Air filter options for Zetec with Weber 40 carbs

[josephmoore]

I have (well, had) a pair of the unbranded chrome filters on Weber DCOE 40 carbs. The spot welds on the bracket which attaches the endplate have given up and now all I've got is a slightly damaged filter element and a broken backplate. Not particularly useful.

So, I have the option of trying to get another cheap one - I probably got unlucky with the welds - or I could take the other one off and buy a new pair or try a different setup.

What would you do? What are people's favourite filter brands? Foam vs paper/cotton? What are the foam socks like? Two units (eg K&N or ITG) or one huge filter (eg Pipercross)? Should I just make up an airbox and route some pipework for a cone filter and a cool air intake? I do love the noise from the carbs sucking all that air in though!

There are so many options, I really haven't made my mind up and will probably mull it over for a bit before I spend any money.

[flipper123]

i wouldnt buy socks 40,s suck them up. id get the k&n type that will match your trumpets.they range between 40 to sixty pound for one filter and plates

[stylussprinter]

I used twin Ramair foam socks on my 45's till I changed to throttle bodies 7 years later without any sucking in issues plus they're a cheap solution.

[josephmoore]

Might be a daft question; but with the twin trumpet socks, does the choke breathe through the sock or just to unfiltered air?

[MattD]

I've got an ITG filter element sitting in my tool draw going spare.
Was on my Zetec silvertop + jenveys, until i replaced with 4x pipercross socks.
Not sure if I have the backplate though, will have to check.
Could be persuaded to part with it !?

Can't remember why I swapped though, was a while back now

[stylussprinter]

Might be a daft question; but with the twin trumpet socks, does the choke breathe through the sock or just to unfiltered air?

I never connected the choke cable from new build , Webers just don't need a choke . Two squirts and away they go , never failed.

[josephmoore]

You know, that's an assumption on my part that they're actually connected to something. There's certainly no manual cable, so maybe they're not hooked up. I'll have to take a look. It's been a long time since (my first car, a Mini of course) that I've had a non injection engine on anything other than an outboard motor!

Matt, thanks for the offer - I'll bear it in mind. I'm a sucker for having things matching though...

[stylussprinter]

By the way , the twin sock Ramairs were £16 the pair Joe

[pigeondave]

I have a drawing of the ITG back plate that you can print out as an A3 if you want.
I would go for the ITG box filter. My only problem is that it wont quite fit under the Fury classic bonnet.(Unless mounted upside down I think)
As long as the sock style filters are not tight over the ends of the trumpets I don't think they would suck up.
My ones have about 3/4 of an inch clearance.
You could always check my revving the engine and seeing if they get sucked on.

As for the choke im not too sure what the question is. The other little hole on the webers is the fuel overflow.

[josephmoore]

Thinking about it, that hole's more likely to be a vent or something to do with the idle than the choke. To clear up any confusion if some one can tell me what it is, it's this one:

Image shamelessly nicked from Google

Ramair socks are sounding like the winner at the moment, even though they seem to have doubled in price in the past decade.

[josephmoore]

Apparently the little hole is the float chamber breather and has no vacuum so so doesn't have to be filtered.

Spoke to one Ramair stockist who said that he doesn't supply twin socks with a 90mm spacing. Might speak to them direct.

[MattD]

I have an 8JC50 baseplate (88.5mm spacing), plus JC50 100mm internal foam filter.
Low mileage & clean, cosmetically weathered.

If the spacing is correct, I'll post a few pics.

[josephmoore]

I think the spacing is going to be too narrow (zetecs are 93mm I believe?), but the depth is good. PM'd you about it - might use the back plate to trace out a new one with the correct spacing.

[MattD]

Hi Joe

Spacing might not be right for you, but the filter was fitted to my zetec - with Jenvey 45 Throttle bodies, on a Raceline DCOE type manifold - they use the same manifold for carb's & bodies.

Matt

[josephmoore]

Well, quite a faff. Ended up ordering a pair of ITG Megaflow JCS-21 socks from EP Racing. They make three types: the ones I needed (small double), a small single and a large single. Box turned up with a packing slip saying two small singles and contained two large singles. Useless! Posted them back, got the right ones second time around, will fit them tomorrow (got a can of filter oil waiting for me at the Post Office depot) and hopefully that'll be job done.