Sorting the Strombergs
Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2015 2:55 am
First off thanks to all who've answered my new-guy questions in other threads. Time for questions of consequence to start being asked.
As some of you know, the Elan is new to me and I have yet to drive it due to several issues needing sorting first. The Stromberg carbs are one such issue. First, some background:
The engine was rebuilt two owners ago (but the rebuild only has about 500 miles on it to date...long story), and the rebuild included modifying the head to big valves and milling to Sprint specs, and a Dave Bean 112 cam ('hot street,' high lift/duration), and .020" bore-over. Despite all that, the intake system was unmolested- the emissions setup was all still intact!
The engine will run, as I started it and ran it for a couple of minutes two days ago- but there are some carburetion problems.
The first is that there is a leak from the O-ring on the brass plug in the bottom of one of the bowls...I know what to do about that and will be ordering rebuild kits. May as well go through and make sure that all the perishable bits are fresh (interestingly, the diaphragms seem new in appearance an pliability).
The needles are B1G and they don't look so good. The needle in one is all green, so I suspect the jet is corroded- better to renew both needle and jet, I assume? The other needle is coated with hard, dark brown crud, the removal of which I assume risks damaging the needle. I saw in another thread that the B2AR needle is a popular choice- would it work well with the above-described engine characteristics?
Today I removed the preheater pipes as advised in other threads. I have read that finding a non-emissions manifold is ideal but blanking off the ports where the pipes went will do. Would I be correct to assume that a much shorter connection between the ports would serve no particular advantage over simply blanking them off? Am I also correct to assume that there is no reason to bother blanking the ports on the exhaust manifold?
As some of you know, the Elan is new to me and I have yet to drive it due to several issues needing sorting first. The Stromberg carbs are one such issue. First, some background:
The engine was rebuilt two owners ago (but the rebuild only has about 500 miles on it to date...long story), and the rebuild included modifying the head to big valves and milling to Sprint specs, and a Dave Bean 112 cam ('hot street,' high lift/duration), and .020" bore-over. Despite all that, the intake system was unmolested- the emissions setup was all still intact!
The engine will run, as I started it and ran it for a couple of minutes two days ago- but there are some carburetion problems.
The first is that there is a leak from the O-ring on the brass plug in the bottom of one of the bowls...I know what to do about that and will be ordering rebuild kits. May as well go through and make sure that all the perishable bits are fresh (interestingly, the diaphragms seem new in appearance an pliability).
The needles are B1G and they don't look so good. The needle in one is all green, so I suspect the jet is corroded- better to renew both needle and jet, I assume? The other needle is coated with hard, dark brown crud, the removal of which I assume risks damaging the needle. I saw in another thread that the B2AR needle is a popular choice- would it work well with the above-described engine characteristics?
Today I removed the preheater pipes as advised in other threads. I have read that finding a non-emissions manifold is ideal but blanking off the ports where the pipes went will do. Would I be correct to assume that a much shorter connection between the ports would serve no particular advantage over simply blanking them off? Am I also correct to assume that there is no reason to bother blanking the ports on the exhaust manifold?