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My reasoning for going with a DCOE is for the following: 1. It was originally fed by a Zenith Stromberg carb for the 1500 midgets. I'm doing a complete restoration on the car, however, between the engine that came with the car (with a thrown rod) and the one I purchased to rebuild, neither came with a carburetor or a distributor. 2. I want to get rid of the zenith stromberg =) The engine is a basic 1500 engine. Stock cam in it, 9:1 compression and .020" overbore from the rebuild. Currently no head porting or anything done to... MORE
Cap'n Yes Brit 1500's come with twin 1 1/2's which works quite well on the 1500. If it's a stock 1500, its a waste of time putting on DCOE there will be no performance increase and itll be trickier to set up. But his choice.... Nigel "amukdigiphoto" 31908... MORE
Guy Aha! That may explain it then, but I noticed how the original poster of this query totally ignored my comment ! LOL Even if it does have a Stromberg - I still feel it would be better to slap on some twin SU's than go to the bother of a DCOE. Good carbs they are, no doubt about it, but I fail to see any benefit at all of fitting one to a bog standard 1500, specially when you consider how tricky they are to set up. People are quick to dismiss the twin SU setup, but they're... MORE
Chris Me being me, and being unlike anyone else on here, I'm not going to give you the information you want, but simply ask you why you're thinking of putting on a DCOE in the first place? Is your 1500 a real firebreather needing a lot more air than a standard engine? If it isn't, to be honest, I can't see the point of installing a DCOE on a standard 1500, you won't see hardly any benefit at all until you reach the very highest BHP the engine is putting out. And how often do you actually drive the... MORE
Why can you not use manifold vacuum? David "David Jacobs" 31867... MORE
Bob... Larger bowls are of no concern. Pump doesn't care unless the engine is highly tuned and than one can use a higher pressure (output) with a pressure reg. I find the low pressure (LP) Facet (4psi+-) mounted in the rear in place of the SU... works fine without a pressure regulator on SU's. With my PO'd "Vizardized" 1340 (90HP at the rear wheels) I used the HP Facet (6-8psi) with a pressure reg. set to 2.5psi for a 45DCOE. This engine went to 7k and was mostly used between 3500-4000rpm on the highway. It was also capable of... MORE
Hell you can get a Holley red electronic pump and regulator for that much (I did). And parts are available at any "speed shop". The red pump runs at 7psi and flows 96 gph. It sound different but works great. Tad 74 RWA Midget 69 MGC GT "Richard Rivenbark" 31883... MORE
It can be done, you just have to drill and tap the manifold. But the usual reason for putting on a DCOE is for performanc, not economy. The vacuum advance is an economy device used at low throttle positions, hence high vacuum conditions. Paul A "Paul Asgeirsson" 31869... MORE
I had a similar problem with my Midget last week. It turned out to be an electrical problem: the points kept loosening, so there was not much of a spark. Adjusted the gap, and tightened everything up properly, and she now runs a treat!! We were in Scotland at the time, and had a 400 mile journey home. We got back OK, and all is now well Margaret, South Lincolnshire (UK) "Margaret Brock" 31916... MORE
I can say one thing.. one DCOE on a 1500 is not much point. You should use two!. Second thing, don't bother with the choke on them unless you are firing up in artic conditions all it will do is flood the engine. Last thing don't bother with anything bigger than a 40 DCOE, 45's and 48's are all well and good but all they will achieve is more fuel use and no extra performance. Stewart "Ford Prefect" 31849... MORE
I've been thinking about installing a DCOE onto my 1500 Midget, and they say you need to convert to fully mechanical advance. I've looked at replacing with the Mallory Unilite distributor, but it's a bit expensive. Has anyone done a DCOE install and just recurved the original distributor? Or does anyone have more information on recurving one of these distributors? any help would be greatly appreciated. '79 MG Midget Chris "Chris" 31846... MORE
Ben, (me again!) It may not be the clutch - it could be the U/Js on the prop shaft. They can make all sorts of odd noises when they are on the way out, including clicks and clangs. Probably most noticeable as you release, and re-apply load as you change gear. Try greasing them for starters and see if the noise changes or goes away. A whole lot easier than gearbox or clutch probles so try the easy things first. Guy "Guy Weller" 31816... MORE
Gerard, Thanks, and I agree, but don't have access to another dizzy, just my modified one. My spark is totally gone now, so I think I'm going to just order a crane 700 and a lucas sport coil tomarrow. Not too many weeks left till my first event and I'm getting nervouse about getting this thing running. Thanks, Curt "cfisher1a" 31805... MORE
