Solex

I'm a bit late to the party but here's what I can add. I had a cheap regulator on my cj5 (231 v6). I ran it for a few miles around town then, drove 100 miles +/- to the wheeling' park. Worked great all day. Left the park and got maybe 2 or 3 miles down the road and the jeep died. No fuel. I cut the reg. out of the system and it fired up. Maybe a better quality one would not have failed.

I also put one on my 47 truck (L head) when I put a Solex on it. I read that the Solex likes between 2 and 4 psi (?), I think. Is that right? it's been years. But, that seemed to work fine. Don't recall where I had it set. I think at 4 psi. And, both engines have mechanical fuel pumps. I don't know what pressure the mechanical puts out. I'd put a small, good quality gauge in line somewhere. Maybe even just a temporary one until you get it tuned to where you want it.

You guys know me. I'm not into the flash or bling or whatever so, when I get back to my truck, I will try to hide that regulator somewhere under the hood. Honestly, I may have the original carb rebuilt and ditch the Solex. The truck has some other issues that need addressed. The Solex seemed to work well in warmer weather. Half choke, no pumps on the gas pedal, and she'd fire right up. If I'd flood it by pumping the gas before starting, I'd have to let it set a spell because it WOULD NOT start. Never had it in cold weather so, I can offer no information on how they work in that environment.

 

The instruction sheet received with my solex says that the fuel pressure should be between 1 3/4 - 2 psi (its highlighted in bold at the bottom of the page).

My experience in cold weather (down to -15 C). It starts OK but you have to let the JEEP warm up quite a bit before driving it otherwise it will pop in the carburetor and not run well (with the choke full on, half on or not at all). I think that the fuel does not atomize well in the intake manifold and pool there - Warning - I'm a newbie so I may be out to lunch on this! Its bad enough that if I just want to go to the corner store - it quicker to walk then to take the jeep + easier on the jeep.

As other said before - to start a Solex - pull full choke on - NO GAS if it doesn't start then its ok to pump once the accelerator pedal and typically it will start. I usually roll the jeep out of the garage at that point but I have to be very easy on the accelerator. Once outside I cut the choke by half and let it warm up a bit (or a lot) depending on the temperature.

I hope you got a good one - I found that the quality of the carb varies and there were factory assembly issues.

 

I have a Solex and in Summer, starts well, all perfect, but in Winter...

I'll check at the pro shop how to have it well 'programmed'.

These Solex carburetors are used on many french cars of the past, and we have people who know them.

I don't have any regulator; I push start button and it works (in Summer).

 

I had that happen on one unit + really badly cut thread on the idle air mixture jet and a poorly fitted enricher - that one was returned - the next one was better. Works OK on my jeep but I still get a little annoying hesitation on street corner when I get going. Mine runs a little lean (in the summer anyway) - not rich, my plugs were all on the whitish side when I inspected them last weekend after a good highway run.

 

Please let me know if the adjustment you made to the accelerator pump works.

As for the pressure regulator - I didn't have one at first then decided to install one because at that time it was running pretty rich and smell gas. Since then I seafoam the engine- did valve adjustments check the timing - put it back on points and condenser and got better at adjusting the mixture screw... so I can't really tell you if the pressure regulator is needed or not. I think that running a higher pressure than what is specified may fill the float bowl more but I'm not sure.

 

How does that Solex work off-road? I finally got my Carter YF dialed in but have always wondered about just bolting on a new Solex.

 

From my experience, awesome. I used mine to wheel and race over some really violent terrain with barely a hiccup. Most carbs have their float bowls on the front of the carb, so going up hill will cause it to flood and stumble. These have the bowl on the (left?) side, and you have to almost be on your (right?) side to notice a rich stumble. YMMV

 

Question about the SOLEX carburetor 32 PBIC on the Hurricane

I have one, I have the doc and as usual the weather is becoming colder and I have problems to start.

What could I modify in the settings to have a good result at low temperature?

Maby changing the timing? Or modify someting in the carburetor?

The Solex is not the one installed at origin, and there are adaptators to fix it. So doing, there is more distance between the engine and the carburetor.

Maybe I can put a better quality of fuel?

Maybe I need a better opening of the valves because the engine is colder - the steel is contracting. ??