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Flooding carbs on Spits

To: triumphs@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: Flooding carbs on Spits
From: Charlie Brown <cb1500@erols.com>
Date: Fri, 02 May 1997 17:36:39 -0700
Ross, Bob, et al,

I'll throw this out for what it's worth (Bob, you should already have 
this info). Spitfires with twin SUs will have two different fuel levels, 
no matter how carefully you adjust the floats to spec. The Spit engine 
has a 3-5 degree tilt down and aft. The front float bowl is forward of 
the front venturi, and the rear bowl is aft of the rear venturi. With the 
twin stock AUD 2140 bowl configuration, no matter how carefully you 
adjust the individual float levels, the front fuel level will always be 
higher than the rear. Therefore, set equally, the rear carb will 
always run leaner than the front, and the front will be more prone to 
flooding. 

To find out how your carb float levels are actually running, remove the 
pistons and, with the car on level ground, look down into the jets. I'll 
bet you the front jet will have fuel right up to the top of the jet, and 
the rear level will be somewhere down the jet, beyond view. 

Couple that condition with high speed vibration, or lumpy idle, and fuel 
is bound to spill out the vent and the jet of the front carb. If fuel is 
also coming out the rear unit, then that float is still too high or 
there's crap clogging the needle valve.

Cure? Either shim, or bend, the front float level down, or replace the 
rear bowl with an AUC 1310, which has a 1/4" higher offset--again, some 
shimming or bending will be required to balance the levels. Can you say 
"Carb tuning"?

I think you'll find that, with balanced fuel levels in the jets, the 
carbs will be easier to balance, and front carb flooding will end. 

But then, this is only a suggestion.

Charlie B.
Spitfire Pilot


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