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cds150 damper spring rates


Iain T

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Made a 3mm thick stainless steel fan belt bracket so I can now fit the new belt. The old bracket was way too long and didn't have enough adjustment. 

Changed to 7B's and checked needle and jet heights were the same and centred. 

I found with 20/50 oil in the dash pots there was a lot of resistance to the piston so I changed to 3 in 1 which is the lightest oil I have. The resistance was a lot less. Went for a spin today and there is a noticeable inprovement in the afr readings. Cruises around 14 and down to 12 on full throttle. Early days but much better than when I previously had the 7B needles in with 20/50 oil. 

Anybody tried British rape seed oil in the dash pots? 

Iain 

The Bastock cam made 112bhp and 120 torque but with a standard head. 

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dont know what 3 in 1  viscosity is like when its hot  but the damper is to solve flat spots on acceleration 

cant see that using cats pee is of any purpose but your on a mission of trial and error 

if the damper is working its supposed to give a good resistance to lift , but the vacuum has enough oomph to move it quite quikely 

Pete

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48 minutes ago, Pete Lewis said:

dont know what 3 in 1  viscosity is like when its hot  but the damper is to solve flat spots on acceleration 

I just wanted to try a lighter oil to see if it made much difference and it certainly does. The slightest of acceleration and the readings momentarily go up slightly then reduce to normal but on moderate/hard acceleration it's around 11-12. With 20/50 hard acceleration was around 10-11 on the afr meter. On feathering it's now around 15-16+ which I think is fine. 

I thought changing the oil shouldn't make a difference to the afr at a constant speed only on acceleration by stopping the piston rising. If we wanted perfect readings then change to throttle bodies! 

As you say trial and error with a modified engine. 

It does drive and tickover nicely but I do need to take it for a longer run. 

Iain 

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20 minutes ago, Pete Lewis said:

ATF would be better as a lower viscosity and heat rated 

I forgot I have some atf I use for the Type 9 box. 

I'll suck out the 3 in 1 and replace it. 

Thanks for reminding me! 

Iain 

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On 26/05/2021 at 15:52, Pete Lewis said:

but youve got a week to prove this out the clocks running    Ha !

75w90 seems OK and as you say will retain viscosity better than 3 in 1.

It did seem thinner than 20W50 engine oil. 

Iain 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I relented and went to BD Engineering for a rolling road tune (£165 and highly recommended). The best result was with 6J needles, soft damper springs and 20W50 oil. Correct me if I'm wrong but this is the standard Mk1 setup? As I said mine is a twiddled Mk2. The afr readings are good throughout the range, mild and WOT. 

With 270 degree cam duration and 260 thou in/ex lift the torque is good at 1500rpm+ with 119 lbs/ft max and 108bhp. I think the cam is now the limiting factor as power drops off a cliff at around 4800rpm. But then the car is very driveable, starts fine and at the moment behaving itself (see clutch post). I very much doubt if I will approach 5000rpm so I'm not worried! 

Iain 

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What cam is it? What exhaust manifold? The standard Mk2 cam is 270 duration though much less lift and the factory standard engine I did have in my Vitesse was happy to rev to Smiths both when still on carbs and later when injected. That made 120bhp when injected but also had a bit of head work and a 6-3-1 by that time.

So maybe a bit surprising that the cam would be the limiting factor, unless it’s timed retarded?

That said, the engine in my GT6 which is built as a Mk2 with an alleged factory Mk2 cam is much less keen to rev though it is very torquey and willing low down.

Nick

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15 hours ago, Nick Jones said:

What cam is it? What exhaust manifold?

It's a billet Newman cam basically a standard duration but higher lift on both inlet and exhaust. The exhaust is Phoenix 6-3-1 with wheelbarrows. I'll check the timing but BD said he set it at 13 degrees. 

The cam that was in there was a TR6 PI from Bastock. I've measured the lift at 280 thou but don't know the duration. I assume based on the lift and the bumpy tickover it's 290ish.

The 6J and 7B needles are both about 50 thou at the bottom. The 7Bs with a slightly thinner taper didn't make any difference to the power/torque and ran rich. Obviously standard 6AC where way too lean. 

