Hi Everybody!
Well, for the first time in I have no idea how many years, my little Herald
1200 actually started up and sustained running, for about 5 minutes! It has
only run in short(3-4 second) bursts up to this point. I was working on her
engine for the first real time tonight, and made the attempt. Unfortunately
the carb is not cooperating fully- it took a bit of work to figure it out, but
I had a flooding problem. As I am not using a fuel pump in this phase(need to
rebuild it) I am using a gravity feed system. I discovered the cause of the
flooding to be too high fuel pressure- I am feeding through a 5/16" line, with
about a 1 foot drop, then a 4 inch rise into the carb, and, unrestricted it
would overfill and flood. I found the pump operating pressure to be 1 1/2 to 2
1/4psi, and realized I might be over pressured, so I lowered the fuel supply
to about 1 inch over level- i.e.: 5 inch drop with 4 inch rise to carb. This
seems adequate to keep the carb filled properly without overfill.
Now she runs, I am trying to figure out a ripping paper sound from the carb.
As I reused the old gaskets, I believe this to be a vacuum leak sucking in at
the manifold. I also can't start her without heavy choke, and haven't been
able to run without using the choke. Does this sound reasonable to anyone?
A question I have about this carb is how do I adjust the float level in a
Solex carb? There seems to be no facility for this, though I found reference
to fibre washers being added or removed in an older manual, but that was for
the earlier solex carb.
I am happy to report that other than the above mentioned items, she seems to
run strong and evenly, although I am planning to adjust the valves to tweak
her a little. Once I have her running well on the one carb, and after I get my
dual SU's rebuilt and the 4-2-1 Spitfire manifold repaired, I will be trying
to start her up on those. Oh, I can't wait for the joyful noise! :)
Questions and Comments would be appreciated- Thanks!
Scott
64 Herald 1200 Convertible, Now with Putt-Putt Power!
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