CARB OVERFLOW / BREATHER SYSTEM INFO

The following is only my opinion and I cannot categorically advise anyone to follow my thoughts ; you must make up your own mind and if you decide to amend the overflow system you do so at your own risk

OVERFLOW SYSTEM with CATCH BOWL located under passenger front wing ;

Why I do not like where it is positioned ;

There is a division on feeling whether to retain the original overflow bowl set up which , as far as I am aware , was to catch any overflow from the carb floatbowl and divert the excess fumes back up into the carb .

I personally do not like the route the overflow pipes go to the overflow bowl which is situated under the passenger wing .

The pipes , if an overflow happens , will take the excess petrol over the top of the alternator and on the same side as the exhaust .

In my opinion this is bad practice because if the cable is split or perished then excess petrol will either drop onto the live alternator or get blown about the engine by the fan .

If the carb does overflow down to the catch bowl then any fuel / vapours could possibly be blown backwards onto the exhaust !

Stands to reason if you pour a liquid at the front of a moving vehicle then it will get blown backwards over the engine etc and if placed at the rear will be blown / sucked away from the engine etc

I have not done the following mod { which is only a theory I have come up with } and would not recommend doing it unless fitted by a competent professional fitter

If you feel that you need to fit the overflow bowl system then , in my humble opinion , the best position is to transfer the bowl and pipes to the rear of the engine keeping to the rear of the spark plugs and ensuring that the pipes are securely clipped so as not to touch the hot parts .

Possibly continue the pipes to around the rear of the gearbox and mount the overflow bowl .

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OVERFLOW SYSTEM HOSE SIZES

HOSE THIN WALL TYPE .................................... LENGTH

Carb Floatbowl to Overflow Bowl Inlet ............... 53 Inches

"T" piece to Overflow Bowl ............................... 40 Inches

"T" piece to Carb .............................................. 3 Inches

"T" piece to Rocker Cover ................................. 10.5 Inches

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Petrol Pump to Carb Floatbowl ........................... 20 Inches

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I always remove the standard overflow hose and catch bowl on all my Reliants and do the following ;

I then run a hose direct from the overflow spout on the carb floatbowl lid and run it to the rear of the cylinder head on the drivers side and ensure that it is down below the bell housing and level with the bottom of the gearbox .

This hose is left open to the elements all the time .

If the hose is not open then the carb floatbowl will not be able to vent air out when the float rises and will not let air in when the float level drops .

The carb floatbowl overflow pipe must be able to take air in and vent it out .

I also run a hose from the rocker cover breather spout direct to the tube on the side of the carb .

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