Engine

So time to start looking at the reason for the engine not starting.

What did we find from the previous owner?

Spark plugs needed the correct spacing.
Distributor points needed setting to the correct space.
The carburetor was doing its job (just) but leaked like a trooper.
The fuel pump was leaking as well.

So in short, both need a refurb.

So started by completely disassembling the carburetor and putting it back together with a rebuild kit consisting of many grommets, o-rings, and gaskets.

Once reattached to the car we tried to fire again to no avail. So having previously spotted the leaks from the fuel pump that was then rebuilt and refitted (sorry forgot to do pictures) and we tried again. Definitely getting fresh fuel to the carburetor now but still no fire. So it was decided we were going to check the timing of the engine.

So starter motor out, which is where we found that the exhaust was touching the inner wing. Which was fine as it was only held on finger tight on the bolts anyway. So that's another thing to add tot he checklist for later. We also needed to open an access panel on the other side of the engine.

Not the easiest thing to get a picture of as it's under all those pipes and is also fairly inaccessible anyway. Ones we could see both sides of the flywheel we used the hand crank to rotate the engine until we could see the timing markers on both sides. Setting it to 3 teeth before TDC as a test, while we checked on the distributor which should have been pointing the front of the car.

As you can see, it's well off, so rather than remove the distributor and slot it where it should be, mainly because we'll be doing that anyway when the head gets sent off. We chose to just move the HT leads 2 posts round which should see it right for testing purposes. Remember this is just a test so we know that once we take the head off and reassemble it should all be working as it was when we took it apart.

The Rebuild

So now we have had it running we are confident that all the other components in the engine bay are working, so no need to run any further diagnostics. So on with the conversion to unleaded.

Stripped the air inlet chamber off and the carburetor and some of the rock-solid rubber coolant pipes.

Next was the rocker cover for the inlet side.

Then the exhaust side making sure to bag everything up as I went

Next was the inlet manifold, which felt like it was one piece molded to the head and took considerable persuasion before it finally let go.

And finally, after releasing the pushrods and a banjo at the firewall end the head was free.

Always nice to see deposits, just not necessarily everywhere...