Michael Mayben
IHPA Tech Moderator - Retired & No Longer Online
michael,
are the stromberg or fish carburetors worth pursuing in your opinion? Yes, it looks like the fish will be remade, but it is a very expensive piece. An expert on judsons said that another "upgrade" is a weber 32/36. He did not specify the benefits of a weber, but did mention that it would need an adaptor to work. Space, actually height, is already an issue for this setup, so adding a spacer May not be an option. Do you do work on the strombergs, fish, or webers? What benefits do they offer?
Luckily in the mercedes case, the utilitarian 190 used a different engine than the sporty (at least sporty looking) 190sl. Back in the 80's I purchased a head for a 190, thinking they were the same, and upon receipt saw the significant differences. The 190sl was still not very "powerful", but the judson was reported to add 40% more power. Much better than stock! And even if it does not add a great deal of power, it looks cool as hell!!!!
Great links!! I remember that paxton also made a kit for the mb 190sl. I have read about them, but have yet to see one on a car.
Looking at post #2, I now understand! I do not have one of these. Yet another thing to add to my search! Let me know if you know anyone that May have one of these. Dominick got back with me. The only suggestion he had did not turn up anything. Still waiting for judson to return my email. Still lookin'.
Thanks,
Tom
I'd say in your case, the fish or stromberg would be of no benefit other than the "wow" factor (mainly the fish)! Strombergs used to be layin' around in junkpiles everywhere, but they are a cult item now with the retro-rodders and rat-rodders.
You are exactly right, the judson target market was the very utilitarian "compact" cars that were beginning to revolutionize the American public's car-buying habits! Alotta difference in trying to herd a 36hp beetle down some cart path in bavaria vs. Winding one out on the predecessors to the interstate hiway system in the western u.s.!
As for the weber...I'm trying to fall in love with the 32/36 progressive...but so far I'm coming up short. I've just spent the better part of three days at the carb bench doin' a slew of 1904, couplea Holley 2300, a thermoquad and trying to make a weber dgv work worth shit.
My entire day today was spent running three different 1904 carbs to verify performance before shipping out. Then I installed the weber on the mule motor using the crapola adapter (I have several of those) most folks use to adapt to a single hole intake manifold. Right now, I'm not impressed at all!
More regarding the weber mixer is in this thread:
http://www.forums.IHPartsAmerica.com/fabrication/846-IH-152-196-intake-manifold-rework.html
And tonite, I'll update this thread regarding what I've learned about the webers over the last several days:
http://www.forums.IHPartsAmerica.com/carb-tech/1281-alternative-I-4-engine-carburetion.html
My suggestion for an action plan for ya would be:
I have a 1904 carb ready to go and boxed for ya if you decide ya want it. Tested and jetted like we discussed previously. With that unit we know that when ya mount the judson and work through all the glitches you will encounter, at least the carb won't be a tuning issue.
Then you send me your current 1904 for a core against the one we have for ya. I'll rebuild at my leisure and "hold" it for you on the shelf . If you need it back, then we'll treat it as an outright purchase.
This way, you are keeping a minimum investment in this deal in order to "make run".
Once I finally get a handle on this weber stuff (there are many different weber mixers along with many other mixers that could do the job), we can deal with that with either a new one (very easy to obtain), or maybe a reconditioned unit.
I can see several issues with "adapting" a 32/36 weber to your judson set right now, I just don't see the benefit of complicating things at this point, ya need to make it a driver first! Then down the line we can do many different thing with the carb...including a larger 1904 or a Holley 1920 (or even a 1940).
If you want to pursue a fish (a vintage version), Robert kenney has close ties with socal speed shop, maybe they could kick one up but ya better be prepared to step up to the plate!
