Sorry if this is a duplicate, I never got a copy of my original post.
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Hi all,
I bought a timing light (with an inductive pickup), and replaced all of my
spark plugs. The old ones, Bosch platinum, looked okay, with a light tan
colour all over, and carbon on the flat face of the outside edge of the plug
(to which the ground electrode is attached). I used NGK plugs as previously
described.
I examined the dizzy cap and cables: no cracks or damage on the cap, nothing
odd about the cables. I checked the resistance to be sure, and they all
measure 5Kohm each. I put the cap and wires in a low oven for an hour or so
to drive off any moisture.
I changed the rotor: mistake no. 1. The new one was moulded slightly
differently to my old one, with a large piece of material on the non-contact
side. This caught the opto-pickup for my electronic ignition and bent it.
Bummer. I bent it back and used the old rotor, no major damage seems to
have been sustained, but of course my timing was way off, so I bought a
timing light...
I adjusted the timing to 14 degrees, as specified in Haynes, and the car ran
rather much better than it had been for the last couple of weeks, so that's
good, however, as I was tinkering with the dizzy adjustment clamp I noticed
a slow drip from the top edge of the radiator (where the top piece joins the
finned section). This could explain my general poor running: I suspect that
as I am driving along the drips are being whisked away by the fan and making
the engine compartment very wet. I noticed that the first trip of the day
is usually okay, but subseqent trips are really awful. Maybe overnight is
long enough for the moisture to evaporate, but during the day as I make a
number of trips the water is accumulating on the wires, dizzy and coil. So,
next step, a bottle of Bar's Leaks, and then a new radiator...
Next tools to purchase: pressure gauge and SU adjustment tools. My carbs
look really crappy, all sad and dirty. I don't expect they've had any
attention for 30 years...
To sum up: good running after replacing plugs, drying out wires and cap and
adjusting timing, but bad luck with the radiator leak. Oh well.
Andy
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'69B
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