[Healeys] 100 blown gasket?

[Dave Porter]

Mike,
 I'm going to disagree with Alan on this one. It is indeed likely that the
head gasket has "burned" though between two cylinders, thus two are being
pressurized simultaneously caused very pronounced pinging. Alternatively a
sticking valve will cause similar symptoms.
 OTOH, a stuck float will cause a drastic loss of power, but not pinging, so
I'll go with my picks given your description.
Dave

frogeye at porterscustom.com

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505-352-1378
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Mike -

None of this suggests you have a blown head gasket.  Typically a blown head
gasket will result in a HUGE amount of visible vapor clouds coming out of
the tailpipe and the exhaust will have a sweet antifreeze smell, either that
or if you pull your dip stick the oil is white and foamy.

Water dripping from the tailpipe is normal in all Healeys.  It happens when
the exhaust pipe cools down after being driven, then as the air cools, the
natural vapor in the air condenses on the inside of the exhaust then sits in
a little pool in your pipes & muffler.  Next time you start the car, the
water is pushed back by the exhaust force and forced out the tailpipe,
dripping out.

My guess is you have some sort of fuel or ignition problem, with the pinging
I am betting fuel.  After running the car, when it has trouble, pop the tops
off the float chambers and see if there's fuel in there.  If one of the
float chambers in low on fuel or mostly dry, then you problem is either a
weak fuel pump or if you are lucky a blocked float jet.

Alan