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Agreed. We are picking through. Hadn’t thought to check vitesse Steve. That’s a brilliant resource.

Cheers @dougbgt6. Wasn’t sure if there was a shortcut on this.

Thanks @Iain T. not quite a clean clonk, more like putting a pint down on a slightly dog eared beer mat. But it does sit. Jets balanced. There’s an inline filter near the carbs that looks clean. Electric pump so presumably one down there somewhere too. Tank has been allowed to run empty so that’s a good call to check it. Runs happier at higher revs so don’t think it’s starvation, but can isolate that at least. Andy

Howdo Iain. Heavy on the lift pin. Oil in, but there’s more resistance than I’d expect from just the fluid. It’s correct spec and the piston dropped normally when dismantled. Maybe the needle is fouling it. Tested for air leaks with a spray of WD40 around the gaskets and sundry. No change in engine note or pattern I could discern. thanks. andy.

Got you. Thanks @Pete Lewis Is it still a case of aiming for .012 with a feeler guage and: - Turning engine to #1 piston TDC by aligning timing mark and pointer with the distributor rotor pointing to the #1 plug contact. - Set intake and exhaust for #1, intake for #2, exhaust for #3. - Turn engine one complete revolution (aligning timing mark and pointer). - Setting exhaust for #2, intake for #3, intake and exhaust for #4.

Thanks @Colin Lindsay. The mixture was definitely off, and very sooty plugs suggest it was run too rich by the PO. That (plus the leaking carb) was our trigger for the carb strip and rebuild it’s a bit of a moving feast really. When trying to establish timing, we found we couldn’t roll it in neutral. Turns out the rear calliper was seized and locked on, so the 16 delivery mile drive home must have been a fair amount of revs and load. I don’t think it’s had the love it necessarily deserves. Compression test is a good call, @Pete Lewis. The dizzy shaft feels reasonably free from play, but there’s deep scoring to the contact plate so something is/was amiss. Looks like a new cap has been added recently. There’s a “newtronic ignition system” of dubious heritage installed, which we will look to bypass and roll back to points. Tappets entirely unexplored as yet. I’m just getting started on my classic car journey. Would they do this? Engine running cooler than it was, even considering the coolant it’s shared with the garage floor. Oil leaks and burning smells seem to have been reduced by changing rocker gasket and deep cleaning the engine bay. Andy

Oh, lest relevant, what’s been identified as the (previously plugged) vacuum advance coming off the carb end seems to have oil weeping out of it. It’s a little metal pipe that pivots. The dashpots feel very heavy to me, but I’m comparing them with a well fettled spit so that might be normal.

Howdo. my neighbour has recently bought this TR3A with a 4 engine, and it’s not happy. He’s fixed a fuel leak on the carbs and refurbed them with the burlen kit. Both gulp a lot of air (the only way to balance them is to bury the needle on our airflow meter). The jets (H6) are wound out 9 flats for a start position, and the coil seems to have plenty of spark. The engine runs hot. He’s turned the dizzy for the highest idle RPM and was still climbing when the vacuum advance blocked further twist by hitting the engine. Here’s a slow mo video of the exhaust. It seems to be misfiring irregularly, or beating out some Latin American rhythm. Thought I’d share incase anyone has any pointers on what we might look at next. it just seems to gulp so much air, or grumble to a halt. cheers! Andy.

Thanks @Colin Lindsay Your photos are very reassuring, as I just kept finding ones that looked different. My Google fu needs work That eBay link is the one I posted above and seemed to be the best match for shape. I’ll dismantle in the week and see if it’s the diaphragm or the top seal that’s gone (or both). Then it’s off to the shops and will post back with the outcome.

Apologies @johny not a great photo on my part. The two arms on the weeping unit come out about 80 degrees apart and on the same vertical plane.

Thanks all for the advice. I think I’d best disconnect and plug the incoming fuel line, and see what kind of shape the seal is. if it is flat, that’ll be marvellous. Hopefully there’s enough left to tell via google, it doesn’t look like it’s off a herald or MG, as they seem to have different angles and offsets on the pipework. I did see this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265633520060?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=MylK89NhS1e&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=kMe7bhEnR0m&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY which maintains the existing setup, but am not much of a fan for sourcing a critical part from an unknown eBayer. Want to keep her as stock as possible. Andy

Howdo. Following a few days of the garage smelling rather petrolly, a friend helped me spot a loose screw on top of Audrey's fuel pump. We've tightened her back up, and whilst its no longer leaking around the screw, I strongly suspect the seal has died. I've looked at Rimmer and Moss, but can't see an AC pump that has the in/outs in this position. Suspect its old, but not original. Does anyone know what pump this is, or what shape/size seal I might need? Cheers in advance for any assistance you can lend. Andy.

Thanks @Stratton Jimmer. I'm definitely looking forward to learning all about these beautiful cars. That's a worthy ambition. I may see if I can convince my other half to ride out with me and take some snaps.

Bulleid‘s span can is a good looking beast, mind. Withdrawn from service whilst HPF107C was being assembled, @PeteH.

Thanks. Summer stays longest in the south west, so I’m hoping to be able to find some more sunny days for photos soon.