On the other hand, all my 1500s had manual chokes. For me, personally, my
Z-Ss were great. They never needed adjustment, never fouled, always ran
great, and were easy to rebuild. Yes, the topping-off was odd, but just
became second nature. When I checked the brake fluid, I checked the carb
fluid. :-) I think most of their bad rap came from being part of the
RB/1500 experience. And people can't fiddle with them. The only reason I
have a Weber now is because everybody swears they're better and I want to
see what all the fuss is about.
adrian
-----Original Message-----
From Chris Kotting [mailto:ckotting at core.com]
Sent: Sunday, July 09, 2000 4:53 PM
To: spridgets@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Zenith-Stromberg carbs
Well, it has a few problems, some of them real problems with the carb,
some by assocoation:
By association:
It was installed on the 1500 that was emissions-controlled in the manner
common to the mid-70's (i.e. badly and inefficiently)
It was installed on the rubber-bumbered Midgets (which, regardless of
how you feel about the styling, added weight to the ends of the car).
Real problems:
The automatic choke sucks, literally. There are about 4 different ways
it can fail and suck fuel straight from the float bowl into the air
streal, making the mixture rich enough to glow a catalytic converter
cherry red.
The "overrun valve" that keeps it from going rich on the overrun
(decelerating in gear) was flaky (but still better then the valve they
mounted to the butterfly on the MGB.
They have a tendecny to eat the little o-ring at the bottom on the
damper well, allowing all the oil to leak out, meaning you have to top
up the carb damper way too often, unless you get very good at replacing
the o-ring (do it once, right, and it's fine).
It IS a pain in the butt to get the mixture right, even if you've got
the choke and overrun valve problems fixed.
If the diaphraghm is damaged, the car won't run right no matter what you
do.
That having been said, it is possible to get a car to run well with the
Stromberg. It's just more difficult.
Chris Kotting
ckotting@core.com
77 Midget with original carb (with choke converted to manual, and the
overrun valve blocked off with a plate)
Daniel1312@aol.com wrote:
>
> Hi List,
>
> What is wrong with the Zenith-Stromberg carb fitted to the 1500 Midget?
Is
> it too small, non adjustable or non parts (diaphragm) availability that
> resign it to the scrap heap?
>
> Thanks
>
> Daniel1312
|