anyone have a pic of the sa carb? was the carb changed between the years of sa to fb? i went to the junk yard today and found a sa and compared it to the fb. had stock air box and everything, but why was the design different?

can someone take a pic of a stock sa carb for me and tell me different between the 2 stock carbs?

 

www.rotaryrefs.net

Look through this carb section to see the differences. Download it and burn to CD, too.

 

The carb on all 12A engined RX-7s was identical, a Nikki. The change from sa to fb was only a change of US vin designation not of model. Elsewhere they kept the sa designation. Any carb, unless modified to increase performance, is basically interchangable with any other Nikki casb.

 

Yes, only real differences were added stuff for emissions controls, like the altitude comp, mab solenoid, richer system. The basic carbs are the same though.

 

and the sa has freakin HUGE secondarys , but only on the bottom side, same size on top.
flip one over and check em out side by side.
Difference is very noticeable.

 

I will look at this as soon as I get home.

 

They are not exactly the same. I don't remember the differences exactly (I could find out if need be), but I know that Paul Yaw would not modify the 79/80 carb, only the later years.
The best setup was the 79/80 manifold with the 81-85 carb.

 

There are some significant differences from '79 and '80 to '81+. I got into Nikkis for the first time back in November and could finally see why Yaw a Sterling generally didn't want to work on the SA carbs.

 

The reason he wont do the SA carbs is because they have a power valve and that makes re curving the fuel delivery a PITA. The PV opens by vacuum like on a Holley, but unlike the Holley theres no tuning parts availible. Functionally, the carbs will interchange and work, all years, even the Rx-3 carb will work.

V8kilir, wut have you been smokin? I just compared the carbs and the bores in the throttle plates are identical.

 

Ill see if I can hunt down the pics, ask sterling he knows.

 

wow, really? how is it a better manifold? if this is true then i might go out to get me one. its vary hard for sa's to come around in the junk yard around my area. let alone on the streets.

 

speaking of which. anyone need parts from any 1st gen? theres a few fb's but only 1 sa.

 

I think a couple of you guys have been smokin' the same ****!

The bores are IDENTICAL.
They're even the same dimensions and angles as the Rx3 & 4 Nikkis, as well as the 13B carbs.

79 & some of 80 have a big mouth airhorn compared to the later ones, but Carl has flowed them and found it makes no difference (IE, the small-mouth out flows the main body anyway, so it's moot.).
There is the power valve on the 79s, but that's easily removed. The PITA is that there is a complex circuit running throughout the airhorn and the mainbody that needs extra effort to block off, or it will cause a leak.
The Nikkis before 79 have a richer solenoid/power valve built into the throttle bodies.

79&80 carbs are more difficult to dial in the idle from scratch after a rebuild because there is an air adjustment screw in addition to the fuel adjustment and valve adjustment.
In 81 (I think) they did away with the air adjustment in North American bound carbs, and simply pressed in a jet instead. It eliminates one variable, and your left with only the valve adjustment screw (speed) and the fuel adjustment screw (mixture).
This doesn't make the carbs any more difficult to modify, it just makes it more difficult to get it running right after the install. Once set, they are'nt prone to anything worse then the later. Conversly, there's nothing to be gained performance-wise from the ability to dial idle air yourself.
However, the 79s are what I'm using to prototype the emissions-compliat Sterling Carb we're coming out with later this summer just because of this adjustability.

You can mix and match different year carb bits so long as you're modding and not trying to get any vacuum **** working again. But if you're trying to pass emissions, or get a rat's nest to work on a carb that has mixed throttle body, main housing, and airhorn, forget it!

That said, you could get an 84-85 throttle body to work with most emissions crap in the nest with any combo housing and mouth, so long as you eliminate the idle altitude comp valve.

 

yeah thats what I meant, I thought they where bigger on the bottom, guess it was the top.

eh been a while, cut me some slack :p

 

Thanks Sterling for clearing that up. No worries kilr, we all do it .

 

Who is this "V8kilr" guy, anyway?
-Don't recall ever seeing ...-Oh, maybe a very slight recollection..."

 

i have both carbs and they both worked on my sa. They look almost identical, but yea the fb does have some extra stuff on it..

 

Will an '80 SA intake manifold swap directly into an '82 FB?