Times must be hard or George has seen the light and converted. AutoAtlanta sending out sales flyers with a carb conversion kit. I ordered one with the assurance that AA would stand behind the quality even if they are "China junk". I told them that I would come towing my 914 up to their door if they didn't perform.

AA has been selling carbs forever. This is not new information.

Zach

I'm tempted too. Still looking for an alternative to my current Weber Progressive. This seems like a good deal for tuned, new carbs with linkage.

Anybody want to talk me out of it?

we have a deal with empi so sell their complete line. They are a good company and stand behind their products. I HATE carbs (I have to suffer with my sixes but do not on my 916!!!) but for a cheap high performance 914 engine they are a good cheap bolt on!!!

The main advice I would give to anyone thinking about or running carbs is to buy the book on tuning and rebuilding them, and read it until you understand it completely.

If you read the book once and it doesn't make sense, read it again!

I see a lot of people switch to carbs, have them 'tuned' by a shop that doesn't know what the hell they are doing, and then just drive their car around running like crap or on 3 cylinders until it becomes unbearable, when just spending 5 minutes cleaning a clogged jet or changing them would make all the difference in the world.

is the AA carb jetted for good gasoline or the CARB mandated crap oxygenated gas sold in california? diffent gas blend currently being sold may require a different jetting. one size does nto fit all thanks to the regualtions screwing up the gasoline supply

run a carb jetted for real gasoline with the new fangled oxygenated crap and you risk running to lean and doing damage.

how does AA handle jetting for the varius gasolines mandated nation wide? do you sell the carbs with different jetting options for the different gasolines sold regionally?

What AA can do is get you into the ball park.
There will still be fine tuning that probably has to be done by the car's owner for optimum performance from the carbs. The engine dictates what it needs, not the supplier. The supplier just gets you near the starting line.

Zach

Carbs vs FI..
What I have always done is, if it has the stock FI in place when I get it, then that is what stays in place and I get it running right. Had 3 of those.
If it had carbs on it when I got it, then I leave it that way and get them tuned correctly. Had 2 of those.

Only thing I have yet to encounter is a single carb set up. I doubt I would leave that in place.

Overall, I prefer the L Jet FI for a four, carbs for a six.

Why?

I've been using the EMPI carbs on my engines for 3 years now.. I also used to sell a kit with them, until I got sick of supporting ignition issues that were being blamed on the carbs.

The EMPI carbs aren't without their issues.. every set that we apply need alterations to the accelerator pump circuit and the float heights need to be properly set along with a small grocery list of variable gripes that change from batch to batch.

When we sold them in kit form we ran EVERY set on the Dyno on a test engine and we still had a few complaints, all of which were related to another sub-system or engine misconfiguration. I don't have time to spend holding hands so I eliminated them from the catalog.

Off idle and low speed transition hesitations are the primary gripes from these units, but they can be tuned away.

Even though they are Chinese they still perform better than the USA made Webers, my last experience with 20 pair of those resulted in a 70% failure rate right out of the box.

BTW- Differences in fuel characteristics impact carbs and EFI as well. I sell engines globally and have done enough to create a flow chart for the various optimum jetting changes that should be made from sea level to high elevation, this includes states with oxygenated fuels and higher levels of ethanol... Even the summer/ winter fuel blend changes make a big impact.

Even with vast experience and effort with trend data gathered the jetting of any engine applied in a different area with unknown fuel is nothing more than a scientific wild ass guess.

I am beginning a study on differences of ethanol rich fuels on the ACVW engine soon, we are getting the old Bluebonic Plague back into action with an expanded data logging system to bust some myths.

I like carbs because I favor simplicity and because I can take one apart on the side of the road and repair it with a pocket knife, in the dark without a flash light...

