The 'E' Type Forum

Hi All, I wonder if anyone has an idea what could be causing thgis.

I have just finished rebuilding my car and have managed to put about 150 miles on it over the last few weeks. It runs really well, although it is reluctant to start from cold and when approaching traffic lights etc, you dip the clutch just before you stop and this seems to make the engine stall. I have to do a bit of clever foot work to keep it going. It starts immediately when warm.

I have very careful set the carbs up, following all the manuals and items on the BB, I have also used colour tune, albeit only on one cylinder, and that seems fine. Tick over is at 750 rpm and steady.

Ignition timing is via a 123 tune+ dissy and I am confident I have that set exactly at factory levels. It was set (light on) at zero degrees at TDC and then I added the 10 degrees and the other way-points from the manual. Ditto for vacuum advance. The TDC marker is spot on.

Any pearls of wisdom would be gratefully received as it is very annoying!

I think a bit more mixture initially, but whats the consensus?

Thank you in advance.

Steve : what happens if you leave the engine idling for a minute or two and then fully depress the pedal and hold it down ? If this does not stall the engine then there is not a lot to worry about, and your suggestion of incorrect mixture ( probably too weak, but any inaccuracy in float levels either way could be a cause ) is likely to be correct . If , however, it does stall it, then there are further checks that you need to make but there is no point in going into those until we have the answer to my first question

For the first 1000 miles or so my rebuilt engine did this at times. I’m wondering if the engine just needs to bed in a little ? Mines fine now

Raise the idle and/or add a little static advance which will do the same thing. 150 miles will still be a tight engine. Most automatics are programmed to cope with more idle load when stopped in Drive rather than Neutral and yours will do better with the idle air set slightly more generous to decrease vacuum pumping loads.