Finding and restoring period-correct Weber carbs | Project Elva sports racer

Update by Tim Suddard to the Elva Mk VI project car
Jun 2, 2022

Our Elva came to us missing not just its engine but its carburetors, too. We again turned to Mike Pierce, now of Weber Carburetor Restoration, for the correct info. 

He told us we needed a pair of 40 DCOE 2 or 40 DCOE 18 carbs. These two models are of the correct age and have the proper progression holes to easily tune to the Coventry Climax FWA engines. (The progression holes allow the timing of the fuel progression engagement.)

Other Webers would have worked here, but Mike cautioned that they were rare and thus expensive. He also warned us that any Weber built after about 1992 would come from Spain; they’d work, he said, but would lack the period-correct look we sought. The earlier carbs would be marked as having been built in Bologna. 

At one time, he told us, the carburetors we needed were plentiful. He used to have hundreds of worn-out cores but got rid of them due to low demand. But now things are different. 

If we could find the right cores, he said, he could rebuild and jet them. So we used our magazine and website to get out the word, and the floodgates opened. Some people offered us the wrong carbs; others had the right ones but wanted way too much money. 

We settled on a pair of vintage DCOE 18s in very nice shape for the fair price of $500. Mike made them work and look like new again. We also ended up with a couple of backup carbs. The final step was throttle linkage, and Pierce Manifolds sold us its top mount kit–part No. 9005.031–that came highly recommended for our twin Webers.

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