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MG MGB Technical - SU HIF44

What are your opinions of the SU HIF44 as a replacement for the Zenith Stromberg.

Cec Fry
Cec Fry

I have a 78 rubbernose which had the Zenith Stromberg. I could not wait to convert to HIF4 and use the Zenith for a boat anchor. Believe me, you will not regret the change.
Vince Palladino


Vince, do you mean a pair of HIF4s or a single HIF44?

Cec, I had a Zenith CD175 in a Saab I once owned and I don't think it is a lousy carb. It's a bit tricky (or different from most others) and in this particular installation it was originally equipped with a manual choke. Never had any trouble with it.

I doubt that you would see much difference between a new Zenith and a new HIF44. The Zenith setup in an MGB stinks because of the integrated exhaust/inlet manifold that heats up the intake air and has lousy flow characteristics (both intake and exhaust). Now, if your zenith is worn out, then of course a new carb will make a difference, but the result is propably no better than the original setup.

If there were a decent intake manifold available for a single Zenith, I think it would be a great alternative for dual HIFs. The Saab made a healthy 100hp from a 2-litre engine with 9:1 compression ratio.

Not really helpful, eh? Sorry for robbing bandwith again...



Kari S

Hi,
There seems to be a lovethem/hate them relationship with the zenith it seems to be a simple carb and it's history goes back awhile and it is used on many different engines. I am a newby to the English cars although there use to be lots of them here in Newfoundland we were Britains oldest colony and until Canada joined us in 49. Most things were british but then I was only 1 year old

Cec
Cec

Cec.
I have a '79 US spec MGB with a HIF44 (fzx-1280) carb.
It is a very nice replacement for the Zenith and it wil give more power.
Because it's a 2" it will (nearly) be as good as two smaller SU's but with one big difference: You can use your existing manifold and therefore it's much easier to install and cost less. Although the manifold is not much good in construction, as Kari says, it's there and unless you are specifically tuning your B you better leave it there and make the best use of it.
It will also give you the benefit of manual choke.
When you do decide to convert my advice would be to use the appropriate K&N filter instead of the original filter housing.

Succes
Carl

Carl

HIF44: 44= ~44 millimeters, which equates to ~1 3/4", or the same size opening as an HIF6. The bolt pattern on the manifold side would match that of the ZS and HIF6, while the air filter side should be similar to an HIF6 (which this carb actually replaces).
Barry Kindig

Barry,

Now you've got me confused. My local parts supplier's catalogue marks the HIF44 down as the typical Zenith replacement and describes it as a 2". The bolt pattern does match that of the Zenith because the PO bolted the old filter housing back on to the new SU.
I've been trying to get confirmation on this but Gartners book on SU carb's does not descibe the HIF44.
Can you, or someone else, positively identify the FZX 1280 as being a HIF44 or is it something else?


C. J. Gaasbeek

The original Zenith is a 1.75 " carb (actually 1.62") and so the SU HIF 44 should be as well.
Frank

Hmm, still not convinced, I will look for some documentation on the HIF44 / fzx1280 so we all know for sure.
C. J. Gaasbeek

Frank

I spoke to my supplier yesterday and you are absolutely right. The HIF44 is the metric version of the HIF6 and has a diam. of 1.75".
Still, if anybody knows where I can find a decent servive manual for this model I would like to know. The SU books I have do not cover this model and although it is quite the same as any other HIF model I would like to have the specifics.

Carl
C. J. Gaasbeek

This thread was discussed between 21/05/2003 and 01/06/2003

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