Hi Chaps, last year I completely overhauled the Engine in my Lanchester LA11, at first, I was very pleased with the much improved performance , but over the last few months I was getting increasingly concerned with the Engine which was getting “noisy” this I intitially believed it to from a Brand New old stock Camshaft that I have fitted during the rebuild.
Last weekend, I removed this Camshaft and fitted another one,hoping this was the cause of the ‘Tapping noise” that I was experiencing , to my dismay, the problem was still there.
I then decided that perhaps it would be a good idea to do a compression test, all Cylinders were well down, to circa 50 psi !!
Next, I removed the Engine and completely stripped it, nothing obvious was apparent on initial inspection, so I then removed one of the Piston Rings and inserted into one of the bores, I was amazed to see that the Ring Gap, was circa 0.060 thou !
I then contacted Ian Cox , of Cox & Turner, who lives locally, he invited me round to his engineering company, to take a look at the Piston and Rings & Cylinder Block , he also measured the Cylinder Bores, on these were “ In tolerance” , having inspected to Piston Rings, he explained the that the excessive wear in them had been caused by excessive amounts of fuel entering the combustion chambers , thus diluting the Engine Oil , and hence coausing them to
wear!
So, new Piston Rings now duly ordered, I am now looking for a suitable SU Carburttor in place of the original Solex Carb , any suggestions would be most welcome.

Cheers Al

Hello Al,

Am I right in thinking that the Solex carb replaced the SU to provide more power ??

If that is the case, is it worth considering having your Solex rebuilt (perhaps to by Gower & Lee - excellent company) or is there a better SU carb "out there" than was originally fitted to the LA11 ??

Just thinking aloud.

Regards.

Richard.

Hi Richard, I rebuilt my Solex last year complete with a brand new throttle body. but it does seem impossible to prevent the engine from running over rich, even tried lowering the Float level , but that just caused fuel starvation under load.
The “late” Lanchester LA10 , fitted with the 1444 cc engine, was fitted with an SU carb, so it would be nice to be able to find one of those if possible , or at least a direct replacement, so that’s my next quest ..........

Cheers Al

Hello Al,

Thanks for the that bit of useful info, always good to understand other cars

Will that be a "HV" spec SU carb in relation to your quest, bearing in mind the era of the car ??

Regards.

Richard.

Hello Al,

Following on from my last,

It will be worth contacting Eric at carburettor specialists on 0345.061.4477 (10am-4pm) or probably better email chipmork @ btconnect . com (without the spaces) - he is alleged to have over 1 million carbs and spares !!

He lists the HV series and the OM - so could be worth an enquiry.

The only downside is his site says on holiday from 15th November to 15th February (yes three months) but he may check his emails from time to time, I've known him do that.

He is an exceptionally knowledgeable chap and very helpful.

I accept you may already be aware of his presence.

Regards.

Richard.

Hi Al. When I bought my Daimler 15 Mulliner sports it was fitted with a Solex carburettor which was well settled in and clearly been on the car for years. The engine runs very rich, and no matter what I have done to get it to run properly, I have failed.

On all the 15's I have seen and all the data I can find, the usual carburettor for the later six cylinder engines should be an SU HV4, I have failed to establish if any 15's were fitted originally with a Solex and it is difficult to establish if indeed the Solex has been fitted as a substitute as the auto thermostat/choke mechanism has been removed and the throttle and choke linkage altered.

I have managed to obtain a replacement SU HV4 and have overhauled it but not yet had time to fit it.

Your experience has made me think again don't want to have to get that great lump out of the car.

Hope you manage to solve your problem.

Hi Chaps, many thanks for the great imput, yes it’s been a very hard lesson to learn
to say the least, and probably expensive!
I have taken Simon Rooms advice and just ordered a Colourtune kit, then at least I will have a better idea what’s happening inside the Combustion Chambers.
Until now, it had not occurred to me that running a rich mixture would have such a detrimental effect on ones engine, so it’s a lesson well learned, although I do wonder if the Piston Rings were a bit suspect, as the engine had only covered a maximum of 2K since it’s complete rebuild !
I will investigate the purchase of a suitable SU, and will hopefully get some useful advice on any problems incurred fitting it .

Cheers Al

Ps, Many thanks Richard, for the SU contact, I’ll try and get in touch tomorrow .

Hi Al, I’m sure you probably know already but Burlen can build SU carbs to order. All the best, Ranald

Thanks, Ranald, yes could be another avenue worth investigating.
Now. Come to think of it, when I purchased my Lanchester way back in circa 1978, it had severe piston noise, this was as I believed then , due to the fact on stripping the engine, the Pistons were in a shocking state, with many broken Piston Rings which resulted in some Cylinder Bore damage.
This Engine was subsequently overhauled during the Lanchesters restoration in 1990, again, this Engine eventually suffered the same fate, I.e. Piston Slap !!
Hence the more recent Engine rebuild, albeit with a different Cylinder Block, it’s only Now blatently obvious why, the dreaded “Fuel Wash” !!
Hopefully, this will be the last? time I will have to haul the motor out for yet another rebuild ! !

Cheers Al

Hi again, well just been in contact with Burlen Carburettors, and unfortunately they do not have any HV Carbs, but if I am able to find a good second hand one, they can overhaul it for circa £300.
So if any of you kind folk just “ Happen” to have the odd one on your garage shelf collecting dust, and are prepared to sell it to me, please do get in touch.

Best wishes, Al

Hi Richard, tried contacting ‘ Eric” by telephone, and as expected no reply, will send him an email , to see if he has an SU HV in stock, but would prefer not to have to wait for Three months !

Sorry unable load video of my Video of the engine noise as it’s too big ?


Cheers Al