Club Triumph

Thank you Steve for your reply.

Im going to get another set of points and another condenser just to rule them out as faulty.

( Although they are new ).

I will tell you why.

Because whilst I was waiting for carb parts my points arrived along with new leads so I fitted them first.

And maybe it just, just might be the cause. The carbs were only leaking but I must add as said before the car did play up when hot before the carb rebuild.

With all respect, you seem to be going around in circles. Maybe a fresh set of eyes would be a good idea.

Do you have a mate who could assist you.?

Regards

Tony.

Ok an updated.

I fitted new Lucas pints and condenser but found that I had a very poor and inconsistent spark at the point.

Looking more at the coil which is very old I must say.

I noticed it had on each side two coil like devices.

The one on the right had the cable completely broken off.

This may or may not be the problem but the spark is rubbish at the points as said.

Are these like a type of amplifier? 

Anyway im going to see if Chris has any?

Hi Karl, there shouldnt be much of a spark at the points as the condenser should absorb it to reduce the burning of the contacts. The most important thing is a good spark at the spark plugs.

If the devices you have found are cylinders they sound like additional condensers (capacitors) to reduce radio interference from the ignition system and can be removed without problem.

However if they are like blocks they could be resistors which are used to drop the supply voltage to the coil to 6v during normal running (your coil would then need to be a 6v coil) and bypassed only during starting to compensate for the usual drop in battery volts as it powers the starter motor.

In any case having two of either item on the coil would be highly unusual.....

I've seen (and owned) cars with two "extra capacitors" on the coil. Removing them has generally improved things.

Assessing the quality of the spark, which, as glang says, must be done at the plugs, isn't as easy as the guides make it sound. People who are not familiar with doing the test may not know what to look for to distinguish a good spark from a weak one. I would be rather tempted to replace the coil anyway, as they do seem to "age" and I've had plenty of experience of poor running problems caused by tired coils.

Yes I just spoke to Chris and he said all that you said.

Well she starts with Easy Start 

Im going to watch Flea bay and see if a second hand pair of carbs come up for sale.

I have again taken off the carbs....

Now I have noticed that the piston doesnt sit on the bridge so maybe the jet or something is not right?

Also in the handbook it says to ; Turn the main jet down two turns for factor or base set;.

Does that mean two full turns?

yes when you look into the carb mouth youll see the jet into which slides the needle (its just the inner brass orifice) and to start with this should be level with the flat bottom (bridge) of the intake. The you wind the jet down 2 full anti-clockwise turns of the knob on the bottom of the carb to get a mixture which will allow the engine to run. Once running you fine tune each carb individually to get the correct mixture usually by undoing the jet a bit more.

Each piston must sit down on the bridge and make a small click as it hits it if you lift and release them with your finger....

Well after taking the carb apart I found the the piston wouldnt sit on the bridge.

I made sure that the tube the needle goes into was lined up.

But strangely as I tightened the top of the carb down the piston came up 20mm or so.

If I loosened the top of the carb screws it was fine.

So something must be bent somewhere?

Anyway im sure that the cap that was in the carb would have made a lot of the running problems.

I dont know if it would effect the start from cold issues though.

When I fit it tomorrow we will find out.

That does sound strange, how did you align the needle?

The correct method is to loosen the brass nut on the bottom of the carb just above the jet adjusting knob. It can be tight and being brass and thin is very easy to round off but once loose allows the jet to be moved. It might leak some fuel as you move it as its sealed by an    o-ring to the body of the carb which hopefully hasnt age hardened and will re-seal ok.

Keep lifting and allowing the piston to fall while moving the jet assembly a little until it drops onto the bridge with a little clunk. Once your happy carefully tighten the nut without changing the jet position and finally check that the piston still drops freely.....

Done all that and as I put the top of the carb cover on and did it up the piston somehow came up.

With the cover screws not to tight then it seems fine.

Yes very strange.... Anyway subject to weather here in Hastings I will fit them tomorrow and see what happens.

I will get htis car sorted on way or another

Bent bits will cause problems but normally they just jam the piston. I'm struggling to see how it could cause it to lift as you tighten the screws. Do you have dashpot springs on those carbs? All the cars I've owned had them but I believe the 1600 Vitesse didn't and I'm not sure on the early 2000 saloon. Is there maybe something odd with the diaphragms? Can you upload pictures?