OB96

Haha well fingers crossed it isn't knackered yet. I think everything was correctly installed other than the grounding wire, not sure if that will have buggered the unit. Hopefully still functional...

Sorry Johny, just to clarify: I have connected the black wire attached to the ignition unit to the negative terminal on the coil, and the red wire to the positive terminal. The cord I removed was the one which used to sit under the condensor and attached at the side of the distributor (I assume an earthing cable...?). If I understand you correctly, are you saying that the black wire connects the negative terminal of the distributor to the ignition unit, which then needs a further wire to ground it to the side of the distributor? I will try and get the wire back in place later this week and will see how it goes. Will also try and time the engine with the static method as suggested by Rob. As far as I could see, there was no mention of polarity in the manuals I have. It is a 1965 1600 and I'm the 3rd owner from new, I believe the car is almost entirely original, so would have thought it was a positive earth from the start.

Thanks for all the help. I did have the carbs serviced before starting any of this and the vacuum advance is function properly (NB I have actually bought some stromberg CD150s which I'm restoring to replace the current Solex carbs but that's a project for another day!). I'd changed the condensor too and had set the gap to within the recommended range. I think Nigel you may have hit on the issue. I removed the earthing wire in the distributor as I didn't think this was needed with electonic ignition. I'll put it back in place and let you know how I get on. I confess I haven't rechecked the timing yet, though I haven't altered the distributor position since the start. I'm hoping to pick up a timing gun tomorrow but I understand I'll need the engine to start first in order to adjust this? Thanks again

Ah right, I hadn't realised that was the fuse box. Out of interest, where is the control box in the Vitesse? I can't see in near the battery anywhere. The reason I've gone down this route is that the car was intially running but had problems with low power, I'd gone over everything in the fuel system which seemed to be functioning correctly. I noticed the points were badly pitted and the gap was pretty wide so changed the points. With the new points, it was still running but was actually worse than before, cutting out after a short time. I figured that, as changing the points seemed to affect the issue, that the problem might be connected to the ignition system, hence the electronic conversion. I am very open to the idea that the original problem might have been caused by something else entirely, just trying to work through everything to try and eventually hit on the solution!

Sorry think I misread your message Nigel, nope I don't have a radio fitted. Still unsure why it's not running with the new electronic ignition though.

Hi Nigel, What do you mean by that? Do you mean that I would be unable to reverse the polarity on the car even if I followed the suggested steps? In that case, would it just be a matter of switching everything back to the original postively earthed set up and buying a positive polarity electronic ignition kit? Thanks for the assistance, I'm a bit stumped with this one.

Hi, Just gave this a go: - Turned the battery around and reattached cables. - Put in the negative polarised electronic ingition kit. - Detached leads from dynamo and sparked the field terminal with positive lead from battery a few times. - Put in new coil with connections on the other sides (for negative polarisation). The car is still not starting, wondering if there's something I've missed? It was initially starting but running poorly, then when I replaced the points it would struggle to start but would sometimes catch, though would die fairly soon after, now not starting at all. Seems I've made the situation a little worse haha! Any ideas? The one thing I have not managed to do is repolarise the control box. Think I have a lucas unit. My Haynes books seem to have a different layout to the control box I have behind the battery, unsure which connections need to be made to repolarise: All the best Oliver

Hello All, I've bought an accuspark electronic ignition kit to try and resolve some power problems I've been having with my 1965 Vitesse 1600. I ordered the negatively earthed kit, as I had thought that's what my car would be set up with given it has a Delco distributor. However looking at the car, it seems like the battery is earthed on the positive peg, so it looks like the car may have been switched at some point. The information given with the kit seems to say you need a different kit for different vehicle polarities. My questions are: 1) Can I just take the battery out and turn it around to go back to a negatively earthed setup? 2) If I do swap the battery connections, do I also need to swap the connections to the other electrical components (i.e. swap connections on the dynamo/starter motor/distributor)? 3) If swapping the battery is not an easy job, I think it's possible to just rotate the coil that came with the kit so it is also set-up for positive earth, in this case can I still use the kit or is the unit that goes in the distributor actually different for positive/negatively earthed cars? 4) Finally, if none of the above are possible, I could always just sent back the unit that goes in the distributor and get the one for positively earthed cars. Any guidance would be fantastic, I'll put some pics of the battery/distributor/coil for reference. Thanks Oliver

Hi Colin, Yep that was me as well. The problem wasn't solved. I tried most of the suggestions from the original post with no luck unfortunately. Will see if I can do a bit more work on the car this coming week 👍

Thanks all for the advice. When I tested compression, the engine was hot and I was only taking out one plug at a time, testing that cylinder, replacing and moving on to the next one. I'll retry with the throttle open as suggested but I agree that my priority at this stage is figuring out the power issue, which seems unconnected to the cylinder pressures. Just trying to find the right rotar arm to order, assuming this is the one https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-GRA102--SelectedCurrency-1?gclid=CjwKCAiA-f78BRBbEiwATKRRBEwVWZ86Wf6KUtZVM8PcnOIrXBQJUgqxaIMniDNQXK8t45JPBvwkkRoCaOMQAvD_BwE I'll try and take a look at the rotar contact point etc later this week. Maybe worth considering changing to electric ignition then?

