power loss problem series 11a

Hi,

Fired up my normally well running 1965 series 11a and she isnt happy. been left out in the cold snap for a month or so thats all....running very well when stopped her. Fired her up and now she is generally spluttering with a loss of power can only just pull up hill and needs all the revs.....but not smoking at all. Checked plugs/spark all fine although the two front plugs were very sooty and the back two normal/lean. Petrol seems to be getting in carb after taking airhose off to check, choke flap fine and cleaned weber carb jet. Could it be valves?....coil?.....fuel pump?...points?....condensor? Put in clean petrol no change.....at a bit of loss...no mechanical/electrical idiot so this is frustratating!...all help gratefully received. Thanks. Simon

If it was running fine when you left it then i would say its nothing terminal, could just be damp, try spraying everything electrical with wd40 (or anything like), clean and set the plug gaps and maybe try some new points as they are only cheap, i used to have a old polo and it ran like a bag of **** when the points burnt out (about every two months!!!) Im a diesel mechanic so anything more technical than that on petrols and im stuck sorry, hope it helps though
Graham

Don't want to sound like harbinger of doom but could rings have cracked/broken? If it's stood for a month you should crank it over by hand a few times first to move oil about a bit and free up anything like slightly siezed mating faces. Not suggesting it is but possible? Or even just condensation from long time damping two plugs so they soot up? Do a compression test on all four. Check spark (but put a 'blanking plug in 'open bore' -eyebrows were invented for a purpose). Fuelling seems less likely (imho) unless you have a twin-carb setup as problem would affect all four 'pots'. Not suggesting it's any of the above, just a few ideas..

Thanks for suggestions so far. Tried the WD40 trick and no improvement. Set plugs as well and checked valve clearances.....no change. Will try new points and compression test at weekend...still frustrating! (Landys I guess!)

After compression test rules out, it does sound like ignition. Although hard to tell, for cost of new unit I'd shove a new coil in as well as points. My Lwt ran like crap till I stuffed a new everything at it! The advantage of this is you know where you are starting from. I think strength of spark could be the problem, so thats either coil, points, htleads,dizzy cap, or plugs. But I am not an expert!!