Carter W-O or Solex?

I have a l-head, and the W-O carburetor was rebuilt, but I went to adjust the float level today and found that it really wasn't rebuilt (I will be talking to the shop who supposedly did the rebuild tomorrow about that...it was rebuilt last year)

I am wondering, I can get a Solex carb shipped to my door for around $100. What advantages does the Solex have over the W-O? any thoughts and opinions about each would be nice also.

are there other carbs out there I could use? if so what are they.

 

I've heard mixed reviews of the Solex. I switched my L-head over to one more out of necessity rather then choice (I was about 3000 miles from home and couldn't get a kit for my Carter in time and had to have the Solex drop-shipped to me). I bolted it on and it works great. No real issues.

That being said, I plan to switch back to my Carter WO as soon as I have an extra hour or so to rebuild it. It might just be me, but a finely tuned Carter on an L-head just goes together so well.. It was original, I'm sure Barney Roos chose that carb for a reason.

If it were me I'd spend around $55 and get one of the "master" carb kits for the WO, rebuild it, tune it, and run it. If you get all your ducks in a row with the Carter you won't be dissapointed.

Just my .02
- Evan

 

yeah, I read some of the reviews too...thing is is that I payed $75 for the guys to do it, and nothing was done! I also can't figure out how to tune it, its tricky, right one minute, wrong the next, and then you can't get it right again, might be because it was never rebuilt, but I don'no. With the W-O installed the engine wouldn't rev above 2500 with out spitting and sputtering. It was like their was a governor on it. I could steal the W-O off my dad's truck and see if that changed anything, I know that one is tuned right.

I'm going to give the shop a chance, they were very nice to me when I took it back in and showed them. I might get it done for free.

 

It's worth seeing if that shop will rebuild it, so I'd go that route first.

As for the Solex though...I have one on my Jeep and I love it. I rebuilt my old carter a couple times and it worked ok, but I never got it quite right. I got the Solex as a Christmas present one year, threw it on, and it's been working great for quite a while. Seems easier to tune and seems to have a tiny bit better throttle response, but that probably just because it was new and the carters I have are kind of beat.

 

I swapped a Solex on the 3a and really like it. the jeep would tend to sit for a while sometimes and was always having carb. issues with the W-O. We got it rebuilt a few times then swapped to the Solex it now fires right up and runs great even after a long sit. I have noticed on the Solex that ofter a long sit some times a splash of fuel in the carb. is needed to prime it, then it fires right up and runs great.