Hello,
I recently purchased a 1964 3.8S and am in the process of doing a basic tune up/check to make sure she's running as well as could be expected. I've located the timing marks, but am having trouble getting the pointer oriented to 5 degrees BTDC to check the points gap. I've tried bumping the starter, but can't get close enough. Is there an easy way to turn the engine over by hand? I don't think there's enough room do get a big wrench on anything to turn the engine over with the radiator in place. Am I going about this the wrong way? Is it best to check the static timing or dynamic before I attempt to do any further adjustments. The engine runs, but the mixture appears to be awful rich.

Many thanks in advance,
Chris
1964 3.8S Automatic

 

If you take the spark plugs out there will be no compression and will make the job much easier.
On my Mark ll, the timing marks are on the harmonic dampener and can be clearly seen just below the rad _ I can get a wrench on the big nut to nudge it into place.
I don't know what the 3.8S is like though, but I guess it's a little tighter to get a wrench on.


Anyways if it's running, why go to all that bother, hook up you timing light, loosen the distributor nut just enough so it can be turned, but not so much that it's loose.
You need a mirror _ place the mirror at such an angle that you can see the timing marks with your timing light on it. Rotate the distributor Clock-Wise to advance the spark and counter-clock-wise to retard it.


I also recommend to put an after market electronic ignition it, such as one from Pertonix, if you've ever tried to change a set of point and adjust them on a jag, you'll know why a recommend this. The distributor is stuck far down in the engine bay and is very awkward to get at.


If you don't have a timing light, you need to get one, timing the ignition with out one is not very accurate and as you have discovered, can be a pain in the butt.


You don't need a fancy Snap-On one with an adjustable dwell dial on the end of it, just something simple.


Also, most of the wires on the timing light will be too short, by the time you attach the carbon pick-up on number one and attach the wires to your battery, the light won't reach the timing marks way down on the dampener.
So make sure to find one with long wires _ you can lengthen the wires that run to the battery, but don't splice into the wire(s) for the carbon pick up.

 

Thanks Jeff! I'll try pulling the plugs to take the compression off. I do have an old Penske/Sears timing light but am a bit confused as to how to attach it to a positive ground car. I'll definitely look in to the electronic ignition as well. The distributor does appear to be in an awkward location as is everything on this car.

Thanks again,
Chris

 

A tinning light is a timing light, connect the power for it as you would any timing light, the red wire goes to positive side of the battery and the black wire goes to the negative side.


So in a positive ground car, when you would normally put the ground (black) connection on the body of the car, that now is connected to the negative side of the battery and the red is connected to the body. (this is to power the gun). If you're still confused, just use another battery, assuming you have a spare battery.


As for the pick up, there should be an arrow on it, that point to the spark plug as normal.


If it doesn't work, reverse the pick-up so the arrow points away from the spark plug.


And, yes, it's a British car, the Brits were never known to design things to be taken apart and be serviced.


When I was in high school my drafting teacher was English and he fought in the second world war.
It took the English three days to change out an engine in one of there planes, while with the American planes it was a matter of hours !
And nothing has changed much...

 

Thanks again for the technical assistance, Jeff! I'll try the timing light the way you suggested. It appears I have a few other electrical problems to track down. I'm reading close to 13V at the battery, but now the starter won't kick over. I hear the solenoid engaging, but the engine won't turn over for some reason now. I'm going to try replacing the original battery cables which look pretty ratty. One other dumb question...when charging the battery, I still connect my charger according to the markings on the battery (red to positive and black to negative), correct? Should I disconnect the battery from the car when I charge it? I'd forgotten how much fun Lucas electrics are!
Many thanks in advance,
Chris

 

Yes always a good idea to disconnect the battery as the whole system has only two fuses.


Agreed, the red terminal of the battery charger goes on the positive side and the black on the negative.


Sound like the solenoid itself is faulty.
To test this, have the ignition turned off (no key).


MAKE SURE IT'S OUT OF GEAR and the park break is on.
Push the button on the solenoid and the engine should turn over as if you're trying to start the car.
If it doesn't then I would say the solenoid is at fault.


If you have some jumper cables, jump the big terminals on the solenoid to by-pass it, if the engine turns over then it is most likely the solenoid.
(you could even use a big heavy screw driver too)


All this assumes that the connections to it are good and the starter is properly grounded and the ground is clean.


Also check the connection on the starter from the solenoid itself.


The problem with the old solenoid's are that there is a small (what looks like snap ring) inside there that determines how far the contacts are away from the posts inside.
The snap ring breaks and the distance increases between the posts and the copper contact.
So even of the solenoid is working (you can hear it engaging), the plunger that causes the copper plate to move towards the posts, doesn't reach any more.


This happened to my 51 Bentley and I had to use the crank to start it.

 

Thanks Jeff. I'll try bypassing the solenoid and I will check the starter connections. I have a feeling that there is a problem with the grounding/wiring or maybe the solenoid. Hopefully it's that simple.

Many thanks again,
Chris