a little carb help please

[lady24d]

Ok so I finally got working on my 73' 240. When I picked this car up the exhaust manifold, intake and carbs were off the car. After noticing that the previous owner snapped a stud off going to the exhaust manifold, I drilled that out and put a new stud in there, finally got everything that come with the car together and tired to fired it up no fuel. I found that the mechanical pump was not working so I had a spare 5-7 psi electric pump handy and hooked that up and bam fired up and then out of know where the throttle was stuck wide open. I quickly shut it down and then omg a fire!!! I have never ran so fast in my life to get the fire out. So I may have jumped the gun (nooby move I know) everything is fine thank god!! Anyway I am very new to the su carbs and have no idea what I am dealing with here. I am reading a lot and I am mechanically inclined I just have not dealt with carbs before. So if you guys could look at this photo and let me know what carbs I have and if everything looks somewhat complete that would be great. Sorry for being such a novice but everyone learns at some point. I'm just glad the fire was small cause I do not want that to happen ever again. Also it seemed like it was getting way to much fuel cause I am getting fuel coming out of the breather hose on the carb which is what caught on fire.

[240260280z]

You have to make sure the needle valves in the fuel bowls are functioning.

You also have to make sure the return line to the tank from the fuel rail is connected.

The stock fuel pressure is ~ 3.5 to4.5psi so if your pump is putting out 7psi, it may overwhelm the old needles...especially if the return line is blocked off.

Did you see fuel squirting before the fire?

Try disconnecting the low voltage to the coil/ballast (to stop spark) and crank the car and watch for fuel leaks.

[lady24d]

ok thanks I'll look into that tomorrow morning, I am pretty sure my great thinking on the fuel pump is flooding the bowls or the needle valve is sticking, I am thinking of going somewhat original so I am getting a new mechanical pump next week. I am sure not going to start it with that other pump unless I connect an in line fuel regulator. What happened was when the engine stated to rev I shut it down and it backfired through the carb and since the breather hose was dripping fuel it started on fire. Ugh Sometime I hate working with fuel issues

[lady24d]

inspecting the rear carb and the needle valve in the float works fine. also noticed that the dampener does not have any oil in it. what type of oil do I use.

[Zs-ondabrain]

anything from household oil, 20 weight to Transmission fluid. Steve from ZTherapy used Tranny fluid in my new ZT SU's. It's all about viscosity and the weight of the oil determines how fast or slow the piston rises and how fast you'll hit high RPM's.

If you relly want to know about SU carbs, go to www.ztherapy.com and order their "Just SU's" video. watch it a few times, let it sink in and go play with your SU's with a lot more knowledge than I started with....

I think they are one of our sponsors, so help keep the site up by purchasing from our supporters.

Dave

[lady24d]

Thanks! yeah I have been there and read through their site and I am considering getting the vid, watched a few great vids on youtube also which gave me an understanding on how the su's work. helped out a lot

[beermanpete]

Do you have any throttle return springs installed? I don't see any in your photo. The carbs you have are from an earlier model and the springs are suppose to connect from the throttle shaft to the heat sheild (also not present in your photo), one for each carb.

The comments made by Blue and Zs-ondabrain are on point. Check the floats and fuel pressure.

Keep a fire extinguisher handy.

[lady24d]

leaning as I go yeah from reading and looking at pics I found out I have no heat shield and the springs attach to that which would explain why all of a sudden bam full throttle like I said I jumped the gun and got a little to excited to hear her run. I am gonna slow down and get a FPR tomorrow to get the pressure down to around 3psi. check the carb floats, make a quick heat shield to get by till I either find one or make a nice one in my auto body class. I'm not sure if I am gonna order a mechanical fuel pump or not since I already have an electric one. Might just make a filler plate and take the original pump out. Just thinking for the future I might do a trip carb and if I read right most people are installing an electric pump anyway or running both if the car had/has vapor lock issues. Also gonna pick up an extinguisher just in case lesson learned on that one!!

[esmit208]

leaning as I go yeah from reading and looking at pics I found out I have no heat shield and the springs attach to that which would explain why all of a sudden bam full throttle like I said I jumped the gun and got a little to excited to hear her run. I am gonna slow down and get a FPR tomorrow to get the pressure down to around 3psi. check the carb floats, make a quick heat shield to get by till I either find one or make a nice one in my auto body class. I'm not sure if I am gonna order a mechanical fuel pump or not since I already have an electric one. Might just make a filler plate and take the original pump out. Just thinking for the future I might do a trip carb and if I read right most people are installing an electric pump anyway or running both if the car had/has vapor lock issues. Also gonna pick up an extinguisher just in case lesson learned on that one!!

I have an original heat shield that fits perfectly. If you would like it e-mail me at edtwomuchz@gmail.com. It needs a little cleaning and buffing but your return springs will connect properly.

[Bonzi Lon]

The manual fuel pump works fine with the round top carbs, the electric was added to help prevent vapor lock with the flat top carbs. I had both, but not any more.

Video testimonial: I've never been in a carb before in my life, watched the video twice. Removed carbs, cleaned, adjusted per instructions, reinstalled, got the bowls full from a can and it fired up withing several revolutions. Happy dance. Minor tuning & timing.

I now know how & why they work, so simple now.

Bonzi Lon

[lady24d]

Update: I installed a fuel pressure regulator and got the psi down to 2.5-3, checked both floats and they checked out, started the car and it runs but idels very fast I adjusted the idel screw which did make a difference yet is still ideals fast. I turned the nobs on the bottom all the way shut then turned them 2 1/2 turns back, she is running very rich and when I turn the throttle it bogs down and almost cuts out then back up to fast idel. I am gonna order that dvd to learn how to adjust the carbs so I am not just messing around and not getting it right. For now I am happy I got it to fire up and stay running. One another side not I noticed 4 holes in my exhaust manifold that are threaded and goes directly into the exhaust port on the engine. I have no idea what was bolted on there, here is a pic of one. the red circles and arrows are where the holes are drilled out on mine, do I just cap them off....

[lady24d]

disregard the last post about the manifolds found out those are smog ports. Since I am not worried about passing smog tests can I just block them off