Nothing more exudes speed and performance on both the street and strip than a pair of Weber 48IDAs under the deck lid. Not only does it say performance, but it shows anyone nosing around in your engine compartment that you know what you're doing when it comes to the abilities of your VW engine. Now that they're back in production, right from the box, they are ready to be bolted on to win races, allowing your engine to breath properly while continually feeding it with fuel.
The VW performance industry has accounted for more sales of Weber 48IDAs than in any other industry, and it's easy to see why. The IDA is big, really big. It sucks air and pushes fuel at amazing rates, enough for most everyone. However, 48mm does have a limit, and when your engine has reached that limit, don't trade up just yet, as there is still more life left in those IDAs. Why not convert them to 51mm or 52mm?
We know, it doesn't sound right, a Weber 52IDA, but the truth of the matter is that sometimes a 48mm carburetor isn't enough to meet your needs (as a 46mm Weber IDA wasn't enough for the Italian racing teams, so they suggested 48mm instead). There has to be a common ground, a carb that will give you more fuel but will breath right for your setup. Odds are good that this conversion isn't for everyone, and unless you're a drag racer or serious street cruiser, you won't need this.
Nothing more exudes speed and performance on both the street and strip than a pair of Weber 48IDAs under the deck lid. Not only does it say performance, but it shows anyone nosing around in your engine compartment that you know what you're doing when it comes to the abilities of your VW engine. Now that they're back in production, right from the box, they are ready to be bolted on to win races, allowing your engine to breath properly while continually feeding it with fuel.
Today's Weber carb is a product...
Today's Weber carb is a product of Spain and can be purchased at any number of speed shops and advertisers in this magazine.
The VW performance industry has accounted for more sales of Weber 48IDAs than in any other industry, and it's easy to see why. The IDA is big, really big. It sucks air and pushes fuel at amazing rates, enough for most everyone. However, 48mm does have a limit, and when your engine has reached that limit, don't trade up just yet, as there is still more life left in those IDAs. Why not convert them to 51mm or 52mm?
We know, it doesn't sound right, a Weber 52IDA, but the truth of the matter is that sometimes a 48mm carburetor isn't enough to meet your needs (as a 46mm Weber IDA wasn't enough for the Italian racing teams, so they suggested 48mm instead). There has to be a common ground, a carb that will give you more fuel but will breath right for your setup. Odds are good that this conversion isn't for everyone, and unless you're a drag racer or serious street cruiser, you won't need this.
The stock 48IDA can hold approximately 95cc of fuel in the float bowl (which is only about an eighth of a pint or about 3.2 ounces of fuel), and at full tilt, a monster drag engine can burn through that faster then it can be supplied by the carbs, leaving the engine lean at the top end of the track. A lean engine doesn't perform at its optimum, fowls plugs and could damage any power plant that is already on the "racer's edge." With a few modifications, you can change all of this.
Enter Jack Sacchette, race car driver and owner/operator of JayCee Enterprises in Huntington Beach, Calif., since roughly 1990. During the 1993 PRA season, while running Super Street, he discovered that the 48mm IDAs could no longer meet the demands he placed on them. Remember several years before to 1989 when Sacchette happened to meet a former mechanic for Weber's racing team who clued him in on the secret you are about to see. After the conversion was done, the IDAs provided the fuel and power needed (gaining approximately 0.2sec at the next race). Soon the secret wasn't such a secret. Most all drag cars equipped with IDAs has taken this step, and it is now reaching the street. Jack has done approximately 800 of these conversions, and though they can be done at home with the proper equipment, it isn't recommended because exact tolerances need to be adhered to, and if not, you've turned an expensive set of carbs into paperweights. We recommend that your break down and buildup your own carbs, but send the bare bodies to Jack for the machining. He offers a kit that comes with 51.5mm butterflies, countersunk throttle hardware and carb top hardware.
The best way to achieve a perfect rebuild is to pay attention to the details, mind your parts and keep everything clean. One of a carburetor's biggest enemy is dirt. Since tolerances of the jets and squirters that provide the fuel into the chambers are so small, the tiniest piece of debris could adversely affect your tuning and performance.