Classic 900 carburetor engines

I've owned three 900s with twin SUs, and one with a single SU.

The single carb sucked. It was a great car, but it was very slow. It was an A reg silver/blue 3dr, which looking back was probably the least hassle 900 I ever owned. In fact, apart from oil changes, I can't think of any work I did on it in the two years I owned it!

The twin carbs were quite a lot faster. When the setup works well, it's great. But when it doesn't, it's a nightmare. One of the cars I spent - it must have been 4 months - trying to get the carbs working right, but never actually got there.

I understand why you want a carbed 900; I sometimes feel that way. But they aren't a great deal of fun, and not really any easier to fix by the side of the road.

Get a bargain basement 900i 16V, dump the LH-Jet/Lucas and pop some choked down twin 45's on. Run with the classic tea strainer filters and enjoy the musical ;-).

Failing that get a twin carbed version as the singles really are just too slow.

Matt

in article snipped-for-privacy@demeter.uk.clara.net, Grunff at snipped-for-privacy@ixxa.com wrote on 01/12/2003 21:57:

Good.

No.

Nooooo. Bugger! You're putting me off the idea.

I keep getting the idea that there are better 900s out there for me. I love my T8 - vastly aggressive, generously cool and lavishly stylish. It's the car for me.

I've tried a couple of T16s and thought they were very nice, but one look under the bonnet and I ran for the hills - "ye gods, what is all that stuff?". I like mechanical things and tend to distrust computers controlling things.

I love the sound of a barking carb and really fancied the idea of that on top of the growling B201 block. Are they really that poor? Compared to an 8V

900i, what's the difference with a twin carb?

I 'spose I should go and drive the beast and see how I like it. If the twin SUs are *so* much better than a single, then a pair of Webers should be a blast :)

Paul

1989 900 Turbo S

in article bqgfql$22l5g6$ snipped-for-privacy@ID-199813.news.uni-berlin.de, **-** at snipped-for-privacy@btinternet.com wrote on 01/12/2003 22:37:

Duh! Didn't think of that. I'd need a flat nose donor for the bumpers - it wouldn't look right with a slope nose.

My T8 howls like a mourning ghost and grumbles like an old Airedale terrier when you try to take your shoe away from it! I want more *BARK* :)

Yeah. Surely I can just chop the single carb off and go for a pair. Or, I could just go for the Triumph GT6 and be done with it :) 'cept it wouldn't be a 900 :(

Good idea about the 900i. I'll do some thinking.

Paul

1989 900 Turbo S

In many way a T16 with electromechanical injection is both simpler and more elegant than an 8v with CIS. Sure you've got some electronics in there, but the electronics very rarely fail. It's almost always a vac leak ;-)

The difference in max power isn't huge, but the difference in acceleration is quite big. This is because carbs deliver optimum mixture under only one set of conditions. Fuel injection delivers optimum mixture over a wider range, allowing much better pickup.

Yes, that would be nice. Webers are much nicer to work on than SUs.

You'll have to pop down to Bruntingthorpe and listen to mine, think you might like it LOL. From inside the car all you can hear is the Turbo and the wastegate ;-) If you've ever seen getaway in stockholm 2 with the 'Scort Cossy then you'll know the sound.

Can't see any reason why with a bit of balancing 212/234 head, some longer duration cams with a touch more lift and running around 8000rpm limit 200bhp wouldn't be possible. Need to go to solid lifters and some stiffer valve springs though.

Matt

If anyone needs a manifold to mount webers or TB's to a B202/212 head let me know I've just had a look and its not hard to make one up.

Matt

in article ZXrzb.1225$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfep4-winn.server.ntli.net, chris at snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote on 03/12/2003 20:46:

Fine. I'm fast getting to the point that I'd rather take an hour longer and go for some fun on an A road with a car that sounds good than storm down the motorway with the stereo up loud so I don't have to listen to the constant hum of the tyres and exhaust. Motorways don't go that fast nowadays anyway.

