Morris Minor Owners Club

Those little carbon brushes are pests. Have found one on an old dizzy with a longer spring on occasion and replaced a std one (not on a mog but principle is the same)
You migth do well to blow a bit of your grant money on a set of dual core HT leats if your on a cap that can take one. Are they old HT leads ? They degrade quite badly over time. Specially those that have been treated with that damp start ignition sealer - it cracks over time and retains damp.
Those dual core silicone jobbies make an astounding difference to the spark - seen the demo and you have to see it to believe it.
Just makes one less point of weakness.

In fact if there was just a gap in the Ht lead - this would enhance the spark! The idea was used in some 'spark enhancers' years ago - the voltage has to build up enough till it can jump the gap - and then it obviously has sufficient energy to jump the plug gap with ease. The idea also used to help an oiled plug get going again - by holding the lead a little distance from the plug top the same principle applies - and after a short time the oiled up plug is able to continue without the extra gap - and the engine runs fine. Till the next time. However - very high resistance leads seems to be your problem - and that's no use to man nor beast. Little bit helps to quench interference - but too much just kills the spark energy. I suggest new (or at least different) leads!

Bit orf topic here but isnt that the way some sparkplugs work - vacuum cylinder in the ceramic part from the screwthread to the centre of the core of the base?
Only wondring as have brokena few lately and see no wire or trace of one in there.

Hmmm - dunno about that one - maybe I'll crack open a few tomorrow to check!

Sounds feasible.... I dont have any spare plugs to smash up though!

My older brother has given me a pair of front seats from his audi TT (he swapped them for heated ones) going to see if its possible to fit them, they appear to fit dimension-wise, but make you quite low down in the car.

Ordered a new dizzy cap and condenser, also treated myself to an anti roll bar kit and a pair of inertia seatbelt sets. I will just have to fast for a month when I get to uni its a loan not a grant these days!! Thanks for everyones advice and enthusiasm for the project.

Could you not just get a dizzy cap and condenser locally ? Most Autoparts places (sometimes even Hellfrauds) stock these things.

I bought the most recent condenser from a motorfactors but looking at it now it is slightly different, so just to be sure I bought another one from esm. back to uni on thursday time flies...

Parts arrived today. Im still getting a flashing/spark jumping across the points when they are opened, same effect with 3 different condensers. what else could be causing the points to flash like this? In a fully working system do you get no flashing at all? Ive never tried it. brand new condenser from esm.

Picky

I will just have to fast for a month when I get to uni its a loan not a grant these days!!

Nothing much has changed then my eldest got a grant when she went to Leicester in 1996 and recieved the grand sum of £22 for the year and neither of us are higher wage earners, so its not just recent students who have recieved little or nothing, and she came out with a student loan of £8,500 and that was after we had paid board/lodgings and books.

Hmm eight and a half K = 2 terms of beer money for pickster i reckon

heres a nice little flash anim of what looks like an electonic system - some good info though
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/ignition-system.htm

Paging Ray or BMC for the definatie answer to

In a fully working system do you get no flashing at all?

Reckon there is always going to be a flash - although I would say more a 'spark'. Main thing is - is there a good spark at the HT connection on the coil ? Have you checked ohms of coil - between the two lv connections ? The coil should be earthed - ie bolted down to the engine.

Hello,
This project has got me quite intrigued now (i.e. searching ebay for superchargers!)
Has the fuel problem been sorted now? I was having a think about this, and as you have the carb between the compressor and the engine, then effectively (with the induction air now being compressed by an extra 5 psi) then the car will have to supply fuel as though it is feeding a car with a 1/3 bigger displacement than it had before (Atmospheric = 15 psi ish + 5psi from the charger = 20 psi). Therefore you could start thinking about sorting out a needle/carb combination for a 1700 cc car (i.e. 1/3 bigger displacement again). Does this make sense?

Feel free to ignore all this if you like as I have no experience with forced induction!

Rupert

Nice to hear from you Rupert

Yes I believe that makes sense, I cant be sure whether Ive fixed the fuel problem yet as I havnt been able to get it running with the new carb, I know the ignition has issues but whether that is the only thing stopping it from running I dont know. Im currently trying to get it running without the added complexity of the supercharger, so that I know the engine is fully working before troubleshooting the supercharger. Check out my log if you are interested in the project here http://www.pickmantechnologies.com/s

bmc, I have been trying to solve a problem that doesnt exist then! I was under the impression from reading the manual that flashing at the points indicated a serious problem. I will move on to setting the timing, although my new crank pulley does not have the dimple in it to line up with the timing marks on the timing chain cover. I always have trouble with the ignition timing, I think I just need to keep at it until I find out what I have missed.

Picky

although my new crank pulley does not have the dimple in it to line up with the timing marks on the timing chain cover.

Is that the one you had machined up ?, is it not possible to match it to the previous one at least to give you a starting point. Just use some tippex or similar to start with.

Is that the one you had machined up ?

Correct. I'm not sure where the old pulley is, it was so knackered I think I threw it away. I have managed to get the engine running before without needing the timing mark on the pulley. Im sure I can sort this with time, but Im back to uni on thursday. Ive got one day left..

Picky

Just drop something long and thin in #1 spark plug hole - a chop stick perhaps - and slowly turn the engine till it's at the highest = TDC! Could also do it by watching the valves on #1 cylinder - when they are 'rocking', ie both slightly open (one is closing the other opening) then that is TDC (and #4 cylinder should be firing!).

Rupert - using a supercharger does give exactly the effect of a larger engine and yes, the carb and needle will need to be sized for that. Problem here is that the carb is AFTER the charger and is thus pressurised, and so to get any fuel to flow in, the float chamber also needs to be pressurised - and the incoming fuel needs to be at high enough pressure to make it into the carb! Usual way round this is to have the carb BEFORE the charger - then a normal carb and fuel supply can be used. However - MG with the TurboMetro used a pressurised carb after the Turbo - and so that should be fine, and I think is what Picky now has. The other option is to use Fuel Injection - AFTER the charger (as per MINI) - and then all is well.

If you're pressurising the carb and float chamber, then you probably need to poke the boost pressure at the fuel reg too so it maintains the required pressure above boost, not atmosphere...

Correct spag. I have installed a fuel pressure regulator and a fuel injection style fuel pump with a return to the tank, fuel comes in at very high pressure and then the regulator decides how much pressure goes to the carb and the rest flows back to the tank. (All from metro turbo setup)

Not posted here for a while, been pretty busy at uni. Like the new forum "theme" by the way!


Went home last weekend, turbo carb fitted, did not start. removed supercharger, and setup normal induction, still no starting. Have realized that that the rotor arm is about halfway between two plugs when it should be firing... adjusting the thumb adjuster does not move it round enough. Any ideas?

Picky