merryck
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 477
Club RR Member Number: 9
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A series carbsmerryck
@merryck
Club Retro Rides Member 9
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Currently I’m running a pair of twin HS2’s on my 1275 Midget. I bought the engine with unknown internals and the understanding that it was a stage 2 engine. It certainly has plenty of poke and a non standard cam, but I’m unsure as to what exactly is in there.
The carbs I have are a bit tired and need a rebuild and the linkage has seen better days. I’m not too fussed by twins, they’re more of a faff than I’m looking to deal with.
Currently my choices are a 45 Weber or a single SU, but I’m not sure what other choices are out there. What do people recommend? I’ve got a box of carbs I’ll be rebuilding to sell to raise money for the new one, so will hopefully have some reasonable money to spend.
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Jul 19, 2019 10:01:40 GMT
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Bigger single SU. Maybe an HS4? All the 1275 A series powered cars I've had have been fine on that. The old geezer I bought my Wolseley 1300 from said he'd had a lot of Wolseleys over the years, mostly with twin carbs, and he reckoned twins weren't worth shagging around with and I should stick with the single that the 1300 had on it.
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Midas
Part of things
Posts: 505
Club RR Member Number: 14
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A series carbsMidas
@midas
Club Retro Rides Member 14
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Jul 19, 2019 10:10:26 GMT
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A HIF 44 should be more than enough carb for a 1275, plenty of manifolds etc available too.
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Phil H
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,448
Club RR Member Number: 133
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A series carbsPhil H
@philhoward
Club Retro Rides Member 133
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Jul 19, 2019 11:22:57 GMT
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Another vote for a single HIF44 here. You might lose the odd hp or two at the top end but driveability is usually much better than twins.
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Jul 19, 2019 11:52:01 GMT
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+1. I have a 1275 Midget engine in my Minor, and immediately noticed an improvement going from the original twin 1.25" carbs to a single HIF44 (1.75") carb (ex-Austin Maestro 1.3, with an MG Metro needle). It gives the same or better performance, with far less maintenance, easier driveability in traffic (they have a throttle cable cam which is far smoother and more progressive in operation), and regularly returns a pretty consistent 35 mpg or so.
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Jul 19, 2019 11:58:57 GMT
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Yep single my metro or similar carb Port match it all then find someone who knows what they are doing to set it up. Mine ended up with a yellow damper spring innit and a rebprofijed needle.
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Jul 19, 2019 17:59:11 GMT
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I had twin 1 1/4s on my old 1302 Mini engine. I have now built a 1293 engine for my Midas and that has an HIF44 on it. From my research on the overall expected performance, the HIF will pretty much match the twins everywhere and be easier and cheaper to set up. You will not notice any difference in day to day use. Twins will always look better though
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Last Edit: Jul 19, 2019 19:57:55 GMT by mrbounce
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Jul 19, 2019 18:08:01 GMT
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Of course a pair of twins is better and not just on cats!
The Hif was also used on the mg metro turbo so it can handle decent amounts
I would advice looking at vizard and the things he recommends doing with the manifolds , spacers etc as it will all assist in the power stakes
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Phil H
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,448
Club RR Member Number: 133
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A series carbsPhil H
@philhoward
Club Retro Rides Member 133
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Jul 19, 2019 20:23:00 GMT
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It was used on the Maestro and Montego turbos too - even on the very early Rover 820!
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Jul 19, 2019 20:32:01 GMT
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Indeed, Austin-Rover went over to mostly large single HIFs on many models from the late 1980s through to around 1992 when unleaded fuel and catalytic converters became the norm, and fuel injection was the order of the day.
Beware if buying a HIF SU carb, to avoid the ones fitted to the ultra lean-burn economy Metro 1.0 HLE/E models (with HIF 38) - they'll likely be hopeless on a 1275.
I would also add, that in my experience with Webers, they can be very finicky to set up correctly; I fitted a downdraught one to my Minor's A-series, and it never idled right (so I returned to the SU), a Weber 45DCOE to an MGB GT, which promptly blew a hole in no. 4 piston after only a few miles of testing (so I returned to the twin SUs), and tried two different Weber 34 ADFs on a 2-litre Fiat twin cam, but it always suffered from starting issues and fluffing in the transition stage when it kicks in the 2nd choke, despite dismantling them, thoroughly cleaning all the bits, adjusting it according to the manuals/various recommended settings, etc, etc. I was considering trying to adapt or cast an SU manifold for it, as one of the Beardmore brothers in fact did for his Fiat twin cam!
