I decided I couldn't just shoot in the dark at solutions, the rotor
substitution was clearly a shot in the dark. That was not my normal
"scientific method"; I clearly needed to be more methodical.
I first reset her original rotor in place, and began by checking for
ignition problems. Seemed to me that a total failure was most likely due
to ignition since most other things on the engine have redundant parts (i.e
6 cylinders, 2 carbs, etc.) I could hear the fuel pump running so I knew I
had fuel to the carbs. If I suffered from one clogged carb, or a bad
cylinder, it seemed to me there should have been "some" sort of hint at the
motor's willingness to kick over. So, total absence of kicking over
suggested a single point failure.
The first thing I did was clip a timing light to the spark plug wires. I
then turned on the key and pressed the button on the back of the solenoid to
make the engine turn over. Imagine my surprise when the light flashed
rythmatically as appropriate for each cylinder. Every single plug was
getting spark. That quickly appeared to give the OK to the coil,
distributer, rotor.
So next I decided to inspect the spark plug ends.. They were perfect in
color (slight tan on the insulator tip) properly gapped and each exhibited
spark. I tested the plugs again with each plug being watched to see the
spark actually jump the gap. (My timing light test only assured me that
spark was reaching the plug tip, the plugs could have been ALL??? Shorted
out) As one would guess, the odds of 6 plugs failing simultaneously has
to be ridiculously low, but discipline demanded a thorough check. So
indeed I watched spark at every plug's gap. One thing struck me as odd
though...the plugs were dry.
After all the starting attempts I'd made, you'd think the cylinders would be
flooded. But the plugs were dry. So I decided that perhaps my carbs
were faulty after all just 2 simultaneous failures required to produce
symptoms. I removed the air filters and sprayed some "engine start" fluid
into the carb throats... I got a slight kick when attempting to start the
car.. This confirmed (I thought) that the ignition was working, but it
hinted that perhaps I really wasn't getting gas to the engine. So, I
decided to "rebuild" the carbs. I removed them, cleaned and rebuilt them,
and reinstalled them. The day's labor was expended on the theory that
perhaps I had developed some sort of gummy obstruction somewhere in the
carbs and it was preventing fuel from flowing properly. With the ignition
switch turned on I could hear the fuel pump, and a quick double check by
removing the fuel supply hose to the carbs confirmed that I had ample fuel
pressure at the carbs.
So, with reinstalled carbs, I tried to start the car again..No Joy.
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