Re: Dan's Crapi project.
Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 10:19 pm
For my next trick I decided it was about time I tried to get the thing started up!
Its been nearly 4 years since this engine last ran. It’s always been this cars strongest asset in the past, it’s always run well, never really had any issues and been one of the most reliable engines I’ve had. It’s also this cars original engine, which must be something of a rarity by now on a car like this.
First thing to do, about a week before trying to start it, was remove the spark plugs and put a little squirt of oil down each bore, just so it wasn’t spinning over dry. When I did this, I managed to break the porcelain on two plugs! This meant waiting ages for a new set because of the China virus! In the meantime, I went over everything to check and double check it was all ok, including removing the cam belt cover and double checking the timing was all right. When I refurbished the engine a couple of years ago I put new oil in it, but that’s been sat for ages so got changed, which also meant I splashed fresh oil over the top end on refilling it so that wasn’t dry either.
With the new plugs turning up and going in, it was finally time to hook up the new battery and see what happens!
Fuck all was the answer!
I got it to spin over on the starter, and it was drawing fuel up to the carb (I hooked up a temp fuel tank from a Jerry can) but there wasn’t even an attempt at firing. I rechecked everything and quickly found there was absolutely no spark whatsoever, even directly off the king lead. Lots of arsing about revealed the condenser was fucked, and the points, although appearing to work ok, weren’t actually closing fully. I managed to get a weak spark from the king lead (and points!) by using a screwdriver to force them closed.
Not having any spares to hand, and the aforementioned China virus, meant I was shit out of options! So I ordered new points and condenser and waited for them to turn up.
Now, I originally intended to get this running on points & condenser, then convert to electronic ignition later on, as I don’t seem to have much luck finding condensers that are any good these days!
Not wanting to introduce an unknown quantity or new problems, I decided not to try fitting the electronic ignition kit I already had. But then I got impatient and decided to fit it anyway!
They’re a piece of piss to fit. Remove condenser, remove points. Fit electronic module to base plate in place of points. Feed two wires out of dizzy and connect to coil terminals then fit sensor over dizzy cam. This went without a hitch, so I decided to try for a spark. Which I now had!!
Reconnecting everything quickly resulted in the engine firing, and running well on its own! I’ve got a video, but it won’t upload for some reason. You’ll have to take my word for it.
I didn’t run it for long as there’s no exhaust yet and there were some flames from the manifold which I didn’t want damaging my new paint! Big milestone reached though!
I also finished the boot by refitting the spare, wood spare cover and a new boot mat carpet.
That’s about as far as I’ve got so far. Lots left to do, but it’s getting there.
Its been nearly 4 years since this engine last ran. It’s always been this cars strongest asset in the past, it’s always run well, never really had any issues and been one of the most reliable engines I’ve had. It’s also this cars original engine, which must be something of a rarity by now on a car like this.
First thing to do, about a week before trying to start it, was remove the spark plugs and put a little squirt of oil down each bore, just so it wasn’t spinning over dry. When I did this, I managed to break the porcelain on two plugs! This meant waiting ages for a new set because of the China virus! In the meantime, I went over everything to check and double check it was all ok, including removing the cam belt cover and double checking the timing was all right. When I refurbished the engine a couple of years ago I put new oil in it, but that’s been sat for ages so got changed, which also meant I splashed fresh oil over the top end on refilling it so that wasn’t dry either.
With the new plugs turning up and going in, it was finally time to hook up the new battery and see what happens!
Fuck all was the answer!
I got it to spin over on the starter, and it was drawing fuel up to the carb (I hooked up a temp fuel tank from a Jerry can) but there wasn’t even an attempt at firing. I rechecked everything and quickly found there was absolutely no spark whatsoever, even directly off the king lead. Lots of arsing about revealed the condenser was fucked, and the points, although appearing to work ok, weren’t actually closing fully. I managed to get a weak spark from the king lead (and points!) by using a screwdriver to force them closed.
Not having any spares to hand, and the aforementioned China virus, meant I was shit out of options! So I ordered new points and condenser and waited for them to turn up.
Now, I originally intended to get this running on points & condenser, then convert to electronic ignition later on, as I don’t seem to have much luck finding condensers that are any good these days!
Not wanting to introduce an unknown quantity or new problems, I decided not to try fitting the electronic ignition kit I already had. But then I got impatient and decided to fit it anyway!
They’re a piece of piss to fit. Remove condenser, remove points. Fit electronic module to base plate in place of points. Feed two wires out of dizzy and connect to coil terminals then fit sensor over dizzy cam. This went without a hitch, so I decided to try for a spark. Which I now had!!
Reconnecting everything quickly resulted in the engine firing, and running well on its own! I’ve got a video, but it won’t upload for some reason. You’ll have to take my word for it.
I didn’t run it for long as there’s no exhaust yet and there were some flames from the manifold which I didn’t want damaging my new paint! Big milestone reached though!
I also finished the boot by refitting the spare, wood spare cover and a new boot mat carpet.
That’s about as far as I’ve got so far. Lots left to do, but it’s getting there.