Morris Minor Owners Club

stupid question really, but how does one fine tune the carb to actually get it to work right?


i ask as my carb with filthy and sticking, so i took the whole lot to bits, cleaned and oiled but in doing that i lost all the setting and consequently the car now runs like a bag of spanners.
it coughs and stutters when setting off, i have to use full choke even to get it started and if i get the wrong gear the whole car coughs and stutters again.
When i reassembled it, i screwed in the brass nut all the way in and then 2 /2.5 times back out and tried to set the other two screws so it idled evenly, but after much fiddling, it hasn't worked all that well

in hindsight i dont think i should of dismantled the carb that thoroughly tbh

You will always need choke to start (especially if it's snowing!) but if the car won't run without choke once warmed up it indicates the mixture is too lean. Your initial setting sounds about right. Try setting the idle medium fast and screw the brass nut down until the engine starts to miss, then back up until it idles smoothly. If the carb has a lifting pin try lifting it gently about 1/8 inch. If the reva lift then mixture too rich, if it stutters it is too lean and if it stays about the same it's about right

What exactly did you do to the carb? I presume you replaced all the seals etc?

Make sure the piston can rise and fall easily - with a nice clunk. And some 3 in 1 oil in the damper pot.

all i did to the carb was take it all to bits, wash lovingly in petrol and reassemble. None of the seals where touches, i just managed to remove all the settings.

silly s*d really.

However i managed to kill the whole engine electrics today but simply doing nothing, so she is back in the drive way until tomorrow night when i will crack on with repairs and fine tuning

cleaned and oiled

Don't put any oil on the damper, just in it.