1992 HPC Vauxhall weber replacement

[skmelrose]

Hi

Much as I am enjoying my car, it is proving pretty cranky to drive. I had the webers setup and it ran very well indeed for a while but now suffers from an occasional sticking throttle as well as poor idling and starting. I bought the full gasket set and new throttle cable and plan to strip the webers down and rebuild in the winter. It is worth noting that the car was off the road for 20 years before refurbishment and being put back on the road and the carbs were flushed but not re-gasketed.

Now to the question, is it worth changing to fuel injection? Both QED and SBD offer similar setups and a weekend of adventure biking reminded me how well FI deals with all the issues: temperature, humidity, pressure, starting etc. My mechanic is very good at sorting webers but always suggests that driving pleasure requires easy starting, clean fueling and reliability. My wife agrees*smile*

Coming home a couple of days ago required both left foot braking and heeling and toeing just to keep it from stalling in the traffic. It reminded me of various cars in my youth; wonderful when on song and annoying when not. Can you say highly tuned minis, Alfa Romeo etc.

I would very much appreciate any suggestions or comments as I am heading to the UK in 2 weeks and could arrange to collect things then.

thanks as usual

[robert green]

No doubt FI is a very effective remedy to your issues. Many complain about keeping carbs in tune/smooth running problems etc. My xflow ran well on  dcoe 40’s and the zetec now does the same. I can honestly say they are no bother after 15 years of running them. So, they can be reliable etc when we’ll set up and in good order. Maybe you’re looking for an excuse to upgrade or maybe you will miss the noise etc. Your call. Not sure I have helped much, but good luck sorting it one way or another. I love my carbs! 

[skmelrose]

Bit of both I suspect. I love all the noise, popping and banging, especially when it all comes together and the car tries to leave me behind. I suspect that the carbs just need some real TLC and a properly sorted throttle linkage. It is a little messy as its LHD so a very long cable. The cause of much of the discussion is that the Caterham is replacing our old Westfalia van that spent more time on the recovery truck than actually driving so SWMBO is deeply suspicious of any signs of having to call, in our case, CAA.

[robert green]

Understood. Your wife is right! Reliability is the key to enjoying any car. If it won’t start or leaves you stranded the the road holding becomes less important! Not to mention the mental space then taken up trying to sort it!!! Good luck whichever route you take!”

[ECR]

Fuel injection controlled by an ecu will give you a very driveable car. It will need less fettling than carbs and will stay in tune better. However, to get the best from injection it will need setting up on a rolling road, off the shelf maps will work but are not the best solution.You need to factor in the cost of this session in addition to the purchase price of the injection kit and ecu. It works out a lot more expensive than sending your carbs to a specialist for checking and rebuilding (they will check wear on the spindles etc) and then paying an expert to set the carbs up.

I run injection on my Vauxhall and have been very pleased with it over many years but its your call really

[skmelrose]

I am due to have the carbs looked at tomorrow. It will be an adjustment rather than the required rebild.

Does anyone have experience on either of FI systems offered by QED and SBD.

I have access to a rolling road staffed with happy subaru geeks who do not really know what a carburetor is. They are keen to have a go but........

[alan c]

I went through a very similar debate with my VX, I started by changing to a 3D ignitions system which was nice but I have ended up with a full FI system, Jenvey throttle bodies and an MBE ECU.  It still has a similar intake noise but the pops and bangs on overrun have largely gone but I am sure they could be programmed  

If was making the change now I would look hard at getting the Webber’s converged so they are in effect the throttle bodies. I have no direct experience but I am told they are just as good and the “classic” look of th carbs is retained.

[Tazio]

Look at the Jenvey Heritage offerings...clever stuff...