Ben Carufel wrote:
>
> what does the SU stand for??...i mean the carbs...
HISTORY LESSON, miss this if you want.............
SU stands for the company name " Skinners Union". Morris Motors used
Zenith, Solex, and Smiths carbs, amongst many others, depending upon
what they could find, on the Bull Nose Cowleys and Oxfords. One type
Morris liked was that being made by a contractor called " Skinners
Union", using leather bellows inside. This carb was cast in bronze and
was a semi-downdraught, nicknamed the 'S.U. Sloper'. It worked on the
very same principle they still use today, the difference of the
down-stream air pressure to the upstream pressure, acting across a
piston with a tapered needle to control fuel flow. The leather part was
used in those early days, as a diaphragm, ( like a Stromberge/Solex
today!!) and the SU firm was related to the footwear company of "Lilley
& Skinner", hence the leather input.
In 1922 Morris went over to using just SU carbs, and by 1926 he bought
the company and added it to his Nuffield Empre, as he WAS its only
customer. In 1923 some Smiths carbs were used, to get around some
problems with the early SU's on the Cowley, but the Oxford used the
CONSTANT VACUUM principle SU instrument, as did the MG versions after
the 1924-29 14/28 and 14/40, which Kimble fitted Solex carbs to. The
1928 18/80 onwards had SU's, which MG remained faithful too almost up to
the Clean Air Act's of the USA, where Zeniths again appeared on some
export models.
GOOD READING if you want more....
The Flat Nose & Bull Nose Morris, David & Charles, ISBN 0 7153 6665 3
MG The Untold Story, W & C, ISBN 1 85915 051 9.
Neil
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