1969Mk3Spitfire

No plans to lift the bonnet in the foreseeable future 🤞

Update. As per advice within this thread I have today replaced condenser, coil and new plugs (again). Just been for a 15 mile drive in a mixture of 30, 40, 50 and 60 limits on a hot ambient day. For the first time in months the car did not misfire! Fingers crossed that both my sooty plug and misfire issues are now resolved. Huge thanks to all for help and advice along the way. Odometer turned to 55,000 during the drive.

Martin at Dizzy Doc tells me that it’s a Flag Terminal. I can find them with conventional spade ends but not open, as used on the Delco distributor. Urgh……….

Thanks for looking, Pete. I’ve just sent an email to Dizzie Doc to ask him the same question…..I’ll let you know if/how he responds.

Thank you, both. The current arrangement includes a soldered joint and seems to be ok. However, I’m trying to eliminate any/all possible contributors to my misfire saga. If the manufacturers of condensers can buy and fit them, why can’t we, surely they must have a proper name and be available from somewhere 🤔

This connects to the points on a Delco dizzie and I’d like to make a new lead from coil to points and condenser. Does anyone know it’s correct name as my guesses have yet to find it on google. Many thanks.

Still not really sure of the “correct” procedure and I can’t imagine what the “special” tool looks like or indeed works to release the spring clip. Access looks challenging. Based upon your two inputs above, I simply used a plastic lever, from my body trim removal tools pack, and started at the 3 o’clock position to lever off the bezel. It “popped” remarkably readily. The spring is located at about 5 o’clock. To refit, I located the bezel from 12 o’clock first, then pushed down, left hand anti-clockwise and right hand clockwise. I’d cleaned and polished the bezel while it was off so it was a bit slippery and I didn’t have the strength to push it home without help from the marigolds. It then “popped” home.

The condenser spec is 0.18 to 0.24 microfarads. I have an LRC meter and have measured mine at 0.21, so within spec. Sadly, I don’t think that a static measurement like this is sufficient to assess dynamic, load and heat affect. I know there are advocates (sensible people) of assessing the effect of a single change but I’m planning to simultaneously change condenser, plugs and coil. No real reason to doubt any of these but I’m otherwise running out of ideas. Beating the car with the branch of a tree as per John Cleese is next on my list.

Dear magic fingers, I’ve ordered one and if it doesn’t solve the problem I’ll be sending the boys round for a chat 😁 (thanks for your help, notwithstanding)

Thanks @Josef and @Colin Lindsay. Job done. It must have been one of the most satisfying jobs I’ve done on the car. Cleaned the connection, fixed the issue and no added to the “jobs to do” list as a result of my intervention. The wsm should have mentioned that wearing a pair of yellow marigolds is required in order to exert the necessary force on to the bezel when refitting 😁

Thanks, I’m planning to replace the plugs and the condenser. Any recommendations for make/type of coil? Many seem to offer a standard coil and a “high performance” version. What does HP mean in this context and might it be of help?

Checked the points this morning and they are fine.

@Badwolf I’ve had this problem before with this forum. I have the start of your last comment as an email message but can’t see the post within this thread 🤷‍♂️ My ignition is original, not converted to electronic.

There’s no backfire, Pete. Car is standard and original so it’s points and 12v, non-ballast coil.

Yes, Andy, plugs, points, HT leads, rotor arm and dizzy cap. All from club shop. Not checked points condition in a while so I’ll check and post finding, probably tomorrow. I have a Draper Dwell meter and the engine is within 1 degree of nominal spec. Never checked timing but the car runs extremely well until it’s covered 5 miles 😩 Whether on country lanes or around town, it drives really well for around 5-10 miles. First symptom tends to a single miss with almost instant recovery. It seems most pronounced at light load, steady state, say 40 mph on a flat road. When accelerating, either from standing start or transient, it will miss frequently, almost kangaroo hopping. Accelerating harder, the car pulls but will misfire. The plugs are less than 500 miles old but they have been removed and refitted to different cylinders a million times so it is probably sensible to fit new again, I use NGK BE5S. Appreciate your comments.

So, who makes decent condensers?

I (think) that I've solved my sooty plug issue, choke lever, and I've blown-through and cleaned the fuel system from pump to pipes to float chambers and jets. I still have the misfire symptoms. Could all of my recent grief been a red herring 😭 Cars runs really well for about 5 miles. Water temp gauge reading normal but by now engine is hot. It seems to miss under all driving conditions including low load steady state and mild acceleration. The only two ignition components that I haven't changed are condenser (I bought an Intermotor but it did not fit the Delco distributor due to a poorly made bracket) and coil. Could either of these gives rises to hot engine, not cold, misfire? Anything else to investigate? Any recommendations for a decent condenser and a 12v, non-ballast coil? Many thanks.

I have dim headlamps on one side only so fairly sure that it will be a dodgy earth connection. My Haynes WSM unhelpfully says "use the special tool provided" Can anyone please oblige me and tell me how to remove the bezel and lamp assembly? Car is Mk3 Spitfire. Many thanks.

My car had been off the road for about 30 years. After a couple of years in my ownership I wanted to do something about the “black” antifreeze. Following advice from the forum I flushed it twice using Soda Crystals, available from supermarkets. Radiator and block now show a nice luminescent green, Prestone inorganic, bought when on offer at Tesco.

Only now read through your thread @Alans835 and I feel your pain. I’ve been preoccupied for far too long with a similar issue. Not really sure what you mean by “bogs down”, can you describe it, please? My issue looks to have been the same as @Badwolfdescribed above. I had one sooty plug and only now believe that it is possible to have very different combustion in two cylinders supplied by one carb. I’ve shortened the choke lever by about 5mm and now have a clean burning plug for the first time in longer than I care to remember. Sadly, after a 10 mile run, hot engine, hot ambient, I still have a misfire/stall at high speed, light load and also kangaroo fuel at initial acceleration from standstill. My next steps will be to strip, clean and blow-through the fuel system. Perseverance is key as the results are worth the effort. Also, I never fail to be impressed and grateful for the help, advice and experience from within the forum. Good luck!

Breaking news! I no longer have a sooty plug, thanks to you all for your perseverance with me. Started this morning by checking front carb float chamber and continued to strip and clean all carb components. The only anomaly was the choke mechanism. The lever was not exerting upward pressure to hold the jet tight against the nut, gravity was lowering the jet and richening the mixture. Very fiddly but I managed to remove the lever and change the bends to shorten it by 5mm. The IPL shows a small grommet/bush between the screw and the lever and these were missing so I made a couple using plastic servo control lines for model aeroplanes. The jet is now held in place by spring force. It’s not all good news. I took the car for a test drive along my usual 10 mile route. A couple of miles from home it started to misfire again. The miss was very slightly more prolonged, not instant recovery. It also developed a kangaroo in the tank but accelerating seemed to clear it. It felt more like fuel than electrical. Approaching home the misfire was quite bad and I was ready to throw in the towel. However, at home I pulled the plugs and was absolutely delighted with the colour of No1 and 2. There are a few threads about Pete’s slithers. Could this be a case? What’s the best way to clean/purge the fuel lines? Anything else to investigate? Nearly there!

This was very motivating to read, thanks for the explanation!

Many thanks to you both, I was not aware that they are fairly readily available. I will purchase one online. I also assume that the missing 4 mm is a consequence of my method of measurement.

Try this……. Colourtune in cylinder No 2. IMG_2064.MOV

I have a 27 second iPhone video but no idea how to post it, if anyone can help?