Carby Specialists Canberra/Queanbeyan

[101RRS]

My Haflinger has a VW big bore kit and a larger carby off a NSU 1000 and some VWs taking the little 2 cylinder engine from 650cc to 762cc.

While the car does drive OK its idle is all over the shop, has various flat spots up in its rev range and does feel a little strangled. It may also be running rich as fuel consumption is only 18mpg (600kg at 70kph = not good).

I took it to local independant who deals with old Beetles hoping they would be able to give the carby a good going over and a general tune up. The mechanic to his credit said he was not keen because if the jets were wrong he would not be able to work out what jets would be needed etc. Happy to rekit it and do mixture etc but not if it needed jets. They suggested that it needs to go to a carby specialist but didn't know any.

I have looked through the yellow pages and Canberra being the vehicle backwater it is no one jumped out at me - plenty of garages doing tune ups but no carby specialists.

So - any one from Canberra - can you recommend or just tell me about anyone locally who is a carby specialist?

Thanks

Garry

[101 Ron]

You are going to need more than a carby shop.
You need a engine tuner.
Someone with a Dyno or a old time mechanic with a oxygen sensor etc.
A motor bike shop and a motor mechanic of the old school could be helpful in the ACT.
Not many people will be willing to put in the time needed using existing components to get it right at a price you would be willing to pay.
You can not set up a carby on the bench to suit a motor, it must be jetted to that motor in the real world,
NSU........carby............spares jets are they advailable......... and is the carby really suitable at all ?
I suspect the reason the motor and carby are running the way it is because of the above problems.

[101RRS]

The carby is basically a slightly larger version of the carby on a series 1 landie. The series 1 has a Solex 32 pci where I have a Solex 34 pci. (Actually using the carby size calculator in the Solex handbook, the carby on a series 1 should be a 34 or larger.

I suspect the jets are all the right size but needs to be checked out by an "expert".

Garry

[101 Ron]

solex pci series.......28 to 34 are used on Volkswagon.
Parts should be advailble.
The latter haffie carbies were twin throat.
What size bore kit is the motor running ?

[101 Ron]

What I have been able to do in the past is to convert a adjustable holden Stromberg carby main jet kit into other carbies to give me the adjustability needed to set up a carby to a motor.
Even getting a hold off a holden adjustable jet kit is very hard as carbies are now so much a thing of the past.

[101RRS]

solex pci series.......28 to 34 are used on Volkswagon.
Parts should be advailble.
The latter haffie carbies were twin throat.
What size bore kit is the motor running ?

It has a 87mm bore - yes the carbies are used on VWs that is why I went to the local VW Beetle specialist.

[Tank]

Garry a Vacuum guage (Tuning) plugged into any non ported vacuum source will give you some idea of what the problem may be, no tuning operation should be done without a Vacuum guage, sounds like you have vacuum leaks somewhere, the guage will help, Regards Frank.

[joel0407]

There is an engineering place in Queanbeyan and they not only specialize in some carbys, they specialize in VW stuff.

I'm raking my brain to think of the guys name and the name of the place.

He also sells rags in Canberra.

Really helpful guy. I'm thinking his name is John.

And with the help of Google maps, the shop is QIM Engineering.

Further help from Google and QIM Rags web page, his name is Terry.

Happy Days.

[101RRS]

Garry a Vacuum guage (Tuning) plugged into any non ported vacuum source will give you some idea of what the problem may be, no tuning operation should be done without a Vacuum guage, sounds like you have vacuum leaks somewhere, the guage will help, Regards Frank.

Thanks Frank - good point - when I was trying to get my 101 tuned a view years back the guy said I needed to replace the tin valley cover gasket as there were vacuum leaks - he used some sort of spray that made the engine run differently when sucked in. Unfortunately with the Haffy there are no vacuum sources other than the carby inlet and the joints to the heads and between carby and manifold have been resealed last week. But it is something that needs to be checked by someone who knows what they are doing.


And with the help of Google maps, the shop is QIM Engineering.


Thanks - I didn't know they still existed - their old shop with their signage is around the corner still vacant. I used them 25 years ago and they were Ok then. I will pay them a visit.

Someone I also used 25 years ago was Performance Plus in the same area and I see that they do carby works so I will check then out as well.

I find it amazing that I am constantly having to go another city a 10th of the size of Canberra to find businesses with car focus for anything out of the ordinary.

Thanks to everyone for all the pointers.

Garry

[joel0407]

I find it amazing that I am constantly having to go another city a 10th of the size of Canberra to find businesses with car focus for anything out of the ordinary.


Yep. Part of the reason I grew to hate the place. I went to the Bolt and Fastner place in Mitchell to get an unidentified bolt. They didnt have a tread guage,,,,,,,,at a bolt and fastner shop? Tried to order some wheel bearings for a Suzuki and got told $130 and a weeks wait from Melbourne, I got them of the shelf for $33.00 in Bathurst (home).

Now I'm in Darwin and I can still get things I need quicker and cheaper here than I could in Canberra. That place is a joke. Great if you like drinking Latte and reading books but not good for much else.

My luck I'll get sent back there one day.

Happy Days.

