Drilling Webers, A few questions, but possibly a how-to Options

[ThePaintedMan]

Hello all,
So while I wait to finish all the metal work on this car, I thought I would begin to get the carbs and distributor straight so that I can start the thing up and go when its ready. I've got a set of Italian Weber 40 IDFs that I'll probably just go ahead and rebuild while I'm at it. Also, a Bosch 034 SVDA dizzy with vacuum advance. So, the dilemma I have is that these carbs don't have a vacuum advance port already drilled. I know this has been covered ad nauseam in other threads, but I hope that this will be the final one and potentially a "how-to" for others.

By following the Weber diagram that was posted awhile back on the Samba, we can see where the later models included a boss for the vacuum advance port, directly above the brake/manifold vacuum tube. That diagram is below, but unfortunately I do not have any photos of a later Weber 40 with the actual boss from the factory.


If you look at the Webers I have, there is no existing boss to be drilled. The best you can do is look at the diagram and try to use it to mark a hole to drill. The problem is, all references that I have read say that the hole should be drilled just above the throttle plate (butterflies) so that your source of vacuum is throttle-controlled, not the brake/manifold signal, which is on ALL of the time. I have confirmed this with three different carburetor shops in the area, but all of whom did not want to drill the port for me. I was told I could do this myself.

So, I am going to give it a shot. I'm looking for final confirmation from anyone here before I do, however. In the image I posted above, the hole I marked to be drilled is just above the throttle plate, but it differs from the later factory location. Did Weber put their vacuum advance boss in the right place, or am I missing something?

Thanks!
-George

[Scott S]

You have obviously done research on this (far more that I did). I am not questioning what you are doing, just passing on my experience. When I bought my car it had a poorly built “high performance” 1.7 that was punched out to over 2.0. It had stupid high compression and was running an 009 POS dizzy. I tried for 2 years to get it to run right. It finally dropped a valve seat.
I replaced it with a factory 2.0, but kept the Webber 40’s on the car. The shop that did the final set up used the stock 2.0 distributor and ran the vacume line to the existing factory port you already have (next to the mixture screw). That car ran fantastic. It started with no effort, It stayed cool, had zero hesitation and pulled great. Only really cold weather or a once in a blue moon clogged idle jet gave away that that it was not fuel injected.


(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[ThePaintedMan]

Scott,
It is entirely possible you were getting some kind of vac. advance signal even though you were using the manifold ports. However, as valy said in the next post, the signal should be coming from above the throttle plate. I'm glad to hear that some have had good experiences with carbs, even though everyone recommends the FI. I wish I could afford a megasquirt or to find all of the original FI - this car came with none of it. Thanks for the input!

You have obviously done research on this (far more that I did). I am not questioning what you are doing, just passing on my experience. When I bought my car it had a poorly built “high performance” 1.7 that was punched out to over 2.0. It had stupid high compression and was running an 009 POS dizzy. I tried for 2 years to get it to run right. It finally dropped a valve seat.
I replaced it with a factory 2.0, but kept the Webber 40’s on the car. The shop that did the final set up used the stock 2.0 distributor and ran the vacume line to the existing factory port you already have (next to the mixture screw). That car ran fantastic. It started with no effort, It stayed cool, had zero hesitation and pulled great. Only really cold weather or a once in a blue moon clogged idle jet gave away that that it was not fuel injected.


(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)