[TR] synching carbs

[Michael Marr]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Dave1massey at cs.com>
To: <triumphs at autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, November 24, 2008 7:55 AM
>
> Also note that carbs that can be tuned using the lift the piston method 
> come
> with a piston lifting pin on the side of the carburetor.  If you carb does 
> not
> have this pin it is likely you cannot tune it this way.
>
> So, hats off to those clever blokes in the British motor industry but the
> system did have its limitations.
>
Good point on the later carbs, Dave.  I should have added the caveat that 
the newest set of twin SUs I have worked on are on my 1960 3A!  I did drive 
a 1974 MGBGT for a few years (it was the early 1974 with twin carbs - they 
changed to a single carb in the middle of the year), but I bought it new and 
never had the need to synch the carbs, so I cannot say whether the "lift the 
piston" method worked or not - I never tried it.

As to the lifting pin, I don't think it is always true to say that you could 
not adjust the mixture this way if the pin were not present.  I drove and 
worked on a lot of different cars with smaller single SUs (1 1/4s, usually) 
back in my youth in England, and I'm sure I remember reading in one shop 
manual or another (possibly for a Morris Minor) that you could use a long, 
narrow screwdriver to lift the piston, after removing the air cleaner, of 
course.  I know that I used that method myself a lot.

Mike
Plainfield, IL