Triumph Repair: 74 TR6 Doesnt start hot, crane fireball ignition, fuel pressure gauge

Question
I have a 74 TR6 that will not start hot. Sometimes if I keep my foot on the floor and crank it long enough it will start to fire and sometimes start but usually not. I've tried a lot of things and am out of ideas. The car has a Crane Fireball ignition, coil & resister and 2 new weber single barrel carbs, an electric fuel pump with regulator(the pressure is set at 2 lbs). The timing is set at 10 BTDC. Any ideas?

Answer
Hi Brian,
If it came to me in a dealership I would first run a compression test and if it was ok I would get it hot and run a couple of simple tests. First is to spray starting fluid into the intakes and if it starts. Check the chokes on the Webers. Check the float vents to see that there is not a problem there and look down into the carbs with the throttles open after it will not start to see if you can see excess fuel. Some times when an engine is shut down hot the fuel that is trapped in the fuel line between the pump and the carbs will absorb heat and the gas will boil and expand and force the fuel past the float valve thus flooding the carbs. Another indication of this is to shut it down and when you know it will not start remove several spark plugs to see if it is wetting the plugs when hot and attempting to restart.
As far as the ignition system goes, it doesn't matter what kind of ignition system you have, the end result is what counts. ("Spark") So when it does not start check to see that you have a thick blue spark when it does not start.

To test for over pressurizing the float valves put a fuel pressure gauge on a "T" in the fuel line between the pump and the carbs and after it is hot, shut it down and watch the gauge to see if it goes high.
Howard