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Are you saying that you put pure antifreeze in your radiator? If so this isn't the source of your problem but it will be at some point. I wouldn't ever put more than 50% strength antifreeze in the coolant system. Too high of a concentration can't remove heat as well as a proper mixture. Also you could have dislodged a bit of gunk that might be interfering with the water choke. I don't know much about water chokes as I have a manual choke. The article Tony put together about water chokes is pretty good but there is another out there that I like well. It can be found here https://www.paulbunyan.net/~jasko/choke/
JC
 
The antifreeze should not have an effect on the choke. The coolant running through the housing only warms up a temperature sensitive spring and makes that spring wind/unwind according to the temperature of the coolant running through the housing. Now, if you took the water housing off to check the choke, and did not get the choke pin connected to the spring properly then the car could run fully choked all the time or no choke all the time, because the spring would not be moving the choke pin and the pin would tend to stay in whatever position it was when the housing was taken off. It could also be due to improper alignment of the water housing as the spring is connected to the housing. Here is the pic of my carb showing the choke body, water housing and the alignment marks. The marks are kind of hard to see, but they are raised metal lines on the water housing and the choke body. These should line up. lc - you said that you checked the choke according to one of the previously mentioned web sites, did you make sure that the choke pin fit back into the rectangular portion of the spring?

Carb.jpg


-D.
 
no not just antifreeze, the coolant/antifreeze. It is my understanding that the stuff out today sold as coolant/antifreeze is different than the antifreeze of the 70's and is designed to be used instead of the 50 antifreeze/50 water mixture.

guess i should visit this, but after the main problem is solved. thanks for the imput, jc.

so i could be wrong. what am i, a rocket scientist? Not!
 
here's a better pic of the markings. please note that your hoses are at 6 o'clock and 10 o'clock in your picture while mine are 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock, so a different cover?

Paul bunyan's pics show the hoses at 12 and 8.

Boy am i confused!

Now is that cap that the hoses are connected to supposed to be loose or permanently fixed. Mine will move with no resistance.

By the way, here's a better pic of the markings. The white mark on the hose cap is proment here.
 

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here's the overall engine layout that shows the "smog" equip missing. A couple of pics sent seperately. Do these pic's help?
 

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Is there a metal line on the choke body more towards the engine? In a similar place as shown in the photo I posted? This alignment mark should go all the way across the choke body.

The water housing should be fixed tight. It should not be loose. perhaps a pic of the top of the carb would be usefull as I do not trust the little white marks from the PO.

-D.

I'm going to go look at my choke again. Paul's is the same as mine, just has the hose portions rotated.... will explain this in a minute...
 
Okay, the pic from the top shows the alignment mark on the choke body
Look at this pic:
CarbTop.jpg

This shows my carb from the top. Starting at the choke body you can see the long raised alignment line. Next is the black plastic spacer, this also has a small alignment mark. Next is the Spring body, the part that holds the spring and is attached to the water housing by the bolt on the side of the water housing. Then there's the metal ring with the three screws that holds the whole assembly to the carb (not labeled in the pic). This too will show an alignment mark, and then there is the water housing. The important part is to get the marks on the choke body and the spring body to line up. You can't see the mark on the spring body in my pic, but it is there. If you need to rotate the spring body, loosen the bolt on the side of the water housing and you should be able to rotate the spring body so that you can still have the hoses in a good position. Let me know if this makes sense...

Mine is the same as in pauls photo, only my spring body is rotated differently. It's the alignment marks that are important.
 
For a better picture of the index marks (alignment marks) see the 2nd to last photo in the PaulBunyon link above.
 
here's another pic from the top with the marks.

it looks like yours (and everybody else's water cap is different from mine because of the hose coupling. a previous owner may have married different parts.

I can't get my hoses 90 degrees to the left. think i need a replacement housing? if so where?
 

