V8 engine sluggish

Hi everyone
I have just bought an 84 90 county which has been fitted with a V8 3.5 motor,
I have two immediate problems that hopefully members can help shed some light on.
1) the engine starts and idles perfectly well and sounds very smooth however feels very underpowered when driving, I have had a full service done on it but this made very little difference, it seems that one side of the motor is running lean, I removed the air filter and elbow pipe and tested the suction on the carbs, one side had plenty of suction and when I placed my hand over the air intake the engine tone dropped as expected, however on the other side the suction was very low and the engine tone stayed the same, I then removed the plugs on the offending side and all 4 showed White suggesting that side was running very lean, also the carb slide did not seem to lift very high when the throttle applied.

2) when the fuel guage shows as being just below 1/2 full the engine cuts out as I'd it has run out of fuel, I have cleared the breather hole in the fuel cap and there does not seem to be a vacuum in the tank, the fuel pump can be heard so I assume this is working, the tank has been cleaned out and deems to be free of any blockages but still this problem is present.

Any info on either of these issues would be gratefully recieved.
Btw the carbs are SU type
Many thanks
Steve

Sounds like you need to strip and service the carbs - I suspect you'll find a perished diaphragm.

Change the fuel filter; it might also be worth removing the fuel pump and making sure the pick up pipe and gauze filter are clean and clear.

classic kev said:

Sounds like you need to strip and service the carbs - I suspect you'll find a perished diaphragm.

Change the fuel filter; it might also be worth removing the fuel pump and making sure the pick up pipe and gauze filter are clean and clear.

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the carbs are SU not strombergs thus no diaghram!!!!!

the carbs need to be balanced and the linkages reset!

Ok thanks for the input, can anyone suggest a good place around Gloucestershire that I can go to get the carbs balanced and sorted?
Cheers for any help
steve

eightinavee is around that way - if he cant help, I am sure he will know someone.

Just read your post and if you need help with the carbs i ran a stage1 V8 for 6 years and allways did my own and had no trouble although i don't profess to be an expert....i am in Whitmister just off junction 13. I have used eigtinavee myself and he is a top Mr fixit.

njh2 said:

Just read your post and if you need help with the carbs i ran a stage1 V8 for 6 years and allways did my own and had no trouble although i don't profess to be an expert....i am in Whitmister just off junction 13. I have used eigtinavee myself and he is a top Mr fixit.

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Thanks for the offer of help, I am taking it over to Cheltenham tomorrow to a company called Tim Fry's and he is going to see if he can find the problem and hopefully fix it, If not I may take you up on your offer, should I contact you through a PM on this forum?
Many thanks

Steve

Right heres an update, I took the car to Tim Fry in Cheltenham and they balanced the carbs and basically said they were fine and suggested that the cam lobes on the offending side woere worn and it needed replacing, so that is the next job, anyone know where I can get the cam from?
Also with regards the fuel problem, it seems like the fuel pump also needs replacing, is there anywhere on this site which gives a guide to replacing the fuel pump on an 84 County, or does anyone know what the part number is as there seems to be loads of different types.
Mnay thanks

Steve