

Is any one using these carbs on a 2L 914?

Cheers!

JF

[Jake Raby]

No good experiences have been had by many of my customers with Weber Carbs Direct.. I get questions (that I won't answer) all the time from people stating they have these new (cheap) carb sets that do not function correctly.

They can't get support where they bought them, so they **try** to get that support from us. I support what I sell extensively, but I refuse to support others products. (that were generally bought based on price only, from a comapnay that doesn't even understand the engine they are fitted to.)

The ICT has never impressed me.. I dislike them most because of their main jet locations being inside the carb float bowl, which makes a jet change really suck. They also do not give the type of tuning response that I look for, due to this they are more difficult to tune than a set of dual IDF style carbs.

There is NO MORE HORRIBLE means of induction for the Type 4 engine than that of a single 2 barrel progressive carb!! They always run rich due to the lack of carb heat coupled to their long runners that build fuel droplets as the fuel falls from suspension before it inters the intake port in the head... They are cold blooded as hell, un-tunable, un-responsive and overall they just plain suck! They are THE hardest carburetor to tune and unfortunately many of the buyers of them **think** that because its a single it will be easier to tune! WRONG!!

Buy a set of old school Italian or Spanish Weber IDFs and send them to Art at ACE... Or just buy a set of properly set up HPMX Empi carbs that have the upgraded linkage, have been pre-ran, inspected and are set up just for your engine.

That doesn't mean looking for the cheapest price.

"THE BITTERNESS OF POOR QUALITY REMAINS LONG AFTER THE SWEETNESS OF LOW PRICE IS FORGOTTEN"

[velum]

Some of you are suggesting I should simply keep my D-JET FI. Well, it is something I might reconsider, since choosing proper carbs may not be as easy and as cheap as I thought it would be. However, I am worried about all the FI parts that are bound to fail soon or later, especilly the ones that are no longer available or very expensive:

• Auxiliary Air Regulator
• Intake Air Temperature Sensor
• Thermo Switch
• Deceleration Valve
• Throttle Switch
• ECU

And this is not to mention my MPS, which seems to have a cracked diaphragm. It goes from 20 in. Hg to 5 in. Hg in 25 seconds on a vacuum test. Where is the best place to find a used MPS (Part #0 280 100 037)? And how much will it cost? Is it really worth buying a used one, since it will eventually break too? And this is probably sooner than later.

Jake, people seem to value your experience and opinions. What do you think of all this? Should I consider fixing my D-JET FI? Otherwise, how much will I have to pay ballpark for good carbs with which I would have similar performance to what I am used to with the D-JET system?

By the way, there is a lot of very good information about the D-JET FI system here:

http://members.rennlist.com/pbanders/DJetP...tm#troubleshoot
http://members.rennlist.com/pbanders/manif...sure_sensor.htm

Cheers!

JF

[Rand]

Some of you are suggesting I should simply keep my D-JET FI. Well, it is something I might reconsider, since choosing proper carbs may not be as easy and as cheap as I thought it would be. However, I am worried about all the FI parts that are bound to fail soon or later, especilly the ones that are no longer available or very expensive:

• Auxiliary Air Regulator
• Intake Air Temperature Sensor
• Thermo Switch
• Deceleration Valve
• Throttle Switch
• ECU

And this is not to mention my MPS, which seems to have a cracked diaphragm. It goes from 20 in. Hg to 5 in. Hg in 25 seconds on a vacuum test. Where is the best place to find a used MPS (Part #0 280 100 037)? And how much will it cost? Is it really worth buying a used one, since it will eventually break too? And this is probably sooner than later.

Let go of your paranoia. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
Those FI parts you are worried about failing really don't fail at such a high rate.
You can run fine without the aar and decel valve. The other items are just not high-failure parts. And by chance you need to replace one, it's no big. They are available used and cheap.

If you want to build a performance motor with a different cam, then by all means go to appropriate carbs. But until then keep it simple, put your fears to rest, relax about the FI parts problem that is really no issue, and enjoy the benefits of FI.