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MG MGB Technical - Dell'orto Carbs

Hi!

Does anybody know if installing a pair of Dell'orto 40 DHLA carbs (side draft) to my B would make any difference? (my engine is stock, with a pair of SU HS4's (1+1/2"))

Regards,

Alexander
Alexander M

Alexander,
Assuming the Dell'orto's and SU's were both in good condition there would be little if any gain on a stock motor.

I had Weber carbs (2 x 40mm -I think, it was quite a few years ago now- DCOE) fitted on a stock engine and could not tell any difference on a road car.

One point with the Webers was the constant fuel blockages wich never happened with the SU's.
The solution was to fit a set of extra fuel filters to filter the fuel before it went into the carbs but really I found them more trouble than they were worth.
I finally sold them and refitted the SU's.
Hope this helps, Pete.
Peter Thomas

Thanks for your advice Pete!

I bought the Dell'orto's. May not be the wisest of decisions, but I just couldn't stop myself :-)
(I didn't only ask from the perspective of performance, but also from compatibility.)
I'll remember the part about the fuel filter!!!

Regards,

Alexander
Alexander M

Alexander,
Dellortos are as good - some say even better - than Weber carbs. They fit on the same intake manifolds, use the same air filters: they are clones of each other.
But both carbs do not give positive gain an an otherwise stock MGB-engine. These carbs will boost power on engines that have been heavily modified (ported head, balanced engine, highlift "hot" cam).
You will get some more hp beyond 4000 rpm but you will loose hp and torque below that.

Look at it this way: the Dellortos are a good excuse and starting point for building a "hot" MGB-engine!!!
Joern

Joern,

thanks for the useful excuse ;-)
actually, that was the plan. and having other carbs is one of the only modifications one can do without having an engine that's good at nothing specific.
I think all the other mod's will (have to) be done at once (head, cam, balancing, perhaps increasing the engine capacity, ...).

Regards,

Alexander
Alexander M

Alexander:

A good rule of thumb is that your car will gain 0.1 of a second 1/4 mile time for every 100lbs of weight reduction. Now that you have launched yourself down this road, I am sure you will loose at least that much weight from your wallet. So of course the car will be faster ;)

Pete
Pete

I hear you. As they say, "Speed costs money. How fast do you want to go?" Of course, once you pass a certain level of expense, the expense oddly becomes less and less of a factor. After all, you'll never get your money back, so why not see how far you can take it? If you're patient enough, you'll eventually get the money, so it becomes an issue of time instead of money. If you set your goals high enough and are patient enough, there ends up being no real limit to anything. Except, of course, the potential of the MGB, which is prodigious enough.
Steve S.

If you want your car to go faster, you should want it to stop equally well. Make sure that brake lines, pads, seals, etc. are in good shape and well bled with fresh fluid.
This rule may seem obvious but it took me awhile and a few totalled cars to put it into practice.
Oh, and you may want to make sure the steering is in good working, reliable condition. Nothing like a car that suddenly won't turn when it needs to; I've had that happen too.
kids1

This thread was discussed between 12/05/2002 and 13/05/2002

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