[101RRS]

Pulled the sparkplugs out of my Haffie tonight - they are NGK Iridium BR7HIX which is a compatible plug to the original Bosch 225T1.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e334/gazzz21/Forum%20Posts%20Album/P7130082_zpse0fb1c02.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/gazzz21/media/Forum%20Posts%20Album/P7130082_zpse0fb1c02.jpg.html)

First off it is obvious which side is causing my blue smoke on start off - it does go away soon after start so is most likely a valve seal. The other spark plug basically looks OK - maybe a bit rich.

So given the carboned plug what do I do for replacement plugs - do I go hotter or colder and by how much?? (noting Iriduims are supposed to resist oiling/carbonising up).

Thanks

Garry

Garry

[joel0407]

Pulled the sparkplugs out of my Haffie tonight - they are NGK Iridium BR7HIX which is a compatible plug to the original Bosch 225T1.

First off it is obvious which side is causing my blue smoke on start off - it does go away soon after start so is most likely a valve seal. The other spark plug basically looks OK - maybe a bit rich.

So given the carboned plug what do I do for replacement plugs - do I go hotter or colder and by how much?? (noting Iriduims are supposed to resist oiling/carbonising up).

Thanks

Garry

Garry

Given it's blue not white smoke, Im no expert here by any means, but I think you might be running a bit rich on that side.

[joel0407]

I know a few guys that could look at this for you but one is in Orange and thr other at Peel via Bathurst. The guy at peel has several of his own Haflingers and is a qualified Mechanic.

Let me know is you are willing to travel.

Does it have twin carbs? (one per cylinder) Maybe one is running a bit rich.

I doubt changing plug temps will help you here. I think it's more for plug life. I cant even remember right now if its a hotter plug for a rich motor or the other way around. The thing with Iridium plugs are they have a very small electrode and still last a long time.

Happy Days.

[101RRS]

Thanks - it will have to be local - it has a single carb.

I tried getting some new plugs today - no luck so I will try again tomorrow and order if necessary.

In the interim I will clean up the old ones and put them back and hopefully organise a professional to have a look tomorrow.

Garry

[101 Ron]

Garry I am thinking with a 87mm bore a pic 32 would be close to the mark.
I don't have any old VW carbies left around here, so I cannot tell if they could be converted with a adjustable main jet.........if it could the jetting of the carby would be made much easier.
None of that can be done if the mechanical side of the motor is not right.
You need to find out why the plug is getting oil on it before anything else.
It not too hard to drop the motor.
VW barrel kits are cheap and valve grind/stem seals not that expensive too.

[101RRS]

Garry I am thinking with a 87mm bore a pic 32 would be close to the mark.

You need to find out why the plug is getting oil on it before anything else.
It not too hard to drop the motor.


The Solex calculator actually comes up with a 35mm carby so a 32mm would be a little small.

The oil is simply a valve stem seal allowing oil in when cold - as soon as it gets a little heat into it all clears and the exhaust is clear.

Cheers

[101RRS]

I took the Haffie into the expert today and the diagnosis on the carby front was all good - the carby was set up correctly jet wise and only needed the mixture and idle screws tweeked.

The bad news was that the left cylinder has no compression (the one with the oiled up plug in the pic above) - not low compression but no compression at all. While a holed piston does come to mind on a horizontally opposed engine it would be pushing lots of oil out the exhaust which it is not doing. If it was rings etc, even if completely shagged, there would still be some compression so this points to open, broken or burnt valves.

I have learnt to do the easy things first and that will be to check the tappets to ensure that not causing a valve to stay open. If the compression continues to be non existent then off with the head to look at the valves and the bore etc.

The interesting thing is the engine with half its capacity not working is still managing 72kph flat out which is a tad faster than an unmodded Haffie of original engine capacity.

I do have a dodgy spigot bush and/or clutch release bearing so I might just drop the engine - just four bolts plus ancillaries and fix it on the shelf.

So I don't have the time to work on the landies as this Haflinger is taking up too much of my time.

Garry

[101 Ron]

There is a mod you can do to help the valves.
I think you extend a oil return hole with a piece of pipe brazed in so the oil level in the rocker cover is higher and cools the valves more????????

[101RRS]

I got my Haffie back this morning and, well, I am confused now - the carby guy is adamant that compression on the left cylinder would not even make the compression tester needle move but the right is showing 180psi which cannot be right.

Anyway when I got home I was able to start the engine and keep it running and even drive it off the trailer and into the garage on the dud cylinder only with the good one disconnected so clearly there is some compression.

This after noon I will test the compression myself.

The carby guy certainly did his work on the carby - now running quite smooth even when on one cylinder.

After I have done the compression test myself I will work out what to do next.

Garry

[101RRS]

It is little wonder people get angry with these so called mechanics who are supposed experts.

This afternoon I did a compression test myself.

Right cylinder reads 115psi dry - is all OK.

Left Cylinder reads 90psi dry so is too low - but not as the mechanic said - the guy clearly does not know how to use a compression tester. Being horizontally opposed I didn't think a wet test would work but I did one on the left cylinder anyway and it did work - giving 110psi so the left cylinder has some issue with the rings or liner.

While the difference is an issue, given the use of the vehicle I am not going to worry about it until I need to do other major work. There are bearing noises that I cannot tell where they are coming from and they are not getting worse and there are intermittent noises coming from the clutch again are not getting worse with use so I am not going to go looking until I have something more specific to look for.

I just find it amazing that supposed professionals can misdiagnose blatantly obvious issues.

Garry