Hi, Thanks for the advice! I did actually try running with fuel cap off as I'd heard there can sometimes be a problem with vacuum build up, but this didn't seem to sort the issue. Will definately try changing the distributor rotor arm, seems well worth a go. I'll let you know how I get on. Thanks

Hello, My name is Oliver. I have recently bought myself a 1965 Vitesse 1600. I'm having a bit of trouble with temperomental power loss and could use some advice. This is actually my second Vitesse. I had a 1966 1600 as my first car 7 years ago when I was 17, always regretted selling it and I've now rectified that by getting myself another! Since picking the car up, I have noticed an issue with the power. It's usually alright for the first 20-40 minutes after a cold start, then suddenly loses a whole load of power and struggles to get above 40mph, even worse on hills. If you stop the car, turn the engine off and give it a minute or two, when you get going again it works well for the first 5 minutes or so but then the issue reappears. Generally speaking, the first things I want to rule out are any problems with fuel supply. I had thought that, considering the car hadn't been used much in the year before I got it, maybe there was a bit of deposit build up in the fuel tank which was going on to block the carb jets (it's running the twin Solex carbs). It's now had probably 3-4 tanks worth of fuel put through it but the issue is still there. I've had an in-line fuel filter put in after the fuel pump, checked the fuel pump gauze for deposits, taken off a sample of fuel feeding the carbs to look for any contaminants, checked the jets feeding towards the butterfly valves for timing / function etc. Couldn't find any problems and the issue is still there. My next steps are going to be replacing the needle valves in the carbs, replacing the pump (or maybe converting to an electrical pump), fully draining the fuel tank and refilling with fresh fuel, possibly buying some second hand Stromberg CD150s and getting them reconditioned and fitting them to the car. If the issue is still there after all of that, I may move on to considering a possible electronic problem (condensor/capacitator/points etc.). The only actual problem I have identified is a difference in the cyclinder engine compressions: 1=8.4; 2=7.8; 3=7.1; 4=5.4; 5=6.0; 6=7.4. Not sure what this is due to, maybe head gasket or piston rings? Apologies for the essay, but I've spent a fair deal of time trying to get to the bottom of this and haven't had any luck so far... Also, I'm by no means an experienced mechanic, and would be grateful if anyone knows a TSSC member (or failing that, a classic car garage) based up in Yorkshire who knows these cars well and could maybe give me a hand / some advice to sort this car out (the car also needs cosmetic work that I'm planning further down the line). Any thoughts would be really appreciated All the best Oliver

Haha I’ve already bought a set of cd150s plus manifold, need a bit of restoration though. Interestingly, I just checked the cylinder compression pressures and there is a defect there 1 = 8.4 2 = 7.8 3 = 7.1 4 = 5.4 5 = 6.0 6 = 7.4 May be a head gasket issue? Though not sure if this would fully explain the variable power loss?

Hi Pete, I took off some of the fuel from the pipe supplying the carbs after it was running poorly. No contamination as far as I can see. Also checked the mesh filter on the fuel pump, which again looked clear to me. Its currently set up with Champion N9YC plugs, I have got some equivalent NGKs to replace them if I can figure out why they’re blackening. May well be as you say: not running for long enough for them to burn off, most of the trips have been fairly short 10-15 mile distances with choke starts. As I say, with the air cover off I can see the jets which supply fuel towards the butterfly valve, these both seem to be working and in sync. Taking it to a local garage tomorrow to see if they have any bright ideas. Thanks for all the suggestions so far!

Thanks for all the replies, very helpful stuff! It’s running the later Solex carbs without the accelerator pumps. I’ll take a look at the fuel pump and will sample the fuel from the carbs next time the issue crops up. It did seem to pick up when it was running poorly if I pulled the choke out a little. Unsure if it’s connected, but I just took a look at the plugs and they seem to have some dry sooty carbon fouling with oil on the threads. Had the carbs tuned but maybe not set properly and running too rich? Oliver

Hello all, I’ve recently bought a 1965 Vitesse 1600. After taking it for a run a few times, I’ve noticed a problem: - It runs pretty well for the first 10/15 minutes or so, but sometimes when warmed up, it loses power. This is especially noticeable at speeds over 40mph or when going uphill. The engine feels a bit juddery, like it’s starved of enough fuel. I’m thinking it might be something to do with the fuel supply? I understand it wasn’t used much in the past year or so, maybe there are some deposits causing occasional blockages? However, might the fact that the issue seems to be associated with engine temperature suggest maybe a problem with gaskets/oil/cylinder compression? It’s running Solex carbs. I’ve taken the air filter connection system off when the car was losing power, immediately after stopping. The butterfly valves were working fine and the jets were still both spraying fuel and in time with each other. Any suggestions would be very welcome Oliver

Hello, The Solex carbs on my recently bought Vitesse 1600 are pretty worn out. I’m planning on swapping them out for some twin Strombergs. Anyone have any available, or know where I might get hold of a reasonably priced set? Currently based in Surrey but will soon be moving to Yorkshire. Please get in touch to negotiate a price. Regards Oliver