just a heads up- the black dizzy cap has resisters in it for the reasons i mensioned above, so poor running on others engines/not working would fit that scenario

Any news simon?

Nope. Only got back from holiday tonight. Will be on this tuesday.

I was wondering about the cap, but apparently its the one for it. I have a red cap, I'll try that as well as moving the HS wires away from the King lead.

Thanks for all the help guys. I'll have you to thank if/when this gets going properly

Well I've changed the HS wires away from the king lead and replaced the dizzy cap. Still runs ok, but getting very hot. The gauge goes well above the middle after only a short while idling and 'simulating' driving whilst stationary (revs up/down). Thermostat and rad fan are still working fine. Getting pissed off with this now

The sensor on the rad may be dodgy?

Whats the carbs current state of tune?

Mine got well hot when was new.

I wouldn't sit revving an engine that's not ran in or setup!

Wasn't revving the arse off it. Just up and down gently.

Carbs are running '160' jets (home drilled just to get them bigger). I checked combustion on cyl 1 with colour tune and it was ok at idle but richer at higher revs. Plus was pretty sooty too. Just doing the rest now

All cylinders seem to be ok when using the colour tune. Little on the rich side, but that's where I'd rather be. Cyl 2 was leaner than the others, but still within limits. Listening to each carb individually, this one does have a significantly different sound to it.

If you cover the carb trumpet with your hand, do the revs increase? Sounds maybe like an airleak, or a partially blocked jet.

Still, how is the timing set? Too much advance will make too much heat!

Timing is set at +10. If I put my hand over carb 2, it actually sucks my hand towards it quite forcefully. The other 3 don't do this. It idles very well at just under 1000k too, but as before, cyl 2 is definitely different to all others

Out of balance.

When you balance you balance carb 1 & 2 to each other, then balance 3 & 4 to each other; then balance each of the pairs together between 2 & 3

Edited 21 August, 201214 yr by harris.racing

That's what I figured, they were out of balance. Thanks for the advice nick

Yeah man, you should be able to listen to them to balance them fairly evenly! Especially if you can really feel it sucking, but it may pay to have a good look at carb #2 to make sure the adjustment screw and spring for adjusting the butterfly is seated like the rest.

To adjust them its a bit of a fiddle, there's a screw on the spindle between each carb to adjust them.

You may need a shortish screwdriver to fit between the bulkhead and carbs but not as short as a stubby!

I've played about balancing them before, but didnt know you did it as pairs. It is a fiddly job though. All the springs etc are seated fine too

Good to hear of progress, will it be at action then? Might be good as there will be plenty of help sorting the carbs out.

The excess heat could be caused by the running in process by the way, which needs to be done properly if you expect the engine to last (rings and bearing shells)

I suppose, the extra friction and all. I think I'm a little past the running in stage really. But I'll be driving her gently from now on, changing oil etc. But regarding the immediate running in, as she didn't run smooth straight off the bat, I fear the engine won't last as long as it might have done. Will be changing it in the not too distant future anyway. Once everything else is sorted of course.

I think I could get to action, and I think I'll book the MOT for the end of the week. Seems to be what driving that kills it, so I'll take it easy to run it in. Just wondering now whether everything was done correctly when the engine was rebuilt, torques, gaps etc. and maybe something is tightening up as the engine warms up. Too late now, I'm not tearing it all out. Nick said his ran hot when freshly built, so I'll go with that.

The running in operation isn't done at idle by the way, there's loads of different opinions on how to do it. A good friend and colleague of mine whos had 30+ years of building the "twin-cam" engines to put into various old school fords says the right way is to take it on the road and give it some various loads and speeds etc, not letting it sit at a constant RPM in a high gear. Let the engine work, but don't go over the top and have it go up to 6,000RPM etc.

way i got told to run it in is like brake bedding in cycles .. Eg take it up to a certain rpm going up through the rev range and let the engine brake, then do the same in the next gear .. Most prob wrong but from what i've heard lol

Aye thats something i forgot, its also good to give it a blast up to say 3000RPM, then hard off the throttle and let the engine brake, this throws some oil into the cylinder to help cool/lubricate them.

Then I've probably done most of that in one way or another. I've read several ways to do it too, hard or soft running in. So it's seems it's far from an exact science. She hasn't been ragged at all yet, which can only be a good thing

Cleaned carbs out, all jets cleared etc and balanced them best I can for now. Running around +5 deg advanced timing too. Seems to be running nice, though takes a while for the revs to drop when taking it to around 3K. Also didn't seem to get as hot idling as it did. Carb 2 isn't sucking as hard as it was either. Exhaust was blowing but now sorted, gearbox reverse switch done. All I need now is tracking and MOT. The drive to the station will tell me if this overheating problem is sorted I guess

If it takes ages to drop back down, I found it was because I had a massive airleak. Can spray some sort of penetrative oil or starting spray around the joins on the rubbers, on the manifold, etc.

If you get a raise in idle, it's an airleak..

choke problem maybe mate with the revs droppin ?? or the return spring ??

Chuck a return spring on it