Apologies if this has been discussed before (or beaten to death and dragged around the room), but I couldn't find any good threads. I may not be searching on the right things.

I am looking for carbs for a 2056 engine that I am building. My preference is for Dellortos (I have a WTB in Classifieds), but that preference is solely based on my familiarity and comfort level with Dellortos - having had a set on my 2.0l bus engine for the better part of my adult life.

My questions are about any differences in Webers vs Dellortos from a tuneability and/or performance position. If there are major differences one way or the other, I'd lean that way.

My understanding is that the Dells are basically a copy of the Webers, and so I believe tuneability (ease of changing jet stacks, emulsion tubes, float heights, etc) is similar between the 2 brands. I am not sure if one or the other brands is believed to (or proven to) make more HP or not, but I wouldn't think there'd be a huge difference there either.

I am looking for the best possible performance I can get from this engine (not the one pictured below - the one I am building) so any/all thoughts appreciated.

Bus engine pic, I wish I had kept those carbs...

Click to view attachment

My friend that did the welding on my car and helped with most of the mechanical work says he prefers the Dellortos to Webers because he finds them easier to tune.
I didn't really get into any specifics with him since the FI on my car is functional, but it sounds to me like it's just his personal preference. I don't think you could wrong with either brand as long as they are in good shape and working well.

I'm the opposite of you. I know Webers and not dells. The major difference I've seen is that the Dells have a better idle/progression circuit.

I'll tack on a question or two.

What's the best carb setup for a 1.7L, and what's the best cam to use with it?

Having had both, I find the Dellortos to be superior over Webers. Extremely stable once they are tuned. The Webers seemed to need constant fiddling to keep them happy. Much easier to change jets on the Dells while installed. Overall more sturdy looking construction, at least in appearance. Also less dead spots throughout the throttle range and smoother acceleration from a dead stop. Of course, this is after playing with many different jet and vent combinations as you would do with any set of carburetors. With the Webers I was never able to find that magic combo as I have with the Dells.

Ansbacher

Click to view attachment

Weber,Dellorto and the third choice.
Decade 40/44 idf style.
I haven't heard mention of these here.
(edit:01/10/16)
Better than the Webers and Dellortos?A very good question,can only be resolved by back to back tests.
California duners tried to improve on the Weber design,addressing the flat spots in the fuel curves.
Some features the others don't have and a 10yr warranty.
http://store.concept1.ca/Decade-44mm-IDF-S...IT-DECADE44K-1/
http://www.mooreparts.com/decade-40mm-carburetor-only/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGF_qEN2Zuo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUWHH1GUe5c
(edit)
http://ngwclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=48833
door no 4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP3fOWaaQy4

For the six.
http://www.pmocarb.com/bulletins.htm

As jmill said, the Dell's have a better design for the idle progression into the main's. Back a few decades, when they were available, Dave Bean, the Lotus tuner/racer would mod the Weber side drafts to use Dellorto emulsion tubes, because the transition from idle jets to the main jet worked so much better than the Weber design. I think this is why people say the Dell's have less of a "flat spot". Pretty hard to find now in good condition.

Given the choice, I choose Dells over Webers.

They flow better, and they have a real progressive circuit.

Webers work great in 2 positions...idle an WOT. I chose Dells until I had a working FI.
Way prefer the FI.

Blackline racing can give a new life to your aging dells, I've been collecting carbs for awhile. I have both types but prefer the dellortos.

Agree that once dialed in, Dells are the way to go, particularly on a sreet car. Webers work pretty good on my track car, but as was said, its either WOT or off most of the time. I am going to be doing a writeup on rebuilding Dells, much like I did for the Webers. I will also cover the "Dellorto drip".

George - you should be getting a package of joy from fedex. Have fun. Mark.

Thanks everyone for the thoughts, opinions and experiences.

I will be sticking with Dellortos. Hopefully KKID will sell me his in about a month.

Reviving this thread. I have a new potential source for dual Dellortos for my 2056 build as my original source has very likely fallen through.

My question - will 36's work? I had been hoping for a set of 40's, but only because I assumed that was the correct/preferred size carb. I have it on good advice that I will want 34 venturis in the carbs for this build, so do 34 venturis fit inside 36's?

I hope that all makes sense...

I've been rebuilding carbs for a few years now, but the bulk of my knowledge comes from those with far more experience than I, like Racer Chris, Eric, Kevin, etc. I believe the consensus is that Dellorto 36s flow more like Weber 40s, and Weber 40s are in the ballpark for anything from a 1.7-2.1, depending on intended usage, cam choice, etc. You can indeed get 34 venturis for Dellorto 36 DRLAs and they would be a good choice for that displacement. If that set falls through though, I'll have a set of Dellorto 40s for sale in a couple weeks. I'm doing a rebuild "how-to" similar, but more extensive than the one I did for Webers.

I would want the 40s.

I just completed a 2056 build (look at the #770 update thread). After reading for 2-3 years during my tear down, I decided that Dellorto was the way to go. I stumbled on a real nice set of mid 1990's NIB Dellorto 36's for a great CANT PASS UP price.

I bought the 36 Dells knowing that I was giving up top end performance with possibly ideal mid range performance. After 3-4000 miles, I can say the advice I got was exactly right. The Dellortos are very smooth in performance, responsive so far.

I'm still having a bit of a lean condition at light throttle increases while at speed or coming off a decel, but this isn't a FI car, so I've mostly accepted the situation as a driving style. Eventually I will take it to a pro and get the car on a dyno, but am in wallet recovery mode.....

Overall, I'm super happy with the 36's The car pulls strong and fast straight to redline, though you can feel a bit of drop off in power at the 5000 rev rang. It still pulls strong, but 3500-5000 seems to be peak.

Because you can never have enough power, if all was equal $$ and carb condition wise, I would have gone 40's, but the 36's were a cant pass up price and were new in box, and do work well. I am running the stock venturi's (30) and can upgrade to I think 34's, but I'm leaving things as they are for now.