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Color Tune

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triumphant

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Has anyone here ever used the "color tune". Its like a spark plug that you can see thru and tell when the mixture is right. You adjust the mixture until the color is just righ. I was wondering if these actually work, or is it just a waste of money?

Larry
 
Provided your garage is or can be made fairly dark they work a treat, bright sunlight shining on them can make them difficult to see, just takes a bit of practice in reading the flame colour
Dave
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Caretaker:
Provided your garage is or can be made fairly dark they work a treat, bright sunlight shining on them can make them difficult to see, just takes a bit of practice in reading the flame colour
Dave<hr></blockquote>

Thanks for the feedback. Is it fairly precise? I mean, can you really tell when the mixture color is just right, or is there a wide range where it looks similar? I guess what I'm asking is, in your opinion, is it worth the money?

Thanks, Larry
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by triumphant:
Has anyone here ever used the "color tune". Its like a spark plug that you can see thru and tell when the mixture is right. You adjust the mixture until the color is just righ. I was wondering if these actually work, or is it just a waste of money?

Larry<hr></blockquote>

A few years ago I regularly used the colortune to set the low speed mixture for my +4 Morgan (same engine as Triumph TR3) which I was using for vintage racing. I bought two of them so I could adjust the front and rear carbs simultaneously. They worked well, and I had no trouble distinguishing lean from rich mixtures at idle.

They aren't meant to be the only tool for carb adjusting since they are not designed for balancing multiple carbs or adjusting mixture at higher speeds under load.

I recommend getting one to play with.

Bill C.
 
I have had the same question myself. I think I will get one to help me tune the Webers on my spitfire. Now the next question, billca, is where can I get one?

Basil
 
Moss sells them as well as quite a few other mail-order places on the web.
 
By the way - the book "Tuning SU Carbs" (or something like that - Moss sells it) has a section that discusses how to use Color Tune and also how to use it with multiple carbs.
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by spit6 guy:
hello

when I was surfing the other day I cameto a
page that gave a very good describtion on how to tune your cars with su and zs carbs they said that using the colortune is a great help and also how to use it so if you want to veiw this page here it is.
https://www.vtr.org/maintain/carbs.html

spit6 guy<hr></blockquote>

Wow, thanks guy! That's a great writeup...very comprehensive! I did notice that the ColorTune is listed in Victoria British parts cataloge too, so I will probably go ahead and but one.

Thanks,
Larry
 
The color tune DOES work great, but while you're at it, the "unisyn" synchroniser is an inexpensive essential. I have an old unisyn which differs from the new reproduction tool mainly on the "cushion" side (where it seals against the carb intake). The original style is about 5/8" thick where the repop is like 1/8". Modifying that with added weatherstrip material will make the tool a lot more useful.


Doug
 
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