Carburator question

[saracino]

Ciao
What are the carburators most GTV owners finally settle in with? Is it Dellorto,Solex or Webber?
A 1974 GT veloce has been in my posetion for a short time so I'm slowly getting aquanted with the sounds and the smells of this great car.
Thanks for the comments in advance
Mike

[Chris1750]

In my order of preference for the 1750/2000 series GTVs -

Weber DCOE32
Dellorto DHLA40
Solex C40 DDH

The jetting will vary from the 1750 to the 2000.

Why the order?

I like the Webers because they are, to my mind at least, the best. They are well made to a high tolerance, robust and very tuneable. Once tuned they tend to stay that way for a long time. Rebuild kits are still available though some of the internal parts are gettting hard to obtain (eg: spindles). Webers look right too - simple and elegant. The downside is that they are expensive.
Dellortos are also very well made with kits available. They tended to figure on the 116 (Alfetta) series and late 105 series (2000 series), at least in Australia.
Solexes are pigs (IMHO). They go out of tune with remarkable regularity and don't seem to be as well built as the other two, though I'm sure that someone on the BB will sing their praises. I've not seen a pair of DDHs for many years though I believe that they come up on eBay from time to time - maybe people buy them to use as ballast
As for originality, if your car is a 2000 model, either Dellortos or Solexes. For piece of mind, either Webers or Dellortos. They are all interchangeable (use the same inlet manifold) and the original airbox is also the same for each.
Excuse the firm opinion, I've had an ugly day at work
Regards,
Chris

[Alfajay]

In addition to the advantages that Chris1750 cited, Webers also have the advantage of parts availability, at least here in N. America. You generally need to go to Europe for Dellorto parts & jets (not that I don't love you Europeans, but the time and shipping costs involved in a trans-Atlantic transactions are significant). There are several Weber suppliers here in the States (I like Pierce Manifolds) who can deliver parts in a couple of days.

[saracino]

Thank you both very much and it's good to know that the dellortos are good enough right now but at some point in the next couple of years I may just switch to Webbers. I asked because I met someone who was praising ad nauseum Solex and when he saw my Dellortos he said they were crap.
Thanks again
Mike

[Chris1750]

Mike,
I didn't mean to discourage you from Dellortos. They are great carbies. My brother owns a 1750GT Alfetta coupe fitted with factory Dellortos and it goes like a cut cat. It makes all the right noises and stays beautifully in tune. On the other hand a mate of mine owns a late model 2000 Berlina fitted with twin Solexes and he hates the fact that no one can tune it properly. It runs like a dog and is full of flat spots despite lots of money spent on carby kits, ignition systems etc. He is currently looking for a pair of second hand Webers to rebuild and install.
As Jay mentioned, for some odd reason, parts for Dellortos don't seem to be available much outside Europe. Here in Australia there is a thriving market in all things Weber with good spare parts availability, though as I said, some bits are getting a bit rare. By and large, they are parts that don't wear out and therefore shouldn't require replacement unless the carby has been abused.
As to the Solexes, they must have some friends out there - as misguided as they are - just like you find people who are into self-mutilation .....
Enjoy your Dellortos and ignore the false prophets.
All the best,
Chris

PS: I should have made my list up more like this -

Weber
Dellorto
.
.
.
.
.
Solex

[saracino]

Thanks Chris
I spoke with my Alfa mechanic and he agrees and in fact 99% of his clients either run with Dellortos or Webbers but he is biased towards the Italian make since he learned his craft in the Mother country.
Ciao

[GTV4EVR]

My Italian mechanic favours Dellortos too. I run Webers

[Alfacliff]

spam reported

[alfavirusnz]

Solexes are ok, and there is nothing wrong with them when they are in good condition-they stay in tune and are as easy to work on as the Webers and Dellortos. What I have found however(as a former Italian car workshop owner and as an owner of many, many cars) that Dellortos are usually a little more throttle responsive at low revs and marginally meaner on the fuel around town. They are also easily rebuildable and parts are reasonably easy to get.
Solexes also are a little bit better than Webers at low revs but not as good as the Dellortos, are again meaner on fuel around town than the Webers but getting parts is harder than the other two brands. Solexes also suffer from wear in the shaft area with age as unlike the other two the throttle shafts do not run in bearings or bushes where they run through the body and once worn allow false air into the engine and then can be near to impossible to tune/maintain tune.
Webers you can easily get parts for are fully rebuildable and arguably are slightly stronger at the top end of the rev range (though inferior than the Solexes & Dellortos lower down the rev range) They are also dirtier, which is why I believe Alfa Romeo dropped Weber when emission requirements got tighter, and fuel consumption is slightly heavier.
On a daily driver with most motoring around town I prefer a Dellorto or Solex carbed car but the Solexes lose out due to the fact that all these cars and carbs are getting older and cannot be reconditioned as easily as Webers and Dellortos, Webers being the easiest to get parts for, including jets which give them the biggest edge-greatest tuneability for experimentation and development .

Richard J

`65 Giulia Ti, `69 GT Junior, `74 GTV 2000, `76 Alfetta GTV, `77 Alfetta GTV, `84 GTV6

[Chris1750]

OK OK - so Solexes aren't that bad, it just seems that way as once they wear out they are virtually irreparable due to inbuilt problems. As Richard has pointed out, the spindles run directly in the carby body rather than in nice ball race bearings like the Webers. Once the body or spindles wear they entrain air and the mixture runs not only lean, but unpredictably lean. This, I suspect, is the problem with my mates Berlina.

In a land where we never had fuel injection on 105 Alfas, the options for Solex owners now is basically to ditch them in favour of Dell'Ortos or Webers. Either choice is a good one. Richard is also correct in terms of CO/NOx production. Webers are the dirtiest, followed by Dell'Orto then Solex as the cleanest, though this was when they were new. Given a couple of decades of use and they will all be a bit environmentally grubby.

As an aside, I think that they all may be owned one way or another by FIAT. I know that Weber was bought out by FIAT. Solex was originally French and then transferred ownership to Magneti Marelli which was eventually absorbed by FIAT. I think that Dell'Orto may have gone the same way as Weber, but I'm not sure.

I once owned a Moto Guzzi V50 equipped with Dell'Orto carbies and it was a fantastic bike. It's about the only thing I have in common with George Clooney

Enjoy your Dell'Ortos,
Chris

[saracino]

Thanks Gentlemen, your Carbs 101 discourse has been very helpful and I'm sold on keeping the Dellortos. The Dude that ragged on my Carbs is from France and so he probably likes Solex because they were originally a French company and in case he hasn't been made aware of the FIAT take over I'll be happy to give him the news. The fact remains though that my talent lies in ability to drive them and not maintaining them and my brilliant Alfa mechanic loves Dellortos so Dellortos it is.
Mike