The Rochester Carburetor
And Fuel Filter Considerations
A common conversion on Series Land Rovers is the change over to a Chevrolet carburetor. One often finds the Brit original equipment to be overly complex, hard to find parts for, and negligent of the laws of physics. Applying the incorrect carburetor can, however create more problems than it solves. A proven combination for the 2.25 Petrol Rover engine is the Rochester one barrel; but not just any out there. Specifically, the best carb for the job was fitted to the Chevrolet 216 and 235 engines for passenger cars of 1949-1953 vintage. Where to look? Well, I found mine at Big A Auto Parts, with the help of an expert counterman. It was new, and cost me the pauper's price of $119.
Now here's the tricky part. The airhorn and body from a 216 engine's carb is preferable due to the smaller choke and venturi size. The throttle base (cast iron part) from the 235 has a better aligning bolt pattern. You can mix and match the two. Take the top off the 216 carb and put it on the 235 base, and whammo! a proper adaptation. But who has the cash to buy two new carbs and use half of each? Not me! Wrecking yards were out of the equation, as these carbs are either not there, or trash if they are. Keep in mind that the one you salvage from a wrecking yard is probably older than your Rover!
What I did to get past this was to remove the base from the new carb, and "wallow" out the mounting holes in the flange a bit with the trusty Dewalt drill. I went slowly as I only wanted to elongate the holes just enough. I used a stock Rover distance piece, after I filed out a slot for the metering port on the carb, and elongated it's holes as well.
The Rochester will likely need to be rejetted for optimal performance. Here at sea level, I get the best result with a #49 jet. You can get jets from NAPA, or British Pacific. Also, I set my floats parallel to the seam in the carb body. Because the Solex linkage pushes up, it is best suited to the Rochester conversion. The Zenith linkage, which pulls down, can be adapted however. You need to turn around a bellcrank, and reverse bend a tab to make things work.
I connected the air cleaner plumbing to the Rochester using a rubber stepdown adapter that plumbers use on pipe. Two worm clamps and I was done.
I cannot say enough about this fuel filter. It is one I found at NAPA, often used for tractor applications. I later learned it is an AC Fuel Filter Assembly, #GF-48, designed for 1955~1965 Chevrolets. What I like about it is the glass bowl. Now I know when I am not getting petrol to the carb, but more importantly, if I need to prime the carb, I have a cup of gas right there. Take it off, pour it in, start her up. The part number for the paper filter inside is NAPA3034. I used a small brass threaded fitting to connect the filter directly to the Rochester carb.
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