The Ford Capri Laser Page

Right carb boffins, what's best way to set up my twin weber
for cold start on my 2.0 pinto. Car runs great when warm but takes 3 good cranks when cold even in this weather so I want to make sure auto choke and fast idle are set up properly what's best way to do it please.

Three cranks then it starts? Sounds fine to me.

Depends how "cold" your cold starts are I suppose. Mine starts after 1 - 3 cranks when left overnight. If left all week it's usually three or more.

Where do you have accelerator when your cold starting Tom

And when I say 3 cranks, I mean 3 attempts at starting with each one doing about 4 rotations

When cold starting you shouldn't depress the pedal at all while cranking. But before you turn the key press the pedal a couple of times to set the choke (i.e. close the choke flaps), and pump some fuel in the carb.

When choke is set right then usually these cars start better from cold than warm. If you have to keep cranking then firstly I'd make sure the choke flaps are closed after you have pressed the pedal. (They will have remained open overnight for example and if still open when you start then it will most likely be a pain to start and need lots of cranking)

And, whilst you have the airbox off to check the choke flaps you may as well make sure that you have a squirt of fuel entering the carb when you fully open the throttle (that is, by opening the throttle by hand at the carb, you should see a squirt of fuel, this aids starting too)

These are probably the easiest things to check at first. Good luck

brooky wrote: ↑Mon Aug 01, 2022 6:28 pm Where do you have accelerator when your cold starting Tom

Depends on the setup. I think when I had chokes, it was as Paul says, one or two pumps, release, then crank.

With no chokes, a few pumps, then a tiny hold on the throttle.

brooky wrote: ↑Mon Aug 01, 2022 6:43 pm And when I say 3 cranks, I mean 3 attempts at starting with each one doing about 4 rotations

Oh sorry misunderstood. How long is it left? If mine is left for a week or more, it fires and dies a few times and takes at least 3 attempts. But that's twin 40s with no chokes. Sidedraughts have less overall suction and are slightly more troublesome like that.

But it starts easily no matter what the setup if it's just a night.

Just been out and done a couple of pumps on pedal, took foot off , started First time. Will take air filter off tomorrow just to check choke flaps are fully closed when throttle pumped a couple of times and will adjust fast idle as it shot up to about 1700 when I started it like this but looks like the 2 pumps before starting May do the trick as I was holding peddle down while trying to start when it was taking 3 or 4 attempts.

Great, looks like it was just your starting procedure then. 1700 for fast idle sounds ok, a little low actually. Before you mess with that, after your car starts (and its revs are at 1700 as you mention), stab the pedal once and the revs should drop a couple of 1000 but still be high. Then during normal driving they should progressively lower until normal idle is achieved after a few minutes.

Ignition timing should also be checked/ set correctly for easy starting. Before coming off the road all those years ago, mine would start first time every time no matter the weather or engine temp even with the supercharger, so it definately possible. Stopping the egine was a bit more problematic for mine!

Supercharged Nat wrote: ↑Tue Aug 02, 2022 5:47 pm Ignition timing should also be checked/ set correctly for easy starting. Before coming off the road all those years ago, mine would start first time every time no matter the weather or engine temp even with the supercharger, so it definately possible. Stopping the egine was a bit more problematic for mine!

mine still does that now and again. Backwards