Starting after fitting Dells

[richard67]

Hi

Got a 2l air cooled which I have just fitted a set of Dells to. Van runs great now, but is a bit of a pig to start. Takes about 3 or 4 attempts then it runs a little rough whilst it warms up was expecting that. once its warm it idles fine. Just wondered if there is anything I'm missing on the starting front or is it just something I need to get used to.

Cheers guys,

Richard

[weimarbus]

Have you tried two or three pumps on the peddle before cranking to squirt petrol into the manifolds, if that doesn't work you may have to make up a manual choke cable.

[kevtherev]

My pal fitted dells and had the same issue.
He just got used to it and perfected the technique of starting without chokes
he had the carbs balanced and rolling roaded which helped even more

dang worth it once warmed up... sheesh! What a difference.

[gsmoke]

I prod the throttle four or five times then turn the engine over.
As the engine fires, you may need a few more prods to get it going and it should settle down to a decent tickover very quickly. As there's no choke, its worth waiting a bit for the engine to warm before moving off.
I found the engine settled and started easier with 60 starter jets but have found more mpg (town driving) using 55 starters.
As the rev says, you need to balance the carbs.
This is very easy to do with a snail type balancer (about 30 quid from ebay) and a read of the dellorto carb book.
Many people only balance at tickover but your carbs could still be out of balance through the rev range, so its worth a check at higher revs. This can be fine tuned with the individual throttle linkage.
Good luck.

[jason k]

yup no chokes so you need to wait for a bit of heat to get into the manifolds for sweet running.

i used 4 pumps on mine to start it.

def get it rolling roaded it makes all the difference with economy and power.