Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I only just noticed, my dellortos,

one is a dhla40, the other a dhla 40E...

this is wrong, right?

is the car running o.k. If the answer is yes then just drive it

dgym wrote:one is a dhla40, the other a dhla 40E...this is wrong, right?

Unless I'm mistaken your car is an S3 ?? if so both are wrong as Dellorto's were not fitted to S3's
As I recall the Sprint's were fitted with DHLA 40' s although I dont what the difference is......at least neither of the 40's or 40E's are emission carbs so if they have the same number of progression holes and with the correct jets etc. mixing them will probably work

Anorak fact, in June/July `67 (S3 time) Webers weren`t available and Dellortos were fitted. I know that for a definite maybe.
Jim

it seems to be running fine...but is it meant to be FASTER!!???

A friend of mine has done back to back dyno runs with Webers and Dellortos on his twin cam with no difference in engine performance once they are both setup optimally.

cheers
Rohan

Oh i have no problem with having dellortos AT ALL.

Just wondering about one being an E and the other not. It would mean a replacement has happened at some stage I'm guessing.

If they were fitted originally by Lotus as they had run out of Webers anything is possible ..... maybe a mix of E and non E Dellortos was all they could get at short notice

If fitted afterwards by some previous owner then again anything possible - even more so I guess

cheers
Rohan

I had a similar thing with the Dellortos on my plus2. On closer inspection there were 2 things to note:-

1. Although the floats in each had the same part number (7298.1) one weighes 8.5g and the other 10g, which require different height settings.
2. One carb had a downward squirting pump jet and the other a horizontal one. I changed them both to horizontal, but can't honestly say i noticed any difference.

I believe the progression holes are different in number, placement, and diameter between the two families. I also believe the E's have an air balance circuit and vacuum taps. Both are excellent carbs.

The way it was explained to me, the no suffix carbs are designed to get on the mains as soon as possible. The E's have more progression holes to extend the transition range and enable the delay of the onset of the mains. Presumably, this would enhance around town drivability and good mileage, yet retain high speed performance and enhance tunability.

Bill

A little more on the differences here:
lotus-carbs-f40/dellorto-dhla-dhla-40e-t21915.html

So presumably Having two different carbs with different progressions would mean they will never really be in synch?
I SWORE to myself I would not mess around with carbs anymore and here I am thinking about it!