Moss Motors, Ltd

After having spent the last year and a half fighting with my Weber and after reading Motorbill's comments on the virtues of a dual SU setup, I am seriously considering converting my setup over to dual SUs. This is the start of my research on what to purchase, and where to look. SU carbs were factory installed on my 1972 'B' and I was quite pleased with their performance at the time. Can anyone offer suggestions as to what the best/most suitable carburetor setup would be for street use/economy and whether anyplace sells a kit: carbs, heat shield, manifold, air cleaners, etc.? This isn't going to be an immediate purchase, as I am still in transition from KY to OK and don't have a garage yet to work in, so there is plenty of time to search. There is supposed to be a salvage yard (what we used to call a junk yard years ago) here in Tulsa with some British cars and I thought I would check it out to see if there are any MGBs that I could get bits and pieces from. Also, there is a foreign car store/shop in North Tulsa with a couple of MGBs sitting behind a fence that I thought I would check out. Any suggestions would be welcome.

zach 

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Happiness is an MGB!

Zach,

I would look for a used set which you can purchase complete with the manifold, heat shield, insulator blocks, linkage, and everything else you can get. My choice would be for the earlier HS style over the HIFs, but both are quite useable. You'll no doubt need to overhaul them or have a shop such as ours do the work for you. You can buy everything you need from several suppliers, including our host, brand new. Personally, I like the older product . They were die cast,  and are of sturdier stuff. That said, we have installed some new sets with good success also.

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Motorbill
From Lola to Land Rover, If it's British and has wheels, it's likely I've bloodied me knuckles thereupon

Zach,

As Bill says try and get hold of the whole shebang. Ideally you should be checking for shaft wear  but needs must etc. - - - .

If you do go for HIFs consider replacing the butterfies [ they have a poppet valve which causes problems when worn] with a plain disc from earlier HS carbs. I also made up dummies to replace the bimetallic temperature controllers inside the carb. These are a right royal pain in the but when weather is hot or if/when  you are setting things up and I am not absolutely sure they control the right way with modern fuel anyway.  These two mods might well be outlawed if stringent emmission laws are interpreted to the letter!!

Cheers steve 

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To a man equipped with only a hammer, most problems look like nails

I used HIF-4's on my late car because of the integrated fuel bowl & the brake booster...also used the offset cone K&N air filters that Moss sells...if you decide to go that route, definitely get everything off a donor car - i.e. the little bracket on top of the intake manifold for the accelerator cable.

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Tony "theAutoist" Barnhill

You can save a lot of trouble by buying new a carb kit from Moss. If you are looking for a little performance from your MGB (re: the weber carb) you will find the 1 3/4 carb kit with manifold heatshield and linkage about the best bet for the money spent. The air filters are sold seperatly, you will need to purchase the tapered K&N filters to clear the brake cylinder. You will have new carbs, no need to repair, and you can have it all at once to fix your car! That alone can be woth the cost.  If you go the used route, you may not have everything all at once, then you will be tied up for who knows how long. I have experience with this kit, Very Happy with the installation and performance whith this kit.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

                                        Good Luck  VanDutch

Very good feedback, guys. Appreciate it. I'm leaning toward what Bill suggests. In fact, that was my initial thought, and since I'm not in any real hurry, I can take my time and look for a good donor. New is fine, but finding the parts and putting it all together is more enjoyable to me.

zach 

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Happiness is an MGB!

Zach ,

there's just what you require advertised on eBay NOW, price is definitely right [ at moment] less than 24 hrs to go so you would need to move smartly.

Regards

steve

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To a man equipped with only a hammer, most problems look like nails

In researching this project, I read through a Chicagoland MG club procedure for replacing a Zenith Carb with dual SUs. In the process of preparing for the install, they installed 2 shims under the engine mounts on both the left and right sides. Why would you need to install shims on the engine mounts?

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Happiness is an MGB!

I can't tell you I'm altogether sure why you'd need shims, zach. How thick were they? I do know that the later round type engine mounts have a tendendancy to sag a bit more than the earlier rectangular ones. Also. the engine brackets fatigue a bit more, not that the earlier ones were completely free of this malady either. Anyone else?

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Motorbill
From Lola to Land Rover, If it's British and has wheels, it's likely I've bloodied me knuckles thereupon

Don't know for sure how thick they were, Bill. From the pictures, they appear to be about an eighth of an inch thick. They don't tell why they are putting the shims on the mounts, and they did install new mounts. All I could think of was that they needed some clearance for the K&N air filters that they installed.

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Happiness is an MGB!

Just saw your post on the HIF4 SU conversion.  I've done likewise and was interested in your note on dummy pieces to replace the bi-metalic jet adjustors.  How did you do that?

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Randy Voss
80 MGB Roadster 130hp - "Herschel"
04 Audi A4 Avant Quattro 3.0L "Black Pearl"

Randy,

Sorry for delay in replying, just spent the xmas break being terrorised by a three and a half year old!  This is an ideal winter fiddly job.You need a couple of old  bimetallic compensator units. These are riveted assemblies, gently drill out the rivets on one of them and split off the the bimetallic bit of the assembly to be discarded eventually. Make up a replacement piece out of bent copper strip or a piece of light gauge brass-angle. As this involves drilling very small holes and knacky fettling, a Dremel is a usefull tool to have  plus a set of needle files. Use the untouched unit as a  guide. Get out your mini brazing torch and reel of solder and "tin"the  the remaining old bit and your new replacement. With fine copper wire [thru the old rivet holes] wire both bits together. Solder the complete assembly. Tidy up and compare with the untouched unit, adgust with a needle file etc. etc..

When fitted you will not notice any difference this time of the year but you will in the hight of summer.                                Cheers steve

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To a man equipped with only a hammer, most problems look like nails