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Date:         Fri, 15 Oct 2010 13:42:35 -0500
Reply-To:     Tom Hargrave <thargrav@HIWAAY.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Tom Hargrave <thargrav@HIWAAY.NET>
Subject:      Re: Friday NVC: British Carburettor hilarity
Comments: To: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <4CB89A58.1070404@charter.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

I remember Unisyn with the little floating ball on the side. I have one somewhere.

I got away from using that tool & went to a mercury manometer on cars & motorcycles with a vacuum port and a stethoscope on those that did not.

One trick most don't know about is - with milti-carbed engines you can listen to the base of each with a stethoscope. Each carb venture makes a whistle when air is passing through & when the pitch is the same they are in balance.

Tom www.towercooler.com

-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf Of John Rodgers Sent: Friday, October 15, 2010 1:16 PM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Re: Friday NVC: British Carburettor hilarity

Back in the 60's I lived in the Florida Keys. I bought a used Volvo 544 with a dual carbed B-1800 engine and had made a killer deal - I thought; The car looked new, and I liked the way it it felt on the road and how I fit into it. Had a wife and 1st kid at the time. It made the perfect family machine. Engine ran "ok" but wasn't wondeful. It ran smooth, but just didn't seem to have any power. It needed a tuneup I knew, and at the time, the only place that would even talk to me about "that Potato Bug looking Volvo with the funky dual carbs" was way up in Miami. So, I dutifully treked up there to try and get the 544 tune up. There, a mechanic took pity on me and showed me "the secret" on how to tune the carbs. Introduced me to the wonders of the Unisyn, he did. Told me that from now on I could do it myself and not have to drive to Miami. With his tuning, when I drove away I was amazed at the power gained. I never hired out another tuning on that engine again after that. Wish I still had that car. But - someone ran a stop sign and crunched it for me. Bought a brand new Volvo after that. But it wasn;'t the same. That model 544 was special. Much later I bought a baby blue Jaguar XKE V-12 convertible with FOUR Stromberg carbs. A Unisyn tool came in the glove box - but that is another story.

John

John Rodgers Clayartist and Moldmaker 88'GL VW Bus Driver Chelsea, AL Http://www.moldhaus.com

On 10/15/2010 12:29 PM, Rowan Tipton wrote: > I thought everyone had a unisyn. I used it a lot on various > multicarbed VWs and various British sport cars. I doubt that I've > touched it in 25 years. > > r > > > > On Oct 15, 2010, at 1:21 PM, Loren Busch wrote: > >> On Fri, Oct 15, 2010 at 10:09 AM, Jim Felder <jim.felder@gmail.com> >> wrote: >> >>> A Unisyn is way better, IMHO. You can get very, very accurate >>> readings from the floating plastic ball, much more than by listening >>> to a hose. >>> >> >> Jim, you realize that there are a bunch of people rading this thread >> and wondering what the h**l we are talking about. >> My Unisyn went to a close friend that was just finishing a complete >> restoration on a TR-2, back in the early '70s. > >


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