Nobody is addressing John Trindle's **starter motor** problem. I think
I can, but it's bad news.
I have the same problem with my '79. After several attempts at
rebuliding and replacing the starter failed to make any difference, I checked
with my local elelctrical maven. He told me that the Lucas M35J starter
(which is probably what you've got--though early Spits did have a different
starter) is designed to disengage from the flywheel ring gear at very low
engine speeds. Thus, the problem of having the starter wizzing away after
only a power pulse or two--enough internal explosions to disengage the
starter drive, but not enough to start your car.
As you have found, the only way to prevent this is to have the engine
fire and run with ease. For that, it seems lilke you've already got plenty
of good tuning advice. Good luck.
|