DCOE 45's the facts?

[cormac]

Hi all -

We have a 1976 Spider in the early stages of rebuild and modifications, left hand drive

engine rebuild in early stage

block from '79 Brava
head from '81 FI Spider

have Weber DCOE 45s

will use Mark's distributorless ignition

trying to separate fact from fiction, so appealing for first hand knowledge ..not looking for merits of DCOE vs IDF

has anyone attempted this installation - would be great to hear from those who have attempted and failed, or attempted and succeeded...would welcome any constructive and/or instructive input


thanks for giving it a thought and hope all are planning a good weekend

[Curly]

Left or Right-Hand-Drive ?
Twin 45 DCOEs are a common modification Down Under, but we don't have to worry about the master cylinder and power booster being in the way

[fiat218]

Where is brad when you need him

[cormac]

Curly -

left hand drive (am in US)...old age setting in, distinctly remember typing left hand drive...oops, had to go back and edit original post

fills you with confidence that I have the skills

[cormac]

Where is brad when you need him

no worries, and no hurry

[cormac]

Curly -

I already have your picture saved from searching...my sis and husband are naturalized Kiwis but spent the last 2 years in Australia

is your intake manifold offset just a little?

[Curly]

Curly -
is your intake manifold offset just a little?

Yes. most manifolds will be offset slightly towards the rear of the motor to allow for the use of a block-mounted distributor.

Here's a shot of the setup on my coupe. As you can see it places the rear carby very close to the firewall. You can buy straight manifolds which would probably offer a miniscule performance improvement over the offset ones and may be suitable to use with Mark's ingnition system. A longer manifold should give you more torque than a short one, but it's always a compromise against the type of air filters you want to fit.

[cormac]

Curly-

Thanks heaps

[carl]

I'm an IDF guy but my understanding based on what others have said is that merely removing the vacuum booster and bolting the brake master cylinder to the firewall will not provide enough clearance, you would have to use a different MC completely. This is why you won't find very many US 124s with DCOEs. I did help tune a spider with DCOEs, the jetting was different in each carb and the cam wheels were reversed but sadly I don't remember what was done with the brake system.

carl

[FiatMac]

You might contact Gary and John Baucom at Sports Car Authority in Matthews, NC(1121 Industrial Dr, Matthews, NC 28105, Phone #(704) 847-7742). John was a very successful Fiat 124 Racer with several SCCA Championships. I believe that his street Spider had dual DCOE's.

[cormac]

Stan -

Thanks a bunch for the heads up...have already called them, got their machine and left a message...again thanks for the great lead

Dave

[124ADDHE]

I eliminated my brake booster, welded two brake pedals together to gain an offset towards the clutch which has a corresponding amount of material removed from its pivot to allow brake offset. The pushrod from the booster can be welded to a 3/8" ratchet extension and then hardened and tempered. The stock brake plate can have more metal welded to allow stiffer mounting of the stock master cylinder. I use solex 40 addhe carbs with 36mm chokes on a high compression 1756cc with a PBS manifold,I get tremendous fuel economy(6.5 liters/100k average in mountain highway and city driving mixed ( at least until I was tboned last august now I'm working on a 73' to replace it). With good pads the brakes are really not too bad to lockup at all and there is excellent feedback from the pedal, I have justb finished this whole brake process again for the 73'. I can take some picks and email them to you.
Keith.pa.cox@Hotmail.com