(F*cking) carbs!

[Station]

Now my carb is making a quacking noise.

 

 

Fuck this! I'm sure they're not meant to quack like a duck.

So to tick one more off the list:

 

a) overfuels,

cuts out when it feels like it,

c) idles at 2000rpm - 4000rpm

d) surges at random

e) take ages to start in the morning,

f) the choke mechanism is a complete joke consisting of three diaphragms, neither of which work

g) quacks like a f*cking duck.

 

Now is the time to ask - does anyone actually prefer carbs over fuel injection? (ie standard fuel injection vs standard carbs, not 50 carbs on an a-series)

 

Ps ticking carbs also means you're probably a serial killer.

[Lankytim]

Carbs are shit. PHAKT.

[saucedoctor]

I'm quite fond of a nice carburettor, but there's no doubt that fuel injection is betterer.

[sheffcortinacentre]

whats this on?

[Spiny Norman]

Depends on the carb, and the health of the EFI system. If we're comparing a Solex 4AI 32/54 and a nice simple Bosch L Jetronic then the einspritzung wins hands down. But if it's an SU with a manual choke and half a dozen moving parts against some modern fly-by-wire eco management thing then give me the polished dome any day.

[willswitchengage]

LOL

 

Shame, that car is so fun when it works

[Des]

Maybe it's ducked.

[Taff]

interweb points for anyone that name the 9 stages of carburation

[Station]

LOL

 

Shame, that car is so fun when it works

 

 I know, I am persisting, but admit defeat with the standard carb and will get an adapter plate made for a Nikki.

 

 

interweb points for anyone that name the 9 stages of carburation

 

 I bet the first few are open bonnet, frustration, get the bus?

[Peter Patina]

Carbs bill in ten pound notes, compusquirt bills in overdrafts.

[wackywacerwill]

Bike carb conversion needed. You can have hours of pleasure* adjusting up them mofos.

 

My fear of wires puts me deep in the carb camp I'm afraid.

[filthyjohn]

What motor is that? It almost sounds like it's laughing, that would really boil my fluids. I used to have a volvo 340 with a cherry bomb as a centre box, it was always needing beefier mounts, and the prop had to come off a few times too. It made a really cheerful and loud 'TING' noise every time you knocked it with a spanner or ratchet, which was every 3 seconds because of limited space. Used to push me to the very edge of sanity.

[mat_the_cat]

I actually like wires, but still have a soft spot for carbs as thats what I grew up with. Plus, twaeking something physical and getting it running spot on (probably more by luck than judgement) is more satisfying than changing numbers in a table to map an injection system.

[Des]

LPG the fucker.

[Barry Cade]

I luv carbs. I'm sitting on my couch right now, and have 2 within arms length. I'd have more but have a wife.

[vulgalour]

Carbs for me, at least when it goes wrong I generally know why unlike fuel injection.  The miserly side of me prefers injection though as it's generally a more fuel efficient proposition.

[Lacy]

When carbs give you grief you long for the stability and reliability of fuel injection. When injection gives you grief you long for the simplicity and ease of understanding of carbs.....I have both, I love both when they are working, I hate both in equal measure when they aren't...

[Ratdat]

I like both in their simpler forms. The carb on my Prairie is a fiendish contraption adorned with all sorts of mystery electrical things as well as the usual multitude of rods and levers. It doesn't quite function correctly and despite having a factory service manual, I've yet to fathom the issue. In comparison, Nissans with this same CA engine but EFi are considerably easier to diagnose. The beauty of them is being able to check individual functions and do diagnostics while the engine is running... something that's not easy or impossible with a carb. You can swap over a bit of an EFi system to check it very easily.

 

That said, when we come to modern EFi systems the opposite become true. The Alfa 166 was immeasurably more complex that the rudimentary Nissan system of old. I dare say I could have dealt with it if need be but I don't think I would have enjoyed it much!

 

I think that given the choice, for ultimate longevity and ease of repair a simple carb would win because when it finally goes wrong in 50 years time, there's not much in an old carb that, at a push, you couldn't make from scratch or repair. I can't make an ECU.

[Jim Bell]

Almost every car I've owned has been carb-atron powers and touch wood I've not had any real problems bar adjustment issues.

Never had any real problems with inj either though.

 

I declare them both gr9/shite.

[michael1703]

What model of carb? Is it an electronic or bimetallic choke?

[MikeKnight]

I love carbs, they give such a lovely rumble that's sanitised out with injection.

 

... except twin carbs like my GT6. They can die in a bloody fire. I SET YOU UP AND TWINNED YOU ALREADY, STOP GOING OUT OF SYNC.

[inconsistant]

interweb points for anyone that name the 9 stages of carburation

 

1 Shock

2 Denial

3 Anger

4 Physical Distress

5 Guilt

6 Bargaining

7 Depression

8 Testing

9 Acceptance

[Spiny Norman]

^^^ You missed 'pleading'.

[dugong]

And 'swearing'. 

[overrun]

(Some) carbs for the nice throaty sound, like an S20 on triples...

 

Injection for when you actually need a car to work.

MFI may be the exception here.

[derskine]

Carbs, definitely, too many sensors to go wrong with efi.

[Ratdat]

My old Datsun 510 used to sound great even though it had a fairly modern 16 valve injected motor in it. It had quite a lot  of induction roar and sounded more like it had twin 40's on it. It's was quite a big capacity (2.4) and the metal intake had only one bend in it between Apexi filter and throttlebody which probably contributed...

 

[fordperv]

im a carb fan, i love the sound and simplicity

[Squire_Dawson]

The Luddite within me shouts "carbs!" I enjoy the simplicity and reliability of the SU, coupled with the fact that you can adjust, service and repair it yourself as long as you're sure what to do. It's important to me that I can do such work myself and don't have to take it to a garage,as well as the fact I enjoy doing these things. But I can appreciate that the more complex carbs with about 7 jets could be a ball-ache.

[Geep]

Grew up with carbs, spent a lot of my formative mechanicing years with carbs so find then pretty easy to deal with. The rot set in when emissions were all the rage and they started trying to make em do things they really couldn't. See Ford VV, GM Varijet and VW Pierburg.

 

SU can make variable venturi carbs, others can't, simple as that. The Op vid did make me laugh though.