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The housing doesn't really matter. Here's what you do: Locate the index mark on the spring body. This will need to line up with that mark on the top of the choke body. Loosen the bolt on the side of the water housing slightly. Some coolant may leak out. Next remove the three screws that secure the spring body/water housing to the choke body and remove the whole water choke assembly from the carb body. Now loosen the bolt holding the water housing to the spring body enough so that the spring body will rotate. Rotate the alignment mark on the spring body to a position betwen the water hoses and then tighten that bolt. Put the water choke assembly back on the choke body making sure that the choke pin goes into the bi-metalic spring (see the PaulBunyon site) and put the 3 screws back in place. Align the mark on the choke body to the mark on the spring body and tighten the screws (not too hard or you will strip out the aluminum threads in the choke body). That should be it, Warm the car up and try drivng it for at least 10 minutes. It'll take the engine a bit longer to warm up than the coolant, but after 10 or so of regular diriving the choke should be off, and the car should run better.
 
I think you're right or very close. I got the choke apart and it looked like the spring was disenguaged from the lever. Also the outer ring of the plastic spacer fell apart in my hands.

i think we're on the right track. Now I just have to find a new spacer. got any ideas? Surely i won't have to buy a rebuild kit to get it?
 
yup, the #55 part is the black plastic spacer. 18.95 from Moss. A tad expensive for a plastic piece, but you don't have to get the rebuild kit, yo can just order this part. If the pin was not engaged with the spring then that was definately a problem, and might be THE problem. Were you able to rotate the spring body so that that the alignment marks will line up?

You might also consider investing in Mixture adjustment tool (386-310) if you are thinking about asdjusting the carb yourself. I personally wouldn't trust a mechanic that is not REALLY familar with british cars to work on mine. But what I love about them is they are so easy to work on =)

-D.
 
And if you're gonna make an order, invest in the "ColourTune" device along with the mixture adjustment tool, and mebbe a carb diphragm, and the needle "O" ring, just to have spares. FWIW: replacing the "O" ring on the needle would be a really good idea if you've not done it or know it to have been done in the last two years. If you try to adjust the mixture and the "O" ring is old, it ~will~ disintegrate and you can "spin yer wheels" for hours tryin' to suss why the mixture screw makes no change.
 
Hmm, I know my O ring is shot, the carb wont hold oil, but I have no problems adjusting the mixture. I'm from the 'read the plugs' camp as doing this you can also tell if your needle is right for the car, albeit, easer to make needle changes with SUs. But not impossible with ZS's with some emory cloth and a little patience. (Good to have a spare going this route). Yea, a carb rebuild kit would contain those things and would be handy to have on hand.

-D.
 
even though part of the plastic broke off i assembled it together somehow. I did get the plastic gismo, and the rest to line up. it wouldn't start, though. rats!

i took it apart again and the plastic fell apart. leaving me with a flat piece.

so i'll order an insulator, a mixture adjusting tool and some dashpot oil. I can't find a "ColourTune" device in moss carb. section. is it somewhere else in the catalogue?

think i'll hold off on other carb parts for now. too much adventure might be too much right now.

Now the previous question about coolant/antifreeze. Do you all agree to a 50/50 mix of the new coolant/antifreeze and water or you runnubg pure coolant antifreeze?
 
My new type coolant container says 50/50, just like they have said for 20+ years. More antifreeze solution is less effective than 50/50 and more water gives you less freeze and rust protection.

Guinn
 
I'm sorry to hear that it didn't start when you got it together. Another possibility is that the bi-metalic spring is outta wack. Pauls page explains how to check the spring against the alignment mark. You may want to look over that page again and check your spring against the mark. It seems from the white mark the PO put on the carb that SOMETHING is not aligned right and hence all the alternative alignment marks.

Another route to go would be to convert the carb over to manual choke. I would do this before I replaced the spring/spring housing. I've actually considered doing this in my car anyway, but have opted to go to a different carb. Some people seem to like the manual choke (I had this conversion on a spitfire and liked it), while some are not as fond of it.

-D.
 
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