webers

As an alternative, Mustangs Unlimited sells a new setup w/ Holleys for $1600, either 3x2 or 2x4, same price. http://www.mustangsunlimited.com

There is a set of period, NOS, Webers out of an estate (sale) posted on http://www.clubcobra.com . Look under parts for sale.

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There is a set of period, NOS, Webers out of an estate (sale) posted on http://www.clubcobra.com . Look under parts for sale.

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From the Club Cobra posting "The Webers are “481DA4 1L". The images show September 1970 or later bodies (different castings than earlier issues) and I believe but have no written documentation yet that the "1L" means ‘1971November’.

Ford/Shelby, per Shelby catalogs, sold the 48 IDA-1 models. Shelby started off with 48 IDA models first apparently as a handful of very early systems exist still with very low serial number IDA model carburetors. Most of the carburetors sold by Shelby’s companies are believed to have been 48 IDA-1 models. Some early systems exist that have a mixture of 48 IDA and 48 IDA-1 models on the same intake. This required the IDAs to be converted to IDA-1 specifications.

In 1965 Dean Moon's and Carroll Shelby's literature both say they sold 48 IDA-1s for 289 Fords. The carburetors examined to date traceable to these sources were serial numbered individually and have no date codes. (Which makes sense as a serial or a date would tell when they were made for warrantee reasons, no need for both. I believe date codes in lieu of serial numbers started in September 1970.) Dean Moon's literature says the 48 IDA-4 models were for other applications.

Evidence today suggests that 48 IDA-1s were not produced long if at all after Ford and Shelby parted company. The 1966 Shelby parts book claims that Shelby American was the sole source here for 48 IDA-1 models by that time even though Dean Moon had them too. The 48 IDA4 and now 48 IDA4R versions have been made at some rate since early 1965 and can be obtained now as currently made with various cost cutting changes versus old ones. Being in production at some rate for more than 40 years on and off means that most of the Webers of this style in use and for sale are some form of 48 IDA4 model.

It has taken me more than twenty years to accumulate what documentation I do have. Here are the documented IDA models to date and their relative scarcity in the market. (I have started a registry of the serial numbered IDA, IDA-1, and IDA4 models.)

48 IDA = rare

48 IDA-1 = uncommon

46 IDA-2 (not a typo 46 mm body) = extremely rare

46 IDA-3 (not a typo 46 mm body) = extremely rare

48 IDA4 = common

48 IDA4R = very common, purchase new

Based on unmolested systems found and various documents obtained Weber made the IDA series about like any other carburetor company, say Holley for example. Holley had many 415/4160 models and they all are very similar but they are not all the same flow rate nor have the same linkage levers etcetera. Weber appears to have been no different. Each of the models above were outfitted for different applications and all but the IDA4 and IDA4R are set up with different size chokes, calibrated parts, and levers. Unlike a Holley 4150/4160 series, the Weber IDA series units can be changed with interchangeable parts to be suitable flow size wise for almost any engine. This makes the easy to find 48 IDA4 models the almost universal unit.

Cheers.....

Dan

Thanks for an informative post, Dan.

I owned a set back in the late '70's, but never did run them on my hipo. I used them on a hot rod and had a chassis dyno in my shop then so it wasn't that hard to tune them. I would recommend that you find someone who can at least get you in the ballpark on the chokes and jetting. Buying a set is just the beginning; tuning is a lot of work, even for someone who knows them.

Last year I met a fellow with a mild small block Chevy who had bought a system of the shelf and his car ran like a top and idled nicely. The Inglese site is pretty informative and they advertise a set in a mild state of tune for hipos:

http://www.inglese.com/fordv8.htm

Edited by - round2K on 01/15/2007 19:34:21

I have had my hands on three genuine Shelby supplied systems. Two of those systems suffered serious problems due to installation errors.

1) A very early real low serial number 48 IDA system. This one was supposed to have been removed circa 1967 and stored. The system was near mint except for some really strange jetting and air correctors on two cylinders on opposite sides of the intake. When the carburetors were removed for inspection and cleaning the original (unique – a particular brand marked gasket) base gaskets were almost still all in place. I said almost. The base gaskets for the two strangely jetted cylinders were sucked into the bores. These two cylinders had massive air leaks and large sections of gasket out in the flow path. Finding original gaskets in such a state makes me wonder how long the installer tuner fooled with the system before giving up.

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2) I bought an early system for my car that was briefly used on another Cobra. Sometime in the very late 1970s or very early 1980s the system was reported to have been NOS when installed. It didn’t stay installed long. It probably didn’t run very well. This particular installation had someone leave two of the AN washers UNDER the base gasket on the outside of one carburetor. The gaskets were still the genuine Shelby OEM ones. With washers under the gasket on one side the carburetor was jacked up by the washer thickness on one side leaving a large pair of wedge shaped air gaps to leak. I wonder what this owner said of these horrible things because of an installation blunder.

I wonder how many horror stories about Webers on 289 engines are in fact testaments to how poor the installation was done. That is part one. Part two would be how cobbled up most non-factory linkages are.

Dan