I think we lost something along the way.

[Dixie]

I looked at those twin SU carbs, and tried to remember how they work. I couldn't remember much. Sure, my daddy and I rebuilt a pair, but that was fifty years ago. Standing there I realized I was had likely let my mouth write checks my memory couldn't cash.

Wyatt isn't a car guy, but he has an old Spitfire. Judging by the dust covering it I'd guess it was last started well over a year ago. Yesterday, inspired by my tales of automobiles past, Wyatt decided we should remedy that. So we checked the oil, the coolant, and hooked up a new battery. Wyatt turned the key. The motor turned vigorously, but refused to start. That's when I looked at those carbs and realized things were close to exceeding my ability. Worse, I might have to get dirty, and surely break a nail or two. Oh the horror! Remembering that the piston in the carbs is somehow connected to the jet needles, I picked one up a bit. Wyatt turned the key. It started, eventually settling into a rough idle.

Our success made me miss a time when cars where simple. A time when you knew how things worked by simply looking at how they fit together. A time when you could verify there was gas in the tank using a stick. A time when even an old cowboy, and an old rose, could get a dormant car running again.

[Chocaholic]

The good ol' days!

Back when the owners manual included instructions on how to do a valve adjustment. As compared to a modern owners manual that reminds you not to drink the battery water.

[HobieMarty]

Yep, gotta check the oil in those dashpots, they'll get ya every time.
You and Wyatt wanna work on a TR6???

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[LWJ]

I worked on a set of SU's Saturday! And? The car didn't start. Yet.

[Dixie]

Originally Posted by HobieMarty

Yep, gotta check the oil in those dashpots, they'll get ya every time.
You and Wyatt wanna work on a TR6???

Lordy, no, haha. Yesterday I realized my best skill is still in standing there looking pretty.

As the saying goes, men's ability is in lifting heavy things. Women's ability is in getting men to lift heavy things.

[HobieMarty]

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[jyl]

Originally Posted by Dixie

Lordy, no, haha. Yesterday I realized my best skill is still in standing there looking pretty.

As the saying goes, men's ability is in lifting heavy things. Women's ability is in getting men to lift heavy things.

Next level is standing here looking pretty as the men hand you drinks between lifting heavy things!

[GH85Carrera]

I had carb cars from age 16 to age 19 when I bought my 74 914 2.0. Fuel injection is superior in all respects except maybe visual with the 6 one barrels of a early 911.

Then in 1991 I bough my El Camino. It had a Rotten-chester carb that never ran very well. Lots of hesitation, and cold weather starts really sucked. I even visited the local "carb guru" and had him rebuilt it, tune it, and install it. It still would bog down when trying to cross a busy road, nail the throttle and sit in fear as it coughed though about going and finally it decided to go.

In 2011 I had enough and built my own cobbled together throttle body system. Most of it came from a S-10. I had to find "a guy" to burn me a custom chip to work with my engine - transmission and engage lockup only in 4th gear at 50 MPH and above.

For the last 15 years it has been virtually flawless. I had to replace the throttle position switch which cost about $25. It did not have the Porsche tax.

Carbs are neat at WOT to hear the intake scream.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by HobieMarty

Yep, gotta check the oil in those dashpots, they'll get ya every time.

I miss the arguments about what is the best oil to put in the dashpots (10 wt . )

[Zeke]

What's an "old rose?"

Never understood the vacuum controlled dash pots of an SU carb. Wired to the throttle as on a motorcycle makes more sense to me.

Therefore, sounds like Wyatt's car has some compression issues as in not enough intake manifold vacuum. I suffer this on a SBC with a big cam. The overlap kills the vacuum at starting revolutions.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by Dixie

Women's ability is in getting men to lift heavy things.

We can open jars, too!

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Dixie

As the saying goes, men's ability is in lifting heavy things. Women's ability is in getting men to lift heavy things.

Ha ha! I've spent my life being asked by one woman or another to lift this or move that. Not necessarily happy to oblige, I get the proper tool - handcart, pry bar, come-along - and magically perform the task without any manly-man-level effort required.
They never consider the possibility that they could do it themselves if they just used the right tool. I think their mothers trained them that way.

[LWJ]

Having spent many hours with the carbs on my 65 MGB, I have a fondness for twin SU's. If the throttle shafts and bushes are not worn and leaking air, they work well. And, are easy to tune. Me? I was broke and my carbs were shot. So I spent lots of pointless hours with them!

[Dixie]

Originally Posted by jyl

Next level is standing here looking pretty as the men hand you drinks between lifting heavy things!

Damn it! There's always somebody willing to remind me I'm not that pretty, but usually it's a female. Ugh, and lol.

[Alan A]

Spitfires came with ZS. Someone swapped them puppies…

[Dixie]

Originally Posted by Alan A

Spitfires came with ZS. Someone swapped them puppies…

Since you're a Spitfire expert, okay. My extremely limited understanding is only the later years came with SZ carbs. Then again, I'm not even sure what year Spitfire Wyatt owns. Maybe they're swapped, maybe they're not. I'm just hoping you'll explain how this nuance is relevant to the story?

[Alan A]

It wasn't. It was an observation is all.

Why not take the chip off your shoulder - you'll feel lighter for it.

[Bill Douglas]

The good ole days. More like the bad ole days. I hated working on SUs. The stupid needle dropping out etc. Bless fuel injection I say.

[A930Rocket]

I remember synchronizing the carburetors on my Triumph and Z cars. I still have my synchronizer, but it’s gone the way of the dwell meter, etc. It hasn’t been used in ages.