powerplus carb kits for 2.25 petrol s111.

[Mark]

I have posted this before, so it's worth doing a forum search for powerplus, but I'll stick it up again...

We had a stage 2 powerplus kit on our 2.25 lightweight (fitted by it's previous owner, and we sold it a couple of years ago - but the experience is still valid)...

The SU Hif6 is a nice carb, and never cave any issues at all... this may have been due to running it on LPG for 95% of the time we had it though. The Carb was mounted on a custom manifold, which worked well, but I believe this is a large chunk of the price. There wasn't a huge amount of clearence between the carb and the underside of the bonnet though.

Along with the carb, the stage 2 kit included cams and exhaust, and I believe a bit of head work too. What this produced was quite a thirsty, rev happy 2.25 petrol - although the power was moved up to the revvier end of the spectrum. On the road, the car went very well (especially with 7.50's and a high ratio transfer box) and it sounded lovely. It did need to be revved, which obvioulsy did little for the fuel consumption. Off road, the need for revs to get the power was rather unhelpful - we always referred to it as having a digital accelerator - it was either on or off!

Don't get me wrong, the car was really good fun to drive, but not ideally suited to off road use. The kit was a lot of money, and I don't think I would have spent it, but having bought the truck with it all attached, it was good.

just my 2p.

Cheers

Mark

[kingdong2]

is it possible to fit the powerplus kit to a std 2.25 petrol landy more for reliability realy.

graham

____________________

1962 2a swb 200 tdi.

[Bowie69]

Spend £500 to replace a slightly iffily-designed carb?

I would rather de-congest myself with a power drill

I would look at getting a second hand SU carb  (I think the HIF6 was on the 1.3 Metro/Maestro/Montego) and find some manner of mounting it with a bendy tube and a couple of flanges, and motorsports place would be able to make this up for you pretty easily.

Than ring up ACR and ask for a replacement needle for their SU kit on a standard engine

[MECCANO]

is it possible to fit the powerplus kit to a std 2.25 petrol landy more for reliability realy.

graham

____________________

1962 2a swb 200 tdi.

To behonest i have had no end of a75ing around to get my su up and running. Where as a weber and such like, have all worked from the start.

[English Gent]

Kingdong2, this might be your mates lucky week...

I have one of the early converted spec II heads and powerplus kits using the custom inlet manifold. I loved it, plenty of torque even from low down. It would also freely rev up. The straight through exhaust sounded delightful, but the back box rotted out so I replaced it with a standard back box.

I know what the other poster meant with a throttle switch, I cured mine by converting it to a cable throttle using a Defender pedal. A bit fiddle to get the holes in the right place but it worked a treat.

Here's for the lucky bit... as I'm doing a scrappage deal, I've already swapped an old head onto the block, and put the old manifold assembly in the back, so I will have a stage II head, powerplus manifold and SU carb, and a relatively new exhaust manifold up for sale shortly. I've got to make sure the deal goes through ok before I part with some of my 'retained items'.

If it's something he'd be interested in, then just let me know.

[Henry Webster]

Give ACR a ring and talk it through with them. They are a really straightforward no-nonsense company, with innovative engineering solutions. From my experience I can recommend ACR as people to deal with, although I am afraid my experience has been with V8s.

H

[kingdong2]

Kingdong2, this might be your mates lucky week...

I have one of the early converted spec II heads and powerplus kits using the custom inlet manifold. I loved it, plenty of torque even from low down. It would also freely rev up. The straight through exhaust sounded delightful, but the back box rotted out so I replaced it with a standard back box.

I know what the other poster meant with a throttle switch, I cured mine by converting it to a cable throttle using a Defender pedal. A bit fiddle to get the holes in the right place but it worked a treat.

Here's for the lucky bit... as I'm doing a scrappage deal, I've already swapped an old head onto the block, and put the old manifold assembly in the back, so I will have a stage II head, powerplus manifold and SU carb, and a relatively new exhaust manifold up for sale shortly. I've got to make sure the deal goes through ok before I part with some of my 'retained items'.

If it's something he'd be interested in, then just let me know.

thanks for that english gent he gets his loan next month so i will see him and see what he says i have noticed your in manchester we are in wythenshawe so not to far to pick up so will let you know.

cheers graham

_____________________

1962 2a swb 200 tdi.

[RPR]

I had all the bits and bobs of the ACR PowerPlus kit on the 4 pot when it was in the Tonka. The SU carb itself was super reliable and handled angles very well. Between the 9:1 head, cam, inlet and exhaust manifolds, the engine was substantially more powerful than a standard 2.25 petrol engine. Please read the "Everything you ever wanted to know about Tuning the 2.25 engine" thread in the archives as it is extremely informative. The full ACR kit gets absolutely everything there is to get out of the 2.25 without blowing it up.

