I was in the process of polishing my brass Weber carb bits (I know, I know) when the buffing wheel caught the last piece I was polising and sent it somewhere into orbit. Man, not even a sound to track it by...

The carbs are Weber 40 IDA3C 's and the part I lost is number 55 on a Weber diagram - it is the progression port slotted screw and looks like this:




If anyone happens to have an extra one they would be willing to donate or sell it would be much appreciated.

Any leads on buying a new one would be great also.

Thanks

Redline or PMO

I did some more internet searching and found a company that claims to have this part, as well as the mixture screws I need, in stock.

Carbs Unlimited
sales@carbs.net
800-994-2272

I'll cross my fingers and hope it's true. No one else seems to carry Weber part numbers:

61015.009 and 64750.004.

I should have just bought new PMO's and saved myself a lot of headaches - in retrospect.

Thanks anyhow.

Try Pierce Manifolds They are more or less local.

I actually bought my rebuild kits and an idle air screw from them, but their website is really poorly constructed. Specifically their search engine does not provide a great sense of confidence that something is actually out of stock - or if the engine just missed the query entirely.

When I tried to search for the part numbers it told me it found no such entry.

I suppose I could have waited until Monday to call them, but that is why I like shopping over the internet; it is on my time and vendors with good websites should be rewarded.

PMO once upon a time 'Porsche Mail Order', until PCNA's legal team went after them.

They keep the website simple because they want to discourage individual parts purchases without contacting them first.

They're a small company. They don't have a website real-time linked to a big inventory system like the big players do. They do not want to have to deal with a constant stream of returns from people who bought the wrong part, and with items as subtly different as Webers, there are thousands of variations. Coupled with the fact that for a long time, the supply situation for parts varied daily as manufacturers moved production around the world - Italy, Spain, China, others I'm sure.

The good news is that their support model really does work. Fax them what you need with contact information and you'll probably get a call back from Richard Parr himself.

They are not alone in having this model. Go try to buy a camshaft from Jake's site - you can't. Their personal-service model makes sure you get the right parts for what you're actually doing.

(I've also dealt with companies with glitzy websites and "in-stock" status only to discover the website was just a front to a big distributor network, they didn't actually stock anything, and the part I wanted wasn't actually available anyway.)

[Edited to correct some misinformation I mistakenly posted after misremembering. Fixed.]

Well, I thought my problems were solved when Carbs Unlimited website said they had the parts in stock. They gladly accepted my money - now one week late they tell me the part is no longer available!!

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

I can't believe this plug is so hard to find. Does anyone happen to have a 40 IDA 3C for parts who would be willing to sell me one?

Any other tips on where I might find one?

Thanks.

take the remaining part down to your local industrial fastener supply and see if they can match it up.

Really, I have never seen brass plugs like those before - anywhere. Perhaps Grainger?

Man that sounds so barbaric - especially if the other 5 are brass and I need to get a steel one from somewhere else. That would definitely throw me off...

http://www.mcmaster.com/#brass-hole-plugs/=cybr8r

Hmmm, not so barbaric after all.....

I'd still like an original one though.

yah.... one that "looks" different will probably make the car run like crap, so you should just leave it on the jack stands till you find a c/w perfect replacement

Redline
Otto's
PMO
Pierce Manifolds
Rennsport Systems - Steve Weiner
EASY
PartsHeaven
dC Automotive
SilverStar Recycling
Pegasus Racing
CarQuip (the Colorado one - not the overpriced corner FLAPS)

Thanks for the new leads Rich. I'll check them out.

since you're in socal you must have a bunch of bug shops around..... just sayin'

Do you think the part may be interchangeable with some other Weber carb? I didn't have any luck pursuing that lead using the part #.

just take one of the plugs into a bug shop [the garage side not the service side] and ask one of the wrenches if they have a spare plug in thier junk bin [all shops have a junk pile of worn out stuff to scavenge parts from that they might need.] and those carbs are not rare or hard to find.

triple-choke Webers may be hard to find in a bug shop...
this is why my resource list was weighted heavily in favor of Porsche vintage-race guys.

That part may be interchangeable with 46's - but I bet there's 100 Porsches with 40-[IDA/IDTP1]-3C for every 1 with 46's ...

I just got off the phone with Paul at Performance Oriented who was a HUGE help.

http://www.performanceoriented.com/

At first he turned me onto a source for Weber parts that no one would be able to find through any ordinary internet search. The company is called Your Oil - go figure? Anyhow, they have a GREAT selection of 40 IDA parts, including the part I was looking for. Plus, their search engine is very simple to use.

Check them out at:

http://www.youroil.net


But it gets better. After we spoke for a while Paul agreed to reassemble my now entirely disassembled carbs, then bench set them up including float levels, etc. Good price too.

So off they go for a professional's touch. I love it when a plan comes together.

Thanks again for all the help.

Of course - my good friend Larry Turner.
Kinda forgot about him because - he just buys his parts from PMO !
But he is a great resource for oil analysis kits.
Reminds me - I've got a couple of sample bottles I need to return to him...