G'day everyone,

Back again. I have had a good look over the engine and can almost positively rule out a valve problem. It does (as most of you have alluded to) seem to be an ignition thing.

How much play should there be in the points/contacts? To my eye/feel there seems to be a lot. Maybe a 1/4inch or a little more of the rotor button with the dizzy cap off.
I have pulled the plugs and none of them are oiled up much more than usual.
The dizzy is tight, it has new plugs gapped properly, new HT leads, the dizzy cap could be replaced but is well within limits.
My concern is the points and the free play apparent in it.
Ideas on tightening/reducing this or should we just flat out replace the whole dizzy?
Would like to get it running correctly before the dizzy change (as this is on the cards anyway)

As always, all sensible contributions appreciated. I want to get this going right for my Dad before we start on the interior and everything else.

Cheers
Tim

Tim mate,

Do you have a dwell meter? I always set points with a dwell meter as this takes wear into account in the dizzy. Dwell should probably be between 57 - 63° (should check first though). Depending on what the dwell is currently set at you then adjust the gap larger or smaller to take into account the wear.

What do you mean play in the points? I don't quite understand.

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"In two years time your car will be like a lady's clothes, out of date, my car will still be in fashion when I am dead" - Sir Alec speaking to Pininfarina

I guess he means the slack in the mechanical advance, old dizzys get pretty bad sometimes. I have a 29D here that when you turn the rotor and let go, it only comes 1/4 the way back.
And people think old Lucas advance curves are still correct after 40 years...

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Thats right drmini in aust, the whole mechanics of the thing just feel wrong to me. I am no stranger to engines, especially older engines. It just feels like there is too much play in the dizzy and the points need tightening up (if that makes sense).

Look forward to hearing from you as I have the whole day to work on it tomorrow.

1018cc, I have pm'd you with a little more info mate.

Regards
Tim

hey Tim... the points are the contact breakers at the top that need normal adjustment/replacement, I think you're talking about the mechanical advance mechanism underneath the points mounting plate. Pull the dizzy apart and see what sort of condition it's in under there.

If originality isn't a concern, then you could replace it with a Nissan Pulsar one - details here - http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1498

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G'day everybody,

Thanks for all the info so far. I pulled the #2 sparkplug again today and, fiddle sticks me sideways it was just covered in oil.
Also when I went to pull the HT lead off the dizzy for #2 I got the crap shocked out me. Now, I am used to this as I used to use the method for making sure I had spark, but, when the lead is still attached seems strange.

I cleaned the plug, changed the lead to a spare older one we had and you could definitely feel the car reacting much better but still not so great.
It has it's moments if you know what I mean. So, to me this points to ignition. I just have to fault find where exactly it is breaking down.
I will change the coil anyway, as it is inexpensive and one of my usual things that I do.
Suggestions? Cracked dizzy cap?, points need renewing/adjusting?
So close but yet so far.

Thanks boys.

Have you tried a new plug ??

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1965 Morris 850
1966 Morris Mini Minor
1967 Morris Cooper 'S'
1977 Leyland LS

I like to simply replace all the consumable parts of the ignition when they come from an unknown source. It's just not worth fiddling around with old parts.

Caps can fail even if you can't see any damage. the high voltage will simply track through the cap. Every time it does this it creates a little more carbon (which is a relatively good conductor) to put another nail in the ignition coffin. So can rotor buttons, but this will usually affect all four cylinders.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Yeah mate,

Not a new one but one that I know works. As I said, you can notice an increase towards what it should be but then it starts breaking down and coughing and farting under load as before. But with a noticeable difference for a while.

That is classic for ignition circuits. The voltage required to jump a gap is directly proportional to the pressure in the cylinder. Open the car up under load, and the cylinder is charged with more fuel/air mixture. this gets squeezed up to a higher pressure than at low load and it effectively snuffs the spark. Turbo boys like to call it "blowing the spark out" in high states of turbo boost.

The same effect can be caused by any part of the ignition cct, from the plugs to the leads to the cap, rotor button and then coil. All need to be substituted to find the fault at home.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Time for a new set of leads. The Top Gun and similar ones with a bit of carbon impregnated string inside gradually get higher in resistance, and their insulation isn't that great either- when old they misfire in wet weather.
I buy Bosch inductive leads from Supercrap, they don't seem to gain resistance with age and are only $5.95 each. Buy a coil one, too...

Or if you want Blingy neatness too, buy some of Graham Russell's ones, tailored to fit Minis.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Check the air pressure in the driver's side rear tyre It might have a flat spot too!! Just joking. Might be an easyer way to find the problem to get someone who knows mini engines to have a look at it. Guessing might be more exensive than the proper diagnose.

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