hey i recently put electronic ignition in my 1200 and it works good but i advanced the timing more which now the car struggles to start.I just killed the starter motor the other day which was great so i got another recond one and it still struggles.also is there a difference between a12 and a15 starters like power wise.would a more powerful battery do the job like one of those dry cell odyssey batterys? Any help would be appreciated thanks

what is your base timeing at idel? I think it should be at about 8-10deg if your runing vacume advance and about 10-14 or so if vou hav weber's (no vacume) amybe you may need to readjust carby to suit?

allso did you get the starter from the wrecker? or new? if its from the wrecker it may be no better than the old one.

and for the battery the more "cold cranking amp's" the better!

im running twin 40mm solex carbies so does that mean i dont need vacume advance? as for the degrees im not sure wat it is.There a way of checking at home or do you need the right tool thanks

as for the starter its not from a wrecker its from a proper buisness and they reckon its a recond one.its an ultra torque brand starter which its probably ultra #### should i have got a genuine one?

yeah no need for vacume advance with sidedoughts. and you need a timeing light but you cant do it unless you can get it to sit on 800-1000rpm'son it's own. and you can do it buy finding top dead center of you number one piston and working from there but that takes old school skill that I wish I had. or you can just retard it all the way and advance it till it sound about right..

Just a little follow-on.
No timing light, no problem.
Assuming your carbs adjustment and idle were good prior to your mod and you did not REMOVE your distributor when you advanced it:

1. Do what ROConnor suggests and retard your timing until you have reliable starting and best lean idle speed.
If your timing is retarded too much, it will show up as hesitation, loss of power with evidence of dark black soot on your exhaust tip when you depress the accelerator. It also probably means your carbs are set at a higher (rich) initial air/fuel mixture to achieve idle.
2. Take the car on the road and get it to full operating temperature. Suddenly, floor the accelerator pedal and listen closely for knock/ping. If you don't hear any, pull over and slightly advance ignition timing at the distributor. Get back in, resume speed, then floor it again, listening for knock/ping. Repeat the process until the engine just begins to knock/ping under full throttle acceleration. When you reach that setting, retard the timing at the distributor ever so slightly-by 1

Let me understand. You have enough inteligence to install the electronic ignition system either as a kit or a replacement distributor, & also enough smarts & money to buy & fit a replacement starter, but fall short when it comes to buying or borrowing a workshop manual & a timing light.
Simply put, at engine idle, your timing is way over advanced in my view & it needs to be reset to a much more satisfactory position.

I fitted a Pertronix conversion to my distributor without moving it, but discovered that the dwell went from 55degrees to about 40 straight up.
I got the engine started & also discovered, with the aid of a timing light, that the timing was out to blazes. I didn't need the manual to tell me the correct timing as I have done it many times before, [I have several anyway], but I did need the timing light as well as a tachometer to correctly set the timing [+ an extra 2 degrees]

I suggest that you see if you can get a timing light, & someone who knows how to use it to adjust the timing & get a 'best performance overall' figure, then not only mark it on the engine, but write it in a book that you keep with the car for future reference.
Quote:
Vacuum advance is desirable in any car that sees light throttle settings at cruise RPM, however, because the engine is so overcarbureted [compared to stock] it will in all likelyhood not develop sufficient vacuum to pull in the advance anyway.

This is fortunate since none of the sudedraught carbs of the Weber type seem to have provision for ported vacuum anyway.

If you have a proper vacuum port on the carbs for vacuum advance, then use it, if there is no such port, then simply fit a cap over the little fitting on the vacuum canister.

Oops, double post.

hey when i fitted the pertronix ignition kit it didnt start at all even when it was advanced all the way so i pulled the dizzy out and turned it one turn im pretty sure to more advanced and it started straight away. as for hard to start i think it was to advanced cas i retarded abit and it started better but runs better more advanced so wats do i do. Have it start well and not run as good or run well and start #### lol

you may need soware in between and allso maybe bring idel speed up a little? with sidedroughts I belive idel speed should be around 800-100 especialy if you hav a hoter cam aswell?