1500 Midget; sticking choke

[Steve P.]

I'm discovering the later Midgets have some interesting
quirks the earlier ones did not.
The latest is the automatic (sic) choke on the Stromberg
carb. About the only way to get the engine started is
with starter fluid. Within a few seconds of getting it
running, the choke engages. High RPM's for a short
period, then it settles down and runs GREAT. Nice
steady idle and plenty of power. It seems like the choke
works, but is sticking in the off position. Have tried
tapping gently (and not so gently) on the side of the
choke housing, but that doesn't help.

Planning to dig into this in a few days. Can anyone offer
any tips or suggestions? TIA

Steve
p.s.-I'd love to add on a manual choke or dump the
Stromberg and put on an SU (which I have), but I'm in
the state of Kalifornia, and would never pass smog with
mods

 

[highhilleer]

An article and a movie - what could be better? I haven't tried these procedures, use at your own risk!


https://www.paulbunyan.net/~jasko/choke/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5GveCj3Hck

 

[tweety]

Wow, I was going to suggest John Twist but I had no idea there were youtube videos.

It all makes so much more sense now!

 

[tosoutherncars]

John Twist's article about the choke...

https://www.sterlingbritishmotoringsociety.org/files/zenith%20stromberg%20tech%20tips.pdf

You could think about a single SU? I can't imagine there would be many inspectors who could spot the difference between that and a Z-S?

If you search the archives here (top right) you'll find a bunch of posts on the Z-S, as well!

-D

 

[sparkydave]

The John Twist article is good, I've made use of some of the info. Sometimes I have to hold the accelerator down slightly to help it if it's being stubborn. When mine was giving me grief I found the choke needle was gunked up and the cam pivot needed a drop of oil. Unless the CA inspectors are intimately familiar with the Z-S you could probably get the manual choke kit.

Check the choke pull-off piston too, if that's gunked up it doesn't work well.

 

[tweety]

I just went through the CA test only process. I could have had a banana taped to the intake manifold and the test guy would not have noticed.

As long as it passes the tail pipe test you should be ok with just about any carb.

 

[tosoutherncars]

In that case... on with the SU!