1850: ballast bypassed, and she runs like a dream - idle is noticeably smoother than with the old setup, and some of the flat spot has reduced.
Sprint: As above, I bypassed the original wiring and supplied a new 12V feed. I picked up a spark plug testing light, and all four seemed OK. After
much cranking and many words of encouragement (and a little name calling, just in case it’s
that kind of car), the engine started! It ran OK if I kept my foot on the accelerator, and it sounded smooth enough at fast idle (smoother than the 1850, but maybe that’s just a 16V vs 8V thing). I soon made the mistake of letting off the pedal (the dash is dead, and I didn’t want to overheat), and that was it: it refuses to start again now.
The carbs are a right mess with missing screws and many leaks, but... I’ll replacing the points and condenser next as these are cheap, then I’ll get a carb rebuild kit.
Questions:
I’ve had cars in the past with blown HG and they wouldn’t start uless cranked for a long time - could this be HG? The oil and water are still separated as they should be, but are there any other symptoms I should check for on a Sprint?
I’m not sure which distributor I have - I think it’s a 44D: