Practically every Mini owner can name the brilliant engineer responsible for our obsession. Many can name the man responsible for the rubber suspension spring. A goodly number know a fair bit about the engine’s heritage and the man who came up with the extremely efficient cylinder head design.They account for the biggest chunks of the […]

Since there is already a very good source of starting points/applications for fixed needle carbs, this is for those floundering about in the wilderness that is the biased (swinging) needle example of the breed.Unfortunately I cannot give an all-encompassing table of what needles are needed for which engine builds. My life’s collection of all the […]

Something that crops up when any modifications are made to an engine – mainly in the form of improving induction and exhaust capability – is that of idle quality. After applying aforementioned freer-breathing products to enhance power output, many complain that no matter what – including post rolling-road tuning – they can not get a […]

Basic knowledge Even though the SU carburetter (carb) is a very basic yet precise instrument, some fundamental understanding on just how it works is needed to be able to deal with common problems and tuning. Following is as basic a description of what’s going on that I can manage! First you need to be comfortable […]

Modern technology continually sweeps its ever-growing arm across all manufactured products and the SU was no exception. From closer scrutiny, and more demanding emissions control the HIF variant was born. So what have they done to improve it over its predecessor – the HS – and is it worth hanging out for? PROS. Integral float […]

On some HIF carbs, the vac take-off sighted just after the butterfly – that’s between the butterfly and the carb to manifold mounting flange – has been eliminated.Instead, the engines these carbs are fitted to use a vac take off in the manifold. The reason for this is again wholly idle emissions orientated. The higher […]

This subject is a regular message-board poser. Many of us have touted our preferences and discoveries whilst playing about over the years.One problem with trying to deal with it on the message board is the sheer volume of information offered and available against the time availabClassic example – the MG Metro. Its adventurously sporty cam […]

The diagram below depicts the most common type – the connections can be on either the right hand side (as illustrated below) or the left hand side. Some have the connections shared on either side. Whichever, the port functions are the same. It isn’t essential the crankcase breather pipe be connected – you really don’t […]