Amazon carb options

[bungle]

I have just dragged Bob the 122s from the garage after a period of hibernation and thoughts have turned to fuel. I read recently that a 'common conversion' is to swap the twin su's for a single 1.75" Hif SU with little reduction in performance and no balancing worries. Is this true? If so, what manifold would one use - the 121 manifold lurking in my spares wouldn't work so where to go?
Anyway, Bob is in for the MOT soon, so fingers crossed!
Cheers
Ed

[stuart131]

Hi!
Dont know if this helps but in this months Practical classics , Im sure I saw an article about overhauling su carbs .Im also fairly certain there is a tool you can get to assist in the balancing of twins...though cant remember what its called ..I ll ask the bloke who lives opposite me ,hes got a rover p5 with v8 and twin SUs and was using something to balance his ...ill post a message to you when I find out .
In the meantime ,why change to single carb anyway ?twin sus when balanced properly are quite desireable ,especially on an Amazon,if it aint broke dont fix it basically is my view .This comes from having an old ford consul which I spent an awful lot of money on ,V6 ,4 barrell carbs,twin exhaust etc etc Sounds impressive but it overheated constantly ,was unreliable and was a bastard to fix ..I therefore vowed never to alter or "improve "my Amazon unless to replace old with shiny new but identical parts .Personally I am happy with a bit more petrol cost ,offset by less tax and lower insurance premiums ...plus the absolute joy of driving of course .You know youve got it right when you drive home the long way !
Back to you asap when I ve spoken to rover man
Very best of luck with Bobs mot by the way .
best regards

[bungle]

Thankyou for the message; I fully understand what you are saying about the standard set up - Bob is quite modified though, with different cam, pushrods, head work, exhaust, overbore etc. I have been restoring an elderley Midget for seemingly ever and it is generally considered a beneficial mod in MG circles, to replace the twin su's(1 1/4s) with a larger and later single HIF 44 and manifold from a metro 1275 - little shortfall in performance and the benefits of a superior carb and lower levels of maintenance. The carbs on the amazon are past their prime and I was just curious as to the options that are open to me. I think Gunson do a carb balancer that I have used but only with limited success.