Section : Engine Tuning

Tuning in Birmingham (or Midlands)

Posted By : Matthew Reeve, 27-Oct-2005, 03:55pm

• Tuning in Birmingham (or Midlands)

  Posted By : Neil Nasralla, 27-Oct-2005, 04:23pm

  Matthew have you thought about having a go yourself? Why do you think it is running rich? What are the symptoms you are getting from the car?
  
  Many questions I know. You should be able to get the car running pretty close to perfect by having a go yourself if the problem is just setting up the carburettors. Have you changed anything else on the car recently? What has changed?
  
  There are methods that explain how to do all this without any kit at all.
  
  Essentially there are only 4 adjustments 2 on each carb. One for mixture and one for throttle on each carb.
  
  If the carbs are running rich then you can test lifting the throttle raising thingy by a small amount. You can see which carb is off by doing this. Try using James C's utility on his website (mintylamb.co.uk) which explains all the basics. You won't go far wrong using that technique and it won't cost you a penny and you will feel great having got the tuning right. I think that is the fun with these cars.
  
  Best of luck, Neil

  • Tuning in Birmingham (or Midlands)

    Posted By : Matthew Reeve, 30-Oct-2005, 00:15am

    Neil,
    
    Thanks for your advice. Basically (as I don't know any other way *yet*) I have been driving it regularly, and the poor thing couldn't cope with the big hills I have to negotiate on the way home one day, so I stopped as it was undriveable. The guy who came to pick me up looked at it and recognised it as a misfire, and found that two of the spark plugs were very sooty. He changed one and it seemed to be ok for a while, but it didn't improve back to its usual standard. I changed the second, and examined the exhaust, which is coated in a nice layer of soot.
    
    I've taken it out for a diagnosis ride, and once it gets hot, it'll lose power mid-range. The most obvious thing (as far as I can work out) is that it's running rich, so as this is something I've never done before, I want to watch someone else do it, and ideally someone who has the equipment. I will give it a go tomorrow (to be honest, mintylamb is the best example I have found as it has pictures, yey) and see if I can do anything.
    
    Matthew

    • Tuning in Birmingham (or Midlands)

      Posted By : Jonathan Binnington, 30-Oct-2005, 08:32am

      take a look at the carb diaphragms, betcha one is split

• Tuning in Birmingham (or Midlands)

  Posted By : Jonathan Binnington, 27-Oct-2005, 07:22pm

  there's jonathan binnington in the black country...