Moss Motors, Ltd

From what I found out recently, the plastic strip is a feeler gauge that can be used as a guide to set the gap. But it is not necessary to have it set exact.

 I do suspect something out of time. I would remove the valve cover and the #1 plug and see if your cam is closing the valves at TDC on #1. Then compare the position of the rotor and the crankshaft pulley timing marks.

I'll try that right now....stay tuned..........

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On their death bed, nobody ever said, "Gee I wish I'd spent more time at work!"

Ok, With piston #1 at TDC, both valves are up (closed). The timing mark on the harmonic balancer is at zero degrees, but the rotor in the dizzy is pointing at #4!

What's going on?

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On their death bed, nobody ever said, "Gee I wish I'd spent more time at work!"

The problem has been found. The dizzy driveshaft was (and still is) 180 degrees out.

All attempts to pull the shaft failed, so I pushed out the pin on the dizzy and rotated the dog instead. It starts, idles at 1000, AND has the electronic ignition module, I also set the timing!..whew...that's a load off my mind! By the way, the pressure at idle is 42 lbs!

Now for what Motorbill calls "the hard part". I brought it up to normal operating temp, and I'm walking away till tomorrow when I'll retorque the head and check the valve clearences. As for now though, its....

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On their death bed, nobody ever said, "Gee I wish I'd spent more time at work!"

Congratulations davey, you get top marks for "stickwithitness"(I made that up). Wish I could buy you a nice Christmas Guiness at the pub tonight, but my thoughts and best wishes for the Christmas and  New Year will have to do. Have one for me!

Cheers...Rita

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Alive to drive British

Thanks Rita,

Here's hopes that the Great White North allows for a wonderful holiday for you and yours. MINE just got allot better tonight! (and of course, the beer is cellar chilled as always!)

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On their death bed, nobody ever said, "Gee I wish I'd spent more time at work!"

Glad to hear it! I know that the frustrations can obliterate logic at times. So, Merry Christmas and have one of those for me, whatever the temperature.

Well poolboy, thanks for sticking with me. Your suggestion earlier was the shot of common sense that I needed to find my way! Sometimes, if we can't see the forest, it may not be because of the trees, it may be that we're looking for the beach!

A question here though...I think I understand Motorbill's directions about retorquing the head (end of page3), but do I loosen and then tighten 1 bolt at a time (in the cross pattern), or loosen all of them first, and then tighten them one at a time?  I think it's the former rather than the latter.

In any event, Merry Christmajanikwanzica to you and your poolboy keepers! This Christmas Eve, I hope to be putting the hood back on the Sprite after retorquing the beast!

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On their death bed, nobody ever said, "Gee I wish I'd spent more time at work!"

I think you are right;loosen and torque one at a time in the same pattern that you started with.

 And thank you for the well wishes and the same to you and yours'. Looks like you are going to have a GREAT Christmas. You deserve it.

Sorry, I've been gone.

Yes, one at a time. Loosen, then retorque. Wow, you went the long way 'round on the distributor solution. You coulda just swapped the wires across the cap. But, all's well that eventually runs well. I'm happy for you. Enjoy what I'm sure is about to be a great ride, davey.

Best regards,

Bill

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Motorbill
From Lola to Land Rover, If it's British and has wheels, it's likely I've bloodied me knuckles thereupon

I was going to swap the wires, but their manufactured right into the cap, also the #4 wire would be a tight fit making it all the way to the #1 plug! Sometimes ya just gotta do what ya gotta do!

I'm about to start the retorquing process now....thanks to all for your help, and especially you Motorbill! (you may want to check back later to make sure that I didn't snap a bolt)!

And by the by...last night...I bloodied my knuckle!

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On their death bed, nobody ever said, "Gee I wish I'd spent more time at work!"

davey,

That's "bloodied ME knuckle"..

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Motorbill
From Lola to Land Rover, If it's British and has wheels, it's likely I've bloodied me knuckles thereupon

Well, it didn't take long for me and ME bloodied knuckle to have a question. I'm looking at the torque specs right now. It states:

• Cylinder head to block - - 46
• Rocker pedestal to cylinder head - 32

I'm assuming that the "Rocker pedestal to cylinder head" are the 4 that run down the middle, and that the "Cylinder head to block" are the other 9 around the perimeter.

I'm a bit hesitant here because I remember snapping a bolt here when I did the original rebuild last year. Are my assumptions correct? The outer bolts are at 46 lbs while the inners are 32?

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On their death bed, nobody ever said, "Gee I wish I'd spent more time at work!"

davey,

Look at the studs. There are two sizes. The big ones get the higher torque. Another way to see it is: Any fastener that actually clamps the head to the block, no matter what else is involved, gets the same (higher) torque. The ones that only hold the rockers to the head get the lesser torque, and do them last if you think they need doing. OK?

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Motorbill
From Lola to Land Rover, If it's British and has wheels, it's likely I've bloodied me knuckles thereupon

Got it...my assumption was right.

I actually just finished the retorque and all went well. I'm SO glad that I took your advice and bought a NEW torque wrench just for this procedure, rather than using my older, "bolt snapper"!

Now it's off to the valve clearances......

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On their death bed, nobody ever said, "Gee I wish I'd spent more time at work!"