other things

[legonutter23]

i have a special toy on my drive way its my 1973 vw beetle yay

ive just come across a bargin of the century and got a super rair webber carb for her but im not sure how to make the manifold any ideas?

[Jo]

I had the pleasure of attending a pattern making presentation by a gentleman by the name of Ron Drake. (He started Blackgates) One of the things he had was a pattern for an inlet manifold for an old Austin which is now being used for racing. It was an absolute work of art and even with his 70+ years of pattern making had taken him more than a month to make all the patterns, cores, part pattern parts etc. Then you needed to know a really good foundry and then there is the machining  . I think he said they were retailing for about £1K.

I suggest you keep you eyes out for a second hand manifold.

Jo

[legonutter23]

thanks jo but thats the isue there are non for sale in the uk as the carb i have brought is one of 20 in europe! and i only payed £40 well chuffed!

so i will need to machine on out of stock i think.

[Roger B]

Do you need a complete manifold or just an adaptor to the existing one? A complete VW flat four manifold is more a pipe bending than a maching job 

[legonutter23]

just a adaptor i have plenty if room to have one 100mm tall as that will also be the mount forthe return spring

[pgp001]

Here's my advice

Flog the Beetle for whatever you can get for it.
Flog the Weber carb and make a massive profit on your £40

Use the money to buy a proper car like this. If you have anything left over fit one of Ron Drakes manifolds to it.



Just kidding, I would think you should be able to fabricate something to enable the Weber to be fitted, I would avoid going down the casting route if you can.

Phil

[Roger B]

I have previously used a thick (~15mm) alloy plate, fixed to the existing manifold with countersunk bolts and then drilled the appropriate stud patten for the new carb in the plate. Depending on the difference in bore size between the old and new carbs you may have to enlarge the hole in the existing manifold to get a smooth transition.
I didn't have a lathe available so the main hole was drilled with a 40mm Conecut in carpenters brace 

[legonutter23]

That was my first idea but then I realised that due to the webber being a twin choke ide need something bigger

[legonutter23]

Good idea Phil but she's a long term project shall we say and is destined for rally x

[Roger B]

When I was rallying with a Triumph Herald in the 70s and 80s there was someone (Julian ....?) competing in a Beetle when the rest of the world was in Escorts, Minis and Imps.

If it's a twin choke you may need to make significant mods to the manifold to avoid loosing the gas flow benefits. Is there something from another model that might be better?

[legonutter23]

Time for a little history haha from what I know the carbon I have was last used on a 1600 single port beetle 20ish years ago that is still jetted for suck a engine and when the car was stripped for sale the manifold was lost!   as I'm already running a hot full flow 1500 single port it should be just right for the flow already there.

[RMO]

Which weber carb? I rebuild a lot of old vw engines and probably have a manifold laying around somewhere.  Got a pic?

Mike

[legonutter23]

It's a webber 36/28 dcd twin choke

[Tjark]

If you planning to cast your own manifold you find a good start in this thread.
It’s a very well description on how to start the pattern work.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?6904660-16v-variable-runner-intake-manifold


   Tjark.

[legonutter23]

A interesting read but a little beyond my resources
Thanks for the suggestion