MGB & GT Forum

This box is for holding the S.U. air chamber & piston/spring assembly without spilling the damper oil. It is just a reinforced cardboard box with a plastic (notebook cover) top overlay. The H4/HS4 piston holes are 1-5/8” diameter on a 4-1/2" center. The box is handy for keeping the components clean and identified Front-to-Rear while checking the jet tube heights and the jet fuel level in the carbs.

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Be safe out there.
Kenny

Kenny
Once again I will accuse you of snooping in my garage.
I have a device that I made out of plywood that resembles your tool to a 'T'.

Proof positive that great minds think alike

B

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Life's most persistent and urgent question is, "What are you doing for others?"

Bruce wrote Post #2, "Once again I will accuse you of snooping in my garage."

Yes, all the time, take photos and drink the beer. Maybe to cold for me now but I will be back.

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Be safe out there.
Kenny

Or simply take a quart Mason jar and sit the assembly on it.

Be careful Barry,
Mason jars can break ...........

B

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Life's most persistent and urgent question is, "What are you doing for others?"

Handy enough if you have your carb tops off that often and are worried about a couple of thimblefuls of oil

I've always used the one that came with the car. The steel mesh guard for the radiator cooling fan can be used for the same job.

"Or simply take a quart Mason jar and sit the assembly on it"
- I have not seen a Mason or Ball jar for decades but the reference does bring back pleasant youngster memories of watching Mother can tomatoes. My contribution was weeding the tomato patch and pulling off the tomato bugs.

"The steel mesh guard for the radiator cooling fan can be used for the same job"
- I have never had or worked on a MG with a "steel mesh guard for the radiator cooling fan".

"Handy enough if you have your carb tops off that often and are worried about a couple of thimblefuls of oil"
- It's not about the "worried about a couple of thimblefuls of oil", it is about not having to replace the oil, keeping the piston/spring with the matched air chamber, keeping the assembly clean, and safely contained. As to "if you have your carb tops off that often" I always check the jet depth and jet fuel height prior to adjusting the carbs, that tells me a lot about the mixture setting and the float levels.

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Be safe out there.
Kenny

Isn't that saying the same thing ?

'Always' seems to infer that you are at them on a regular basis but as someone said recently they are set and forget.

I can't recall the last time I had the tops off mine but if you pressed me I'd have to guess three or four years ago and I've never ever in my life checked the fuel height. if the floats are set to spec it serves no useful purpose.

Ernie,
There is good in most things, you know that.
FWIW I made my plywood SU piston/dashpot support tool for much the same reason as Kenny. I do not use it often but when 'carbing' I am shy about causing damage to the metering needles particularly the non biased ones. I am somewhat embarrassed to say I have a sizeable 'collection' of SU carburetters, (H2 type and up ) that desperately needs a culling. My plywood tool is invaluable during the furbish of each set.

B

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Life's most persistent and urgent question is, "What are you doing for others?"

A couple of comments:

- We have a bunch of nervous Nelly's on this Forum. Earlier today I read a 'Caution' about having a fire extinguisher at the ready when R&R the fuel pump, now a need to be careful using a glass container for storage/staging of a damper assembly. C'mon guys, hopefully we have better common sense than a kid in high school 'auto class'.

- Many spaghetti sauces come in what is effectively a Mason/Ball quart jar.

- Fear of spilling the oil never enters my mind. I find it very convenient to be able to sit/set (grammer?) the entire assembly down on the bench, noting the R & L units, whether working brieily or long term on the carb body and components.

FWIW Barry I am not nervous one bit, but clumsy? oh yeah, and common sense rules when I am using my wooden support 'thingy' around the engine bay, which happens from time to time, and of course where the surfaces at hand are not flat/horizontal.
So I think to each his own, no?

B

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Life's most persistent and urgent question is, "What are you doing for others?"

Ernie,
I suspect that we are coming at the notion of MG service from different perspectives. I am 70 years old, a comfortably retired auto machinist (26 years), college welding professor (24 years), and SCCA MGA/MGB racer (14 years). I only work on local MG club member cars (free), and MG race cars (free), mostly tune, build/rebuild engines and gearboxes, and setup suspension using my four turntables, scales, caster-camber-toe equipment. I pay attention to detail until I am satisfied things are correct and am not in the least concerned about how much of my time is required.

- It's not about the "worried about a couple of thimblefuls of oil", it is about not having to replace the oil. When I see a club member MG needing tuning I don't know what type of fluid is in the dampers, nor the condition of the carbs, thus I try to maintain & evaluate prior to possibly replacing the oil and turning the screws. Maintaining the fluid in the dampers and replacing the fluid is not the same thing.

"'Always' seems to infer that you are at them on a regular basis but as someone said recently they are set and forget."
- Your statement assumes the jet height was set correctly in the first place, has not been altered, nor has changed due to loose components. I don't assume that the jet heights are set correctly.

"I can't recall the last time I had the tops off mine but if you pressed me I'd have to guess three or four years ago and I've never ever in my life checked the fuel height."
- Maybe you should consider checking the fuel height in the jet tubes. With worn floats, replacement floats (including the Burlen adjustable/unsinkable floats), coupled with various replacement needle/seat assemblies the jet fuel height may vary from not visible to overflowing.

My purpose in posting the photos of the box was only to provide readers with a notion of how to hold the air chamber/piston assemblies while working on the carbs.

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Be safe out there.
Kenny

Ernie-
Well, I think that you've got a very neat idea there. How about a diagram with all of the dimensions so that anybody can reproduce it at home?