hchris

From what I read, this only occurs when the engine warms up so a permanent hole in the inlet manifold would presumably cause a problem right from start up; I was thinking more along the lines of the manifold moving as engine heats up. In any case if its intake manifold related a vacuum guage will show this up.

In all of this it seems the problem has recently developed; does the misfire persist when you pull off the road and rev the engine ?? Have you had the top off the carb ? is there some muck floating around under inertia in the carb bowl blocking jets ? can you replace the complete carb to eliminate it ? And moving to more obscure items; what about ensuring all the intake manifold bolts are tight or any other possibility of intake manifold leak. Do you have access to a vacuum guage? one of these hooked into the intake manifold should enable you to source a vac. leak as well as valve timing / leak issues, I`m thinking along the lines of stretched timing chain causing valve timing to go off as engine warms up; what age / mileage is the engine ? Getting back to 12v timing light, if it requires 12v input, you can use it on 6v by connecting it with jumper leads to a 12v battery.

OK reading back over the postings I see you have : 1. cleared the fuel line from tank to engine 2. replaced the fuel pump(s) 3. changed the coil and distributor 4. checked ignition timing I dont see where the plugs or spark leads have been changed ? And then we are entering the realm of obscure faults : 1.Can you replace the distributor cap to eliminate cross firing? 2.Change the carb? 3.Connect a timing light, make a mark on the front pulley and watch the behaviour of the spark as you take the engine up and down the rev range. You should be seeing an even rhythmic flash of the strobe all through the rev range and the pulley mark should progressively move forward and back as engine speed changes. In all of this am I right in saying that from a cold start the engine behaves normally and only breaks down after a mile or two on the road at normal traffic speeds ??

Ouch!! perhaps you might be better off carrying out a leak down test on that cylinder

I wonder if that low cylinder has a valve not seating properly ??

The only way you will ever get the scale / rust out of the block is to have it dipped in a commercial cleaning bath. If you have been poking round in the block you will probably do more harm than good, as the scale you have disturbed will now be carried into the radiator. It might be wise to put a stocking in the upper radiator hose to capture any scale before you run the engine again; leave it there a 50 miles or so then remove and you may be surprised at whats in it.

If you still require the SK articles : December 77 / Jan 78 / Mar 78

You should be able to adjust the level of the float in the carb to stop this problem; ie by lowering the level at which the float causes the needle and seat to shut off incoming fuel. Of course this is dependent on other factors as mentioned : 1. the ability of the needle to hold closed against fuel pump pressure 2. the serviceability of needle/seat assembly 3. the float condition ( not holed )

Yellow spark 1/4 inch is not good !! Follow the coil / condensor path

Agreed, and as john18 pointed out ( no pun intended ) the points will show evidence of arcing with pitting on the contact surface. However most points will accumulate a buildup of residue over time so analysing their condition really depends a lot on how long they have been installed. And harking back to an earlier item re the spark plug analysis, as good as the article is at describing symptoms you really do need a practiced eye to accurately interpret their condition. So to get back to the beginning if you are convinced the fuel is good; I suggest do the the easy bits first, check the points, check the spark,blow out the fuel feed line,swap the coil, all in a logical progressive manner and then if you are no further advanced,perhaps we need to look more deeply into the carb and distributor. Looking back through this thread it seems to me you may have inherited a problem considering the work done by the previous owner; was he chasing the same problems ??

Well consider the environment in which the plug is operating and relate that to the work the coil has to do in achieving a desirable output. At idle, cylinder temps and pressures are at relatively low levels, so a weak spark from a poorly performing coil will probably do the job; now put the car on the road and open up the throttle, cylinder pressures and temps rise in quantum leaps and the coil just cant hack it. As also mentioned a bad condensor will give similar problems, but I would start with the easy swapouts ( coil ) first. If you are up to a challenge, whilst the engine is misbehaving, take any lead off a plug with engine running and hold it close to the plug top so as to see the spark jump from lead end to plug, it should be a nice healthy white/blue spark ( perhaps best done in shade or dark ) and should jump at least 1/2 inch. If it is weak/ intermittent and orange coloured then your problem lies within the ignition system. I mentioned challenge because you will need good insulation between yourself and the lead whilst disconnected. In all of this I dont discount the fuel side of things, however sticking floats / blocked jets etc. would tend to be present at all times; I find it does help if you can eliminate other causes.

1. The coil will get hot of its own accord as it operates with current flow. 2. The accelerator pump would not normally be operating at steady throttle openings, can you shut off the engine as soon as the problem appears and lift off the carb top to view what fuel level is in the float bowl ??

Have you considered swapping the coil ? Often when they get hot the insulation breaks down resulting in a weak or intermittent spark

Try Les Sonter - 02 98717647

In an ideal world the answer would be yes, however the colder the oil gets the more difficult it becomes to shift due to increasing viscosity. So if you live in a cold environment expect difficult shifting until the oil reaches correct operating temperatures. As to the original thread; I would renew the bearings and syncromesh cones if you are carrying out a restorartion, because if you have problems now it will only get worse.

All true; until the invention of syncromesh in manual transmissions gear changing was, and still is, an aquired skill; double clutching was just a part of it. Put quite simply, what you are trying to do is match the speed of the engine input drive to the rear wheel out put drive, obviously whilst in motion these speeds differ significantly. Perhaps the best advice for smooth changes is to go through the actions slowly and anticipate that a cold transmissission will make these actions even more difficult; so clutch in - move gear lever through neutral - pause - then select next gear. One other factor is weight or grade of trans oil, this can have quite an effect on how smoothly the gear changes occur, I would start with the recommended grade and be prepared to go up a grade or two dependending on the wear in the transmission.

But does the water go glug,glug,glug when you drain it ??

You cannot weld the shaft into one piece; the whole point of having a flexible drive shaft is to allow the rear drive to move out of alignment with the engine/ transmission as the suspension absorbs shocks and moves about with undulations in road surfaces. Have you considered to converting your drive shaft to a more conventional universal joint type arrangement as in modern cars. There are transmission shops that will do this for you without spending too much money.

Is the radiator blocked ? For a simple check - take the filler cap off, disconnect the bottom radiator hose and see if the water gushes out in a steady stream; or does it just glug,glug,glug out ? if its the latter then its likely blocked. As the water comes out is it dirty/muddy coloured ? if so another sign that its probably blocked.

They would probably be the radio aerials. Popular wisdom back then was to mount them either in the roof space of island roofed cars ( pre 1936 / 37 ) or under the running boards principally to avoid ignition system and generator interference.

If they were mine I would be replacing them, no telling what the fluid has done to their structural integrity.

Before you start pulling things apart; can you make an air adaptor out of an old spark plug ? Cut the top insulator off and braze / fix an air hose fitting to the threaded portion of the plug, now install in a spark plug hole, bring piston to top dead centre and connect to some high pressure air ( doesnt have to be too high, even a hand pump will do ) If there is a leak, depending where it is, you should hear the air escaping out of the exhaust pipe / carb inlet or bubbles in the coolant. Caution; whilst the cylinder is pressurised the engine could turn over so keep your fingers clear of the fan / pullies etc.

On all 8 cylinders ??

If the oil in cylinder has not changed anything then I would suggest you have valves open when they shouldnt be, so if all cylinders are down then its logical that valve timing is wrong, or you have set the clearances wrong.

Have you thrown a weight off the tail shaft ? Is the tail shaft mounted park brake tight and secure ? Is there is a possibilty of bent rear axle ? If all of the above check out, I would be replacing U joints and balancing the tail shaft if you are sure the wheels are running true and balanced.