Hi guys, Very happy to report I now have a good clue to the hard/no start problem on my full race 948 set up. Noticed that after a few seconds of cranking and some coughs while the motor nearly started, the ignition light went out. Pulled a plug and sure enough, Nice spark for a few seconds of cranking, then the ignition light goes out and nothing. on subsequent tried the light goes out immediatly when cranking and no spark at all. After cooling for a while I get the light and spark for a few seconds again. The... MORE
Hi, Curt... Pure race Huffaker carbs are modified to be "fixed" rather than "variable" venturi...IOW, the air valves are held fully open and machined to form the top of the venturi (or "fixed choke"..which is not to be confused with "choking" for mixture enrichment when cold). So, the butterfly works but not the air valve. Thus, to start "cold", you need to cut off part of the air supply to artificially enrichen the mixture. The fellow lister who mentioned the "duct tape" is "the man"!! Huffaker's pure race engine is usually fitted with "crankfire" ignition. Whether the advance is... MORE
I hope someone can give me some advice on this. Drivers school and race second weekend in June and I can't get the bloody running. I have a highly tuned (national level) race bugeye from the 70's era. Don't know the compression ratio, but probably pretty high, 12 to 1 at least. 4,000 to 7,000 rpm cam. 30 deg. advance. 110 octane race gas. champion n59g spark plugs. Electronic ignition box. No choke, just ram air intakes modifed hs2 carbs. Had it to a local brit car guru last fall and he tuned the carbs and set it up... MORE
I have recently bought a 1965 Mark 2 Midget which has been converted to negative earth (for a radio I have removed from the car) by the previous owner, but I dont know when. Shortly after I got the car the tacho started reading approximately half the actual engine revs and shortly after that it ceased to function altogether. Could this be a symptom of the tacho not being repolarised? I have seen the description of changing battery polarity in the web site and my tacho does not seem to have had the white wire loop at the back... MORE
Groupies - Has anyone found a good way to strip the factory rust proofing from the bottom of a Midget? My 75 has rustproofing about as hard as concrete, I'll been finishing the top side and interior soon and was hoping to remove most of the under coating by hand someway to speed the striping process. Would a hand propane torch and a puddy knife work, or will I set it on fire? I have a small blaster and know it would take way to long to blast through all that sludge. Talk at ya'll Later Rick Bender "Rick... MORE
Bob: Yes indeedy I am old enough to remember radio spark suppressors. In high school I had a 31 Model A Ford coupe with a Cadillac signal seeking radio mounted in the shelf behind the seat. Did I ever need a spark suppressor! The last time I saw one was in the ever present J C Whitney catalog. I can find Whitney catalogs in the magazine section of my local grocery store. Good luck, John "mg_john2" 31731... MORE
Those of you that may be as old as me, remember? a spark suppressor that we added to the dist. (a capasitor I think) to kill the broadcast of the spark to the radio. What was/is it? Where do I get one? And how do I hook it up. I have Neg. Ground. TIA. Bob, Troutdale, OR "Robert Webb" 31730... MORE
This car is both my love and my worst enemy. '76 Midget, single ZS All cylinders firing, all new plugs this afternoon. She idles fine and smooth, but as soon as i hit the road she revs fine UNTIL about 2800rpm, same spot every time, the rev nearly stops. No matter how far i push the accelerator, it takes nearly 30 seconds to rev from 2800 to 3200, and that makes for a lousey drive. The manual choke is wide open. It looks to be getting enough fuel in that the fuel filter and the screen in the fuel... MORE
Cap'n- All this talk about divorce is REALLY bummin' me. After ten LONG years of work, I am now driving the finest Midget I have ever been in. Car is as perfect as one can be (for a Midget) and drives like a dream. Just crosses the 1,000 mile mark! Now the bad news......divorce..... It appears highly unlikely I will be able to keep the car. I'm fighting it like crazy, but I know what I will have to do. I cannot describe how painful it is to lose this car..... Geez, now I'm bummin' worse. Paul '73 Midget... MORE
I have had my Mk3 Midget for 19 years, and the ignition light has always glowed at show speed. Margaret South Lincolnshire (UK) "Margaret Brock" 31708... MORE
Ain't that the truth. I thought I was the only one who drew up a contingency plan for war well in advance. Step 1: Totally clean out barn to identify and stage everything of value. Step 2: Move BE, and everything ID'd in step 1 to a safe house at undisclosed location. Step 3: Have beer. Step 4.... H "hamondale" 31641... MORE
Or "keep it in the family" and fit an MG Metro 6R4 powertrain. 2996 cc V6 engine Mid engine, rear wheel drive giving 0 to 60 mph in 2.6 seconds. Developed in 1985 so almost contemporary with the last of the Midgets. Not much even 20 years later can match that acceleration! Guy "Guy Weller" 31616... MORE
