Weber downdraft kit now available

[RootesRacer]

N
I also believe my direct swap of DGV downdraft manifolds with no jetting changes to the carb can be considered and apples to apples comparison.

Agreed.

To get a 17% power improvement would have required compression or revs or both.

 

[alpine_64]

The curved runner later version of the rootes manifold was an improvement over the early solex one... as for the SAOC forum and their opinions.. people converting talk about better throttle response, no more slack in the linkage etc... which means they are comparing new versus worn out components... if they rebuilt their linkage on the strombergs etc... they would say the same and what an improvement. As for efficency going to the DGV will be better.. as for how much the new manifold gains over the original... i agree with jarrid.

A lot of them talk about it as the solution to twin carbs.. i just dont see an issue with twins unless they are neglected/worn.

Also the air filter kit is the ugliest thing i have ever seen in ana alpien engine bay...

 

[ozzie alpine]

I've recently fitted one of the Webcon manifolds, so I thought I'd share my experience.
I travelled to the UK in September (and had business class luggage allowance for my return so I decided to take the opportunity to bring back a few bits and pieces for my cars.

I contacted Jerome ahead of time by email and purchased a kit (everything apart from the carb itself as I have one) and picked it up from him when I was in London.

I now have the manifold fitted, with my re-jetted DGV, complete with the plenum/cold air intake and new linkage.

I was previously using the DGV with a log type manifold, both supplied new from SS (prior to that I just had boxes of various original manifolds and stombergs as the car was in bits). I was never happy with how it ran with that setup; terrible flat spot which I couldn't fix by changing jets. Also, the DGV is a tall carby, and I could only fit a small foam air filter on top. I then changed the carby to a 28/36 DCD, which improved things greatly but I still suffered from a flat spot and difficulty hot starting.

The new setup fits and drives very nicely, almost no flat spot, much more responsive than the DCD when just on the first choke, perhaps not the same kick that the DCD gives when the second choke opens, but generally a much smoother delivery. My hot starting problem seems to have eased. The plenum fits well and I fitted a k&n filter in the nose next to the radiator. I think it looks ok, at least it's better than the domed ramflo foam filter that I had before. Throttle linkage is smooth and an improvement on my previous home modified version.

I haven't put too many miles on it yet, but overall I'm very pleased. Yes it was expensive, but it now makes it more likely that I'll drive the Alpine instead on one of my other cars! I've never had twin strommies on the Alpine, but I have lots of experience of them on other cars. Excellent carbs, but they do need a bit of maintenance and tweaking to get right and will probably eventually leak... I was planning to put a pair back on as I have all the parts, but I'm not sure I'll bother now.

Jerome is the nicest person to deal with you could imagine, and a real Alpine enthusiast (he has several, some original some not). It's hard to fathom the odd negative comment that I've read here about difficulty in getting information or supply. He kindly picked me up from his nearest London tube station in his fabulous duratec (or was it zetec?) Alpine (despite inclement weather) and took me back to his place to pick up the kit, and of course have a cup of tea!
He was happy to supply the whole kit or just the bits that I wanted and supplied suitable jets when I described my engine spec.
Overall, very happy.

 

[RootesRich]

Jerome is the nicest person to deal with you could imagine, and a real Alpine enthusiast (he has several, some original some not). It's hard to fathom the odd negative comment that I've read here about difficulty in getting information or supply.

Dave, the SAOC will NOT sell to the US for claimed legal reasons. Despite my father having both US and UK residences (and asking to ship to his UK residence), they were still very reluctant to sell a manifold to him until he provided a third party UK address. Hence my comment about the "difficulty of supply".

 

[JBS]

New Alpine manifold & Weber 32/36 carb kit

Hi,
Just joined the forum and read with interest the numerous posts with regard to the new Alpine manifold and Weber 32/36 kit.

Firstly, my apologies to Todd Nordby for the long delay in responding.
Thanks, Dave (Ozzie Alpine) for the business, it was good to meet with you and for the kind words written! It was my Zetec Alpine that I picked you up from the station in.

To clear up some of the points raised, my 68 Series 5 is an original unrestored car with approx 69K miles on the clock that was used to test the manifold and carb set up at Webcon’s rolling road facility. I had rebuilt my Stromberg carbs a few years ago and it was running well. The car is used regularly and even made the trip to Cannes (South of France) to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the launch of the Alpine.

My car underwent three long rolling road sessions at Webcon during testing. The first session was with the twin Strombergs, the second with the prototype manifold, new 32/36, plenum chamber, K & N conical filter & linkage and the final session was with the production version of the manifold.
It was rather worrying standing beside your pride and joy when it was run up to 90mph on the rolling road!

I am prepared to sell the kit to any Alpine enthusiast who may be interested.
I prefer to sell the manifold as a part of the conversion kit as it has been designed, jetted and tested as such however, I do understand that some of you may have already purchased a Weber 32/36 and only wish to have the manifold.

I can be contacted at jerome@jeran.com.