Evening Chaps
This is a 12a question:
Ive got an Elford turbo kit & I want a bigger SU than the 1 & 1/4 size jobby its got.
Where can I get a bigger one & will it fit the manifold I have? Is it a special type of SU for draw through applications?
Any ideas?
Cheeers
Tim,
The SU on the Elford in an HIF44 (metric 1 and 3/4 inch), so you can\'t really go much bigger. What fuel pump are you running, the standard pump would be a restriction?
Ray
Hi Ray
I\'m running a standard pump. What would one replace it with, because its an external type?
The SU does look so tiny....
For an SU you only need about 3psi, but high volume to cope with the demands of a rotary. An american pump is probably easiest Holley Red or Blue are good, but noisy. Carter and Mallory pumps get good reviews but not so easy to get hold of in this country. A Facet interrupter would probably be OK, if you go for the competition one.
Whatever pump you run you need a pressure regulator.
From memory Racing Beat say that a standard pump is only good for about 10 seconds full bore. It certainly does make a big difference, I\'ve seen a 20hp jump on the rollers after changing from a pair of old facets to a holley blue.
A single HIF44 does seem pretty small, but it should still give plenty of power, expecially if you get a bit of porting done whilst it\'s been rebuilt. I don\'t know what the most anybody has achieved from an Elford kit but I\'d have thought 200 rwhp might be possible with porting and a good exhaust.
Hi Don,
My cousin has an elford kit using a 2" SU, the whole point of draw through is so you can put any carb on it, a few years ago I used a side draft webber, never again. The 2" gives good results but needed slight modification, we fitted 2 swirl pots as one wasnt big enough and ran out of fuel. The 2" are quite old and rare, i think they went on some old Jags or rovers. It took a lot of tinkering and has still to be tuned properly but initial results gave a little better torque lower down which was suprising as you would of thought the smaller carb would give better torque.
Don, you seem to be going down the roads i went down a few years ago, I spent loads of time effort and money making the elford set up quicker, then i went with the webber, in the end as always with the eternal search for more power, i went 13b Turbo which is definately quick enough as it scares me and i only run it 7 psi. If i were you, I would take a step back, see how much you want to spend, how much power you think you will be happy with, (200 FWHP will give a seriously fast usable car in a 1st gen) and then choose a route. Otherwise you may end up spending a lot of time and effort and of course money chasing better results. (i talk from experience) This is the way i went about my 3rd gen project, i looked at what other people had done and what results they had, stuck with proven methods, i got excellent results straight away and got to drive the car a lot sooner and longer than if i had just starting changing things.
An alternative to the 13b turbo is the japanese 12a inj turbo set up that tim started with. people are getting excellent results with that and it is very basic.
Good luck
Regards
Tony
PS, yes, american low pressure high flow pump is the best bet or an old jag V12 one, but beware of the ticking!!!
Yeah, I hear what you\'re saying: the elford is way primitive & limited in terms of power.
BUT, I have one thats cost me bundles & I seem unable to sell it to help fund a 12a turbo. So I got to look at getting the best from what Ive got to play with on limmited funds.
ie: Rebuild the elford with low comp rotors new exhaust, bit of porting & maybe water inj.
The alternative was 12a turbo with EFI & new exhaust, porting & WI for doulble the price.
If I\'m able to sell the elford to help make up the difference then great. If not I have to carry on using it, outdated as it is.
Tony, the SU\'s are constant vacuum carbs are they not ? therfor I don\'t think a bigger carb will have the same effect as fitting larger chokes to say a weber, hence why you saw an improvement in bottom end grunt.
Was the old 2" jobbie a side float SU then ? as they recon the Integral float (HIF) ones flow a lot more air than the early ones.
Hi Mike,
yea it is a side float so that would make sense.
Don, I know what you mean about having the elford kit, but what is the elford Kit,
Its an inlet manifold, turbo manifold, carb (which you want to change) and turbo (which you have already changed) [plus an oil feed and some other bits and pieces. I appreciate what you mean about not wanting to ditch it but by the time you have rebuilt the engine, you could have paid for a second hand 13b engine. Also, you dont know if your system has an issue that caused it to pop last time.
If you want to use your system, it will make a fast car once you get it sorted but i would stick with the stock carb as there are a lot more needles available for the elford carb than the older ones. The 1,3/4s is similar to the old MG turbo\'s so there are lots of tuning bits available.
How about..... getting a cheap running 12a engine block, i would think you could pick one for a 100 or so pounds. (its easy to check if its working) put yours back as it was, which is a very easy job on a 1st gen, sort the iginition retard out and play with the tuning and enjoy it for a short while. Once you are happy and have saved up some more dosh, then rebuild the working engine (Its cheaper to rebuild one thats working), with some exhaust porting and maybe a little inlet porting. You could even have one made while you are stll running yours so its not off the road for long, at least that way you wont be experimenting with your nice new ported 1200 quid engine only to pop it once you run it in cos your retard isnt sorted! There must be loads of working 12 a engines around as the cars are dirt cheap.
Most importantly, you get to drive your car sooner which at the end of the day is what its all about.
One last thing, cos i know we all want maximum power straight away, I dont think that you will notice a huge difference in power once you have it ported although i\'m sure that the engine builders will disagree. The elford is not an efficient enough set up to maximise the porting potential.
Just some food for thought
Regards
Tony