This has been a bit of a Solex week, firstly the Bugatti seemed to be running a bit rough so I thought I would check the float levels. If you had any other sort of carburettor this may be a bit of a task, however with the Solex you undo the “nut” and the bowl drops, disengage the main jet, turn 90 degrees tighten nut then same with the other carb and you can eyeball the levels directly. Unfortunately the levels were both about 3mm from the top of the main jet tube so it’s probably something else or as the diff is no longer screaming my brain is looking for other distractions.
The second Solex moment happened on Sunday when out in the Traction (11BL Citroen) and was confronted with a Toyota Corolla road slug sailing along at 50kph in a 100 zone, so pulled out to pass only to find a gasping sound from up front and the Corolla obligingly slowing leaving me stranded on he wrong side of the road. Eventually the corolla got the message and buggered off, I came to a halt.
At this point I was wondering if the car had any tools in it…. No tool bag but I did find a shifter and a screwdriver. Now the hunt was on for the main jet and of course being a Solex they are all accessible from the outside, there were 4 in all and it was the last that proved to be the one and it was blocked although offering little resistance to me sucking on it.
The day ended nicely at Jinks Creek Winery where I washed the petrol taste away with a good red. So what happened to the Solex Company? They are now buried in Magneti Marelli with Weber, Veglia Borletti, Carello, Siem and Jaeger.
