Another SA 1600 Sport!

[Nige65]

Bought this late last year, really happy with the condition of it, just a little bit of tidying needed.

The tyres were shot and the original steel wheels needed refurbishing so changed them both.

It’s a bit of a pain to start but I’m putting that down to the 32/36DGAV which I will probably replace if I can’t resolve the issue.

 Thanks to James (RP) for the info, it’s a February ‘81 car, it also came with the rear window Louvre which is in really good condition, not sure if I will refit it so might be available in the future.

Nige.

 

[Miniliteman]

Is that an original front spoiler?

[Rally Pack 2000]

She's a beauty. Did you say it has a 32/36 DGAV or is it a 32 DGAV?

[Rally Pack 2000]

1 hour ago, Miniliteman said:

Is that an original front spoiler?

For a late South African 1600 Sport, yes it is.

[Miniliteman]

Did these SA cars have wipers as an option?

[Nige65]

I wondered who would notice that, took them off to match them at the local motor factors.

[Nige65]

1 hour ago, Rally Pack 2000 said:

She's a beauty. Did you say it has a 32/36 DGAV or is it a 32 DGAV?

Yes, it is a 32/36DGAV.

[Rally Pack 2000]

1 minute ago, Nige65 said:

Yes, it is a 32/36DGAV.

Ahhhhh thats not standard so it may not be jetted correctly and thats why you having trouble with it. Given some of the interesting modifications employed by the guy on the street in South Africa thats not a bad change by any means but I dare say the required tweaking never took place.

[Nige65]

1 hour ago, Rally Pack 2000 said:

She's a beauty. Did you say it has a 32/36 DGAV or is it a 32 DGAV?

Yes, it is a 32/36DGAV.

A few more snaps, got a couple of unconnected wires that I could do with help identifying.

The exhaust manifold is one that I don’t recognise and the system has a single box that is positioned forward of the axle!

[Miniliteman]

Engine should start on the 32/36 DGAV as long as it has some jets in it. Blow out idle jets first.

[katana]

Yeah, don't dismiss the 32/36 just yet - they are good carbs for a road car, perfectly suited. As said the jetting could be all over the shop + please don't run it with E10 fuel ! I see you are down in the South West so don't have access to ESSO E5 fuel as this is totally Ethanol free and ideal for 'older cars', so use of any 'super grade' fuel should be E5 with a dose of either octane booster / fuel stabiliser would be good going forward. Nice clean car though!👍

[Nige65]

6 minutes ago, katana said:

Yeah, don't dismiss the 32/36 just yet - they are good carbs for a road car, perfectly suited. As said the jetting could be all over the shop + please don't run it with E10 fuel ! I see you are down in the South West so don't have access to ESSO E5 fuel as this is totally Ethanol free and ideal for 'older cars', so use of any 'super grade' fuel should be E5 with a dose of either octane booster / fuel stabiliser would be good going forward. Nice clean car though!👍

You are correct, the nearest E5 supply is my local Tesco’s, even the Texaco next door to it only sells E10, there are a couple of Shell petrol stations around 10 miles away but I do appreciate your advice regarding use of an octane booster.

Regarding the carb, I will have to bite the bullet and go for a complete strip down and check the jets, I have priced up a Weber service kit and will purchase one imminently, I have seen a thread with jet sizes for Sport so will be able to compare, the only thing that might be a problem is the linkage from the throttle to the auto choke, when the engine eventually fired up the revs immediately hit 2k, I then have to fiddle with said linkage to bring the revs down.

All the fun of owning and running a classic motor!

[katana]

Auto chokes were notorious 'back in the day' - they either didn't work or acted exactly as you describe! It was std. to start the engine with a zillion rpm and immediately big prod of throttle that tended to kick the auto choke off - normal service resumed till next cold start LOL. Auto choke manual conversions were also very popular - one was fitted to my RS2 when I bought it.

[Nige65]

7 minutes ago, katana said:

Auto chokes were notorious 'back in the day' - they either didn't work or acted exactly as you describe! It was std. to start the engine with a zillion rpm and immediately big prod of throttle that tended to kick the auto choke off - normal service resumed till next cold start LOL. Auto choke manual conversions were also very popular - one was fitted to my RS2 when I bought it.

I am thinking of going down the manual choke route, oddly my car has a starter button fitted to the manual choke recess, not sure why as it starts on the ignition key.

A brand new 32/36DGV will be purchased me thinks, just to rid any doubt regarding the existing carbs set up and condition.

Does anyone on here know the capacity of the long range fuel tanks fitted to these cars?

