engine and drivetrain Engine will not start

[02dag]

22 years since the car ran last time. Soon ending a 7 year restoration. Bought myself a complete engine with the old solex carb for a "MOT-engine". This engine has not been opened.

 

Short story, the car will not start, I have ignition. Maybe a bit slow turning due to battery trunk relocation and using only a start cable wire as connection point for ground.

 

Yesterday when testing the car it responded well to start gas, but I saw that I didnt have gasolin in the filter. Today I have solved the gasolin problem, and fuel is now in the carb. Funny thing today it will not respond to start gas spray. Have double checked the ignition, I have spark at TDC. I am also suspicious to the carb itself. Will take that apart tomorrow for cleaning, and make good ground connection for the battery.

 

What really puzzles me is that it will not respond to the starting gas anymore.

 

I will be grateful for any new tips.

 

A side question; Where do you guys connect the ground cable from the engine when relocating the battery? I have attached it to where the pedal box is attached to the brake booster, thought about one of the front subframe bolts, but didnt want a wire hanging below the car. Also reluctant to drill more holes than necessary.

Edited January 5, 2015 by 02dag

[artbo]

Hey,

Only two variables, gas and spark. Spark at TDC?? Do you have spark while cranking? Ignition switch ok?

Compression? Now that carb has fuel, is starting gas flooding the engine? Sounds like ignition to me. Timing ok? Grounds should be to engine, starter support bracket, and body.

[ray_]

I bet ya flooded it.

 

What plugs are you running? Say "copper" now ;-)

 

Pull one and have a look.

 

Anyway it's something simple.

 

Good luck,

[Hans]

Make sure you have #1 at TDC. Flooding is a possibility. Pull and clean the plugs. As is often said, most of your carb problems are electrical. Make sure the ignition components are in good shape. A weak spark may not ignite. You need a good clean connection for the engine ground.

[artbo]

Good call, make sure #1 is TDC, not BDC!

[Stevenc22]

I have a a big bolt coming through the fender which acts as my negative post for my underseat batteries.

 

[02dag]

Ok, it finally started with a big roar after 22 years in silence.

 

The carb I have is the one with manual choke, and when I took it off for cleaning, I noticed that the choke was halfway on. Not enough to close the choke plate, and therefore I didnt notice that it was in this position. Could be that it is something wrong with the choke, and that it restricted the fuelflow or something. Well cleaned it, turned the choke completely off and made better connections for the battery. from the engine to one of the subframe bolts. For the battery ground I used two start cables each attached to the rear subframe bolts. The starter had developed a grinding sound, so I changed it to another one. Still very slow turning, so it could be that my temp connections still werent good enough.

 

But anyway, I have this remote switch I use for starting, so this time I loosened the distributor so that I could manipulate ignition timing during starting, and this time it fired. What a relief

[Hans]

Is there not a place for ground strap on the battery tray?

[02dag]

The battery tray is removed, but you may be right. Normally that could be where the ground is attached. I think the solution for me will be something like stevenc22 have done.

[artbo]

Congratulations! Nice that she barks after 22 years.

[Hans]

You can ground it anywhere convenient as long as there is a good bare metal contact.