SU Overhaul & Replacement

[Heuer]

Despite my carbs being 'overhauled' nine years ago it seems the throttle spindles had worn meaning it was difficult to set the idle at 750rpm and sometimes the engine would cut out altogether. It also allows air to leak past the spindles so upsetting the mixture. Having asked around, a typical SU restoration takes 6 to 8 weeks which would have taken the car off the road for the summer. I recalled having a chat with David Lonsdale of Classic Carburettors at Stoneleigh as he had a beautifully restored set of E-Type SU carbs on display, for sale at about ?1,950. I rang David and explained my predicament and asked whether he was prepared to part exchange my set with his restored ones. He readily agreed and was happy to deliver them and pick up the old ones, all for ?495. Swap has now been done but here are some pictures before they were put on the car:




They look absolutely superb and the car is running better than ever. So if you need any work on your SU's I can heartily recommend David. Great person to deal with. Contact David Lonsdale Classic Carburettors davidnlonsdale@aol.com T: 07786 912011 - he is based in Cirencester.


Original carbs


Lonsdale Carbs

David

[Erikantwerp]

David,

waaaw, they look awesome. great swap !
cheers
Erik

[MarkE]

Good to know, David. Is he just a carb man / SU man or does he undertake other work?
Mark

[Heuer]

Mark

Just SU carbs as far as I know.

[harryetype]

Your right David, I have mine rebuilt and end up waiting 6-8 weeks. if I need a set in hurry I'll give him a go.

Have you fitted the larger needle jets that came with the air filter? and what exhaust manifold do you have.

As I've just fitted the ITG filter and the new needles and it was far too rich, I ended up putting the originals back on and it's tuned up perfectly. However it is on a standard exhaust at the moment.

[Heuer]

Harry

I tried the supplied Rob Beere needles but they were still too rich. CMC put it on the rolling road and did some playing around eventually ending up with UU needles.

One of the things the rolling road proved, although Andrew Turvey had already predicted, was a drop in the torque curve between 2,500 and 3,000 rpm. They think this is down to my current extractor manifold being too wide at 2.25" which does not speed up the exhaust gases sufficiently at low revs. Car is measuring 225 bhp@4,916 and 260lb/ft@3,700 at the wheels - about 280bhp at the flywheel. Suggestion was to use standard E-Type manifolds into a big bore s/s exhaust. My current exhaust system is plain steel and the sound is fantastic. I really do not like the sound of stainless steel systems so I want to keep it the way it is but solve the problem. The standard manifolds would give me more torque but reduce bhp at the top end.

I have bought a Classicfabs s/s extractor manifold and am going up to Girvan to have it fitted to my existing silencers. The design is by Uyrek at E-Type Fabs and seems to address the torque valley very nicely. The manifolds are a work of art and I will take a camera with me next week and post some pictures. This should be the ideal mix of performance and soundtrack.

Check out Classicfabs, way better than anything else out there - trust me on this!

[harryetype]

You cant beat the sound of mild steel exhaust, Ive managed to track down all the original unused mild steel pipes for my V12, all I need to complete it is a balance pipe and one down pipe and there.

I might try it with UU's

Cheers