Started NAV up to go on a cruise, he was chugging like a chaff cutter . Compression checked out as even except cyl 4 which was h handful of psi higher (tested with plugs out). checked dizzy, leads & plugs all in good order. Housemate claimed he can smell coolant in the exhaust. Could a leak into the water galleries do this and would it cause the radiator to boil over even though the car is not hot with a new radiator cap?

There was no notable change in rpm (even on the tacho) when #2 lead removed, a small rpm drop when #3 removed and the engine tried to stall with #1 or #4 lead removed.

What's the go? I'm getting the feeling I'll have to remove the head to figure it out.

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dizzie, rotor or cap

changed leads and plugs around, no change in symptoms

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Tappet lock nut come undone and allow a rocker not to push down a valve ????

Mike

What sort of distributor do your have?

Pulsar dizzy. the one the doc reccomends for smallbores d4r83 i think
I've checked the leads and cap for resistance and no issues there.

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- rough running
- problems with 2 & 3 (no change when leads are off)
- coolant smell to exhaust
- blowing water out

I'm tipping a blown head gasket between 2 and 3, or a cracked head around the same place.

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On a small block??

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Common on a small block, even more common on big bores.
Blowing coolant out with the motor still cold = head gasket

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Too many cars, and too little time.

If you have a blown head gasket between the cylinder and a water gallery the combustion gases can be getting into your cooling system causing bubbles to come out the top of the radiator which can seem like boiling. When you stop the engine the coolant can then force it's way into the combustion chamber until the pressure equalizes. You would normally get some white smoke blowing if this was happening.

Sounds like head gasket to me.

Pete

no bubbles to speak of, although i havent had it running with the radiator cap of, and given it's worsening state i don't want to run it much more

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If you have a decent cam (say 270 degree or bigger), #2 and #3 on an A series don't pull their weight at idle when you yank their leads off.
IMO it's due to charge robbing at low rpm between the cylinders, due to the siamesed intake ports.
My 1360 (RE282 cam) does it too... yet it idles fine, and goes like a train, runs cool and uses no water.

Pulling plug leads off works on Alfas, it's recommended in their book to check synchronisation of the twin Webers/Dellortos.
Not on a 5 port A series though.

Don't sweat it mate, I reckon it's fine...

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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.

It's a stock cam afiak and it's progressively getting worse. Plus it's never run like this before.

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have you checked if your manifolds has a leak

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Stop Licking the Dog...I Don't Care Who Started It