Stag Carburretor Choices

[Tdm]

In another Thread I have been posting about a recent problem I have been having with my Stromberg carbs.
I have now had them off and on several times, and 3 times I thought I had cured my failure to start problem (when engine cold they are not supplying enough fuel).

Not so and I currently have the carbs in bits again, and if I don't resolve the issue this time I think I am going to be faced with several choices.

1 - Replace them with a reconditioned Stromberg pair?
2 - Swap to a StagWeber set up?.
3 - Swap to a Holley set up?

If I don't finally get them to work properly, can I ask what other members on here have done when faced with a similar problem in the past,
and of those that chose to go the Weber or Holley route, did you make the right choice, and was it a straightforward swap or not?.

How many Stag owners are currently using Webers, and how many Holley I would be interested to know (if it is possible to find out).
Price wise I don't think there is a lot of difference between the three, and if I didn't choose replacement Strombergs, which would be the easiest to set up properly and maintain, and offers the best advantages.

I will do my very best to fix the current carbs if I can, but going to keep my options open.

Thank you in anticipation of your replies/advice.

Terry

[Seaking]

Terry you could also look at www.pattonmachine.com not cheap.

Cheers Glenn

[Hettiherald]

Hi terry. Had the same problem as you, rebuilt the strommies and had running problems. Seeing as my car is auto, stalling and rough running on occasions was a pita. I agonised about the options and eventually settled on the webber conversion. I personally found that fitting was very straightforward with minimal fuss and bother, the only small issue i had was with the kickdown fitting at the carb, but i think that was my car and not the kit. Since fitting i have had no issues with running at all. The only mod i did was to fit a vac takeoff for the breather, and made an oil catch tank, but, i believe the kit now incorporates this take off you just need to have a catch tank, mine was made out of an ali drink bottle, cost about £6 in total. If you dont incorpoate a breather system, the crankcase pressure will build up and find any weak oil seals and pump oil out, mine leaked from the water pump initially but with the breather fitted all was oil tight. I have now been running this setup for about 3.5 years with no problems. Some i am sure will berate me for modifying, but my car , my rules, and i use it year round so need reliability. 40 year old strommies just dont cut it for me.
dave.

[KOY 23]

#1. Straightforward to replace, no bad side effects.
If you go for option #2 or #3 you may have crankcase pressure problems as outlined above. The difficulty in curing this depends on how worn your engine is, and can significantly increase the price, also you may need engineering support which you don’t appear to have.
You will not have the problem with the Strommies.

[Tdm]

Been out for the evening and only just seen the replies - thanks all.
Below is where I am up to with my present carbs, just beginning to understand exactly how they work.
Once cleaned and put back together I will put them back on and see what happens.
The choke mechanism which I presently have off seems quite an intricate affair.
. IMG_4568.jpg
IMG_4569.jpg

[CJG]

Admire your tenacity if nothing else Terry, suspect you have a plethora of literature on the carbs, if you need anything from the haynes manual i would be glad to scan it and send it to you. Just let me know, sorry can be no help technically. Chris.

[Lingen]

TDM. I'm sorry to hear that you are having problems with the Strombergs, but it shouldn't be like that The 42 year old ones on my Stag have been incredibly reliable, and I have only rebuilt them once in 27 years of ownership. Perhaps I have been lucky, but I really believe that once you have got them set up properly, they will need the minimum of attention. Perhaps someone on here could recommend where to get help with yours, and save you having to buy expensive replacements.
Mike.

[Dieter H. Marschall]

Hello,
I have replaced the Strombergs by SU HF6 carbs out of a Rover V8. A bit of work, as the linkafe works the other way round. But I am very happy with them. If you wish I can send pics.
Best wishes,
Dieter.

[Hettiherald]

Sorry, but meant to add that whatever choice you make on the opttions available, it is your choice, in my humble oppinion, as long as the mod is easily reversable, and you keep hold of the original bits,where’s the harm? Keep the beastie on the road where it belongs, thats what matters. I like to drive my car as much as possible, not have it recovered on a low loader! If you can get the original carbs sorted thats fine and a lot cheaper than some of the alternatives.
dave

[mopoole]

I swapped to a Weber about 3 years ago after problems with the Stroms. Fitting was a doddle even for me and incorporated an oil catch tank. Very satisfied and on a trip round the Dales this summer including motorway from home returned over 30mpg.
Maurice

[Tdm]

Thanks for all the quick replies Guys.

I am still going to try and get my Strombergs to work, but think I need a back-up in case I don't, and at the moment I am leaning towards the Weber, but am a little confused as to if and/or why you also need an "Oil Catch Tank" which a few of you have mentioned. Can someone explain what that is and how it is connected (that's if it is needed) please.

Am not over in the U.K. till Xmas, but a neighbour here is going back for a week late this month, and has said he will bring parts back for me if needed (that's if there are problems posting them to Tenerife), that's if I can can get them to him in Cornwall where he originally comes from.

Signing off for now to start putting the Strombergs back together again, but I haven't really found anything broken or missing except for the plastic top of one of the temperature compensators which has partly broken off (seen in my pic bottom left next to one of the choke mechanisms). None of the passageways seem to be bunged up with dirt either.

I hate to be defeated when I am trying to fix something, but if I can't get the engine to fire up when cold this next time, I am definately going for an alternative carb setup.

[jagorstag]

Hi Terry,

If against all odds you decide to ditch your Strommies, then perhaps a Holley Efi kit might be worth considering? Shouldn't be much more expensive than a standard carb, and the 2-barrel version will have more than enough flow (580 CFM) for the Stag engine.

As for the oil catch can I seem to recall it's due to the higher crank case pressure all other carbs tend to generate and that may on occasion push some engine oil out through the breather that needs fitting, so the catch can is essentially just there to avoid having oil squirting all over the place... I am though open to correction if I got that wrong.

Mind you, I've never tried one of these "efi carbs" so don't know if they're any significant improvement on a standard carb, but the marketing material make them out to be easy to fit and setup and pricewise there's not a huge difference anymore.

Cheers
Joakim

[Tdm]

Currently in the middle of reassembling the Strombergs, and noticed something I haven't spotted before.
The Carb overhaul manual two of you sent me links two on Page 6 shows a diagram of a "by-pass" valve, but there is none on mine (see pic) just 3 screw holes and 2 larger centre holes that seem to have nothing at all inside them (no valve - just holes with a sealed end). Do other members Strombergs have "by-pass" valves fitted, or do they look like mine?
PS. You can see the broken piece of the temperature compensator to the left of the "missing" by-pass valve.
. IMG_4571.jpg

[Guest]

There is a blank spot on mine as well.

BTW I like my Stommies now after a guy now banned from the forum set them up for me again. Wealth of knowledge he has. IMG_2723.JPG

[Hettiherald]

Terry. The oilcatch tank is thereto catch any excessive oil vapour the engine may generate if the bores are a bit worn. A bit of belts and braces not absolutely needed but a good mod. Whatever set up you use there will still be crankcase pressure build up , thestrommies have an inlet built in( the tube from the rocker cover to both carbs) with no catch tank, so the mod needs a vac inlet on it to recirculate the pressure into the engine( any oil mist will act as an upper cyl lubricant and will burn off any excess during the fuel burn. ) if the tubes from the rocker cover are not in good condition they will allow extra air into the carbs and lean off the mixture. This could be a part of your cold start problem.
Dave.