[Rally Pack 2000]

I went through the lets get rid of the auto choke phase and was never really happy with the alternatives. I tried a Spanish DGV and could never get the car to run smoothly. I found it just takes some understanding of the auto choke mechanism and how to adjust it. Often owners would put a kit through the carburettor but leave the auto choke untouched. Its needs cleaning and resealing like all the other bits. The housing does loosen and rotate so you can wind back that initial high revs to 1500 or so. One dab on the accelerator cuts it down but not completely so that it hovers just above a warm idle. After all the troubles I went through with manual choke conversions I have learned to live with Auto choke on my 2000 quite successfully.

[Nige65]

Is there a definite requirement for a return line from the carb to the tank as fitted to mine, I have looked into a new replacement they only seem to have the feed line and the other blanked off?

[Miniliteman]

Return line is to keep petrol temperature down as hot petrol could give vapour-lock. Lots of cars / carbs don't have it.

[Nige65]

13 minutes ago, Miniliteman said:

Return line is to keep petrol temperature down as hot petrol could give vapour-lock. Lots of cars / carbs don't have it.

I would imagine that it was fitted due to the car being located in South Africa where the temperatures are slightly higher than the UK!

[Rally Pack 2000]

If the line to the tank is already fitted I would reinstate it with the new carburettor as well. It can be beneficial to reduce flooding. The tank and breather is set up to accept it and you dont want stuff building up in that line from lack of fuel flow (condensation and dirt etc) which will dump back into your tank eventually . Its an arterial set up so keep it flowing if its already there. The new carbs have it blanked off yes but you can buy a brass nozzle that slots in tight to replace the blanking plate to reinstate the fuel return.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WEBER-DGV-DGAV-DGEV-DGMS-DGAS-RETURN-SCREW-IN-RESTRICTOR-FUEL-UNION-/223837459119

I would do it while its out and new as some units are tapped and others not so you may have to tap it if there is no thread there or alternatively just get an early press in nozzle. BUT and there is one caveat here is that if you intend on converting the car to a UK style side tank and removing the unique South African long range one then you really wouldn't bother with a return line since the tank you get locally wont have provisions for a return line anyways.

[Nige65]

7 hours ago, Rally Pack 2000 said:

If the line to the tank is already fitted I would reinstate it with the new carburettor as well. It can be beneficial to reduce flooding. The tank and breather is set up to accept it and you dont want stuff building up in that line from lack of fuel flow (condensation and dirt etc) which will dump back into your tank eventually . Its an arterial set up so keep it flowing if its already there. The new carbs have it blanked off yes but you can buy a brass nozzle that slots in tight to replace the blanking plate to reinstate the fuel return.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WEBER-DGV-DGAV-DGEV-DGMS-DGAS-RETURN-SCREW-IN-RESTRICTOR-FUEL-UNION-/223837459119

I would do it while its out and new as some units are tapped and others not so you may have to tap it if there is no thread there or alternatively just get an early press in nozzle. BUT and there is one caveat here is that if you intend on converting the car to a UK style side tank and removing the unique South African long range one then you really wouldn't bother with a return line since the tank you get locally wont have provisions for a return line anyways.

Thanks RP, will be sticking with the original return line set up as suggested 👍

[katana]

9 hours ago, Rally Pack 2000 said:

 there is one caveat here is that if you intend on converting the car to a UK style side tank and removing the unique South African long range one then you really wouldn't bother with a return line since the tank you get locally wont have provisions for a return line anyways.

Isn't the European spec cars fuel return (when fitted) incorporated into the fuel level sender unit? If changing tanks this would be required regardless, so someone could chose to fit either return or non-return type?

[Johnny Boy]

Ill have to have a look at my SA MK2 , as It came over with a normal uk style tank fitted, and it has a return to the tank.

New carb didn't have the return facility , so I just blanked the end off at the engine compartment. 

[Rally Pack 2000]

12 hours ago, katana said:

Isn't the European spec cars fuel return (when fitted) incorporated into the fuel level sender unit? If changing tanks this would be required regardless, so someone could chose to fit either return or non-return type?

Yes thats true it would be easy enough to retain with the right sender.

7 hours ago, Johnny Boy said:

Ill have to have a look at my SA MK2 , as It came over with a normal uk style tank fitted, and it has a return to the tank.

New carb didn't have the return facility , so I just blanked the end off at the engine compartment. 

If the tank came from SA or Australia then it would have a return line system even if it was a Euro style side tank. But as Katana said its all built into the sender unit itself so easy to change spec from one countries requirements to the other

[BaileyMex]

Looks very nice mate 👍

[Dave Knight]

Did you sort the carb issues out?
 

Mine is running the same, idle all over the show. I spoke to a guy over here who’s from SA originally and owns a Perana Capri. Reckons due to to SA being higher sea level, the jetting is different. 
 

I converted mine to manual choke and changed the tank to UK. It pissed fuel out of the filler neck.