re: MG which won't start.
Of the five engine swaps I have done on MGBs (this was back in the days I'd
run a 'B until it blew up, and then buy a used motor for $200 and throw it
in...) three wouldn't start after the transplant. In every case, it was the
distributor drive being either 90, 180, or 270 degrees "out." Comparing
distributor orientation on two cars, I found, was not a guarantee of correct
timing.
Check which lead the rotor is pointing to as cylinder no. one is approaching
TDC on its >compression< stroke (cover plug hole with thumb as you turn the
engine...you should feel air being forced past your thumb). Obviously, if the
rotor's pointing at anything other than no. one you're in trouble...but not
too much. Rotate the distributor until the rotor does point correctly, and
voila!
I once tried to roll start a GT for the better part of an hour,
pushing it up and driveway and chugging back down, until my erstwhile friends
and I were exhausted. >Then< I checked the distributor...oops!
If this isn't the problem, then ?
--Roger
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