Dirty Dalton

Have you force fed it a shot of ether (starting fluid)?

leigh1322

Yeah do you see a squirt from the carb accelerator pump going down the throats when you pump the throttle?
If not try the ether or starting fluid.
If that works could be a tired fuel pump.
But I am still betting on "Crusty the Coil"

Dazaa Rafae Aman

Guys shes alive!!!!!!!

Dazaa Rafae Aman

So I was getting frustrated to the point of just wishing I hadn't bought the damn thing and decided to go over absolutely everything one more time before I throw the towel in and pay someone to look at it. I set the timing again, used light emery cloth to clean the contacts in the distributor and the prongs the plug leads clip on, dried off all the plugs and turned the engine over a few times to clean out any fuel which may have flooded the cylinders, made sure all the contacts to the coil were tight and connected 12v directly to the coil, initially it was doing the usual sputtering out then i poured a fair amount of gas down the carb and she started sputtering less and eventually fired right up, i switched her off and 2/3 more times fired up instantly!!!! My goodness those side exhausts are unbearably loud, I don't think they have any inserts fitted. I really have no idea why this all took so long, could the carb have been dirty and it finally cleared through? I noticed only a few plugs smelled of gas the others didn't. The wiring in the car probably didn't help but i'll try again later with the 12v supply from the ignition and see if it works, new harness is en route anyway. Carb rebuild kit has arrived but i'm not sure if i'm up for taking it on yet....

I also replaced the horrible negative battery cable for a nice new one, not sure if that helped or not

OldCarBum

Congrats!
Feels good doesn't it?

Dirty Dalton

l82vett

If you thought getting that thing running was frustrating, wait till you start replacing the wiring harness.

ConnecticutJunkman

Ya Factory service manual, AIM (Assembly Instruction Manuals), and the wiring diagrams are worth their wait in gold.

Dirty Dalton

Fabulous typo! ROTFL. Thankfully managed to not spit a mouthful of tea!

Dazaa Rafae Aman

I had another go hooking the ignition and tach wires up and guess what? Fires up for a second and dies! Went back to 12v direct and it's perfect. I know i'll get flamed for it but I went for a Speedway universal wiring harness, I simply can't justify the money for an original harness which i'll end up having to cut up anyway since a lot of my car has been messed with. I figured a brand new harness will allow me to get all the basic stuff (wipers/lights/windows/ignition/guages) working safely, allow the car to start reliably and get rid of the short causing the battery drain. I've got a pretty good background in electronics so am really looking forward to it arriving next week. I'll also be starting my build thread FINALLY.

Dazaa Rafae Aman

I think it sounds incredible, very lopey idle which makes me wonder if is running exactly right but it did have a cam in it according to the seller?

leigh1322

Congratulations! Your perserverance paid off, and I think it sounds Fabulous! It must sound more extreme in London than it would here in the US. And side exhaust is pretty extreme even here.
I love the sound of the cam, it sounds like a pretty strong one. It sounds like it is trying to stall when you let the revs down but that should improve once it warms up fully. Or it just needs some tuning.
Sidepipes are are like music to the ears aren't they?

leigh1322

I'll bet that means you resistor wire is broken. Since it works as long as you are giving it 12V thru the starter, but as soon as you put it back into run it relies on the resistor wire.

Dazaa Rafae Aman

I'm so happy. Honestly those side pipes sound...just unreal. I honestly thought they were straight through till I put a camera inside and saw inserts. Cannot imagine what open headers must sound like!! Just had a friend come over to hear what she sounds like and the reaction on his face said it all. Fired right up with some gas down the carb. Put it in gear and confirmed it does move forward but with the steering at full lock to the right there is a horrible loud screeching sound, happened both times, it sounded like an exhaust dragging on the ground but couldnt see anything? Could it be worn motor mounts causing the headers to rub on something at full lock?

Bikespace

Sidepipes are iconic. I can't imagine going back, for now at least. It probably didn't help that you were inside a garage.

Do you hear the screeching if you aren't moving? Could be a loose belt or low power steering fluid (if you have PS). You could be stalling your PS pump trying to push against the stop. When my car screeches, it's usually the alternator belt at high RPM. Otherwise, with big tires, early C3s especially may rub on fenders or the chassis. My 79 rubs on the Borgeson box bolt heads on hard left turns, which I'll have to fix by changing the hard-stops on the lower control arms.

brit vet

I heard it up here in Manchester!

Dazaa Rafae Aman

I'm pretty sure it has PS so will confirm the fluid level. It wasn't a belt noise and could be heard when the car wasn't moving, due to the dodgy battery I wasn't able to move it more than a few meters so not a conclusive test by any means but at least the transmission seems to work, couldn't figure out reverse with the ratchet shifter tho. I don't think it was the tires rubbing but whatever it was didn't sound good at all.