I can understand the good Dr. wanting to sell kits at a reasonable price , heck he probably wouldn't charge too much to install said kit , but if the owner does this himself , be advised that as others have said , get the carb tuning guides available , all of them would be best , read , read again , install with the knowlege of knowing or not knowing exactly what cam , lifters , head setup you have and go from there . I personaly own the weber guides , Thomposon's guide , and others , I have read and read and read , and I am not yet at the stage of rebuilding the 40 IDF's that came off of my engine , I haven't a clue as to the cam / head setup I have and all of this is going to be a challenge. Carbs can be a good alternative to fuel injection , just as fuel injection a lot of variables exist and compensated for ( with in reason , or $$$$ ) just can't expect to get a bolt on carb kit , install and fire it up and take off into the wild blue yonder . There are a lot of folks that do run carbs , a lot run the FI , always differing ideas . Do a search , it can be informative and there is some good info on the subject , here and other places , and if you do carbs , you might as well have a serious look at your ignition setup also , each one can drive you up the wall trying to figure out which one is giving the troubles that may occur. That all being said , GOOD LUCK , Sir ...

Jack / Jaxdream

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand that to truely benifit from the carb change over (as far a performance goes), you really need a cam set up to yield the best results.

I have had carbs so this is not just an opinion, but experience.

I would NEVER run another set of of those overgrown perfume atomizers on another car in my life. I can tune them, and they will run well, but running some kind of EFI on a car is much more reliable and WAY more efficient. Modern EFI with learning capability and O2 sensor feedback will make both your mileage and Horsepower go up. Plus, you get turn key running in any weather, no spitting ,popping, coughing and other crap from the carbs when cold.

That being said, I run Mechanical Fuel Injection on my car because I like the way it sounds at full throttle. Granted, it is probably just as primitive and cranky as a set of webers, but it out performs the webers, and it sounds WONDERFUL!


Just my $0.02

Programmable EFI isn't without compromises as well. I use both and drive both and I know the pros and cons of each.

The biggest pro to programmable EFI is super resolution, its also the biggest con. Build and drive a few hundred of each and you'll understand that..

A newer, more modern cam will run better, but if you tune the carbs properly there is nothing wrong with running the stock cam.

My 2.0 has the stock cam, ported heads, 2.0 valves, and 40mm dellorto carbs, long conrods and I can drive past any 2.0 or 2056 with the stock injection like they are standing still.

Cliff has the same engine, but with a webcam 86a and his motor doesn't run out of torque around 6k rpm like mine does, but I have a bit more power off idle. He can take off in 1st gear without touching the gas pedal, I can take off in 2nd.

L-Jet over D-Jet for a stock four? I would agree.

I like the L-Jet reliability, and that it is slightly more modern, using MAF, than the D Jet.

For a six, I want power and am willing to sacrafice reliability. Big, carbs, big cam, big power. Plus, it looks really cool when you open th ehood and see six throats staring up at you, waiting to pour air and fuel into that big 6.

Haven't come across a sales e mail from AA with carb conversion highlighted recently. Maybe you have.

Yea, group FI install. Jason A could also install FI on his 1.8 so that's 2...

I like carbs because I favor simplicity and because I can take one apart on the side of the road and repair it with a pocket knife, in the dark without a flash light...

I like the afc l jetronic the best for a 914-4 and mechanical injection best for a six of up to 2.7 size. It would be great for someone to install 912e afc on a 2.0 liter and see how well it performs on the dyno as compared to the old mpc.

Slight hijack but,
If you have to fix a carb on a dark night on the side of the road with no flashlight and a pocket knife, you left home unprepared! LOL!
I'll keep mine stock FI., and keep my tool kit in the trunk.
Tom

Apparently, AA's promotion has been pretty successful.

I placed my order on Wednesday; Thursday I got an email that it's on backorder.

Your toolkit has parts for fixing a 40 year old ECU?

I have never had any Djet FI failures on the road in 15 years...I have had carb issues-clogged jets, leaking float bowls, broken linkage etc that I had to try to fix on the side of the road with a pocketknife.
I haven't had any Ljet FI problems yet either on the Westy.