Solex versus Zenith

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Originally Posted by peterg1001

I've got a Holden Stromberg, which I want to recondition before I put it back on the vehicle. To me at least, the Strombergs (23-3000, 23-2013, 23-105C) look identical externally.

Question - what do I need to look at or to know to be able to buy the correct kit to get it back to good working condition?

Thanks in advance

Peter

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Do yourself a favour and throw it away. Unless you intend never to drive offroad?

the best allrounder and offroader carby for the 2.25P is the zenith 36IV. The kits are still available for them.

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Originally Posted by isuzurover

Do yourself a favour and throw it away. Unless you intend never to drive offroad?

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Hey isuzurover,

This isn't the first time I've have heard this sort of comment about Strombergs but has anyone actually got any evidence or first hand accounts to substantiate these claims?

I have done Harvey, Moore River, Mundaring a few times and a lot of beach work and I've never had a problem with mine.

And what problems exactly are they meant to encounter, fuel starvation or a flat spot?

with the strombergs its a combination of fuel starvation on angles (hill climbs mainly when you really need them working) and vapor locking on shutdown.

there is a mod to install them rotated 180 degress but its a lot easier to drop on the zenith.

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Originally Posted by matpoli

Hey isuzurover,

This isn't the first time I've have heard this sort of comment about Strombergs but has anyone actually got any evidence or first hand accounts to substantiate these claims?

I have done Harvey, Moore River, Mundaring a few times and a lot of beach work and I've never had a problem with mine.

And what problems exactly are they meant to encounter, fuel starvation or a flat spot?

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There was one fitted to my IIA when I first bought it.

There are a few workarounds, like turning the carby or bending the float down...

But Perth/WA has no serious hills to speak of. Everywhere here seems flat compared to the east coast. You would rarely have a problem here, and the hills are so short you would probably be past the steep bit before you noticed.

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Originally Posted by isuzurover

Do yourself a favour and throw it away. Unless you intend never to drive offroad?

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So let's say I never intend to drive offroad, and want to refurbish the Stromberg carby.

Is there an answer to the original question?

Peter

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Originally Posted by peterg1001

So let's say I never intend to drive offroad, and want to refurbish the Stromberg carby.

Is there an answer to the original question?

Peter

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yes

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Originally Posted by JDNSW

In my view the Solex and Zenith are pretty much interchangeable, and better than any of the alternatives. (Some SU conversions are said to give significantly more power, but involve a new manifold, for example).

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Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

the best allrounder and offroader carby for the 2.25P is the zenith 36IV. The kits are still available for them.

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Originally Posted by chazza

Carburettors such as the SU, Webber and Stromberg work well on the blacktop but from what I have heard they play up when it comes to difficult off road inclines, as the float chamber is not designed to cope.

I think someone posted here once about a disastrous stall on a steep sealed road followed by a scary roll backwards downhill!

I would stick with the Solex or Zenith; it is after all what Rover decided worked best,

Cheers Charlie

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Got it in a nutshell Charlie.

Got caught many years ago in my '66 IIA SWB going up Mt Cynthia in Gippsland. Just before the summit the track becomes steeper for a stretch, well I didn't make it. Didn't hit it hard enough. It's a bad feeling when you run out of oomph! in low first.:eek::eek: Fortunately my passenger was a big bloke who dived out the door and tossed a boulder as big as a house under the rear wheel as I sat driving the brake pedal through the floor.:)
I couldn't restart the engine and I reckon it was because the carby couldn't cope with the steepness of the track. Thought of pouring some petrol down the throat of the carby to get things going, but of course the spare fuel was burried under everything else in the back.
Then I remembered that the Solex carby's choke is a bit different from most carby's in that it richens the mixture not by restricting the air flow but by increasing the fuel flow. Pulled the choke out and the engine then restarted. 4000RPM, slipping the clutch and spraying gravel like crazy I got moving and made it to the helipad at the summit. My mate and my missus to be walked up cos I wasn't stopping. Couldn't have done this with a conventional carby.
As Charlie says, give LR's engineers some credit, they knew what they were doing when they chose the Solex carby for this engine.

Deano

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Originally Posted by DeanoH

Then I remembered that the Solex carby's choke is a bit different from most carby's in that it richens the mixture not by restricting the air flow but by increasing the fuel flow.

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This is also useful when you need a little bit more torque to cross a sand dune, or when you get a bit of water going through the main jet and you need to introduce some petrol via a different jet. Both of these tricks only work with a Solex carburettor, as they add more fuel via a different route, rather than restrict air.

Aaron.

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Originally Posted by peterg1001

So let's say I never intend to drive offroad, and want to refurbish the Stromberg carby.

Is there an answer to the original question?

Peter

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Yes - go and ask a holden person... ;) Sorry - never bothered with them...

However, I must ask - if you never intend to drive offroad, why own a landy???