In 1977, I bought a 289 Cobra with Weber carburetors
Over the years, lots of people have asked me how I got into doing what I do. I bought my first Cobra, CSX 2495, in 1977, and it had a really hot 289 with Weber carburetion. It accelerated like a rocket, but it drove very poorly under 2500 rpm. I loved the carburetors, so I was determined to get them to work right, despite what everyone was telling me...like "You can't run them on the street...take them off and put on a four barrel". I got lots of advice from people who basically knew nothing. As in many things, it's usually the ones with no actual experience that have the most to say.
I bought every book and piece of literature on Webers that I could get my hands on, none of which had anything to do with V8's, but the theory was there. I invested hundreds of dollars into jets and metering pieces, and I began a tuning process that lasted for 1-1/2 years, keeping detailed notes of every change I made and how every change effected the drivability and performance of the car. I played with float levels, fuel pressure; everything. In the end, that Cobra was a very pleasant car to drive, and I learned a LOT about tuning Weber carburetors.
At the time, I also had a '65 GT350, which I'd owned since 1974, so with the Cobra dialed-in, I built a set of Webers for the GT350. At that time, used Weber setups were easy to come by, and soon my GT350 had Webers too. I was really comfortable working on these carburetors, and I was getting a lot of horsepower out of the engines without sacrificing drivability on the street. But what I really wanted was a 427 Cobra, so I started looking for one. Back then, of course, they were still affordable. Remember, this was in "the old days".
At the end of 1978, I traded the 289 Cobra plus some cash for a 427 Cobra, CSX 3318. When I got it, it had an 850 Holley four barrel on it, which I could not wait to remove. First, I put together a factory 427 dual Holley 4-barrel setup with the stock Holley 652's, which ran better...until I could locate an original Holman-Moody 427 medium riser Weber manifold and four used Weber 48IDA carburetors.
I found a setup, rebuilt the carburetors, and scratch-built a linkage. It took me another year of experimentation to work out the right jetting for the 427 MR engine. My Cobra was fast with the twin Holleys, but with the Webers, it was amazing. I could idle it down to 1000 rpm's in 4th gear, step on the gas, and motor off, much to the amazement of my passengers. I impressed a lot of people with that car, and I enjoyed demonstrating the versatility of the Webers. Plus, I admit, I really liked showing off how nice they ran.
On my 427 Cobra, everything under the hood was chromed except the block and heads. It was my "business card" as well as my hot rod for a lot of years. I drove this car every day all summer long, and I thought nothing of driving it out-of-state to weekend events.
The story behind the "angle-cut" 427 manifolds
Webers became my business
By 1979, I was in business building complete Weber systems for other Cobra and GT350 owners. I was active in Cobra and Shelby circles at the time, so the work kept coming. There were used intakes and carburetors all over the place, and it kept me going for a while, but in 1979, I established Inglese Induction Systems and started casting my own manifolds for Ford and Chevy V8's.
The company soon became America's largest producer of Weber carburetion systems for V8 engines. We built many, many V8 Weber setups over the years, did a lot of dyno work, travelled all over the country, and made a lot of friends along the way. I flew back and forth to California dyno'ing engines, and we travelled everywhere to all the major shows, doing hands-on tuning of customers' cars wherever we went. I even did some dyno work with Buick Motor Division in Flint, Michegan on their new V6's (I designed a twin 3-Barrel setup for that engine, using Porsche carburetors).
We never went to a big event anywhere without bringing our tuning supplies. We carried around $2000 worth of parts and jets in a big tackle box. When it was opened up, it reminded me of a stadium. I still have it. When we were at any national event, if you had a problem with Webers, whether they were ours or not, we tuned your car for you....at no charge.
I sold Inglese Induction Systems some years ago, and it has passed through two owners. It was last owned by Comp Cams in Tennessee. I was not affiliated with that company in any way. They had bought the brand and eventually dropped Weber carburetion to just build EFI's. Today, Inglese Induction Systems is no longer in business.
I came out of "retirement" in the winter of 2010 to get back into what I always enjoyed... building custom Weber carburetion systems. Within a few years thereafter, the market pulled me into fuel injection and today, we re one of the highest-volume fuel injection shops in the world and we ship everywhere on the globe. If you'd like me to build a system for you, you will be working with me personally.
If you don't have an engine yet, I'll be happy to help you get one built by my own engine builder in Connecticut, Fitzgerald Automotive in Beacon Falls. Darryl Fitzgerald is one of the nicest and most accommodating guys you will ever deal with, and he knows his stuff. He also offers a great warrantee and you'll find his prices offer a big bang for the buck. He isn't out to break the bank (that's why he's my engine builder). www.fitzgeraldautomotivellc.com. Darryl and I did a lot of dyno work on 8-stack engines when I lived in Connecticut.
6000 RPM Dyno Test
Here's a look at a 6000 rpm dyno test Darryl and I did on a smallblock Chevy 383 stroker on July 13th, 2013. Turn your speakers up and enjoy the music.