how often do you have to start the car per week and or drive the car miles per week to keep the carbs happy and ready to go?

any other comments appreciated : )

I put Dells on my car back in the early 1980s; it was my daily driver up until 1990 or so. Since then it's been a bit of a garage queen, though I do try to drive it whenever it's anything close to "top down" weather. The car has gone up to about 3 months without driving without any problem, though I do try to run "Stabil" in the tank. FWIW, I bet I have over 100K miles on them.

Starting procedure has been connect the battery, key to "on/run" and listen for pump/fuel returning into tank, then pump accelerator about 5 times, and "start." It will usually fire on the first attempt. After a couple three "blips" it idles on its own.

I did have a carb problem a few years back--one float not floating and accelerator pump diaphragms leaking--but the carbs had been in use > 25 years at that point. Had them rebuilt at Art Thrane's place in Utah and they've been great since.

PM me if you have any questions or need additional info.

Hope this helps,

Steve A-

I think they make baby webers with a choke ????

In delaware , i would start the car every day

Im in so cal , i usally fire it up once a week
Or 2 weeks.


But the whole car prefers to be driven regularly as opposed to sitting .

Im running webbers 44 and they seem pretty bullet proof

#1 reason peeps have issues with carbs is piss poor linkage, either lousy design and/or poor installation practices.
T4 and T1 is hugely affected by the slightest misadjustment of the linkage. The two carbs have to stay in exactly the same position (sync) all the way from idle to WOT. I've seen linkage so bad that at WOT one carb is only half open.
Also cable linkage does NOT cure poor installation habits, our new 914 came with a blown engine due to poor cable linkage installation.

Carbs can be very reliable, but with any performance engine MPG is a direct result on how you use your right foot. My '67 bug, 2.6 FI T4 engine often gets lousy gas mileage, but that's my fault as it's just too much damn fun. When I drive it "normally", highway speed and don't honk on it the big lump gets pretty good MPG.

I ran 40 webers on my 914/4 for many years -2 year as a daily driver, the rest as a weekend/de/ax car. The issue in the end came down to fuel quality issues. The ethanol content in the gas is a concern to me. I run some kind of gas drier/stabilizer year round in my -6, but it sits a solid 1-2 months in the dead of winter. Takes a bit longer to start come spring and has some hiccups/caughs for a little while but smooths out nicely.

Mine's a 2056 with dual EMPI HPMX 40's (Weber design).

Sadly, I'm down to driving it about once a month except in peak season. And it often sits 6-8 weeks between drives in the winter.

It's a pain to start and won't idle for the first 5 minutes after those longer breaks, but it's remarkably dependable. I do add ethanol treatment to the fuel each time I refuel. I have a routine to get it started after those long breaks -- crank with no pedal to get oil through the engine, then pump and crank. Usually takes 2-3 tries but has never failed me.

When I first used the fuel shut off in a 356, I was shocked that this feature was never continued.

After a fun ride, bring car to shop door, let it idle and turn off the fuel valve.
It will eventually stall out due to lack of fuel in the carbs.

This simple little trick of keeping the carbs empty makes your life so much easier. No more gummed up carbs (If you remember to do it each time)

It takes a bit of time to fill them up, and get the car started again...but honestly its not that bad.
A 356 does not have an electric fuel pump, and it still comes back to life fairly quickly.

Rich

thanks guys, some helpful tips

I use Stabil marine in my cars. I also try and run a tank with Techron in it once or twice a year and change the oil once it's run through. Seems to be about all I can do.

Easier to start with the electric fuel pump on a 914 than on the 356 that doesn't have one.

FWIW - I'd love to have EFI on both at some point, but that's $$ and just a pipe dream for now.