Substantial lack of power

[TheLaird]

Hello there,

It's been quite a while since I last posted, life got in the way of the restoration and it's only recently started up again.

The other day I reversed out on to the drive way, which is on an incline. When I attempted to go back up the hill into the garage, get about 3 inches then sputter to a halt so it took about half an hour to get him back in.

I replaced the head a few months a go and standing in the garage the engine sounds great, I also set the timing so I'm not sure where the loss of power is coming from. I did notice that some of the nuts on the tappets were loose and wouldn't tighten to a close enough gap so I'm thinking that's a possibility.

Any ideas a welcome, he's been off the road for over a year and I'm really missing driving him about.

[mike.perry]

Are you sure that it wasn't a fuel /pump problem?
Check points gap
Check for a spark at the plugs
If above OK then check that the distributor is not loose

[bmcecosse]

I don't understand - 'some of the nuts on the tappets were loose'etc What's that all about ? Were the gaps set when the head was re-fitted ?The gaps should be 12 thou for inlets and 15 thou for exhaust. But you must set them on the rule of 9 ie when #1 valve is open you can set the gap on #8 (1 +8 = 9) and when #2 is open you set #7 (2 + 7 = 9) etc etc. And the locking nuts must be left tight! But not so tight the thread is stripped - so gang warily.

[Peetee]

Sounds like the way one of my cars behaved when the dashpot needed topping up.

[TheLaird]

Hello,

Yes sorry, I wrote that rather late and was a bit tired and worse for wear

What I meant by the tappets is that in a couple of places the nut has become stuck solid, so instead of just the nut turning it's the threaded bit as well.

I didn't think of the dashpot! I shall have a look this Sunday and report back.

Thank you for the advice, it's much appreciated.

Dan