Hi Bill, look forward to seeing you at Warwick too, take care eh?
just a word of warning if you're thinking of camping...............................................................................................

I'm in the dormitory, so you should get a quiet night!!!!!

Your old chum Ed .........hehe.

Just going back to carbs, eddie, I've got hold of a Webber 32/36 DGAV 1D2. The " strangler " flaps are on but loose ie not connected to any thing.
Would it be an option to remove them (increasing smooth air flow) or are they a necessity for cold starting? I'm asking as I never use the choke cable on my DCOE's.

I'm not familiar with this version of the DGAV Dave, but it sounds very much like someone has been messing about with it, and probably not for the better. There should be a little lever dropping down from the flaps to the choke cam. Also the jets could be for anything. If you want to reliably get better performance, a brand new carb is definitely the way to go. It will repay you in petrol in no time. I've never yet had any success with 2nd hand carbs. The model I mentioned will work with an Alpine motor but whether you use the strangler flaps or not depends on how well the engine runs/idles cold. The choke mechanism on the DGAV also increases the fast idle so making the first couple of miles much less hassle. The DCOE's never idled very well when warm let alone cold so I can understand your reasoning, but the DGAV should run well cold with a nat's of choke and fast idle.
By all means experiment with this carb now you've acquired it but it could be a big disappointment by the sound of it..........Then again...............
Let us know what occurs.
Best regards Eddie

Well, I've now got the DGAV and Apollo installed into my car, and the first run was a couple of miler down to the MOT station. The car ran so much better from cold now , no fluffiness at all,,,,,,,,,,, big big improvement, BUT ( there's always a but isn't there? ) the same fault that was apparent with Peter's car is there on mine too. When idling everything is great, smooth tickover at 850 r.p.m. Then as you depress the throttle to come off the idle transition circuit to part throttle, there is a tiny hesitation apparent. The car jerks a little. Press harder no problem, super sensitive throttle response. A discussion with Steve at Southern Carburettors pointed the finger at the idle jet. This is a classic symptom of the idle jet being a touch small. Maybe the Ford engine idles slower or leaner than the Rootes one. This is confirmed in DV's bible too. So I bought two idle jets each a size larger. The one in there is a 0.55, so I bought a 0.6 and 0.65.
On removing the jet holder though there was a tiny bit of brass swarf visible loose inside the jet, so this could in fact be the cause. Try it again tomorrow and see what happens.
What I can say that is otherwise this carb is simply fantabulous, the power delivery is simply stunning. How much of this is due to the carb, induction and cold air intake, or the removal of manifold water heating is hard to say, but together it is blinding, sheer bliss. This will keep me happy for a long time to come. All I've got to do now is find out why my rear side lights and numberplate lamp have decided to go on strike ( at the MOT station of all places ) They granted me a pass since they can't bear to see a grown man cry. I need a session on my back in the footwell like a hole in the head but it has to be done .................GROAN I've got a stiff neck just thinking about it. More on the idle jet scenario soon.
Regards Eddie

I got the impression that most work made by Holbay was to make the engine behave innocent with a proper tickover so the Rootes executives would be satisfied. That the reason for the small inlets and the fine tuned Webers. I have been told it's very sensitive to changes like different air filters. Didn't they come up with another camshaft but the slow running characteristic was not approved.

OK firstly Mackem the carb I pasted the link for is the carb I have fitted and it has a manual choke exactly as per the Solex and Weber 28/36 DCD.
The choke cable does need rerouting through the bulkhead just to the offside of the throttle lever bracket. It is the 32/36 DGAV as fitted to the Ford Mexico GT. I found that the idle jet is slightly too small and needs to be replaced by a 0.60 jet. This cures the slight hesitation referred to in the previous but one post.

To try to quantify the improvement in power delivery, it feels very much like a 2 litre unit under the bonnet now. It simply blows the 28/36 DCD out of the water. Dead as a dodo. And there is no way to even begin to think about coming on to the second barrel as there isn't a clear enough road to try it on.
And I think with the manifold that was made in New Zealand some time ago for this carb ( Carl Christiansen wrote an article about this in a previous Horn about ten years ago ) the results would be simply mind blowing. Take a look at this.

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It's a bit small but try zooming in on it. The manifold on the left looks to be about perfect. It has smooth runners and less height than the standard job. If we had this made, who needs a supercharger ?
Fit it and be a very happy man Mackem. Just sell your DCOE's on Ebay. Plenty of people still want 'em, you'll be quids in, honest.
Best Regards Eddie.

Yes Mackem I see the confusion, it is of course correctly called the 32/36 DGV 5A ( not the DGAV ) Which is why I put the link there because I knew I would eventually forget the right number. I have kept the box it came in for the same reason. Just buy the carb that is linked from Fast Road Cars. Their price and service can't be beaten.
You don't need the choke cable as yours will reach as explained above.
Hope this clears up any confusion.
Best Regards Eddie

I've found a better picture of the manifold that Carl referred to in his article which for those of you who keep their old Horns was in no. 146 June 2003.

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The other log type manifold looked simply apalling. Whoever designed that should have been shot at dawn. hehe.

Please note that even Carl got the DGV bit wrong

IT'S THE DGV !!!! repeat after me...................................

Very nice.
Regards Eddie

Thanks, that's cleared things up. I had heard that the 32/36 DGAV was jetted slightly different to the 32/36 DGV. I prefer a manual choke to an auto.

Does anyone have a 1600 inlet manifold going spare or knows where I can get hold of one

Sorry to be a pest, but does anyone know which rubbers/gaskets are used between the inlet manifold and the 40 DCOE carbs.
I have a thick rubber O ring that fits into the groove on the manifold, a quarter inch thick plastic spacer with a thin rubber O ring on each face (note - the diameter of these thin rubber O rings is different to the one in the manifold groove) and I have a thin paper gasket (There are cbviously a set of four of these, one per port)
I did have all the gaskets on at once, but when the nuts are tightend, it seems to tighten ok at the studs but bows to the centre, leaving a very thin gap looking at the carb/manifold from the side.

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If you are going to put a 1600 manifold on and you can get a cast iron one to fit then really this would be better than the aluminium one. Why ? well the whole idea of using the cold air intake and dissing the water heating is to keep the incoming charge of air and fuel cold, which means it is as as dense as possible. This way there is not only more oxygen drawn in but the mass of air and fuel remains higher which promotes better inertial ramming during overlap. Result, more power per revolution, and more torque.
Aluminium is too good a conductor of heat and thus is a poor choice for a good inlet manifold. Cast iron will keep the mixture cooler.
This is from the horses mouth ( DV again ) and everything he's recommended so far has been spot on. In this case I'm sure he's right again, so go for cast iron as long as it's got decent runners. Not like that log manifold which would kill the flow rates. If we were going to look into making that manifold which we've seen ( and it is more than likely we will ) then it will be made of cast iron for this very reason.
Best Regards Eddie