And that is enormously less than the most clapped out, abused, un-loved, POS small block Chevy V8 will give on a bad day. Or, for that matter, still much less than the (in the UK) ubiquitous Rover V8 which actually weighs less than the cast iron 4 pot. So, my advice, having done both, is to skip the PowerPlus upgrade (which I think is a great piece of engineering by Roland et al at ACR) and put in a 3.5 on a 14cux wire. It's hardly complex, they are readily availble, it is a tried and tested conversion for which all the issues such as remote oil filter, BH mods, pedal fitment etc., have been addressed. I, for example, got everything I needed for the conversion - and quite a bit of advice included - from Jake Wright in Yorkshire.

If you were running a road biased Series in well restored condition for which apparent originality was important, the ACR kit would make a lot of sense. Otherwise, unless you are considering that demon oil, there is simply no substitute for cubic inches.

[mad_pete]

I had the camshaft and the SU kit in mine and it was absolutely great. More power but still quite bulletproof and not a monster amount of work.

No overheating issues, not enough power to blow other bits to pieces. Having done both an engine swap and the carb I'd recommend the carb + camshaft.

Engine swaps always seem to take longer and cost more than they should. My vote would be the carb.

[RPR]

Tuning the 2.25 Thread

Here's the link, please read before making a final decision.

Engine swaps always seem to take longer and cost more than they should.

Pete, while I agree with this statement above, I'm afraid that this one seriously oversimplifies the ACR option:

I had the camshaft and the SU kit in mine and it was absolutely great. More power but still quite bulletproof and not a monster amount of work.

No overheating issues, not enough power to blow other bits to pieces. Having done both an engine swap and the carb I'd recommend the carb + camshaft.

Installing the SU carb will only serve to overfuel an otherwise standard 2.25. Installing the 2.5 profile camshaft to the otherwise standard 2.25 will just fwk-up the timing. Together you will have a poorly timed, overfueled 2.25. Some porting and flowing of the head is adviseable, inlet and exhaust manifolds better able to compliment the increased fueling (and the increased airflow from something less restrictive than the highly effective but restrictive oil bath air filter) are important. In fact, the tubular exhaust manifold had a substantial impact on torque when timing was fully adjusted to take advantage of the improved breathing (and the exhaust behind it). But then, if you are still working off a 7:1 head, skimming it to at least 8:1 (or going for the ACR flowed ported and higher compression head) will also make a big difference. Moving to an optronic type ignition may also be a good idea.

Pete has a valid point of view, but installing an SU carb and a hotter cam without doing the rest, is pointless. And, if everything goes absolutely perfectly, then for something like 800 quid (when all is said and done), you may get 110 bhp / 125 torque. So still:Substituto non existam ad inchii cubii....

[kingdong2]

Tuning the 2.25 Thread

Here's the link, please read before making a final decision.

Pete, while I agree with this statement above, I'm afraid that this one seriously oversimplifies the ACR option:

Installing the SU carb will only serve to overfuel an otherwise standard 2.25. Installing the 2.5 profile camshaft to the otherwise standard 2.25 will just fwk-up the timing. Together you will have a poorly timed, overfueled 2.25. Some porting and flowing of the head is adviseable, inlet and exhaust manifolds better able to compliment the increased fueling (and the increased airflow from something less restrictive than the highly effective but restrictive oil bath air filter) are important. In fact, the tubular exhaust manifold had a substantial impact on torque when timing was fully adjusted to take advantage of the improved breathing (and the exhaust behind it). But then, if you are still working off a 7:1 head, skimming it to at least 8:1 (or going for the ACR flowed ported and higher compression head) will also make a big difference. Moving to an optronic type ignition may also be a good idea.

Pete has a valid point of view, but installing an SU carb and a hotter cam without doing the rest, is pointless. And, if everything goes absolutely perfectly, then for something like 800 quid (when all is said and done), you may get 110 bhp / 125 torque. So still:Substituto non existam ad inchii cubii....

ah right now we are getting somewhere so basicly fitting a powerplus kit to a std 2.25 engine is not really worth it without fitting all the other stuff like camshaft h/c head and exhaust.thats what i have been waighting to here.

thanks rpr

graham

______________________

1962 2a swb 200 tdi.

[mad_pete]

oh yes that's right I had the cylinder head as well. Now I remember.

[FridgeFreezer]

Whereas £250 buys a running 3.5 or 3.9 EFi V8 making 150-180bhp and tonnes of torques, and 15-20mpg in a light weight little Series.

