Lagondaforum

Subject: Renovation Solex PHH 44 Carbs

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I will try and take some better photos of the strip down...

This is how I recieved the original carbs (two weeks ago) from my Rapide which were in the shed of the person who owned my car in 1988. The carbs I got with my car are also PHH 44 and were replaced new in 1971 - they are excellent having only been used for around 2000 miles.

So my aim is to strip down and refurbish the original carbs to make them look and work like new again, fortunately amoungst my spares I have two original Solex rebuild kits. The carbs look rough but actually are in good condition with no damage, still, they are complex and require a lot of work.

Time spent so far - around 20 hours...

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Subject: Re: Renovation Solex PHH 44 Carbs

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Hi Christian, Glad it's going well still!
My car's carbs were rebuilt by Burlen Services of Salisbury if I recall, came back really well but not cheap! Some of the minor castings are mazak and very vulnerable, especially those with threads in them like the top plate where the fuel enters. I've had to cannibalise my spare set to stop leaks etc. They are also quite tricky to set up properly but once done they should hold their settings for ages; the effect of the main jets coming in around 3000-3500 rpm is very marked in terms of engine performance

Regards, David

Subject: Re: Renovation Solex PHH 44 Carbs

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I appreciate that you don't want to go down this route (patently) but I was wondering how practical fitting SUs might be as a 'solution'. I seem to recall that Robert Edwards (in his book) made some comment to the effect that he foresaw 'breathing' problems with such a conversion, but I couldn't follow the logic of the argument. Surely, twin SUs worked well on the DB4 and triple SUs on the DB5/6 are well thought of?

Subject: Re: Renovation Solex PHH 44 Carbs

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Tim, the car restored by WS had 3 SU before they reverted to Solex (for originality?) so clearly it can be done. I wonder if the breathing problems with SU reported by Robert Edwards might have been caused by the standard Rapide engine having different (softer) cam profiles to either standard or Vantage DB4 or DB5, and I suspect the smaller valves as per 2 SU DB4 engine

It would be a very interesting Q car with a 4.7 engine with 3 Webers! Manual box of course. I'm not sure the half shafts would last long though

David

Subject: Re: Renovation Solex PHH 44 Carbs

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I love SU's - they look lovely and are very simple however the Solex carbs are much more advanced...complicated (typical German).

So, tonight I installed some new parts, crucially new jets, and throttle shaft seals - as mentioned I inherited two genuine Solex rebuild kits. The bushes appear fairly unworn so I have left them; bearing in mind these carbs were only in use for a reletivley short time. The PHH44's are quite tricky to clean - lots of tiny fuel passages etc. As far as I can tell the 190SL setup differs only in having two needle jets.

The bottom two photos are the newer carbs which are fairly untouched. It's popular to yellow passivate all the moving metal parts to make them look new but it is not original and looks a bit bling to me.

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Subject: Re: Renovation Solex PHH 44 Carbs

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Amazing! Fascinating to see the breakdown

Subject: Re: Renovation Solex PHH 44 Carbs

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Great stuff, Christian. Keep posting, please.

Subject: Re: Renovation Solex PHH 44 Carbs

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Last phase of carb rebuild - new gaskets, main jets, diaphrams.

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Subject: Re: Renovation Solex PHH 44 Carbs

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Excellent! So, next a doctoral thesis on how & why they work?