Amen Bob, everything I wanted to say but didn't want to type, so I just
defended my point with the cost difference between new SU's and donated
Webers with a thirteen dollar rebuild kit.
Thanks
>
>I suppose if you want a stock car to run as stock, then you need some of
>those "Skinners Union" things. And, I suppose, it I ever had a 'new' set
>of SUs then maybe I would think they are okay. But they are infinitely
>tunable because they are infinitely worn by the time I get to own them.
>There is no reason to sell performance parts for SUs because just
>peddling the stock pieces is so profitable.
>
>On the cars I've had with twin SUs, it always worked out that either one
>worked okay but neither one wanted to work together. Sorta like that
>fine Atlanta republican rep: "Cooperation but not Compromise."
>
>The little car could be made to idle okay but that was usually by
>choking down whichever one of them had the most worn throttle shafts.
>And eventually, I would come screaming off the freeway and the car would
>settle down to a 2,200 rpm frantic idle.
>
>And why does all that stuff gotta move to just work the silly choke? You
>always can tell when it's time for a tune-up. Thats when it not only
>takes both hands to pull out the choke lever but also a foot pushing
>back on the dash for leverage.
>
>The replacement parts ain't what they used to be either. The jet tubes
>in the rebuild kits are mostly plastic. And the little rubber hose is
>just the right length to jam the slide up when you use the choke. When
>you want to screw the plastic spicket into the bottom of the float bowl,
>the little, tiny, ignition wrench turns about 2.5 degrees before it
>fowls across something.
>
>You try to be really industrious and get the float level right on. But
>the replacement floats are plastic bobbers not quite as sophisticated as
>the stuff I use for fishing so its impossible to get the right level
>with this non-adjustable junk.
>
>And they make a really big deal when you replace the butterfuly disk on
>the new throttle shafts to make sure they sit square. But it's damn near
>impossible with the 25 year old pot-metal housings. You do the best you
>can but when you torque down the nut to hold the shaft in place it all
>binds up and you have to start over again. In frustration you break out
>the Dremel tool and then, come Monday, sure as hell the car will hardly
>idle and you're ordering another set of those little brass discs for 15
>bucks a pop.
>
>The metering needles are "one-size-rubs-all" non-adjustable ones that
>eventually slice into the jet tube. And you'd better be happy with the
>enrichment because they are non-adjustable. Well, except in use, when
>the become self adjusting any way they want.
>
>The chamber and piston assembly have been swapped around every which way
>by the procession of previous owners and they work perfectly at any
>speed you can attain in your driveway. But at 4,000 rpm on the highway,
>they'll wiggle around anyway they want. And then they eventually spit
>out the damper piston just for fun and you gotta guess how much oil to
>put back in in the middle of nowhere. Anything extra oozes down the
>slide, gumming it up, and running through the motor to emit a cloud of
>blue smoke on start up so you think you're in for a valve job.
>
>The linkage that ties the duo together is Rube Glodberg genius at its
>very best. Only the idle screws are easy to get at so everyone is an
>expert at balancing the carbs. But the choke ramp screws point down into
>the darkness. But that's just as well as the shafts that try to rotate
>the recalitent choke has long sense fouled itself and, since you can't
>buy new ones anymore, you have to just keep messing with the old ones.
>And try to get those little lever arms down to the fuel jets to still
>line up when you're done. But it doesn't really matter as the POs kept
>swapping out the return strings until, by the time you get the car, they
>are a filed down pair of springs that used to hold the hood up on an
>early-seventies, first generation Monte Carlo.
>
>Yes sir, them little SUs are really memorable. There is a fine business
>for the SU specialists to take a constant stream of money from the MG
>purists. In the last catalog I got, a set of brand new SUs could set you
>back over $600 and you still have to use the crummy, balky, cheesy stock
>linkage.
>
>Oh boy, hold me back or I'll tell you what I really think...
>
>Bob Allen, Kansas City, '69MGCGT with three (3) 40MM DCOE Webers.
>
>
>
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