Volvo RWD 120-130 Forum

INDEX FOR 10/2025(CURRENT) INDEX FOR 10/2004 120-130 INDEX

[<<]  [>>]


THREADED THREADED EXPANDED FLAT PRINT ALL
MESSAGES IN THIS THREAD




  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

Book Review 120-130

Title: The SU Carburettor High-Performance Manual
Author: Des Hammill
Publisher: Veloce Publishing, Limited, 33 Trinity Street, Dorchester DT1 1TT, England, www.veloce.co.uk
ISBN 13: 978-1-84584-073-0

Perhaps you've seen this book for sale on eBay and haven't bought it because the "Buy it now" price seemed to be a bit high. I know that is why I waited for so long to get a copy. When I found it for less than $20 I snagged a copy. I anxiously awaited the "book rate" mail delivery. It seemed to take forever but in reality, only ten days passed. It arrived in the post this Tuesday last and I read it cover to cover immediately. If you've been waiting for "the deal" on this book, keep your money.

I had never read a Des Hammill offering before. I know he is a prolific writer on most every motoring subject imaginable. I was dearly hoping for pearls of wisdom dripping from the pages. I searched from cover to cover; no pearls to be found anywhere.

Don't get me wrong, there are several examples of good solid tuning advice in the book. But none worth buying the book to get. You can find all the information presented in this book on the internet utilizing judicious Google searches. I dare say, almost all of the information can be found on the Brickboard.

The most disappointing aspect of this book is the total lack of hard data. One reason I wanted this specific title was to get some hard facts about the flow potential of the HS6, for example. There are no CFM numbers anywhere. There are no dynamometer charts or tables to bolster claims of improved performance. The closest the author ever comes to presenting real data is a reference to "about 20%" improvement in acceleration realized by tuning his friend's single carb'd Mini. Even here, he never offers acceleration data, relying on a quesitonable dash tachometer and, apparently, a wrist watch(?) -- We don't know because he doesn't say how he measured this improvement.

Several chapters of this book are very short. You reach the end statement and wonder, is that it? Chapter 13, "Your needle modification record", consists of nothing more than drawings of the needle types with room to record the measurements of the stations. That is OK, I will need those diagrams to record changes to my needles. But an example would have sufficed; I can draw a needle well enough to record the stations.

If you run across this book in the bargain bin for less than $10, pick it up. Else, save your money and search the internet for specific information. It is all out there, including information not included in the book. Such as -- su hs6 cfm


--
Mr. Shannon DeWolfe -- (I've taken to using Mr. because my name tends to mislead folks on the WWW. I am a 52 year old fat man ;-) -- KD5QBL








  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE Replies to this message will be emailed.    PRINT   SAVE 

Book Review 120-130

I have an SU book from my MG years (New England MG T Register in the '70s).

"Tuning S.U. Carburetters-Including Full Needle Charts (Published by Speedsport in UK)
3rd edition from 1975
ISBN 85113-072-0

Must be worth hundreds by now, right?
--
Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current), 240s (one V8), 140s, 122s, since '63.








  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

Book Review 120-130

Must be worth hundreds by now, right?

Well, maybe to someone. ;-)

Even needle profiles are available online. See http://www.teglerizer.com/suneedledb/index.html

Insert the code for your needle and the stations return. Or, put a known measurement of any station in the appropriate field and a selection of needles returns.

Just in case anyone else was wondering, the HS6 flows 210 CFM @ 1.5" Hg; the HIF6 flows 240 CFM.

--
Mr. Shannon DeWolfe -- (I've taken to using Mr. because my name tends to mislead folks on the WWW. I am a 52 year old fat man ;-) -- KD5QBL








  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

SU needles, graphical comparison 120-130

Also, for the more visual learners out there, this site allows you to graphically compare up to 5 different needles. It seems pretty helpful for quick and dirty answers to questions such as the one which came up recently: "what's the difference between a KD, a DX and a ZH?"

http://www.mintylamb.co.uk/suneedle/

as an example, when you query up the 3 needles above it spits out the following chart...



I know I posted all this recently in another thread, but some may have missed it as the thread had gotten eye-glazingly long.







<< < > >>



©Jarrod Stenberg 1997-2022. All material except where indicated.


All participants agree to these terms.

Brickboard.com is not affiliated with nor sponsored by AB Volvo, Volvo Car Corporation, Volvo Cars of North America, Inc. or Ford Motor Company. Brickboard.com is a Volvo owner/enthusiast site, similar to a club, and does not intend to pose as an official Volvo site. The official Volvo site can be found here.