Classic/Antique Car Repair: PLUGS AND WIRES, mixture adjustments, rich mixture

Question
Dick

I have an american austin from the 30's and
Im trying to get it to run / drive. When I pulled the plugs they were covered in carbon. Also,
Im looking for a place that sells 6 volt ignition
wires.  Finally, the car runs great for a while,
but once I place it in gear, it dies.

Can you please help me out  


thanks

Ken

Answer
For some reason, this question didn't come through to me until today- I'm sorry for the delay.

Plugs covered in carbon means the carburetor is putting out a way too rich mixture. Very likely there is an internal leak in the carburetor, but perhaps someone has fiddled with the mixture adjustments.   I'm sorry to tell you that I have absolutely no experience with these cars, so I don't even know what kind of carburetor is on it.   I do know the best place to send an old carburetor is Jon Hargrove's "Carburetor Shop".  He is not cheap, but it will come back right!

Go to www.thecarburetorshop.com to contact them.

Step one for checking on the engine's condition would be to do a compression check on it.  If that shows all is OK mechanically, you're ready to consider other causes.

An overly rich mixture could be the reason for your lack of power, but there could be other causes also, for instance the timing could be set wrong, or perhaps the timing gears have jumped a tooth.  You'll need to get a shop manual for the car which will tell you how to check for these things, or else you are going to have to find someone who knows these cars.

I wish I could be more help, but I'm out of my league here.   Perhaps, if you haven't already done so, you should join the Bantam/American Austin club, and learn from your fellow members.

Dick