I've got a slightly uprated Mk1 Fiat Punto Sporting for all that hot hatch fun. It easily does 90 MPH in 4th with noticeable "toe down", even at that speed, an a load of rice in the lower gears.

Okay. I was thinking the twin Stromberg might give a significant improvement, but it seems not. Now twin Webers ...

Thanks mate. That's the kind of thing I wanted to hear :)

I take it the intake runners are a sod to find/fabricate when converting to Webers. What about the heat in the engine bay? Would an air duct be advisable? I've seen Triumphs with and without air ducts to the air filters and there seems to be some contention about whether there is any gain to be had.

Yeah. I'd love a 99, but I love my 900. It would have to be a late 99 combi coupe turbo in black with red velour interior and Inca wheels. Quite a tall order :)

My garage have done a few 900 B202s into 99 shells while I've known them. If I go older, I'd like to go a lot older. The (late model) 96 is higher on the list than a 99.

Anyone else?

Paul

1989 900 Turbo S

in article bqljav$24a5lb$ snipped-for-privacy@ID-199813.news.uni-berlin.de, **-** at snipped-for-privacy@btinternet.com wrote on 03/12/2003 21:07:

Single/Twin carb 900

I might well be. Thanks Matt. Is it a custom job, or an off the shelf item?

Paul

1989 900 Turbo S

Custom one mate, cut down 900 manifold with the correct flanges to take the webers welded on. Looks like theres just enough room. Nice carbon airbox lobbed onto em and job done ;-)

Been down that road, not again!

Lovely characterful cars, but just a bit too old - too much rusty crap around now...

99 is still quite characterful (especially a '69 -'71 chrome bumper model) and a better daily driver, depends what you want really...

in article bqlsmj$24uafl$ snipped-for-privacy@ID-199813.news.uni-berlin.de, **-** at snipped-for-privacy@btinternet.com wrote on 03/12/2003 23:47:

Intake manifold for Webers

Hmmm, either Lumenition or Jenvey would seem to do the trick with a B202

900i. Lumenition TBs fit onto 45 manifolds, so that might well tip the balance if you can come through with one of these intake manifolds.

On the B202, the injectors run by common fuel rail much closer to the cylinders than placing injectors on the throttle bodies. Should these be blocked off and the injectors fitted to the throttle bodies, or the other way round? What about fitting a second set of injectors (and Lumenition FI controller) to the TBs and leaving the 900 FI intact? What about the AMM? Should the Bosch system be stripped and a new FI system be introduced?

If the latter, then surely a B201 would be good as well? Just block off the CIS, remove the air box and fuel accumulator and introduce a new aftermarket FI system with the throttle bodies I though you mentioned the B202 because the Bosch FI was already there and TBs could almost be bolted straight on. Whatcha think? Pros and cons either way.

Still theoretical at the moment, but I can see some fun and chopping :)

Has anyone done this? Surely they have, but I've not found them even on the internet yet. Perhaps my Googling skills are not as good as I think they are

- anyone found anything?

Paul

1989 900 Turbo S

99% of Throttle bodies fit onto Weber'esq manifolds.

Remember due to the lack of a chokes and venturi's in a TB a 40mm TB is equal for all intense and purposes to a 45mm Carb.

Dump the standard Bosch FI. There'd be no advantage from running an 8 injector setup unless you ran 4 on the TB's and 4 over the trumpets. I'd just plug the standard injector holes. The Lucas injectors would work with most aftermarket ECU's

B202 has better flow through the head and more valve area. I'd go for that purely from a power point of view but theres no reason why you couldn't do it on a 201.

If you decide to do it let me know and I'll do some research into kit and the best way to do it.

Matt

in article bqghqp$21f0u3$ snipped-for-privacy@ID-199813.news.uni-berlin.de, **-** at snipped-for-privacy@btinternet.com wrote on 01/12/2003 23:11:

Having seen your warm-up lap at Brunty, if you'd turned the damn music down, I could've :)

Oh yeah! That's a nice sound. The Cossie is holding way more boost than mine and gets a stack more dump valve action than mine :( Less grumble than a C900 on the over-run though :)

Cheers,

Paul