Finalizing some things on my MGA. I have an 1800 3-man engine in it, and
when I go to crank it, it just seems to have a hard time turning the engine
over. When I have the ignition off, it turns over fine, but when I turn the
key off, it just has a very hard time turning the engine over to start (and
probably causing the starter some bad wear). It starts and runs fine
(although the timing seems to be off a little...I get a little ping when
going up a hill, and it doesn't have as much power...would that be a case of
needint to retard or advance the timing? I can't remember). Any ideas as
to what could be causing this? I do have a couple of modifications...it
could be a compression issue as I have a 73-74 head on it and a performance
cam (last time I checked the compression, it was around 160 on each
cylinder). Perhaps the hard start is just the side effect of the higher
compression...but why wouldn't it do it when the ignition is off? I just
don't want to have to replace my starter that often if it can be helped. :)
Any suggestions? Also, as an aside, I retarded the timing a bit (in
thinking that I needed to retard the timing because of the pinging and lack
of power on hills...I may have it backwards). I wasn't able to crank it at
all when I retarded it though.
Anyway, thanks in advance. :)
-Blake Wylie
1960 MGA
1963 MGB basket case
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