Carbs I

I'm on a quest.  A quest to bring SU carburetion to Alice.  And I'm making progress.

The ZS carb and all the related emissions equipment is definitely a nonstarter for me.  The car runs - but not so well, and there are so many hoses and things that it just doesn't look maintainable.  So I'm going back to a simpler time, where dual SUs roamed the land freely and without fear.

I've got lots of parts.  I have most of four HS4 carburetors, and an intake and exhaust manifold to match.  For me, job 1 is to get those cleaned up, starting with the carbs.

They don't look too good at first glance.  But there's gold in them thar hills.

I have three AUD465s and one AUD405.  I have carb bodies with and without vacuum advance takeoff (I have a mechanical advance distributor, so I don't need it).  I have carb bodies with and without crankcase ventilation.  So I picked the two bodies that appeared to match up how I wanted and two dashpot/pistons that match in configuration and drop rate, and started cleaning.

B-12 Chemtool is my friend.

The result:

I still have some work to make the dashpots look nice, but all the components are clean and ready for assembly.  I now also have a rebuild kit for two carbs waiting for installation, and springs and needles and stuff too.  Fortunately, my car's dash has a blank where the manual choke would go, so my new choke cable will work out fine once I get the linkage I am searching for...

While that's going on, I got after the stuff in the car.  I removed the air pump, air rail, and manifolds.  Again, my luck holds - stuff comes apart on this car pretty easily.

I have much less stuff under the bonnet now... which will be replaced with HS4 goodness.

Next job under there is to remove the old exhaust system, which would have been replaced regardless.  I have a new Bell stainless exhaust on order to match the configuration I'm installing, and it will be glorious.

Next time: some carburetor rebuild action!