Help! I finally dug the 68 Xke out of my 75 year old moms
garage. 44k Original 2+2. Drained all the varnish(gas) out
of the tank, replaced both fuel filters, have very good fuel
pressure, it runs great by squirting fuel into the 2 Strombergs,\
purrs actually, buy wont continue to run. I remove the large
cap on the bottom of the carb bowl and nothing leaks out, its
dry. As I said i have great fuel pressure at the carbs. Am I
missing something obvious?? I do Mopar Hemi cars, so I am mechanical
but this is apples to oranges. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks

Submitted by cleavefamily@c… on Thu, 12/16/2004 - 16:08

Steve,
Removing one carb at a time is the reason there are so few original fuels tees on these cars. You most remove them togeter or you will break the plastic fuel tee. Separate the carbs from the tee after removal from the intake manifold.
One Scarlet Knight to another!
Stew Cleave
JOCO Chief Judge
'69 E-Type 2+2 and other LBC's

Submitted by NE52-32043 on Thu, 12/16/2004 - 15:51

Dwight,

I agree with Brian and Stew. If I were you, I'd remove the carbs, one at a time, and do a full rebuild on them. They are not difficult to do. When you remove the valve that Stew was talking about, you will likely find a screen up in the hole. If there was fuel in the system that was left, that screen could be completely clogged. Replace the valve with a Grosse jet and also replace the screen. Be sure to clean out the passages in the carb before reassembling it. Old gas that has turned to varnish can cause a terrible mess. At the same time, change all the rubber parts, as suggested, including the diaphram.

If you intend to do the rebuild, in addition to the Bentley's manual, you may also want to pick up a paperback book about rebuilding Weber carbs that has a whole section on rebuilding Strombergs. I forget the publisher, but it is a fairly common book and can be found on Amazon.com.

If you are not sure about doing the rebuild, there are people who can do it for you. One of the best is Joe Curto, in College Point, Queens, NY. Email me if you need his phone number. You can ship them to him and he will ship them back when done.

Hope that helps.

Steve Weinstein, JTC-NJ
'70 XKE FHC
'69 XKE OTS

Submitted by cleavefamily@c… on Wed, 12/15/2004 - 21:41

Dwight,
Get a good shop manual like Bentleys, available from all the big 5 Jaguar Parts Houses, and read the section on the carburetors. Get the rebuild kits too. Your fuel inlet jets into the bowls have rubber seals that have deterioriated with time, and they are probably shut tight or restricted. Replace them with gros jets. There are other rubber parts in the kit that you will need to use like gaskets and the diaphram. This is an easy job but cleanliness is essential, and do one carb at a time lest you mix parts from one to another. Take your time and make sure that you check everything out, treated each carb equally.
Good Luck
Stew Cleave
JOCO Chief Judge
'69 E-Type 2+2 and other LBC's

Submitted by bblackwell@jcna.com on Wed, 12/15/2004 - 21:37

If you have fuel pressure at carbs and nothing in the bowls, the inlet valves to the carbs are varnished shut so well that your bodacious fuel pressure can't blow them open. When you take the bowls off the bottom of the Strombergs there is a brass valve that screws up into the tapped aluminum with a sealing washer. You need to swing the float out of way or let it drop, then remove and clean those valves till you can blow air through the valve with your lips and shut it off and on by pressing on the rod in the center of the valve. Don't switch valves or floats between carbs, or get a manual and check the float setting height before reassembly.

You only want about 4-6 psi at the carbs I believe. My dad put an American car 12 psi electric pump on our '67 Sprite back in 1975, crowned the jets in the carbs, and fuel sprayed everywhere.

Good luck,
Brian Blackwell
San Antonio JC