[Tigers] "Speaking of S.U.'s - "

[A. C. Tynes]

 Steve,

I once took a gamble buying a horribly running TR-3A from a guy who hadn't
had it long and claimed it ran great when he bought it. I found out I was
right when I got it home and found the dash pots on the SU's dry as a bone.
Apparently the Triumph owner had never been told that SU dash pots had to be
kept full of oil.

A.C. Tynes
New Orleans


> -----Original Message-----
> From: tigers-bounces at autox.team.net 
> [mailto:tigers-bounces at autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Steve Laifman
> Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2008 1:52 PM
> To: Tiger's Den
> Subject: [Tigers] "Speaking of S.U.'s - "
> 
> Tigers,
> 
> Some personal reminiscing, that may (or may not) be of interest.
> 
> There has been some chatter about the S.U. fuel pump.  I have 
> lived with them for longer than  I can remember ( a common 
> malady), and thought some real-life experiences may ring a 
> chime with the LBC owners.
> 
> My first exposure to the S.U. came with my early new 1952 
> MG-TD.  The car had both the carburetors and the fuel pump 
> made by S.U.  I learned that "S.U." stood for "Skinners 
> Union"since the 1905!  NOTE:  The "Skinner" was NOT an 
> occupation, but the patent and company owner, George Herbert Skinner.
> 
> The S.U. carburettors were "sidedraught" with a vacuum 
> operated piston. 
> Similar to the 50's Zenith Stromberg's that used rubber.  The 
> "jet" was an orifice that was metered by a tapered needle rod 
> which opened the jet by a vacuum operated diaphragm or the 
> later large piston.  Good mixture control, but NO accelerator 
> pump for instant  enrichment.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SU_carburetor
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenith_Carburetters
> 
> The fuel pumps were also diaphragm device with electrical 
> points.  These do get dirty, and worn from arcing.  The 
> recommended procedure was to regularly clean the points with 
> a "business card".
> 
> The MG pump was under the bonnet, the Jaguar pump was under 
> the passenger floorboard, with access through a snap plate in 
> the floor.
> 
> The carbs were pretty good on both the cars, less the 
> accelerator pump.  
> The fuel pump, such as on our Tigers, was a little more  
> ornery.  One fine day I was tooling north on the 405 freeway 
> and the tell-tale sign of a failed fuel pump was a slowing 
> down of the car.  Well, at 60+ mph, in the fast lane, things 
> happen quickly. I pulled to a stop into the median, jumped 
> out of the car, ran to the traffic side of the car, flipped 
> open the hood, and hit the thing with a bumper shoot! It 
> started, and I got back into traffic from a dead stop.
> 
> In the Jag, I did much the same thing, but on the street. 
> And, I did not have to get out of the car.
> 
> Of course many British vehicles used SU components, including 
> this very fast machine:
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire_variants:_sp
> ecifications,_performance_and_armament
> 
> Steve
> --
> ___
> Steve Laifman
> Editor - TigersUnited.com
> <http://www.TigersUnited.com>
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