carb problem?

[flimsyboat]

hi there i seem to be having trouble with my vitesse 6, i recently took the engine apart and replaced the head gasket and a broken exhaust valve, ive fitted everything back together and now im having some problems, first of all there is a nice trickle of petrol coming out of one of the carb overflow pipes (currently have hs4s) can anybody shed any light as to how to stop it or at least slow it down as it seems to happen when the engine has been running for a couple of minutes  and usually is accompanied by a nasty sounding popping noise from the carb, my other problem is everytime i lift my foot on the clutch pedal to the "biting" point the car dramatically looses power and basically stalls, i have to quickly save it with no clutch or a bit of throttle, it mainly does this in reverse and 1st gear, but doesnt do it when it standing still idiling, im afraid i havent got any clues, is this a carb problem or something even worse????
any help and suggestions would be much appreciated.

[G.in_Lux]

For the leak, check that your floats and needle valves aren't stuck.

A popping carb tends to mean "too lean"
Massive loss of power too could mean "too lean".

You could have huge air leaks everywhere. Double check that your manifold is tight against the block, the carbs are tight to the manifold and that you can't wiggle your throttle/choke spindles too much.

[Flemming]

729 wrote:

hi there i seem to be having trouble with my vitesse 6, i recently took the engine apart and replaced the head gasket and a broken exhaust valve, ive fitted everything back together and now im having some problems, first of all there is a nice trickle of petrol coming out of one of the carb overflow pipes (currently have hs4s) can anybody shed any light as to how to stop it or at least slow it down as it seems to happen when the engine has been running for a couple of minutes  and usually is accompanied by a nasty sounding popping noise from the carb, my other problem is everytime i lift my foot on the clutch pedal to the "biting" point the car dramatically looses power and basically stalls, i have to quickly save it with no clutch or a bit of throttle, it mainly does this in reverse and 1st gear, but doesnt do it when it standing still idiling, im afraid i havent got any clues, is this a carb problem or something even worse????
any help and suggestions would be much appreciated.

"popping noise" normaly comes from an air leak close to the inlet manifold.
Power loose and leaking carb: seems indeed like a float valve/chamber issue.
I've found worn SOLEX HS4S  carbs next to impossible to adjust and syncronize.
Following the workshop manual wont lead to a good result.
How I know?
Weel this spring I did an upgrade from SOLEX to Stromberg on my Vitesse 6, 65.
I did the carb rebuild myself using the the rebuild kit. Using not paired carbs.
Including new spindle shafts.
I added new Vitesse 6 needles.

The result was a dramatic improvement in:

1: performance
2: idle
3: ease of carb maintainance

add 1: the car is much more repsonsive and powerfull
add 2: iddling is now smooth and steady
add 3: when the jets are set syncronizin is a matter of idle adjusting. Acces to carbs are so much easier. Air filter setup is much simpler.

regards Flemming

[WRS1360]

This problem can be caused by putting to much oil in the dash pot on the carb. i would suggest to take some oil out of the dash pots on the carb and see what happens.

[heraldcoupe]

The float valve in one of your carburettors is stuck open. As well as overflowing out of the pipe, the carb is flooding, hence the popping.
The loss of power may or may not be related. Fix the known problem and see if the second fault evaporates as a pleasant side effect....

Cheers,
Bill.

[Pete Lewis]

150 cd on a mk1 manifold give an extra 12bhp   much better than the solex semidowndrafts . the HS4 was an aftermarket kit dont know much about the background, ,I know of a set of these on an wrecked VIt6 that will be disposed of unceremonialy soon  

have you got someone to press the clutch and look carefully at the crank pulley, I dont wish this but you may have lost a thrust washer and when you dip the cluth the flywheel acts as a brake on the eng backplate
worth a check for peace of mind but if its floating  <>  it  needs a urgent fix or you can wreck the crank and the block    Pete