.... from a Granada 2.8. Rather than going the straight forward twin choke weber DGAV from a 2.0 pinto route I reckoned the geniune twin carb from the Granada would be a better bet although a lot harder to get right but with the right combination of air correction jets, emulsion tubes, secondary air jets plus mains and idles it'd give more power right across the full rev range due to having two barrels opening together rather than the second only once the first was half to three quarters open.
I spent an afternoon at the scrapyard robbing every weber carb of its jets i could find till i had a fair number of them to try.Comparing the jet sizes from similar sized carbs in any haynes I could find I got an idea of the sort of sizes that appeared to suit the 1600 and fitted them in place then went out on a cold February afternoon to do the job.
This is a horror story but also a tale of what a little planning and forward thinking could have done to avert the inpending disaster if only I'd thought ahead a little.
The carb went on a treat, cable was fitted in place and worked perfectly and the fuel line put on and tightened down with a jubilee but then it got a little trickier. I hadn't bargained for there being no overflow on the VV which meant there was nowhere to attatch to the overflow on the weber. I didn't have any spare fuel line not even a couple of foot to just fix to the overflow and let it spill onto the road if necessary. Worse still I had a very fed up, bored, cold, irritated gf standing about wanting to help but ideally the best help she could give was to go into the house n watch tv with my folks and allow me to get om but no that wasn't going to happen.
It was getting darker and darker with just the light from the kitchen window, the moon and a fading torch to see by. Streetlights no matter how orange just don't do the trick so i decided to find a bolt to push fit into the outlet,electrical tape it in place and finish it off tomorrow thinking it would all be fine... as long as it started and ran of course.
It did, amazingly smoothly and on the way to hers it took off like a steam train through all the gears and from low down to the red line.It felt quicker than the 2.0 Capris I had and I couldn't have been more delighted with the car and myself.
We pulled up outside hers and that's when i noticed the black smoke pouring from around the bonnet. Conventional wisdom states categorically in this situation DO NOT open the bonnet as the sudden in rush of air will make the flames suddenly flare up, most likely in your face but of that thought crept into my head it was dismissed even quicker in the panicked scream of i have to savey car, put the flames out now before it's too late so i pulled the bonnet catch, rushed out and flung it open to find the carb on fire and burning rapidly, rubber and plastic already melting.
Into her house and frantically searching for anything to use to put it out but all there was was a bucket so i rushed out with it full of water and hurled it at the engine bay but it just turned to steam doing nothkng whatsoever to put it out.
Only the fire brigade could do that now amd even though I could hear their sirens in the distance it was too late, the interior was ablaze, even the tailgate spoiler was on fire, it was an inferno.
And to add insult to injury when the cop. car arrived the guy i bought the car from initially was the one who responded first. The irony wasn't lost nor appreciated from my point of view one little bit.
Some forward thinking, a little planning and 3 or 4 foot of fuel line would have avoided that heartbreaking experience.....take heed folks cos it ain't nice at all to watch your pride and joy sit their with flames as high as a house coming from every bit of it. The entire housing scheme are out in their night clothes and pjs to observe the spectacle and one of the emergency services that first attend sold you the car in the first place. Think a bit, plan it out and please, please, please don't say that'll do till i can sort it tomorrow, there was no tomorrow for my immaculate Capri but there was for the gf amd me but there may well not have been of the fire took hold quicker. If it had begum a minite of two before when we were still driving and petrol was being pumped directly into the flames then who knows how it could have ended up
