Carb Rebuild question............

[CHILEAN MINOR]

I need my carb, off the 56, rebult as its playing up and theink the vaccum slide is slightly kinked, dont know how. But it does not return completely to the bottom unless I loosen one of the screws

Ive called SU carbs, but they want £210 + Vat to rebuild it and takes 6-8 weeks.

Is there anyone else I can try, who might be a little cheaper and quicker

Thanks in advance....

[bmcecosse]

Try turning the 'bell' round 180 degrees.... And carefully clean both the piston and the inside of the bell - with nothing more than WD40, although a little T cut may be acceptable if the WD 40 doesn't do the trick......... Try the piston in the bell , away from the rest of the carb - does it slide ok? If so -the problem lies with the alignment of the jet assembly in the base of the carb. To resolve that - loosen the large nut slightly - move the piston up/down till it runs free - then nip up the nut.....

[Tamsin]

Its not hard to rebuild a carb - even I've managed it in the past!!

Get a rebuild kit from one of the normal suspects and spend an hour or so doing it yourself - they even give you instructions

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

You could either 1. buy a rebuild kit at a fraction of the cost and do it yourself, or 2. buy the rebuild kit and take it to an independent garage who know what they're doing and have them do it, if you're not confident yourself.

I stripped an SU for the first time recently and they're very simple, but then I am very mechanically minded.

I think the hardest part is centring the jet.

BTW 6-8 weeks is ridiculous. It can be done in 1-2 days tops.

[Alec]

Hello JowettJavelin,

"BTW 6-8 weeks is ridiculous. It can be done in 1-2 days tops."

That is a reflection of the amount of work the company has on, not how long it takes to rebuild a carburettor which will be in hours.
I agree with BMCE, it's more than likely that it is not centered, once that is done all should be well, probably not worth even getting an overhaul kit.

Alec

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

I know the company has to finish other jobs before they start on your own carb, but 6-8 weeks does seem excessive to me, especially if it means the car will be off the road for that time. Add to this the fact that they are specialists in SU's and you would think turnaround would be much faster. (Perhaps they are missing business opportunities here?)

Try an independent garage which will have it done within a week.

But first of all have a fiddle with it, see if it is the jet not centred properly, which can be cured fairly easily.

[bmcecosse]

Don't waste money on an 'overhaul' - just get the piston sliding nicely.......

[CHILEAN MINOR]

Hi BMC & guys, well, I HAVE fitted a rebuild kit myself and was quite easy, reason for doing this was that it never ran correctly, very rich even after max adjustment. I even painted it and made it look bling . Put it all back together and still got the same problems. I found that when applying the choke, the main jet would not return fully into the carb and felt like it was snaging. I did soak the cork seals for about 2 days before assembling it.

What I have found, after trying everything yesterday including turning the bell 180, cleaning the sides of the slide and inside the bell, that when I screw the bell down with the 2 screws, it pulls the bell very slightly to one side when you tighten the second screw abd when I ease the screw off slightly, and take the damper out whike engine running, I can see the slide move up and down freely. when I tighten the screw the slide doesn't move up when i pull on the throttle makes me think its somehow got a kink in either the bell ends or on the body where the bell screws to. Its doing my head in, and as my girlfriend uses it daily, I thought i'd bite the bullet and just replace the whole thing.

Might just rip the whole lot off and mount a Turbo and fuel injection on it

[bmcecosse]

No great harm running it with just the one screw. As you say - someone may have dropped it at some point. The piston must lift easily - and drop back with a nice clunk. The jet may just need centering now - but problems like that are exactly why I try to avoid touching the carb. If it works - leave well alone. Plenty of secondhand carbs around - but try with just one screw tightened up TIGHT and see if that works!

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

makes me think its somehow got a kink in either the bell ends

You don't want a kink in your bell-end

[CHILEAN MINOR]

makes me think its somehow got a kink in either the bell ends

You don't want a kink in your bell-end

I was waiting for that one

BMC, will try with just the one screw and see how I get on. i have been in touch with Minorparts and they have a second hand one for £20 which I should receive this week so will try that too and hope its not been messed about with.