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Jul 21, 2019 18:04:40 GMT
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An HS4 (1.5") SU will give similar power to the twins if you team it up with a decent inlet manifold and filter. The Oselli Torquemaster was reckoned to be the best one back in the day, although the factory MG Metro one is not too far behind it in terms of flow.
The HIF44 (1.75") coupled with a good inlet and filter will be a good choice for you tweaked engine. The Midget exhaust manifold is actually pretty good for a factory item, although you could gain a bit more with an LCB manifold
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1953 Minor (Long term project) PT Cruiser
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merryck
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 477
Club RR Member Number: 9
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A series carbsmerryck
@merryck
Club Retro Rides Member 9
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Jul 21, 2019 19:15:46 GMT
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I'm already rocking an LCB manifold. I've scoured the garage but don't have a manifold for a single carb, so I'll be on the lookout for one.
Current plan is to go with a HIF44, I'll be on the lookout for one cheap. I looked in my box of carbs but they're all HS4's.
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Jul 21, 2019 19:33:33 GMT
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I'm already rocking an LCB manifold. I've scoured the garage but don't have a manifold for a single carb, so I'll be on the lookout for one. Current plan is to go with a HIF44, I'll be on the lookout for one cheap. I looked in my box of carbs but they're all HS4's. I might still have an MG Metro manifold which is surplus to requirements. No carb though.
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Jul 21, 2019 20:01:44 GMT
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I had a HiF 44 on a mildly tuned 1000 mini, went like stink, and was reliable. Then I put the same card on a 1100, went like more stink, when I put the MG metro lump in that the HIF came off, I put the Hif on it once again, went like stink and was still reliale, then I 'upgraded to brand new rejetted twin 1 1/2 su out of a Austin Maxi Special Tuning kit. It was never quite right until an ex-stock car mechanic tuned them by ear, after that it went like a scalded cat, for about a month until they needed tuning again.
Hif 44 all day long.
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merryck
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 477
Club RR Member Number: 9
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A series carbsmerryck
@merryck
Club Retro Rides Member 9
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Jul 22, 2019 20:28:46 GMT
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I might still have an MG Metro manifold which is surplus to requirements. No carb though. I will definitely take that off your hands if it's going spare! I've only ever had HIF44's in the past on all my engines, but never had a particularly powerful 1275 before, always used 998's before so wasn't sure it'd be up to it. I'll pick one up and rebuild it. I used to tune them by ear but haven't mucked about with them for years so not sure I've still got it!
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Jul 22, 2019 20:40:36 GMT
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Yes, really a HIF 44 is overkill for anything less than a 1275 - HIF 38s were the preferred option for the 'small block' A-series engines.
They really are great carbs in my experience (having also experienced the joys of single and twin HS2s, HS4s, etc.) on A- and B-series engines.
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slater
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,390
Club RR Member Number: 78
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A series carbsslater
@slater
Club Retro Rides Member 78
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Jul 22, 2019 20:44:52 GMT
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You got to say. The twins look better even if the hif44 can give more or less the same results.
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Jul 22, 2019 20:50:07 GMT
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True, but unless very well set up with wear-free linkages (quite a rare thing), they can be a pig to drive in traffic, resulting in lots of very sensitive throttle jerkiness!
So, for general use and minimal maintenance, the single HIF is the best choice.
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Jul 22, 2019 20:56:44 GMT
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You got to say. The twins look better even if the hif44 can give more or less the same results. # True, they look awesome, thats why I changed from a Hif 44 to twins (and they were brand new and free), but I used the car everyday and it really showed up their weaknesses. For performance, when they were freshly tuned the twins had it, but only just, otherwise for ease of use and damn near equal performance, Hif.
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slater
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,390
Club RR Member Number: 78
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A series carbsslater
@slater
Club Retro Rides Member 78
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Jul 23, 2019 13:02:58 GMT
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They are alot better with a progressive throttle linkage. Rather like the hif 44 has infact 🙂
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