Webers for the cobra

[Randy Resetar]

I am thinking of puting webers on my FIA and I was wondering.
1. How hard are the to tune?
2. Do they stay in tune for a period of time?
3. Are the too much carb for a 370hp motor?
4. Is it worth the money???

Randy

[Tony Radford]

Do a search on Weber carbs and you'll get dozens of posts about them. I think I read them all when I had the "Weber bug". It is a quite pricey option and from what I can tell, they don't necessarily stay tuned. There are also some fuel injection kits that look similar and might be a bit more reliable. You can go to Inglese and Pierce, the two largest providers of Weber carb assemblies. They will set you up with the intake, carbs, linkage and fuel distribution for $4,500-5000.

[Excaliber]

As far as "to much" goes, no, they are highly tunable to any size engine so they won't be "to much".

Well,,,,,,they might be to much for you wallet though!

Ernie

[SPEEDEAMON]

I've got Webers on my Cobra (4 of 'em) and on my Ferrari (6 of 'em) and on my Cortina Lotus race car (2 of 'em) and they are all tuned well and stays tuned long. It's your mechanic that *****es and moans but if he knows what he's doing then he'll get it right. Mine starts right away and never stumbles. Besides, if you saw any racing in the sixties and early seventies, Webers were on all major sports and racing cars until fuel injection came into the picture. Cars equipped with Webers are very driveable in town, even in heavy traffic. In my case I never purchased them alone because it came with the cars from the beginning.

It is expensive but it sure WOWs the crowd when you prop up your hood.

Shin

[thorconstr]

Randy, Take a look at www.twminduction.com. TWM stands for "The Weber Man". They make a 4 two barrel electronic fuel injection setup that look a lot like Webers, is a bunch more user friendly, more HP and better power curve. They also cost less. Al

[Tongue Pirate]

Webbers "are" awsome looking. maybe an upgrade for the future...hmmmm

[TERRY M KRYSTOFIAK]

WEBERS...LOVE EM OR HATE THEM. I RAN THEM ON MY 289 COBRA IN THE '60S. WAS YOUNG AND THOUGHT I KNEW IT ALL. IT TOOK AWHILE TO GET THEM SET...I GAVE UP AND HAD A FERRARI SHOP DO IT. NOW, 35 YEARS LATER I RUN THEM ON MY GT350. ONCE THEY ARE SET THEY REQUIRE LITTLE CARE. CHANGING JETS,CHOKES, IDLE JETS, AND EMLUSION TUBES IS FAST AND EASY. THEY LOOK GREAT, AND SOUND EVEN BETTER. THE HP YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT IS NOT EVEN A CONCERN. TIMING AND CAM ARE. THIS SITE HAS A "WEBER" GRURUE IN CAL METAL. HE HAS THE DRAGON SNAKE FOR A FRIEND RUNNING PRETTY GOOD.

[Cal Metal]

Randy:

There is an old saw: "Open up a carburetion shop and triple your ignition business". If their ever was an application for this, it is with the Webers. These carbs are much simpler than even the old Carter and Rochester two barrels of the 50s and 60s. Many people blame their problems on carburetion when it is ultimately something else--usually ignition.

Terry K. is correct. The ability to change out major components takes no time at all. Educate yourself with some books before you decide, but the torque difference is unreal in a SB Ford and they have real eye appeal. Once dialed in, there is really not much to do. Search CC, as there is some good info on them. This discussion has been going on for a long time.

Email me if you would like some suggestions on periodicals.

[Randy Resetar]

I want to thank everyone for their imput. There are a lot of knowledgable people on this site and it make decisions like mine easyier...Thank everyone.

[4RE KLR]

Randy
Listen to Cal. The man knows what he is talking about. I put 4 44IDF's on my first cobra and I was ready to turn them into 4 beautiful boat anchors when Cal and Enzo came (literally) to my rescue.

The problem I was haveing was NOT the carbs, primarily. I did change the main jets to a smaller size and a few other things. I had the readjust the way the linkage was pulling. It was pulling two one one side more than the two on the other side. They were so far out of since I am surprised it ran at all.

BUT.......

Once I got them all corrected the car would run like a bat outta ..... Yes they are worth every single penny. I spent almost $7,000.00 on my system (with NOS). Yes it cam be done for alot less but I wanted it to look a certain way. MY car was on the cover of Kit Car Magazine in Nov 2001. I sold the car to plan on a Kirkham. It will have webers.

As far as tunning. They were a monster, why because I did not know what I was doing. once Cal and Enzo gave me an education on the webers it was a snap. Please do not let anyone talk you out of them because of tuning issues.

There is a saying that "those who have trouble tunning webers, do not know how to tune webers" it is the truth. I will admit I was in that catagory. The most inportant part for me was to make sure the linkage was correct. There are thousands of ways to do it wrong and one way to do it right.

Do your homework, then get the webers!

[jamvan]

Randy:

As all the guys above said, they are a ***** to tune initially, but once they are set, they require virtually zero maintenace. I recommend you do not tune then yourself, find the best weber mechanic you can find. Be happy to pay him, it will be the best investment you can make. I also recommend you pick up a couple of reference books on webers and educate yourself as I did.

There is nothing sweeter than the sound of a set of webers sucking air when the car is running. I have also found that the webers produce significantly more torque and hp over a normal carb. on the little 289.

They only issue I need to watch out for periodically is fouling the plugs if the can is not "run" after each drive. Just to be careful, I change the plugs twice a year.

As to eye appeal, nothing gets the attention of the crowd better than a set of webers. My car is consistantly the crowd favorite. Check the pictures in the gallery. Any other help, let me know.

jim

[BT SNAKE]

Randy,
Cal is correct, the webbers are great carbs that just takes awhile to understand them. I had webbers on my cobra for 8YRS and they were on my 34 Ford before that. The only problem that I experienced with them was when I went up to a high altitude. They loose power quickley and use gas at twice the rate. They will snap crackel and pop until you get back to the altitude they were set for. So if you plan on any trips to Flagstaff then you might want to preset them before you leave..

Hersh

[ToyCollector]

I run a set of them on my Mustang. They have held tune for over two years and all I have done is change plugs just for the sake of it. They have infinite adjustability so if the person tuning them knows what they are doing, they should run really well. the induction noise and the jaw drops from people when you raise the hood is worth every penny over time.

[Cal Metal]

The issue of tuning is typically an issue of initial set up (correct jetting, etubes, chokes, bypass, etc).

I think Steve and Hersh and a few other members who employ them, will tell you that synchronizing them is really not that difficult. Again, they are VERY simple in design. The thing that makes people somewhat wary is the fact you have four of them to contend with.

If you decide to get serious about them, I will send you one that I have and you can tear it apart and look it over. It is like a tinker toy. Nothing mysterious about them.

[Excaliber]

I used multiple vacuum gauges to fine tune the Webers on a Ferrari V-12 when doing a tune-up. That car was difficult to keep in tune over time, but it wasn't the carbs! The DRIVER had a tendency to "lug" the engine and foul the plugs.

Wtih two distributors and four sets of points it also required a close eye to keep the ignition in synch.

The Webers? Pretty much dialed them in the first time I tuned the car and they were "done". I loved to "test drive" that car and make sure it was "right".

Ernie