what carb set up would work best on 36 dellorto's for a stock 1.8L 914 application? specifically the venturis. I am thinking of either a 30 or 32 but need some season help on this one. thanks

Hi Eric! Welcome!

I can't answer the question about your dells, but may I ask why you're using them as opposed to the stock FI? I'm generally a carb-lover, but carbs with a FI cam isn't going to give you the optimum performance or efficiency.

-Rusty

I understand that I will not receive any additional power from switching to carbs but I am looking more for reliability and drive-ability.
From my research tThe 1.8L is the best stock setup for carbs, in regards to the distributor and cam. These react reasonably well to carbs without modification, although i know that I will not get any power increase without changing the cam. a few years down the road i have plans for the engine but right now I am in school and getting married and need a setup that will be as reliable as possible to be able to justify keeping her.
I am in college in SoCal and the 914 is over 400 miles away, waiting to join me. I have had countless problems with my fuel injection leaving me stranded on the side of the road more times than i can count. The past owner also ripped up the FI harness. bottom line I don't trust it anymore. Perhaps if i could disassemble, test, replace and reinstall then I could gain that trust back but I am choosing to sell me L-jet and go with dual carbs instead. although I have yet to take the plunge and either buy the carbs or start selling my FI. just have a hard time commiting. anyways thanks for asking

the 1,8 is the only /4 that came from the factory with carburetors (ROW only...).
donno if there was a separate cam for those cars but i doubt it.

the 914.6 was the only car i have experience that responded well to bigger venturiis on the street - which i think is more a commentary on how that engine was kneecapped originally to keep it from competing too much with the contemporary 911's...

so - given the choice - i'd probably go with a smaller, rather than larger, venturii for street/traffic use. the increased tractability will make for a much more pleasant drive. but if it's a weekend open-road cruiser where you can use more revs more often, a bit bigger might work okay.

if the engine starts to feel asthmatic at the top of the power band, and that's interfering with the driving experience, you can always go bigger ...

what size venturies would you go with? I am about to purchase and need to know which to by? thanks for the responce by the way. and this would be almost only for streat use.

you said you were deciding between 30 and 32.

IMO smaller (30) is better for economy and traffic driving, 32 would be better if it's a weekend open road car where traffic is not a factor. changing venturiis is not a huge pain anyway, even if you get it wrong.

decide your application - in-town traffic commuter car or freeway/highway - and choose accordingly.
i -think- i ran those carburetors on my 1,7 and was happy i let the sales guy pursuade me to get the small venturiis. i did LOTS of freeway driving in that car and never felt like it was gasping for air at the top of the rev range. if you're determined to rev the engine beyond what the cam can deliver you won't be happy with any kind of induction... try the 30's first.

this theme comes up a lot... it's a lot more fun driving a slow car fast than a fast car slow. driving around trying to keep a car on the cam because it's gutless off-idle is tedious and no fun at all. it hurts the fuel economy and makes you look like a racer-wanna-be jerk, zooming the enging all the time.

don't forget you'll need a carb-friendly fuel pump ...

Small venturis will give you better idle / off idle response (greater signal at low airflow), but you can (but I doubt it) run out of airflow at high rpm.

Large venturis will do the opposite, but are great at high rpm to feed the hungry beast.

The "Euro" 914s that were carbed were single barrel Solex (just like the bus)

thanks guys... just what i was looking for.