Re: [T3] FI for Carbs

[Daniel Baum <daniel@type34.info>]

<x-flowed>  we
> can't hardly agree on much, right Steven, Keith, Daniel, and the rest of us? 
> Just some observations from being on this list for over 4 years.

I'm actually not such a great carb fan. However I don't know much about 
the FI system because almost all the Type 3s that I've seen have had 
stock carbs. Firstly, the Type 34 was never produced with FI, and so it 
is irrelevant to my own car and to most of the cars that I have 
seen/driven/know best. Also, as far as I know, FI Type 3s were never 
imported here on a regular basis so any that are here are either special 
orders or personal imports. I have actually only seen one FI Type 3 over 
here - a museum-standard 1973 fastback. The 411/412 was imported with FI 
- I know of one car that is apparently still roadworthy, and another 
person who used to own one.

As for my experience with carbs, I think it helps to be a voodoo witch 
doctor to be able to tune them properly. It took me months to get them 
going acceptably. Also, there are lots of little pieces inside a carb, 
if any one of them is slightly worn, the whole system won't work by the 
book. I spent ages rebuilding my carbs over and over again with better 
parts until I could tune them properly. The linkages also have to be in 
top condition otherwise the whole system will be screwed up. Once I had 
everything put together properly I found I could follow the instructions 
in the manual and tune them properly. I still have a minor problem with 
the chokes which affects idling performance while warming up, but I can 
live with it for now.

Fuel hose is a pain. I had a very bad experience with "braided German 
hose" and I can only recommend you don't buy it. I bought some proper FI 
hose last week and have changed most of my hoses again. Over here it was 
about $3 per metre. Normal cars don't have to have their fuel hoses 
changed every five minutes and therefore I suppose that if we use the 
same hose that modern cars use then we won't have to either.

Basically though, I believe in returning the cars to as close to stock 
condition as possible, so I would leave the FI on a stock FI car, given 
the choice.


Daniel Baum,
1969 Type 34 automatic.

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