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What do you guys think will run better on a stock 12A with RB exhaust: Dellorto, dual weber 36, or a modified nikki?
The car will only be used for spirited street drives on the weekend and the occasional night runs. I want the car to be fun.
My only experience was in an SE with dellorto and full RB exhaust setup. I thought it was great!
Any help is appreciated.
I have the twins (2 actually) on the shelf and this is the reason I purchased them for, but, if there's something better I'm open to that as well. I have no experience with a modded nikki but from what I've read it would be a "smart" choice like you said.
all of those choices would work really well.
IMO the twin weber setup looks really cool, it would probably be the hardest to setup, just because you're trying to get two carbs to do the same thing at the same time.
the Dell is neat looking too. in theory since its only a 2 barrel you would have to compromise somewhere, maybe just mileage though. and its a maybe
the Nikki is well proven, i think HP would be lower than the other two, but its probably the easiest to tune, cause it already is
or shoot, its only 6 bolts to change it, use all three
I'm leaning towards the twin weber because it looks cool, but tuning it is going to be fun I'm sure! I need to get my hands on the other two setups then I can have choices!
Does anyone currently mod the nikki? Last I heard(read) Derek Hall I believe was doing them but that was years ago.
Nikki would be less fun but the more streetable.
Two barrels Dell or Weber, more fun (carb suction noise is nice), easier to tune, but compromise needed (either mpg, mid range response, ...)
Dual Webber no clue but looks sweet.
I need to get my hands on the other two setups then I can have choices!
you're saying you don't already have all 3? if so, then definitely go with the twins. when i responded, i thought you had all three and was just trying to figure which one.
years ago, when i was still new to the board, i think i remember there being talk of someone dyno-ing a stock 12A with different carbs, including a modded Nikki (back then, Yaw was the in-thing) and they were saying that basically all of them were able to produce the same power, so the conclusion was that stock ports limited you before an intake setup - or something to that effect. so, it was with that in mind, and the likely headaches of synching the twins that i said the Nikki was probably the smartest choice. however, if all you have are the twins, then i think you should use them.
i had a Dell'Orto at one point and i was a little underwhelmed with it, but keep in mind - in hindsight, i don't think i ever really maximized it and i also think the engine itself had probably seen better days. also, my expectations may have also been set too high since it was my first (and only) performance carb setup. the point is, i'm not sure the effort you'd put into getting one and setting it up would put you in any better shape than the twins you've already got, if they get dialed in.
The side draft two barrels like the DCOEs and Dellorto s make good power and sound wonderful but get bad milage and my Mikuni side draft had a hard stumble on sudden acceleration that took me two years to get rid of. ( I had to modify the accelerator pump in the end ). Im assuming the others may have similar issues, but maybe not.
It was about that time that I found a set of the DCDs. They were wayless frustrating than the Mikuni was.
I was a little intimidated because I really didnt have much carburetor experience and no multiple carb experience, so I bought a webber book, installed a Wide band O2 sensor and bought one of the simple synchronizer tools that measure intake air at idle. The wideband makes tuning easy and the the air tool makes synchronizing child play.
The DCDs are the best of both worlds. They make great power, sound good, and since you can tune the primaries separately from the secondaries you can cruise at a lean mixture with good milage and have a richer mixture at WOT for the power.
And since you can change the venturies (effectively changing the CFM) they can easily be tuned for everything from a stock 12a to a ported 13b.
The side draft two barrels like the DCOEs and Dellorto s make good power and sound wonderful but get bad milage and my Mikuni side draft had a hard stumble on sudden acceleration that took me two years to get rid of. ( I had to modify the accelerator pump in the end ). Im assuming the others may have similar issues, but maybe not.
It was about that time that I found a set of the DCDs. They were wayless frustrating than the Mikuni was.
I was a little intimidated because I really didnt have much carburetor experience and no multiple carb experience, so I bought a webber book, installed a Wide band O2 sensor and bought one of the simple synchronizer tools that measure intake air at idle. The wideband makes tuning easy and the the air tool makes synchronizing child play.
The DCDs are the best of both worlds. They make great power, sound good, and since you can tune the primaries separately from the secondaries you can cruise at a lean mixture with good milage and have a richer mixture at WOT for the power.
And since you can change the venturies (effectively changing the CFM) they can easily be tuned for everything from a stock 12a to a ported 13b.
Oh yea, they look cool too!
I love em.
Thanks, this is good to know. I'll install the dcd but will still hunt for the dellorto as an option. I hope you don't mind but I may message you if I have any questions. Like you I haven't played with carbs but I'm willing to learn. I believe I have the install manual so I'll start from there and see how it goes.
Do you have any pictures of yours installed?
In my experience, the wrap around side draft setups such as the old racing beat modified DHLA48 and their two piece manifold are nice on a street car. Strong top end, very responsive, and that sound...but the mid range power is the best part. So much fun! Are you really concerned about MPG's on a car like this? If so, do a Nikki...
The Nikki can be a pretty fun carb too with some work, just depends on how much you want to mess with. With a different air filter housing (like the RB one) you can even get some decent induction noise too. Definitely the most street friendly setup of the bunch but it sounds like that's not a priority.
Just throwing this in for future reference. With a 13b 6-port, stock port, I'm very tempted to buy the RB Weber 48IDA, the UIM, and the metal screen filters for the carb throats just to look good sitting on my spare engine on the stand. At a little over $1200, it's a bit expensive for what amounts to a museum piece. Let us know what you decide,
02-27-24, 11:55 PM
that said, i think the Nikki (if it's well sorted) is probably the smartest choice.
