[Healeys] Tri-carb poor running

[Wayne Schultz]

Hi,

              I was stymied  by the poor part throttle response of my 
friends tri-carb Healey. I checked and rebuilt the distributor, checked 
the carburetors, mixture, cam timing, adjusted the valves, different 
coil, etc. Everything I looked at was in spec.   I then decided to try 
different SU damper springs. The original springs were the original red 
springs and measured at the proper 4.5 oz.  at 2 . 6 inches or so. I 
replaced the Red springs with Yellow  springs at 8 oz at 2.6 inches. 
Without changing anything else the results were dramatic. The power 
comes on smoothly and the hesitant and poor light throttle response is  
totally gone. Even with its early cam the car now feels pretty close to 
my own BJ-8 in term of drivability and power.  I can't tell you how many 
hours of trying to fix this problem were fixed with $20 worth of 
carburetor springs.  My advice to anyone with similar problems is to 
give the Yellow damper springs a try. Even if you think you tri-carb is 
running well give the Yellow springs a try. I did have to adjust the 
carburetor mixture a couple of flats to get the best idle after changing 
the springs.  I use 30# oil in the dash pots.

Wayne