K&N

Thinking out loud, is there any reason why, if running an aftermarket air filter, you couldn't remove the carb cooler set-up and fit some air trunking from that inlet to your air filter?

That would be neat but the space that feeds the carb cooler looks restricted to me. I think cool air struggles to get in there. We will see.
Thanks for the help, its good to have clever people to bounce ideas off.

Hywel,
The carb cooling fan helps with the hot starting issue. If you are planning on removing it then it would be sensible to go for electronic ignition (which overcomes the hot start issue).

Just having an after market filter wont get rid of hot starting issues.

Running some air hose from the carb cooling fan inlet hole is one way of pulling cooler air in, but it would be better to have the air hose pointing down towards the air scoop because you will get better air flow in.

That's just my thinking, others may have a different opinion.

Cheers

Andy

Andy, does the electronic ignition really solve the hot starting? I have an electric fuel pump, which ignition do you recommend, my birthday is soon. How does the electronic ignition sort the hot start? I am using points at the moment and they work very well apart from hot starts. I heard somewhere that electronic systems can fail due to the high heat levels in the engine bay, is that true for the one you use?

My car did have lumenition ignition fitted and it still seemed to have the hot starting issue...

But it was not using an electric fuel pump at the time which probably would have helped.

I recon reinstating the manifold heat shield would help. Also wrapping the exhaust.

It's a problem with most engines that have a carb with the exhaust and inlet manifolds on one side. At least when they get hot...

Fair point Andy, that makes sense.

Out of curiosity, what are people defining as a "hot starting issue"? When at working temp, mine needs a 2-3 seconds on the starter & a pump of the throttle pedal before firing up. It's not what I would call a "hot starting issue" though? Or are they all like that?

1500cc, points and mechanical fuel pump, if that ,matters/helps

Hot starting issues can be caused by fuel vaporisation and result in erratic running, similar to blocked jets amongst other things.

I have left my GF as built, i.e. points, mechanical fuel pump, and carb cooling fan.
I am lucky in that the exhaust manifold heat shroud is still in place as well!

When I first bought the car the carb cooling fan wasn't working and I had issues when re-starting the car when hot and driving away there was instances of fuel starvation. Once I got the fan working again it cured most of those problems.

Generally I have found if you have the timing set up correctly and the cooling fan is working as it should do then I can re-start when hot with no problems.

If you search through some of the previous technical threads on this forum you will find plenty of further information about this issue. it has been talked about a lot.

I am not over familiar with electronic ignition systems, but I know that quite a lot of people use the lumention one (others are available).

Andy

K&N or Pipercross filters are great, remembering the sound of the induction roar is one of the things that's keeping me going on my restoration.

I found an electric fuel pump (facet) sorted out any hot starting issues, it also helps with starting when the car has been laid up for a while. I've got a separate switch for the pump, so I can switch it on, wait for the sound of the return line piddling petrol back into the tank and then crank the engine. Had no problems starting with points, although I'd like to fit electronic ignition in the future. Threw away the cooling fan many years ago, the pump mounts neatly on the fan bracket.

Mechanical fuel pumps can behave oddly when they get worn out or the diaphragm gets holed. I had one that would randomly get an 'airlock', could be after 3 or 30 miles. Only way to get going again would be to take the fuel line off the carb, suck the petrol back through (re-priming the pump I guess) and then you'd be ok for a few more miles. There's nothing like the taste of petrol to spur you on to fixing the problem!