Agree that the car looks great... but on the issue of the carbies...

Yes, the Stromberg CD carbies shown in this pic:



...are similar to SUs in function. But they aren't SUs in name, or in detail.

SU (Skinners Union) have been making this slide type of carby for a long time, probably over 90 years. They were fitted forever to a lot of Morris cars, virtually all MGs and Wolseleys and many Daimler, Rover, Range Rover models.

They were also popular in England and Australia (at least) as performance carbies.

The main difference between them and the Stromberg CD is that the vacuum that controls the slide is created over a large piston in the top of the SU, while the CD has a diaphragm instead. I think the CD has a totally different type of jetting as well, but I'm not that familiar with the insides of them.

What I am familiar with is the performance of both. When tuned to the car to which they're fitted they definitely give both performance and economy.

For instance, the Holden Torana GTR XU-1 was a supercar in every sense of the word. With the 186ci engine, and the with the 202, it was close to a match for Ford Australian's Falcon GT HO in everything but top speed.

But it still returned 30mpg (imperial gallons - 4.546 litres) in regular road use! If it wasn't being tramped on severely, it would give very good fuel consumption.

One car I owned was an Austin A99 with a Borg-Warner overdrive. I used to sit that on 110mph (by the speedo... probably 100mph, 162kmh) all the time. It was fitted with two 1.5" SUs and it constantly returned 24mpg. It was a heavy car and even towing my race car on a trailer made very little difference.

The Datsun 180B SSS had SUs made under licence by a Japanese manufacturer. I tossed the original 2-barrel off my 200B and fitted them, tuned them and I had an improvement of about 2mpg as well as better performance. Note that... an improvement in both.

Where I think there may be a problem with the setup on the Val is in the balance tube. I may be wrong, it may be the needles, it may be a dud carby, it may be anything. But with that manifolding (which is similar to the XU-1 and most aftermarket Holden-SU manifolds) you get uneven impulses in each carby. This isn't impossible to overcome, I'm sure.

Anyway, the main aim of this post is to vouch for the statement that SUs can deliver performance and economy at the same time.

Talk to Benno about it, Jimmy... he knows...

And I forgot to say...



What a nice job you've done on those rockers!

We had that engine for years, of course, and with those carbies, but not that manifold, IIRC. It was sold here in the Humber Vogue with an iron head, in the Hillman Hunter GT with an alloy head, and probably the Sunbeam Alpine as well.

Tough engines, but don't overtension the head bolts!

thats what i like to hear! performance AND power under my bonnet. sounds like a dream thats too good to be true. ben is going to message me one quiet night and i'll drive down the coast and meet him so he can have a look at my set up. i'm just hoping i'll make it down there. the leak in the extractors is getting worse and i think i'll be getting pacemaker extractors. i just hope when i get the new extractors fitted its not going to require the carburettors to be adjusted agtain. hopefully ben will show me how to do all this myself though. i'm really looking foreward to it.

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Classic, not plastic

Did you get my e.mail today, Jimmy?

You'll find that Ben will be very helpful. He likes helping people especially if they are learning to help themselves, just as I do. But those SUs are tricky things, so it might take a bit to get them there.

They do look good though, don't they?

If you're feeling jealous, there's SU carb-tuning fun available here...

This is/was Marc Whiteacre's Valiant. He was running SUs but not any more. The manifold and carbs come with the car. Don't know if it's still for sale, but the ad is currently up on the MoparMarket forum in Oz.

Cool car.

http://www.moparmarket.com/classifieds_ ... edad=16596

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1966 Chrysler (Australia) VC Valiant Safari Station Wagon

SU's are actually quite simple to set up, certainly no worse than any other model carb.
The problems usually come from lack of knowledge/fear of obtaining knowledge and that SU's are usually found in pairs or more.
And as we all know, multiple carbs are just harder to set up correctly, no matter what they are.

Regards, Andrew.

yeah, i'm finding thats the case. getting all of them in line without a color tune or any other tools. i had a friend help me out and balance them for me, but i still wasnt getting fuel efficency, so i decided to crack at it my self. i just tried changing the mixture so it wasnt as rich. now i just have no power and the same bad fuel economy.

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Classic, not plastic

As I said, find an old Jaguar specialist. They know multi SU setups.
If you want to tune it yourself, you'll need a vacuum gauge setup and knowledge of how to read plugs, plus a selection of needles and jets.
Pseronally, I'd take it to a Jaguar specialist if I was you, multiple carbs is no place to start learning about carbs!

Regards, Andrew.