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


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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