The head has been gas flowed including valves and port matched so it should breath easier. It spins up a treat and has a very flat torque curve about 105lbs/ft at 1500rpm to 119 at 4800. 

The Bastock cam made 112bhp and 120 torque. 

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TR5/early 6 cam is 280 duration IIRC, but has a lot of overlap. It needs a throttle per pot to play nicely really, but then it was designed for use with ITBs and sequential injection. 

I meant cam timing rather than ignition timing, retarding the timing tends to move the power/torque down the rev band.

If you are happy with the way it drives, just enjoy it 🙂. Mine flattens off about 5.5k when cam specs say it should be good for at least another 1k, but in practice I only ever notice on the track and I only do that about once a year……

Nick

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Can I ask a daft question. As I am about to embark upon a 150 rebuild i was wanting to know why all the discussion about springs, damper oil and needles. As a standard carb, wouldn't a standard rebuild with normal components rectify any running issues or is it because of ported manifolds, exhausts, cams, etc altering original design principles? 

Adrian

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Pete, you beat me I'm still having issues with the website. 

Adrian, yes it's because I and others more proficient than me have fiddled with the engine. Keep it standard and the carbs should remain as factory spec. Any head and cam modifications can make big differences to the air/fuel intake. 

Iain 

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Sorry to jump in and hijack the thread but you sound like you may be able to help me!

My Vitesse 6 is as far as I know standard bar replacement carbs, previous owner apparently fitted rebuilt cdse 150 carbs but never got the tuning right, and boy is it rich, also can't balance them for love nor money. With all the messing about with the cdse carbs I have been considering getting a pair of cd150 3137f and r carbs and doing a rebuild using the 1600 needles available from J Paddocks, the jets are apparently the same for both 1600 and 2000. 

In your opinion is this a better solution than fighting with the cdse set up? Seems easier and with more flexibility to tune the older cd150 jets rather than the top needles on the cdse?

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there is no reason cdse wont run on a base CD carb engine  apart from design changes the operation is the same   

you wont get 1600 needles for a biased needle CDSE carb  thats the first snag  

1600  on stromber CD150/150CDS    used fixed needle  7B

2000mk2  has 150CDS/CDSE    Biased needle B5CB

the 1600 with CD /CDS has no air spring and has a heavier diaphragm holding top plate 

CD has thames barrier choke  CDS has a staring valve choke on the fron carb

CDSE may have a starting valve choke on both   none of this matters unless the choke discs are badly corroded 

on a a CDSE  set the needls so the delrin washer is level/flush with the base of the air piston 

take out the temperature compensators on the side and full cloase the small nut that holds the bi metal strip to fully shut the plunger

make sure the two 0 rings that seal this gadjet are ok 

but ive not compared needle profiles but youre playing with something with no known base specified data on a 1600

you can s fit a fixed need  air piston from a CD/CDS into the body of a CDSE/SEV and get the correct fixed needle but there is not means to centralise the very fixed jet in a CDSE body

Pete

 

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1 hour ago, CVPwales said:

Thank you so much and that kind of confirms my suspicion that getting hold of a pair older cd150 carbs is the better option.

I have the CDS carbs (with the choke enrichment disc on the ftont carb and a joining hose to the rear) and it seems much simpler to adjust the jet at the bottom than mucking around with the needle in the CDSE. Also you can adjust the mixture while the engine is running. 

Iain 

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1 hour ago, Pete Lewis said:

1600  on stromber CD150/150CDS    used fixed needle  7B

Pete, isn't the 7B needle a bit to tapered hence rich for a standard 1600? The 7Bs were too rich on my ported 2 litre. 

Iain 

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5 minutes ago, Iain T said:

Pete, isn't the 7B needle a bit to tapered hence rich for a standard 1600? The 7Bs were too rich on my ported 2 litre. 

Iain 

Can't remember of the top of my head the needle number but there is a different one for the 1600 and 2ltr but the jet is the same. Will double check later but think your right and it's a 6?

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