Dell'Ortos

[louisb]

What is the story with Dell'Ortos or Dells and why did they disappear off the market? I guess specifically DRLA models which are used on VWs. I know some folks like the tri-jets too? Better/worse than weber IDAs/IDFs? Now you don't see them very often but I have heard they were a good carb for a VW.

Thanks,

--louis

[Jim Ratto]

Don't quote me here...but I think these carburetors were used on an Alfa Romeo boxer engine, in the Alfasud, a small economy-minded Alfa that was never sold in the US. I think once the model (or sub-model) went out of production, then Dellorto had no "oem" market. I think Lotus used Dellorto carbs, albeit side draft carbs, on their inline 16V DOHC 4's. I think when the industry for oem went away from carbs and turned to fuel injection, the aftermarket industry couldn't bring in enough $ to keep tooling active etc. Weber is/was owned by Marelli, I think, and they do way more than old carbs.
I have owned both Weber IDFs and Dell DRLAs. I have tuned both, myself I think the IDFs are easier to get tuned to run, but their idle jet plugging is a real pain in the ass if you own a Beetle (Bus and KG it ain't so bad). the DRLAs don't, in my opinion, respond as crisply to idle mixture adjustments....meaning where a IDF take 3/4 out, a DRLA may take 3 or 4 turns out. Maybe it was just me. Parts availability, no comparison, Weber has always been easier.
IDAs are the easiest carbs to work on, they are as simple as owning a goldfish.

[louisb]

IDAs are the easiest carbs to work on, they are as simple as owning a goldfish.

Humm, my parents poured a lot of gold fish down the toilet when I was a child lol. There was a set of tri-jets on the Samba for $900 so i piqued my interest. There was someone on the old CLF that used to swear by them. I will just stick with coveting a set of IDAs then. Soon they will be mine. (And hopefully the rest of the engine to go under them.)

--louis

[Jim Ratto]

IDAs are the easiest carbs to work on, they are as simple as owning a goldfish.

Humm, my parents poured a lot of gold fish down the toilet when I was a child lol. There was a set of tri-jets on the Samba for $900 so i piqued my interest. There was someone on the old CLF that used to swear by them. I will just stick with coveting a set of IDAs then. Soon they will be mine. (And hopefully the rest of the engine to go under them.)

--louis

you can find a set of 48IDAs for less than that.

[louisb]

Yeah, IDAs have come down in price a lot with the upsurge in turbos. (Does it scare anyone else that you can point and click your way to a 10 sec VW these days instead of having to work your way up from a slower car. Well thats a rant for another day.) Hopefully my yearly bonus will come through soon so I can pick up a set of IDAs, get some heads ordered and get my crank. (Say Jim, your friend ever sell that 78 crank?) Then i will be finally on the way to building an engine instead of just bothering everyone here about different engine combos. 

--louis

[pupjoint]

i dont knoiw why they dissapeared, but i know they did make the EFI throttle bodies for 1995 to 1998 Alfa Romeos model 145, 146 and few years before that in a model called Alfa 33 that comes in 1700cc boxer engines. Alfa has stopped the boxer engines since then.

dont think they were ever sold in the US though.

i personally have always prefered Dellortos over Webers. they are better built and have 5 progression holes instead of Weber´s 4. always looking and buy up whatever bargain Dellortos i can find either for spares or for parts.

2 tuners, John Maher & Jake Raby also prefers them anytime over Webers.

[Zach Gomulka]

I dont have much personal experience with Dells, but I can tell you that I HATE where the Weber idle jets are located. I had to drill a couple small holes in each of my inner fender wells, jack the car up (taking the wheel off made it easier), and screw out the jets through the access hole. What a pain in my ass. And those idle jets are notorious for plugging up! I dont think Ill ever run IDFs again just because of that, Id hold out for some Dells.

[Jim Ratto]

Yeah, IDAs have come down in price a lot with the upsurge in turbos. (Does it scare anyone else that you can point and click your way to a 10 sec VW these days instead of having to work your way up from a slower car. Well thats a rant for another day.) Hopefully my yearly bonus will come through soon so I can pick up a set of IDAs, get some heads ordered and get my crank. (Say Jim, your friend ever sell that 78 crank?) Then i will be finally on the way to building an engine instead of just bothering everyone here about different engine combos. 

--louis

you're no bother. If I had a Sheby 350GT I'd be asking you questions. Not sure if Derek found a buyer or not. It's a DPR and he has Bugpack race rods to match (5.352"). I'll ask him this weekend.

[nicolas]

IDAs are the easiest carbs to work on, they are as simple as owning a goldfish.

Humm, my parents poured a lot of gold fish down the toilet when I was a child lol. There was a set of tri-jets on the Samba for $900 so i piqued my interest. There was someone on the old CLF that used to swear by them. I will just stick with coveting a set of IDAs then. Soon they will be mine. (And hopefully the rest of the engine to go under them.)

--louis

maybe that is a bit steep
i payed my trijets 500 euros shipped to belgium, they where on the samba... they were clean but will need to be inspected

[Fasterbrit]

Dellortos are far superior to Weber IDFs for several reasons. Better fuel feed to jet circuits is one. Five and even six hole progression circuit on later models is another. Jet location is another. Jet range is far broader: Dellorto jets can be ordered in smaller increments ie. 132 instead of Weber's 'only going up by 5' increments (ie 135).

The bearing system on the throttle shaft on the Dell is infinately better quality than the IDF. Never seen a siezed DRLA - seen lots of IDFs with frozen throttle shafts.

On the whole, the Dellorto responds much more cleanly when adjusting the idle circuit. Idle bypass screws are far more common on Dells than on IDFs, also.

Oh, and they can handle turbo boost without too much bother.

Basically, the Dellorto took a Weber IDF, studied it and thought 'we can make this much better'. And that they did.

The Weber IDA? Well, that's in a class of its own

[besserwisser]

My experience is that Alfa sud had either idf 36 or 40. Alot of people get the 36idf from the junkyard and put them on VW with little or no sucsess. I always run my 40 dells on customer motors during breakin and when I let them down to idle after 15-20 minutes the idle is perfect. I would recomend DElls over  Webers for a streetcar but when it comes to racing it´s hard to beat the IDA-s. wich one is your favorite is mostly a matter of wich ones you have had luck with. Old carburetors no matter brand can almost make you open to injection. I had a customer who wanted me to tune a pair of old idf 36 from an Alfa. I had built the motor and it was broken in with my 40Dells. After changing some of the jets we started it up and it ran like crap shooting up through the venturis. It took almost a full day to renovate and fix the carbs but it never ran as good as with the 40 Dells. On the 36 we had plugged the vacum outlets but what we didn´t know was that one of the vacums was broken of inside and screwing up the idle on one cylinder.In retrospect it is always cheaper to buy new carbs then to spend money and time on old junk.Almost all carbs that have seen some action during a few years need a rebuild.

[louisb]

Not sure if Derek found a buyer or not. It's a DPR and he has Bugpack race rods to match (5.352"). I'll ask him this weekend.

Cool, DPR was going to be my choice for a new crank anyway. I would probably end up sending it back to them to have wedgemated. I have decided to quit with the odd ball engines and go for a cookie cutter 2 liter. Something that could push the '67 to low 13s high 12s and still be street driven. I am thinking IDAs, 78 or 82 X 94, 9.5 comp, hand ported heads (need to decide on a head porter. I don't want a set of off the shelf, one size fits all heads.) The rest will depend on the heads I guess but I really like the specs on the 86c. Heard good things about the FK-45 too.

--louis