QuestionHi. This is Travis' Wife so I hope you kind of all ready know the situation. We have a 1979 Triumph Spitfire and we put a Weber carb. on it. It doesn't seem to be getting any vacuum. We tightened all of the bolts on the manifold and we're stumped. It's not clogged, just not sucking. Any suggestions??
Thanks!
Lindsey
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The text above is a follow-up to ...
-----Question-----
Hello,
i have a 1979 triumph spitfire 1500. i am putting a new electronic ignition in the car but in order to do so i need to have the rotor point to the #1 spark plug terminal when the engine is at TDC. when my engine is at TDC the rotor points to the #2 spark plug terminal which is actually the terminal the rotor comes to before #1
since the firing order is 1,3,4,2. I've tried rearranging the spark plug wires so that when the rotor is at the #2 position it leads to #1 spark plug and continued the same pattern all the way around the distributor. I've also tried rotating the distributor housing back one position for the same useless results...nothing. however, when
the rotor is pointing to the #2 terminal and the engine is TDC and i put the plug wires on as if the rotor were pointing to the #1 terminal(2,1,3,4 from the rotor) i can at least get the engine to sputter poorly but nothing close to starting. the ignition kit is a Kent cams xr700 and i installed it on a Lucas electronic ignition style distributor. any suggestion would help me greatly.
thanks
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Hi Travis,
You need to confirm that when you have #1 at TDC that it is on the compression stroke not on the exhaust stroke, then continue placing the wires in order. Then set the ignition timing to the specs from the sticker under the hood. Also, you need to do a compression test. It must show above 125 PSI and not more than 10 to 15% difference between any cylinders. Make sure the throttle is open when doing the compression test. Let me know.
Howard
AnswerHi Lindsey,
For any engine to have vacuum on start up it first must have compression, which is easy to test. If such a car were to come into a repair shop they would first look at what you already checked (manifold bolts) next they would look at each end of the intake manifold to see if it has any core plugs (used for casting) If it has them and they are in-tact the next step is to see if the engine has compression. You need a compression gauge for this. If you don't have one you may be able to borrow one or just go to WallMart and purchase one (they are not expensive) A higher quality one can be purchased at any auto parts store or from any of the tool companies (even Sears). I have a question. How did you determine that it didn't have any vacuum?
You or Travis can e-mail me at fitzcharlesh@bellsouth.net
If you want to do the compression test and are not familiar with the procedure, I will be glad to walk you through it.
Howard
