advice on minor engine upgrade to 1500

[skidog]

My car is running great but I want a little bit more power without affecting the gas mileage. I was thinking of putting on a header or a Weber downdraft carb or twin SU's. I currently have a stock 1500 with the Stromberg carb and stock exhaust. Any advice on which upgrade? Will I see any difference with the carb switch or the header?

Thanks

 

[capitalcitycars]

I did the upgrade on my ongoing restoration. I have Pace Headers with DGV Weber Carb/manual choke, Mallory Dual Point distributor and I notice the difference. Definitely a boost in horse power. No regrets here except the harassing I get from fellow club memebers that I trying to blow the thing up. One thing is adjusting the Weber is a pain in the arse. I spent 20 hrs adjusting the fuel/air ratio and timing to dial it in. If you don't have the patience or know how, advise to get a pro to do it which is not hard since Webers are upgrades on old Volkswagons as well /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[als]

One thing I did in this regard (my car already had a Weber DGEV carb on it) was to add a header, and a Pertronix Ignitor electronic ignition. The Pertronics is a breeze to install as it replaces the condenser and points inside the existing dizzy.

I noticed an immediate performance improvement as soon as I installed the Pertronics.

My car was a California car with all sorts of emission stuff on it, which I removed completely. This also gave some boost to the HP.

Good luck
Al /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/canpatriot.GIF

 

[skidog]

I have a crane electronic ignition. I was thinking of the Weber downdraft as there isn't as much tinkering with it as the side draft or the SU's

 

[Matthew E. Herd]

I'd actually consider the 45mm DCOE. Fairly easy to install, and has much more potential. It's not a bad setup, and the mileage is only marginally inferior to a DGV type setup. You can find used carbs pretty easily (they're not too hard to rebuild) and parts are available again, now that the factory is back in business. Manifolds can be purchased new offline, from one or the other weber distributor. All in all, if you buy a used carb, the setups are FAR cheaper than in the major parts houses' catalogs.

 

[skidog]

I thought the 45mm was too big for the stock 1500. I will have to look at used carbs and rebuild kits. Will the 45mm bolt onto the 1500 without any body modifications such as cutting?

 

[Matthew E. Herd]

That's a question for the manifold folks. Check out www.teglerizer.com for details on the install. I'm 90% sure there's no cutting involved. There wasn't any for my twin 40mm DCOE setup, which would probably come closer to the frame. If you honestly feel the 45 is too large, you can change the chokes (necessary anyway) to something smaller. Alternately, you could always bolt a 40 DCOE on that manifold, as they're interchangeable. Just about anything will work so long as you're willing to research suggested jettings and tune (or hire someone else to do it) the thing properly. Once set, you'll be happy. One major advantage I see over twin anything is the fact that you don't have to synchronise the carbs. That can truly be a pain in the butt. Warning, however. If you buy a used carb, jets can get expensive. Since you've only got one weber, you'll only need 2X everything. In my twin 40 setup, i need 4X every jet, which is not too fun. Since they're making the parts again, the costs have dropped and availability isn't a problem like it was for the past few years.

 

[skidog]

Thanks for the advice I will look into it. I am looking for a simple solution, I want to drive the car not wrench on it all summer. I would probably spend too much time on a duel setup.

 

[aeronca65t]

The Canadian-spec twin SUs (for Spifires and Midgets) is a bolt-on with no real tinkering required. Looks *right* too!
These were also available on 1500 Euro-cars as well.
I've seen them on E-Bay.
I am not sure if the 1300 (older Spitfire) twin-carb setup will work.

 

[CK_1500]

I think the 1300 HS2 manifold will bolt up to the head, but you'll have to play a little bit with needles to get it to run optimally. Might work OK with the US spec 7.5:1 compression ratio.