Weber carburetor
Weber carburetors are carburetors from the former manufacturer Fabbrica Italiana Carburatori Weber , which are now produced by Magneti Marelli .
Historical development
The Fabbrica Italiana Carburatori Weber was founded in 1923 by Eduardo Weber (1889–1945) in Bologna , Italy. Edoardo Weber first worked at Fiat's Turin plant. In 1913 he graduated from the University of Turin as a mechanical engineer and went to Bologna in 1914 as part of a job with a Fiat dealer .
In the aftermath of World War I , gasoline and diesel fuel were extremely expensive. For this reason Weber developed conversion kits for trucks on his own, which enabled the use of the significantly cheaper lamp oil or petroleum . This resulted in conversion kits for Fiat cars and later the first Weber carburettor (around 1920), part of a conversion kit for a supercharged Fiat 501 . This carburetor had two passages of different sizes, a small one for low engine speeds and a larger one for high engine speeds and high load conditions. This principle of the two different channel diameters seems to be Weber's own development. It works not only with supercharged engines, but also with naturally aspirated engines . There were advantages both in running the engine and in reduced fuel consumption. That is why these first forerunners of a register carburetor became common modifications to Fiat 501 S used as a taxi in Italy at the end of the 1920s. Another Weber development were carburetors with two identical sized passages, the so-called double carburetors.
The use of Weber carburettors in motorsport has a long tradition. As early as the early 1930s, various vehicles were equipped with Weber carburettors, for example. B. 1931 a Grand Prix vehicle from Maserati with 50 DCO flat current double carburetors. Other vehicles were e.g. B. converted Alfa 8C with one or two loaders. Most successful was probably a 1933 turbocharged eight-cylinder type 2900 with two single carburetors, one for each charger. One of the largest double carburetors is likely a 58 DCO that was used in a Formula 1 racing car in the 1970s. The number 58 indicates that each passage of this double carburetor has a diameter of 58 mm.
The success of the vehicles equipped with Weber carburetors aroused interest worldwide and made Weber a successful carburetor manufacturer. Thanks to his good contacts with Fiat, Alfa and Maserati, Weber managed to market his carburettors as standard equipment for almost every Italian car. So later from the small Fiat, z. B. a Fiat 500 with IBC single carburetor, via Alfa Giulia with a DCOE double carburetor to a Ferrari 12-cylinder with 6 DCNF double carburetors, the most diverse vehicles are equipped with Weber carburetors ex works. One of the reasons for the success of these carburettors in the field of motorsport may have been the comparatively simple construction (mostly bores and nozzles) and the resulting high reliability.
After Eduardo Weber's death in 1945, Fiat showed interest in the company and in 1952 took over 50% of the company's shares. In 1986 Fiat also took over the competing carburetor manufacturer Solex . Both companies were merged and in 2001 they became part of the Magneti Marelli Powertrain company . The factory for the production of Weber carburettors was relocated from Italy to Spain in the run-up to 1992. Some parts, such as the production of the 48-IDA twin carburetors, were later sold to the US. When they were later bought back, production tools were lost, which meant that the 48-IDA twin carburettors were not manufactured for a long time and their price skyrocketed. Production of these carburettors started up again in the early 2000s, which was reflected in the price shortly afterwards. Since this type of carburetor is also used in older American vehicles with V8 engines , it was worth building new tools for production. The situation is different with the IDA triple carburetors, which are used in older six-cylinder engines from Porsche .
The best-known Weber carburettors were the double carburetors of the types DCOE, IDA and DNCF. The development of the register carburetor can largely be traced back to Weber; they were used as standard in the DS and subsequent larger Citroën since the 1950s . Weber also manufactured single carburetors, which were mainly installed ex works in vehicles from VW , Opel and Ford as well as the Italian vehicle manufacturers Fiat , Alfa Romeo and Lancia .
During the early 2000s, UK- based Webcon took over directing production of the twin carburetors after production in Spain had ceased for some time. Since then, most of these carburettors are no longer delivered in cardboard boxes with the yellow-blue Magneti Marelli emblem, but in cardboard boxes that are almost identical in shape and color (red, white and yellow) to the old Weber cardboard boxes, including the characteristic underlined big red W for Weber.
Today's use
Today Weber carburettors are particularly common in vehicles used in vintage and youngtimer motorsport. However, they are also very popular with fans of muscle cars . In the German-speaking area, only a few providers are still dealing with the sales and, above all, the installation and coordination of Weber carburetors.
literature
- Modern high-performance carburetor. (Weber double flat-current carburetor DCO) In: Motor Vehicle Technology 8/1958, pp. 306-307.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Magneti Marelli / History ( Memento of March 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Workshop manual Citroën D-Modell, Volumes I – IV
- ↑ Citroën Manual CX Series I & II