Are SU carbs worth it?

[cimarronlibre75]

I recently purchased a 1971 510 wagon with Z therapy SU carbs. The wagon was taken care of and babied. I am in the process of fine tuning these carbs and just doing general maintenance to the wagon so that its a dependable daily driver. I really want to get this wagon as close as I can to stock (interior, suspension, wheels, gauges etc) and it be my daily vehicle. Should Iconsider swapping out the SU's to just a more simple single carb set up or are SU carbs worth the maintenance for a wagon thats sole purpose will be to a dependable daily driver? I know there are a lot of experienced and respected 510 drivers and builders on this forum, I would really like to hear your opinions.
Thanks again!

[Laecaon]

Well I would say they are worth it. In fact my car has never been better since the SU's.  They dont have that much maintenance to them once they are adjusted. And they look so good under the hood.

[MikeRL411]

I have the original pair of Hitachi "SU" carbs in my RL411 since 10 March 1968. Other than readjusting the fuel/air mixture since moving from high altitude Montana to almost sea level Southern California I have basically left them alone! They are reliable.

[Skib]

I run SU's on just about everything.

 

You just have to learn how to tune them, which really isnt that hard.

[danfiveten]

Su's on everything, best carbs. But if you dont want them i call dibs. 

[MikeRL411]

 

I run SU's on just about everything.

 

You just have to learn how to tune them, which really isnt that hard.

 

 

I have an advantage there. The glove box Driver's Manual for the RL411 includes the full adjustment proceedure for the Hitachi SU carbs.

[datzenmike]

Well, a stock Hitachi down draft in good shape and tune can also be very dependable. The good thing is that there is only half as many carbs to have problems with. :) SUs are way cooler looking, sound better and run better performance wise. I think for a dependable driver I would go with the down draft carb, but only because I'm more familiar with it. If you know SUs then you would be more comfortable than me.   

[72240z]

I think su's are the best balance between reliability, tune-ability, price, performance etc... For a daily, esp in area with harsh climate I would go SU's all day. Constant velocity have got to be one of the best carb designs ever. 
That said my Z isnt a daily and I am way happier since going with dcoe's lol. Harder to tune, need more attention but WAY more fun. I will never go back.

So point is worth it or not depends on your goals. I think SU's fit yours...

[dr.feltersnatch]

i agree, if you have them keep em. not sure what you mean by maintenance though. set it and forget it!

[cimarronlibre75]

  

 

I have an advantage there. The glove box Driver's Manual for the RL411 includes the full adjustment proceedure for the Hitachi SU carbs.

 

Any way i can find that manual? Or maybe get a copy of it. :)

[Dguy210]

http://www.teglerizer.com/sucarbs/techtip6.htm

http://www.311s.org/su-setup/su-setup.html

http://www.jetlink.net/~okayfine/su/sumain.html

[Sealik]

...Assuming the carbs are still in good shape from ZTherapy...

No maintenance at all....other than topping up the dampening oil, air filter is a given

 

Read this......pop quiz at 6

http://www.zcarz.us/TechnicalInformationPageCarburation.htm

 

 

Also.....if you 'upgrade your engine', you can slap the larger 46s on it

[wayno]

I would keep the SUs if they are servicable, and as they are from Z therapy, they likely are.

It took me all of 10 minutes to adjust my SUs from them, they are awesome.

I don't hear about problems with SUs very often, but I am always hearing about issues with down draft carbs, consider yourself lucky you have Z therapy carbs, as they are expensive and very well built.