I have just acquired a 1973 series 3 that has not run for 2 years and was used for moving wood for many years prior. It needs a fair extensive restoration.
To get it into my garage from the tow truck was a struggle: the starter motor barely worked (sorted after i cleaned up the relevant connections) and it ran very rough, blue smoke from exhaust, needed a foot on the pedal to keep it running, and lots of care as there are no brakes.
I have 2 questions, maybe independent, maybe related:
1) As i have ordered some new plugs and leads, I took a look at the existing ones. There were 2 good ones (i.e. they fit the car) and 2 much smaller ones (lawnmower? in pots 1 and 4). What i really really don't understand is that the firing order from the distributor is 1,2,4,3. (this was so odd i got someone to double check what i could see). My understanding is that the correct order is 1,3,4,2 - however i think about this, based on my limited understanding, it would appear that only 2 pots would fire. Are there any engines where 1,2,4,3 is the correct order? Or has the PO somehow connected the plugs up incorrectly, and it has somehow struggled along.
2) I have done a compression test (my engine is 1:8), all plugs out, foot on accelerator and clutch:
a) dry (pots from 1 to 4): 135, 135, 150,155
b) after squirting some 3-in-1 oil through the plug hole: 160, 130, 140,150. We retested pot 1, and this time got 145.
If i ignore the 160 reading, my take on this is that the numbers are adequate for an engine this old (it has 43000 on the clock but I don't know if it has gone around). There is a bit more variability than i might have hoped for, but all the pots are in the same ballpark. I wonder if the battery or starter motor were getting a bit tired in the later tests.
Any advice appreciated (this is my first post on the forum)
thanks
To get it into my garage from the tow truck was a struggle: the starter motor barely worked (sorted after i cleaned up the relevant connections) and it ran very rough, blue smoke from exhaust, needed a foot on the pedal to keep it running, and lots of care as there are no brakes.
I have 2 questions, maybe independent, maybe related:
1) As i have ordered some new plugs and leads, I took a look at the existing ones. There were 2 good ones (i.e. they fit the car) and 2 much smaller ones (lawnmower? in pots 1 and 4). What i really really don't understand is that the firing order from the distributor is 1,2,4,3. (this was so odd i got someone to double check what i could see). My understanding is that the correct order is 1,3,4,2 - however i think about this, based on my limited understanding, it would appear that only 2 pots would fire. Are there any engines where 1,2,4,3 is the correct order? Or has the PO somehow connected the plugs up incorrectly, and it has somehow struggled along.
2) I have done a compression test (my engine is 1:8), all plugs out, foot on accelerator and clutch:
a) dry (pots from 1 to 4): 135, 135, 150,155
b) after squirting some 3-in-1 oil through the plug hole: 160, 130, 140,150. We retested pot 1, and this time got 145.
If i ignore the 160 reading, my take on this is that the numbers are adequate for an engine this old (it has 43000 on the clock but I don't know if it has gone around). There is a bit more variability than i might have hoped for, but all the pots are in the same ballpark. I wonder if the battery or starter motor were getting a bit tired in the later tests.
Any advice appreciated (this is my first post on the forum)
thanks