[mad_pete]

Yeah that's the theory and I grant you I must be the unluckiest V8 buyer but

V8 £250 (not that I found one for £250)

You need something to pick it up (van hire £40)

In my case on strip down corroded bore

Engine in bin start again

V8 £250 (not that I found one for £250)

Corroded injector pins new set of injectors £400

Head gasket failed £100 if you do it yourself

V8 runs hot so new rad £80

New fuel filter need high pressure pump from somewhere £20

Probably want new engine mounts, the temp gauge won't be right, there will be some fabrication here and there it'll run hot the engine's lighter so the springs will be higher, and the exhaust will need some work.

I probably clocked up £2000 changing from 3.5 carb to 4.2 MS, partly cos I'm unlucky and partly cos some jobs I don't trust myself to do properly

This is probably worst case but cylinder head, camshaft, and carb was easy. The thing is still bulletproof, still has the right engine.

2.25 uprated is more reliable than a V8 I would say.

If you want reliability carbs are more reliable than EFI. I accidentally ran my 2.25 with no coolant and only noticed when the oil started to smoke and it was still working fine after wards.

[RPR]

2.25 uprated is more reliable than a V8 I would say.

If you want reliability carbs are more reliable than EFI.

Again, I think the first remark above is probably valid. The 2.25 never, ever let me down, but it didn't have the power to turn Q78 Swampers.

I disagree with the second remark entirely (with the possible exception of the twin SU set up with which I have no experience). I had nothing but trouble with my Weber/Edelbroack "Performer" offroad, even after modifying the float bowls and jet springs etc. Even on road I had issues with it. I got so fed up, I went EFI (14 cux NOT GEMS) and after a year have had no problem and massive improvement offroad.

If you are okay with spending @ 700 - 800 quid (unless very proficient yourself) on the full ACR kit for 110/125, then this is an easier and probably more reliable way to go. But, go V8, you know you want to...

[FridgeFreezer]

Pete,

I think you've been a tad unlucky...

V8 £250 (not that I found one for £250)

These days you can buy a complete MOT fail RR for £250 and probably sell the rest of it on for a fair proportion of what you paid.

You need something to pick it up (van hire £40)

A V8 fits in the boot of almost anything.

In my case on strip down corroded bore

If you buy it running that shouldn't really be happening.

Corroded injector pins new set of injectors £400

Complete inlet manifold with 8 injectors - £10, sodbury/bling/eblag, all day long.

V8 runs hot so new rad £80

You can get away with Series rads, I did for ages with the 3.9. Then again yours has always run hot anyway

[Quagmire]

One of the v8's i collected before getting my lovely one went in the back of my Dads Peugeot 307! Two people can lift one, just.... try that with a 2.25.

And as Fridge says, EFi bits are cheap because people are breaking cars or scared of it and replacing with carbs- i got the inlet manifold, injectors, plenum and loom for £40 delivered off a certain auction site.

As for reliability- a stock 3.5 v8 will give more ooomph than the tuned up 2.25 and be waaaaaaaaaay less stressed, so theoretically much more long lived.

And sound nicer too.

[kingdong2]

right i am going to see him tonight to discuss which way we are going to go powerplus/di will let you all know later.

thanks for all your help

graham

______________________

1962 2a swb 200 tdi.

[English Gent]

Whilst I admit the camshaft would've been nice, it wasn't an option when I had my engine converted by ACR. At the time I got the K&N filter, SU carb, induction manifold mated to a stage II head. The tubular manifold was merely an idea in Rowland's head, so the only exhaust modification was the straight through back box.

[kingdong2]

well after a lengthy discussion on the powerplus conversion and the di and tdi conversions he has decided on the tdi conversion so looks like in the spring i will be doing another tdi conversion so no dowt i will be on here asking loads of questions on converting a s111 swb to tdi. i know its more or less the same as a s11a tdi conversion but i think there are a few differances with the s111 so when we are ready i will start another thread. anyway once again thanks for all your help.

graham

____________________

1962 2a swb 200 tdi.

[mad_pete]

That should be good for the fuel costs and reliability. Good luck :-)

[kingdong2]

he gets his loan next month so then we can get a disco then we will more or less have everything we need.

graham

______________________

1962 2a swb 200 tdi.

[RPR]

well after a lengthy discussion on the powerplus conversion and the di and tdi conversions he has decided on the tdi conversion so looks like in the spring i will be doing another tdi conversion so no dowt i will be on here asking loads of questions on converting a s111 swb to tdi. i know its more or less the same as a s11a tdi conversion but i think there are a few differances with the s111 so when we are ready i will start another thread. anyway once again thanks for all your help.

graham

____________________

1962 2a swb 200 tdi.

Also a good call! Good luck.