Scott,
I assume you're talking about the venerable Solex B30-PSEI, standard
(excuse the pun) on Herald 1200's. The float on these is basically not
adjustable, but if you bend the copper doodad that rides the float and
works the shutoff valve you can make some adjustment.
Fix your vacuum leak! As for choke settings, in weather like this my
Herald requires full choke to start, push in 1/2 way once it starts for
VERY cold running, push 2/3 of the way in for normal spring/fall cold
running, fully in within a mile in either case.
You may have a problem with the shutoff valve, if it's that sensitive to
feed pressure. It's rubber on metal, and if the rubber is very old it
might not shut off effectively.
After all the trouble you're going through to get the Solex set up, why
don't you just send me the dual-SU parts? :>
Bill Kelly
Scott A. Roberts wrote:
> Hi Everybody!
>
> Well, for the first time in I have no idea how many years, my little Herald
> 1200 actually started up and sustained running, for about 5 minutes! It has
> only run in short(3-4 second) bursts up to this point. I was working on her
> engine for the first real time tonight, and made the attempt. Unfortunately
> the carb is not cooperating fully- it took a bit of work to figure it out, but
> I had a flooding problem. As I am not using a fuel pump in this phase(need to
> rebuild it) I am using a gravity feed system. I discovered the cause of the
> flooding to be too high fuel pressure- I am feeding through a 5/16" line, with
> about a 1 foot drop, then a 4 inch rise into the carb, and, unrestricted it
> would overfill and flood. I found the pump operating pressure to be 1 1/2 to 2
> 1/4psi, and realized I might be over pressured, so I lowered the fuel supply
> to about 1 inch over level- i.e.: 5 inch drop with 4 inch rise to carb. This
> seems adequate to keep the carb filled properly without overfill.
>
> Now she runs, I am trying to figure out a ripping paper sound from the carb.
> As I reused the old gaskets, I believe this to be a vacuum leak sucking in at
> the manifold. I also can't start her without heavy choke, and haven't been
> able to run without using the choke. Does this sound reasonable to anyone?
>
> A question I have about this carb is how do I adjust the float level in a
> Solex carb? There seems to be no facility for this, though I found reference
> to fibre washers being added or removed in an older manual, but that was for
> the earlier solex carb.
>
> I am happy to report that other than the above mentioned items, she seems to
> run strong and evenly, although I am planning to adjust the valves to tweak
> her a little. Once I have her running well on the one carb, and after I get my
> dual SU's rebuilt and the 4-2-1 Spitfire manifold repaired, I will be trying
> to start her up on those. Oh, I can't wait for the joyful noise! :)
>
> Questions and Comments would be appreciated- Thanks!
>
> Scott
> 64 Herald 1200 Convertible, Now with Putt-Putt Power!
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