new 407 owner

[MINSTER 407]

Hi everyone, I've just bought a 407 and would be grateful for any info re getting her running a bit better. Specifically, she starts o.k from cold but wont re-start once started to warm up. I'm thinking Carter carb's autochoke may be culprit - anyone know anywhere in UK I can source gasket kit for when I strip it down ? Also, anyone know the correct timing for this engine ? Finally, she runs very rich (maybe down to carb again) but what is the ideal octane to run her on (the chap I bought from said he believed it was factory tuned to run on 2 star back in the day) ?
Grateful for any & all input

[Nick Challacombe]

Hi,
I have had a 407 since 1999 and it ran just like yours at first.

If Brian Marelli at Bristol cars has not got a set then,
Martin Barns at ACCS 02072789786 of 57/65 Randell's Road London N1 0DH stock
almost every thing for the V8 engines,.

The choke works by a bi metal spring sunk into the drivers side of the inlet
manifold. This often fails, sometimes it can be adjusted.

Copies of workshop manuals are available from the club. I run my car on
Shell Optimax and it gives good MPG but you must time it to that as it is
only 98/99 octane and the car was run new on 5 star 101 octane.

Contact me for other info, there is plenty on the web site of the BOC as
well as this one.

Nick

(never a senior member Greg)

[pasini s]

Hello,


I had plenty of problems with the old and battered 3249S (same as the 3131S)
of my 409, until it was properly rebuilt by a specialist; I bought a Carter
NOS spring-operated auto choke on eBay and subsequently bought from
other USA dealers the kit to rebuild the Carter. The starting trouble in my
car (for which I pestered fellow users of this Forum too many times...),
however, was not due only to a malfuctioning, badly rebuilt carburettor but
also to a maladjusted distributor; once the distributor was fixed, the car
drove quite well and did never have any more starting/running troubles.

Then I bought a NOS 3131S, that will be checked and installed on my rebuilt
318, then I found another used 3131S. In fact you will find anything that
you will need on eBay and I must recommed the eBay shop of Falcon Sales (
http://stores.ebay.com/Falcon-Sales-e-Store ); they sold me all the parts to
rebuild my 318 ( http://www.stefanopasini.it/Bristol_...ken_engine.htm )
and were quite helpful. I think they might have parts for the 313 as well.


All the best


Stefano

(VERY junior member)

[Claude]

Welcome to the fraternity of Bristol Owners, and congrats on your new 407.

I live in New Zealand and have a 411-S1. Like in England, the Chrysler motor is considered an exotic and therefore parts are expensive. In the USA, they are a cheap cult motor popular with a different class of owner than the typical Bristol Owner (no value judgement there, just stating the facts).

Thanks to the internet, you can do mail order world-wide, and when you compare the prices of buying a bolt-on solution versus paying a shop to start working on what may be a worn carb, you may find the bolt-on to be the better option. The key is to go on the experience of other club members, which is what I am giving you here.

On eBay, I found Brandon Bates at Bates Performance in Waco Texas. He remanufactures carbs, but then includes in the price setting them up in his shop (read the link to see what he offers) to the specifications you provide. I previously had installed a new Carter AFB by Weber out of the box, and several shops in Auckland could never get it to run right. There are many variables in carbs and the cost of a shop fiddling with them, especially when in the UK or NZ, can add up quickly. So I thought I would give Brandon a try. My choice was an Edelbrock 600 CFM 1406 for $200, or a Holley 670 CFM Street Avenger for $250. Chris Browne had better luck with the Holley, so I went with it. The Edelbrock should be a simpler bolt-on, but the Holley is reputed to be the better carb. Both have an electric choke which eliminates the fiddly problems you may be facing.

See eBay (item 380278510477) for the item. Brandon says he ships world-wide. E-mail is Batesperformance@cs.com. In my case, I happened to be in the USA at the time, so postage to San Francisco was $25. Before having him post it to England, however, you may want to make a broadcast on this and the other Bristol forum to see if any enthusiast might happen to be travelling to the states and might be willing to bring back some extra luggage. I've done it (both as receiver and courier) and even once had the niece of a forum member pop a 180 kg bronze church bell in a container she was shipping from London to Auckland.

Brandon's price was considerably cheaper than than anything I could find in NZ, and it was a bolt-on fit that ran smoothly without further adjustment.

Things to remember... ask him to include the accessories in the box. With Holley on the big block 383 (you have the small block 318), this includes a spacer to clear the manifold, a dual fuel intake and possibly various linkage adaptor kits, vacuum plugs and spring sets... all a lot cheaper in the USA. For the big block used in the 411, the Holley weighed 15 pounds and the Edelbrock 9 pounds.

Claude

[MINSTER 407]

Thanks everyone for the useful advice and info. Much appreciated