Running 'dry on the deck' means out of the car.

Have you got a good 'old fashoned' dissy with points that you could slip in to try it?

Nah mate, I don't have one.

well chaps and chapettes,

Bit of research done today and a bit of progress.

Car is now popping at ignition. I know for most people that is crappy but im over the moon. When I turn the key every now and then it will pop twice like a back fire kinda sound but no start. the sound can only be described as a pop as it makes that exact sound... POP.
I noticed that when it pops smoke was seen escaping from the inlet/exhaust manifold to head area. I will get a new gasket for this and some new brass nuts as I have a weird setup at the moment from previous owner involving large nuts cut down to match the uneven manifolds shape.

I rechecked the TDC and rotor position. Still at approx 10 oclock.. maybe 1030. This is tdc with timing mark lined up, 1 at tdc and the rocking thing happening that I have written down. Not sure why its not at 2 as people say but all signs are pointing to it being correct.

I did a thourough look over and tested the electrical side of things. Not sure if its right but...
I tested both coil pos and neg, the +tive on starter, solenoid, alt, battery and ign. Got the following

Battery was 12.8 and then dropped to 11.5 when key turned
ign was 12.43 and 10.9 when key turned
coil was 12.41 and then dropped to 8.7 and 9.9 when key turned.
starter motor pos and solenoid was 12.52 and then dropped to 10.3 when key turned.

ALT was 12.4 and then dropped to 10.5 when key turned.


Not sure of the significance of it all but it doesn't seem that bad to uneducated me

Checked the resistance of the rotor leads incl coil lead and they are all 1600
Check dizzy cap and that was low... can't rmember but it made my multimeter beep on the BEEP IF ITS GOOD setting.

Sorry for the big post, just excited (for progress)...

Good to see your making some headway. What you have observed is significant.

OK, if the 'popping' you are hearing, is it coming from the carbie of the exhaust? If it's coming from your carbie then your ignition timing is 180 degrees out or you might have 2 leads back to front. Keep in mind that the rotor in the dissy spins anti-clockwise.

The voltages that you have measured is certainly enough to get it running.

HT Lead resistance at 1600 ohms is OK.

hey GTmowog,

Thanks again for your help.

I took the leads off and put them all 180 degree's around.
had them anti clockwise on 1,4,3,2.
It stopped popping and started to sound like it was going to catch but didn't. I then thought I would move lead one to 2 o'clock ( and the others to corresponding spots to see what would happen. Big bangs this time but no ignition again. This was about the time my girlfriend, god bless her, came and suggested that play time was over and I should come inside.
On the weekend I will see if I can beg borrow or steal an adjustable timing light and have a go at setting the timing. Will set it 180 out and see what happens... Wish me luck

yeah you need to sort your timing out methinks. also get the exhaust and inlet manifolds to seal properly. take a look down and see if the flanges are the same width. if not u may need to take some metal off with a file or add some thick washers so that it seals even.

Good advice there from your Girlfriend.

Sounds like you had the leads right before you moved them around. Might need to just play around a little with the timing to get it running, but as you and DTrain suggest, make sure your manifolds are sealing right. If your Inlet manifold leaks it will make it hard to start and once running could cause serious engine damage.

Cheers

thanks for the advice chaps.
Will have a crack on the weekend and will let you know how I go.

After this all I need to do is raise the rear a tad and take her for her maiden voyage.... ohh yeah

hey fella's,

Got up this morning and went over the car again. Got the cab manifold done up properly without leaks and got the tdc for 180 degree's out to what I had it. Gave it a go and a bit of spluttering. I moved the dizz around and retested a few times. On the last go it started and revved up to about 3 grand for some reason. Jumped out and pushed the arm down on the linkage for the weber and she went down to a nice idle. Took it off and it revved up again. Will have to adjust that.


When the rev's went up I could hear a loud whining noise from the engine. I'm hoping this might be to do with the timing and will have a go at fixing that later on today.

Im pretty excited that she started. Thanks to everyone that has been able to offer advise on here. Ballistic, GTmowog, Doc and all the others... You guys rock!

D

David

do you know if it`s an A+ engine??? do you know if it has an A+ type timing chain tensioner fitted inside the timing cover?

sometimes people have these over-tight & they can whine,,,

also if it`s had a "duplex" timing gear-&-chain assembly fitted to an A+ type timing cover,,, then often the cover needs a little dent """re-dented""" out to clear the now wider chain & gear set,,, if not done then a whine will occur from it rubbing the cover

also if the "oil-slinger" hasn`t been fitted the right way round it will also cause rubbing on the cover & yet another whine will be the result

Otherwise either the water pump or the alternator can be sad & cause a slight whine also

just things for you to check...

grab a very long screw driver,,, stick the tip of it on some components (like the alternator for example) while the engine is running,,, & stick your ear on the handle end of ithe screw driver,,, it will act as a "stethescope" type of arrangement for you & intensify the sound comming from that particular component... then if it`s not real noisy move to another componenet (like the body of the water pump as another example) stick your ear onto the end of the handle of the screw driver again ,,, etc etc etc,,, move the screw driver to the timing cover etc etc etc,,, this will find exactly where the noise/whine is comming from

unless you actually have a stethiscope ,,, they`re great things for finding noises in engines

_________________
No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

Hey Miniman,
Its an a+ motor

Its strange as it never did this before the dizzy blew a while back. I haven't been able to get her to start since then as a few other things are a bit weird as well ( all my doing ) and together made it hard to diagnose.
I am done for today and will get the timing and so forth sorted and then work out what the noise is once that is done.
It sounds to me like the fan belt but I didn't have time to check it as had to stop work etc.

Thanks for your advice on the screwdriver, its a good idea.

D