I would just like to say

Stanleysteamer said:

Don't worry, we'll still talk to you.

Unless you go and buy an Eeejoke of course!!!

Click to expand...

Guys and girls we must group together and give a big hug and protect @My Old Landy from the Evoquism trap.

Stanleysteamer said:

If it ran before there is no reason to think that the timing has slipped. Did you see/hear it running?
If you have electronic ignition it could be the electronic module thing that sits on the side of the dizzy whose name escapes me. That happened to me in my last Mini. First it ran like a sick dog then needed me to push it home.
Don't panic Capn Mainwaring! You'll sort it.
Do you have a decent strobe timing light?
To test a coil you need to test the primary winding with an ohmmeter i.e. the two small connections, should be somewhere between 0.4 and 2 ohms, then test the secondary winding, across one of the smaller connections and the one where the king lead goes, i.e. the big mother in the middle, that should show somewhere between 6k and 10k ohms.
You'll know how to test for a spark, so do that.
It could still be fuel related, i.e anything from a leaky hose, through a dodgy pump, to muck in the carb and or jet.
did you try to start/run it with the choke pulled right out?
Best of luck mate. You must be feeling sick as a dog and angry too! I would be!.

Click to expand...

Hi Stan,
Well... The primary LT side is measuring as 0.8 Ohms, and the Secondary HT side is measuring 7.1KOhms.
When I put the ignition on I have 12.75v at the coil on the incoming lead from the ignition switch and when having removed the dizzy side of the LT circuit and replacing it with a manual jumper-wire I get a bigger spark on the LT side as I connect it than I can see on the HT side king lead from coil to the dizzy when held close to the engine block....when it bothers to spark at all that is.
This may be a significant find.

Stone56 said:

Just a thought Dan on my S if the roads where really wet it would cut out and not start until the distributor had been completely dryed out ? I got over this with a marigold glove fingers cut of and stretched over it worked a treat

Click to expand...

Later Minis came with a spray guard which you could remove fairly easily, made out of some sort of painted cardboard. Two or three big plastic screws you could undo with a thumb and finger. My first two, like yours, would suffer in damp weather. My Mum's Morris 1300 had exactly the same problem.
I just made my own splashguard.
I'm on the wrong pooter to be able to put up a pic of the guard I am talking about. I'd have to look back at Dan's pics to see if he has the mounting points or not, I have a feeling he hasn't got them.

Who the flip puts the dizzy on the front of the engine not sheltered from the wet by a rad? Issigonis I suppose!!

Stanleysteamer said:

Later Minis came with a spray guard which you could remove fairly easily, made out of some sort of painted cardboard. Two or three big plastic screws you could undo with a thumb and finger. My first two, like yours, would suffer in damp weather. My Mum's Morris 1300 had exactly the same problem.
I just made my own splashguard.
I'm on the wrong pooter to be able to put up a pic of the guard I am talking about. I'd have to look back at Dan's pics to see if he has the mounting points or not, I have a feeling he hasn't got them.

Who the flip puts the dizzy on the front of the engine not sheltered from the wet by a rad? Issigonis I suppose!!

Click to expand...

If the ignition parts are clean, wires all good and insulated then the damp wont affect it, You could spray water on my old racer engine and it never missed a beat. The water gets in at the joins and spade connector covers if they are old

DanClarke said:

Hi Stan, a proper strobe light is on order (fancy one with RPM and what looks like dwell angle functions).
The biggest issue for me is that the car appears to be a "bitser" and I have no idea what the component parts are and/or how well suited to one another they are. It is always a bit disconcerting to find components like dizzy's with no labels and out of eyeshot identifiers with wires not connected and just "taped up" and joints made up from spade terminal sets (M/F) in wires and similarly poorly insulated.
What I find most alarming is the overwhelming stench of petrol inside the cabin (good job I do not smoke).
In my fumblings yesterday I discovered plug 1 was wet and clean (its HT lead was hanging loose/not making proper contact) while plugs 2,3 & 4 were sooted up. Gaps were 35 thou' which may or not be good (depends on coil energy and timing etc.).
I will have a look at it today (while the battery is being re-charged). As you say, it's not a disaster, just annoying.

Click to expand...

As @landowner said no point in going over 25 thou until you know what you have got.
Your book has 2 whole chapters on ignition so you don't really need much help, but for me I'd take an ornery points ignition if you have it and replace the points with an electronic conversion kit, easy to do and once done it's fit and forget, well as far as dwell (which will no longer exist) and timing, which once set will not move. Timing only moves because when points burn down, or the placcy bit that rides on the cam wears down, it alters the timing. If you have a good dwell meter and conventional points you'll find you never need to alter timing.
It IS important to have totally compatible systems. i.e coil must match the other bits. My neighbour who ran the garage was stumped for ages with a Mini that wouldn't start until he worked this out. Each component on its own was fine, but they just didn't work together.
There is always the issue of "ballast wire or no ballast wire". When I installed my MG metro engine into the City E I had to make sure I changed it from one to the other. Cannot remember which way round it was!
If you take all the bits off, have a good look at them, take down makes, models, numbers etc then go to a Mini forum I'm sure you will get all the help you need.
There does need to be one male-female connection at least from the dizzy to the coil and if you do have electronic ignition I think that will be two. But you need them so you can remove the dizzy easily.

You may remember I built a distributor testing machine when I was trying to modify the curve for W's Speedster. It was a bit Heath-Robinson but it worked.
If you got an MG Metro dizzy and coil, you could just fit them and it'd run very well. Assuming the drive dogs are compatible which I would imagine they are.
Best of luck, I just wish I was nearer as I find all this intriguing fun!

DanClarke said:

What I find most alarming is the overwhelming stench of petrol inside the cabin (good job I do not smoke).
In my fumblings yesterday I discovered plug 1 was wet and clean (its HT lead was hanging loose/not making proper contact) while plugs 2,3 & 4 were sooted up.

Click to expand...

I think that is a good indicator of the problem. Fuel mixture is way too rich. May start ok from cold which requires a rich mix, but bogs when warmed up and becomes hard to start. Just like driving with an old skool manual choke left on too long. What choke arrangement is fitted?