1972 Spider Sport with new electronic ignition won't start

[Griffin]

Hey Guys, I just bought a 1971 1600 sport from my grandfather. This is my first vintage car, and the first car I've had any problems with, so I'm not sure if I'm doing everything 100% correctly.

I'm planning on daily driving it and have already restored the interrior (new wood, clock, door cards, seat vinyl, hard top, carpets ect.)

It ran well the day I bought it but the next day it broke down after a 20 minute drive. Dieing at every stop and eventually not wanting to start back up.

The points and condenser were shot so I replaced them with the electronic ignition from AR.

The gas was old but I emptied the gas tank and refueled twice. With premium and stp high octane additive, aswell as stp water remover.

The engine will turn over and if I push the choke in and floor the gas it will catch and start for roughly 5-10 seconds and then die again.

I called AR and confirmed that I have the coil and electronic ignition atleast wired correctly.

Any ideas?

Also if this matters the oil and oil filter is new and so is the gas 'n gas filter, and according to my grandfather the gas tank is new and the transmission and engine were rebuilt 5 years ago.

Cheers,
Griffin

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Hi Griffin, my guess is that your carburetor needs to come off and have a good cleaning and rebuilding. I have a '71 spider as well, and my original carb was pretty much crud-ed up in terms of sediment and corrosion and all that stuff.

The carb is fairly easy to rebuild, although the hardest part is getting it removed from the intake manifold. Let us know if you need some pointers.

-Bryan

[bobplyler]

Have you checked the ignition timing?

[davidbruce]

As Bob said. Check your timing, not sure of spec for 71, I think it's 0 degrees on #4 cylinder. If you don't have a manual you can join mirafiori.com and download one. Check your firing order, 1342 . Also check for adequate fuel pressure and volume at the carburetor.

[Griffin]

As Bob said. Check your timing, not sure of spec for 71, I think it's 0 degrees on #4 cylinder. If you don't have a manual you can join mirafiori.com and download one. Check your firing order, 1342 . Also check for adequate fuel pressure and volume at the carburetor.

The engine wont idle long enough to use a timing light. Any other way I should do it?

I just joined mirafiori thanks for the pointer.

How would I go about checking fuel pressure and volume at the carb?

Thanks for your help man!

[davidbruce]

Hi Griffin. The fact that it will start but only run for a few seconds makes me wonder if the fuel pump is not keeping up. You will need a fuel pressure guage for accurate results. I believe the Webers only call for about 4 psi. This is where I would start. After cranking the engine for five or ten seconds can you look down the carb with the air cleaner cover off and smell any gas? If you manually open the throttle is there a stream of gas from the centre of the carb? If yes see below. If not it looks like a fuel problem. Disconnect the fuel line from the carburetor. Get a metal or plastic container you can put the hose into and still be able to see what's coming out of it. Remember gasoline is extremely volatile, no sparks smoking etc. anywhere near you and careful not to get any in your eyes. Have an assistant crank the engine over and watch what comes out of the fuel line making sure it pumps into the container. At cranking speed I would expect even pulsing spurts of fuel as the pump lever is actuated. If not pull your dipstick and see if it smells like gas. I have seen on american engines where a ruptured fuel pump diaphragm leaked into the crankcase and diluted the oil. If that is the case the oil will need to be changed or bad things will happen. If it smells of gas you probably have a ruptured diaphragm. If not it could still be the pump. Some of the earlier pumps have a filter inside them. It could be plugged. There will be a check valve inside that may be stuck open. start with that.
If you do appear to have good fuel flow, tell us exactly what you changed in the ignition and how you changed it.