TR6 won't start after refurbish

[martinTR6]

Dear experts,

I bought a ’76 TR6 some time ago. He was (is) in bad shape, with the intention to revamp. The car is imported from Florida to Belgium and last drove in 1985.

I noticed several stuck valves and worn lifters, so I decided to refurbish the cylinderhead.

With the cylinderhead removed, the cylinders looked rather neat so I didn’t touch.

In the meantime the cylinderhead is refurbished (shaved, new valves,…) and the (worn) camshaft is replaced.

With everything in place, I’ve done a compression test resulting (90-120-105-130-115-130psi) : cylinder1 is too low, and also the other ones vary too much to my opinion.

But I would like to try to have it running again before action on the cylinders. My guess is that the engine should be able to run, albeit not optimal.

I also renewed coil, sparkplugs, contactpoints and cleaned the carburettors (new gaskets).

After all this: the engine won’t start. There is fuel in the carbs, there is sparks, timing is set 0°. When I use startpilot, the engine turns for a few revs, so I think there is a fuel problem.

Any suggestions/thoughts are highly appreciated.

Thank You

Martin De Kegelaer

[jerrytr5]

Welcome to our forum Martin.

Start with the basics. Is the new cam timed properly?

Is the distributor drive & distributor correctly positioned and the plug leads in the correct order (sometimes incorrect in the workshop manual) ? 153624

Are the valves clearances correct?

Is it the correct coil and is it wired the right way round?

Is the fuel pump working and the carb jets set to a reasonable value?

Check the static timing, got an idea it's around 11 BTDC but someone will correct me.

If you haven't already, squirt some oil in the bores and turn it over on the starter without plugs to get some oil pressure.

Jerry

 

[Mike C]

I assume it's firing-"the engine turns for a few revs". Maybe try to get it running for a few seconds with starting fluid( or is that startpilot?)- might free something up. Are the carb float levels correct and the floats not sticking? I don't have a carbed TR6 but that has been a problem on other cars and bikes I've owned in the past.

Edited December 27, 2020 by Mike C

[Mk2 Chopper]

If its a USA carb TR6, does the distributor have both the advance and retard vacuum working as these will mess up your timing if one or both don't work. 

Gareth