Series 3 How worn is worn? Zenith Carburettor

Pulled my 36IV to bits last night. The main choke spindle is pretty worn at its inboard end. The bush it sits in is blind so no air can get past, but I was wondering if wear of this magnitude indicates replacement. Of course, only the throttle spindle is included in the rebuild kit, not the choke spindle, so I'd need to find one from elsewhere.

Thanks for any advice on this.

Cheers
Andrew

Years ago when I gave my 36iv an overhaul I found the same problem with the main spindle. Problem was most the wear was in the carb body letting air in. Filled the hole with chemical metal and drilled it to the correct size for the new spindle.

I wouldn't think wear in the choke spindle bush would make any difference the efficiency of fuel/air delivery of the carb. When the choke is closed, it isn't airtight anyway.

Col

Thanks guys. Valuable opinions as usual.

The carb is not far off back together. The normal rubbing down on a piece of glass took out the twist in the body castings (at least for now).

Major headache now is the fuel pump rebuild kit. I shelled out for the genuine Land Rover item and the one that turned up has a totally different oil seal and push rod for the diaphragm.

Might be easier to get hold of a different pump than to try to get the correct kit. Nobody is flying to NZ now so the freight rates have gone through the roof. Everything is coming by ship and that takes two months......

Kiwi Landie said:

Thanks guys. Valuable opinions as usual.

The carb is not far off back together. The normal rubbing down on a piece of glass took out the twist in the body castings (at least for now).

Major headache now is the fuel pump rebuild kit. I shelled out for the genuine Land Rover item and the one that turned up has a totally different oil seal and push rod for the diaphragm.

Might be easier to get hold of a different pump than to try to get the correct kit. Nobody is flying to NZ now so the freight rates have gone through the roof. Everything is coming by ship and that takes two months......

Click to expand...

What is wrong with the fuel pump? They are usually very robust and don't need much doing to them. When toy say oil seal, do you mean the gasket between the metal body and the glass bowl?

Col

Couple of things wrong:

Gasket for glass bowl is knackered.
Diaphragm is split.
Oil seal beneath the diaphragm is buggered.

Unfortunately the parts kit does not include the glass bowl gasket. Equally unfortunate is the fact that the kit also comes with the wrong diaphragm for my pump. There are apparently two types. Mine has a sort of double keyway on the end of the actuating rod. The one supplied has a shorter rod with a hole in the middle. The diaphragm itself is the correct size but you cannot dismantle it and change the rods over. It is all riveted together.

The oil seal supplied is also for a slightly different model of pump.

After a bit of searching, I have worked out that I need the AEU2760A kit, not the AEU2760 which is commonly supplied.

Of course, being in NZ means it takes weeks to find these things out and then be in a position to do anything about it!

Anyway - plenty of other things to do, so the fuel pump can wait. I have some options on other second hand pumps so I might just get one to tide me over.

Cheers

You could convert to an electric fuel pump, more efficient and pretty reliable. The old pump can be left in place.

Col

I was going to say for you to see if you could find a pump of the type to suit your overhaul kit, They were common on many British made vehicles of that time. Including Bedford trucks and Massy Ferguson tractors.

Managed to find a source here in NZ for the correct service kit, and placed an order today. But a) it isn't OEM and b) it hasn't arrived yet, so I live in hope.....

Of course it was also about 3 x the price of the original LR kit, but that's the price to pay for living down here.

Got the kit. Looked to be pretty much the same quality as the earlier incorrect LR kit.
Fitted and staked the valves. Popped the diaphragm in and gave it a twist to lock.
Lid back on and it all seems to work OK. The manual recommends a bath in paraffin (kerosene) and various tests so I'll try and get onto that today.