At 04:33 PM 1/3/06, Michael Sloan wrote:
>"I'm looking at fuel pumps .... Do you know what the 'SU' is?"

Yes. Original equipment, like the "SU" carburetors. "SU" is the manufacturer's name, originally "Skinners Union". The first SU carburetor was invented during a campaign to find new products to use leather goods produced by the animal skinners. Those early SU carbs had leather venturies. The leather venturies were quickly displaced by all metal body casting. Jet seals continued to be leather parts for many years.

The SU fuel pump originally had a leather diaphram with cloth reinforcement (laminated). You might guess how long that lasted, and it was soon replaced with synthetic materials.

SU Carburetor Company has changed hands in receint years. Current holder of the franchise is Burlen Fuel Systems in the UK. http://www.burlen.co.uk. Find more history of SU on that web site. The SU name lives on, along with a quality product.