Hi Alec, thanks for getting back. No, I haven't tried a new lead. I tested continuity and resistence of the existing lead and since it seemed alright I didn't. I'll get hold of a lead and give it a try. I ordered a new coil this morning as it was only £20, will give that a go too. Thanks once again....

Got the replacemtent ignitor from SNG Barratt today. Fitted it and the engine started, ran for about 6 seconds and stopped. No spark at the plugs. Fitted points and condenser (new). Still no spark at the plugs. Tested the coil, 3 ohms resistance across the positive and negative terminals. 10k resist...

Hi Updating for those who are interested and as a lasting and hopefully useful record to those who follow. Thanks Alec, I had indeed missunderstood how to measure the valve clearances and was totally wrong in concluding the valve clearances where incorrect. The engineering company sent out an experi...

Thanks once again for your advice Alec. There is a good explanation of the auxilliary carb in the manual and I used it to set it up initially so the mixture is just a little rich. Thanks for explaining the air shut off though, that was helpfull. I've gotten to the bottom of this, this morning after ...

Thanks for the response Alec. I checked the fuel supply as you suggested and the float chambers were full. I've been on it all day and re-checked everything. I checked the torque on my head nuts which tightened a little but weren't excessively loose. The engine seems to run fine up to 2.5k revs and ...

Hi I've just finished rebuilding my engine and road tested it earlier in the week. The engine ran well in the workshop. Some slight lumpiness at the higher rev range but given its a new engine and was confident that the tuning was correct, 10 degrees BTDC ignition, newly rebuilt carbs balanced and c...

Had this problem with my newly restored MK2. What I thought was wind noise coming from the quarter light turned out to be coming from the chrome strip (chrome finisher front rh drip moulding). I diagnosed it by taping over various candidates with masking tape and test driving e.g. quarter light, doo...

I had a devil of a job finding these screws. In the end I ordered a range. I'm they're definitely UNF. UNF screws below 1/8" are listed in numbers e.g. #6 #8 #10. I'm pretty sure the ones you're after are 1/2" long, countersunk UNF #8 but I would order #10 too. As a note, they're often listed as thr...

Hi I'm hoping somebody can help me out here. I sent my rear tail light holders away to be chromed with the bulb holders still pressed into them in the hope that they could be chromed with them still in place. They couldn't and the chrome shop removed them damaging them beyond repair in the process. ...

I had this exact same problem on my MK II. It turned out to be the indicator/headlight flasher. If you look very closely at the internal mechanism you may see that when you operate the flasher it grounds on the housing. This shouldn't happen. When I carefully dismantled mine and inspected it under a...

Hi Alec, thanks for the response. I take your point on the chassis. I bought the tow bar second hand and it was photographed fitted to a 3.8 MK2. It seems it gains its strength and primarily anchors through the rear bumper tow bar plate, two large bolts passing through the thick plate and double ski...

Thanks very much Alec. Very much appreciated.

When I bought my MK 2 the 2nd owner went to great lengths to point out that the car was totally original and even had the original door drain plugs that he proudly showed me. Unfortunately, when I took the car to the body shop I'd removed everything apart from the door drain plugs which they lost. T...

I'll elaborate on this since I've had no responses and could really use some help/advice. I'm sure somebody must have fitted or removed a towbar at some point. My problem is this. I cannot seem to find a suitable place to pass the cable through the bodywork for my towbar electrical connection. There...

Has anybody fitted a towbar to a 3.8 MK2? I have one that I want to fit to my car. I'm not sure of the best place to pass the cable through the body work.