The ingenious Mark Litherland devised a way of fitting the device to his modified Mini Mayfair or indeed any Stromberg carburettor car with limited manifold access (applies mostly to Vauxhall and Opel carburettor cars - standard Minis are fitted with SU Carburettors - see section below). He says 'the car definitely runs smoother and stronger'. Here is the CB-26P inserted in the carburettor mount (you can also see the vacuum servo line which draws mainly from two cylinders and is not ideal).

Remember that after removing the 'T' piece (which is not a necessary part of the CB-26P) you can tap the device using the base thread (which is 1/4" BSPT - British Standard Proportional Taper to you!). Some people just tap the device directly into the manifold but with the Mini the manifold isn't really big enough. Although he made up one of the plastic spacers they are effectively two half inch spacers bonded together with epoxy and tapped as illustrated. If you want to know more he is at: litherland@postmaster.co.uk

The device needs to be fitted after the butterfly in any carburettor or petrol injection engine. With a carburettor car there is no better place than just after the barrel and Mark's idea is just the ticket.

Remember to fit it where you can tune it relatively easily - there's no way you can tune it without the motor running and at operating temperature so be sure that you can get at it easily and safely (also if you are using the PiperX filter/silencer make sure there's room  first).

Not content with just one Carburettor Mark has now fitted twin Stromberg's and here is a picture of the Ecotek fitting for his revised set up. Of the new rig he says:

"Today I did a 78 mile trip and used just under 1/2 a tank of petrol, which is more surprising when you realise that the petrol tank holds just over £10 worth of petrol & in places the traffic was terrible, I feel much more confident overtaking now as engine response seems much improved.

I would recommend the CB-26P to anyone, and in the near future I plan to purchase some for family members (unusual Christmas present but I'm sure they will thank me later)."

Thanks Mark!

Now this idea has been taken up by AB Martins Engineering - tel: 01692 - 535297 or 536859 who are producing the template commercially for the SU Carburettor found in the standard Mini and most other British Leyland engines.

Before they did this they tested a prototype with the CB-26P and said the following: "The CB-26P valve which you initially sent me is now fitted together with my prototype adapter plate for evaluation to a standard 1981, 998cc, Mini City with 40,000 genuine miles:

With basic stopwatch timed runs and with the CB-26P valve fitted the above results indicate to me that there is an advantage in having the device fitted.

We have also conducted some basic fuel economy tests using the same vehicle, the tests were general day to day driving, no motorways, the results are as follows:-

CAR FITTED WITH CB26-P VALVE

The vehicle travelled 197 miles using 5.08 gallons of fuel, this equals:- 38.8mpg

CAR WITHOUT CB26-P VALVE

The vehicle travelled 170 miles using 5.04 gallons of fuel, this equals:- 33.7mpg

These basic tests have shown that with the CB26-P valve fitted I am able to do 5.1 mpg more, which is yet another advantage.  After roughly 3,500 miles I will have recovered the cost of the CB-26P valve and Adapter Plate Kit (based on LRP @ 75p/ltr)."

As a result AB Martins Engineering (Telephone: 01692 - 535297 or 536859) now produce these excellent templates commercially. Below is a picture of the prototype used in the tests above.

Visit their web site for details - available in colours to match the CB-26P they cost £17.99 including vat and P&P. Click here to visit their web site at: www.ABMEngineering.co.uk or check out their details by clicking here.

The really exciting thing about this is that they fit the following SU: HS4, HIF 38 or HIF 44 Carburetted cars such as:

Austin - America, 7 cwt Van, 10 cwt Van, Allegro up to 1300, Metro all models, Mini 1000/1100/1300, Hilman Hunter, Leyland Apache, Leyland/Austin/Morris Marina, MG Midget, MG 1300, MGB, Morris 1100, Morris 1300, Reliant Sabre-Ford, Scimitar, Riley Kestrel, Triumph Spitfire, Triumph 1500, Triumph Dolomite, Triumph 2000 and 2500, Wolsey 1300, Rover Sherpa 2.0 litre truck, Daimler Limousine, MG Metro & Turbo, Morris Ital, Rover 2000 SD1/2300 SD1/2600 SD1/3500 SD1, Rover 216 's', Vanden Plas Ambasador, Maestro, Metro, 1500.