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Anyone ever heard of wal Phillips injectors?

I was talking to a guy who used to be into scooters and he asked me if I'd ever heard of the above "carburettors"? They apparently are known in the scooter world in connection with tuned lambrettas.

I had never heard of them. Did a bit of fishing on tinternet and sure enough some drawings can be seen but info is sketchy. I can see that airflow is regulated by a butterfly and there is some other device, connected by a link arm to the butterfly actuator, which meters fuel.

I can't see exactly how the fuel metering works or how fuel gets there. There's no float chamber.

Anyone ever used them, or even heard of them?

Heard of them and even saw one once being slung over the hedge at a race meeting followed by the cursings of the rider / mechanic.
A 60's device supposedly giving better fuel / air mix than the old Amal carbs on the various bikes back then.
Reputedly about as accurate as turning a tap on for your hosepipe and feeding it into a drainpipe!
How good it was is evidenced by the fact that they were rare and died out pretty quickly.

Oh dear - don't you just love the "I heard straight from my Aunt's neighbours Grandson's sister" ................................

Well I ACTUALLY used the Wal Phillips FI's [ a misnomer of course ] back in the 60's.

They were VERY popular amongst us Sprinter's [ today's Drag Racers ], especially when Methanol was being used. I built and raced several machines [ mostly Triumph powered ] fitted with these devices.

They relied on gravity as a normal carb - and in no way a fuel injector as we know them !

They were very simple to set up and expecially suitable for high performance. The downside was that tick over had to be set on the high side to avoid stalling out / flooding - this was for road machinery. The big advantage was they had no components that could be damaged by the Methanol.

I had a brief foray into 4 wheeled circuit and Drag racing with Shorrock supercharged engines, and again used the Wal Phillips unit with some success.

I believe he [ Wal Phillips ] started out developing the units for Speedway racing - I remember Alf Hagon using them - also on his supercharged JAP sprinter [ I believe ].

Slung over a hedge - wish I'd been on the other side.

Beachcomber

Don't know about your relations, but my post above was recalling the event I saw personally at Darley Moor in the 1974 season. The bike concerned was a spine framed Triumph 500 twin. Next meeting he had Amal GP's back on the bike.

Glad you had good use with the Wal Phillips device.
I was just relating my personal experience.

I'm just impressed that you've even heard of em, let alone used em.

The guy who asked me if I'd heard of them said his experience of them was in connection with lambretta sprinting. Maybe they are more suited to that particular form of applying power? Although they were conceived for speedway use by the sounds of things? Dunno. Either way I like anything a bit different. Proves there is more than one way to skin a cat.

I'm still not entirely sure exactly how the fuel was metered. It seems clear now that it found its way into the device simply be gravity.

Cheers

The fuel ratio was directly adjusted via the rod seen on the side. One end attached to a butterfly [ air ] and the other end was metered fuel. Altering the length of the rod altered the mixture - simples.

In later years Kendig [ USA ] came up with a similar arrangement to replace the ubiquitous Holley 4 barrel carbs. Later bought out [ and still being made ] by Predator. The beauty of these devices wa that the fuel was metered directly against the airflow demand. One simple adjustment [ 3 base settings ] and you couldn't get a more reliable "carb". It would suit enginesfrom 215 ci [ Rover ] right up to BB Ford and Chevy. Ran out of breath at around the 9 second number [ Drag Racing ] - no matter what you did - oh, apart from fitting two of them !

I ran this 502 ci Ford BB motor [ 3 stage NOS ] on two Predator carbs after hitting the limit of my patience with the Holleys !