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Hey everyone - long time!
I have decided its time to junk the old ZS setup with the FASD for my '80 Spider.. I was gonna go with the the stock duel Weber setup available from VB and just talked with a local mechanic who tried to talk me out of the Weber duel carb setup.. My question is: Hey you guy know these cars better than me or anyone else on Earth - what would YOU replace the ZS duel setup with? Like I said, I was ready to go with the Weber duel setup (manual choke version) at VB:
http://www.victoriabritish.com/icatalog ... px?Page=69

.. but would like advice on this setup or a single carb setup.. Also, if Woody sells this setup, or any other, I'd rather buy from him!
Thanks so much,
Steve

What's wrong with the zs?

Hi Nick - I'm tired of dealing with the FASD.. I get it fixed, and it works properly for a little while, then gums up again and I'm stuck either idling at 3000rpm or not idling at all.. Right now in Summer, its not idling at all and dies every time I go to neutral, which is a pain at red lights.. in Winter, it takes 5 minutes minimum to start the car, then it dies every 5 feet until it warms up, which takes forever.. Like I said, I'll get the FASD working for a while and then it just gums up again.. tired of tearing it apart and dealing with it and want to go to a manual choke..

The easiest carb conversion is to SUs, these will bolt on to your existing manifold look similar to your ZS carbs but without the damned, FASD, diaphragms and all the other unnecessary complications. The other benefits are they're a lot more tunable as they have an enormous range of of jets, needles etc and they have a nice simple manual choke.

The Weber set up that is used in the US isn't the best, I still can't figure out why they use those damned DGV Webers.
In the rest of the world we use Weber DCOEs, a far superior device.

I have the ZS carbs but the FASD has been removed and replaced with a manual choke kit that only operates on the front carb. It takes a little finesse to get the feel of it, but it works fine.

I would buy a complete EFI setup on eBay from some one that is swamping out to go to carbs. I've seen them advertised for about $400 in the past (haven't checked recently). The hardest part would be finding a twin hole EFI gas tank, cleaning a sealing it with POR-15 kit. You can buy SS ones if you have to but pricey. With that you will have no fuss no muss. I've never had a problem with mine except for old sealer failing and flaking off and clogging input screen on the pump (proper sealer fixed that). No trying to find right combinations of springs, bothering with chokes, needles, balancing, flooding, running lean, running rich, leaking rubber gasket (plenum supported by stays from below). Over the initial years I've had the car I've collected spare parts (some NOS) like extra ECU, new amp/coil, new distributor, etc. but haven't needed any of it. Now it only has 106,000+ miles but it's been dead reliable.

That will all change when I get into Yellow TCT as I want to keep that one stock as well. Although our carb guy in the club said he changed out Zenith for SU carbs and it made a difference I think properly running Zeniths will work perfectly fine but if you are modifying the car then all bets are off.

Thanks for the replies, everyone.. Am currently getting estimates on the SU HS6's..

Whitenvira, the manual conversion works? I had read long ago it didn't work worth a flip, so gave up on that idea

Hey 'Spyder - how you doin? That might be a bit over my head trying to do that much.. Believe it or not, my Spider only has a little over 60K on it - I kind have gotten t the point where I WANT To keep it stock, but reliability has gotten more important to me, as I don't have time to keep fixing stuff over and over..

What all is involved in removing the FASD and replacing it with a manual choke setup? thanks in advance!

I too would stick with the Zs. I had the FASD set up but just swapped a pair of TR6 Zs and messed with the linkage (same 1 3/4", they really seem to be an excellent carb. You don't need to keep adjusting! I have a set of webers on my sprint engine, but have not spent much time with them yet to comment. If the only issue is your FASD, then a conversion maybe in cards, or find a different carb and run a single choke as I am. My coupe has a few add on parts such as ram pipes (velocity stacks), header (extractor manifold), electronic ignition etc., and the carbs can keep up just fine. I also don't have any experience with the older SU carbs, so I am biased.

Mine had the manual choke when I bought it, so didn't do the conversion myself. But the kit is from an older TR that fits. It's not a "choke", it has a plate that has a set of graduated holes that add extra gas into the carb when starting.
There is an air connection to the intake manifold and a water connection that fed the FASD that are both blocked off. The cable passes through the firewall and mounts on the bottom of the dash to the right of the steering column.

I've found the right way to make it work. Pull it out about half way, then while cranking push it most of the way back in. Works every time. Your results may vary.

Thanks for the replies, guys - really appreciate the info.. I'm thinking I wanna do the manual choke conversion - if anything cuz its much cheaper than replacing the ZS's which are actually fine and a whole lot less work.. looking forward to blowing the FASD up, if I can get it removed and everything bypassed and blocked off.. Thanks again...