06-09-2024, 09:38 PM
It appears that the problem may have been a weak coil. When I tested the one on the car and a spare, both gave a spark when their leads were held against the cylinder head and the engine turned over. But, not having had to do that for decades, I had no recent experience of how intense that spark should be. The other day, after running for a few miles with a slight hesitation, the car stopped dead - there was no spark at all from the coil. Another spare coil I tried (an old silver-bodied Lucas) was different again and produced something akin to a bolt of lightning compared with the feeble one of the original. With the new coil fitted, the performance perked up and the car now runs perfectly. BTW, the original coil was a new one - and I'm always surprised to see so many of the original 'brown-bodied' coils from the late 1920s and into the 1930s still survive in use.
To make the inevitable replacement of the coil easier (it's a long reach under the dash on the Ulster), I made up a pair of short, hollow bolts, bored and threaded them internally and bolted them to the bulkhead. The bolts holding the coil clamp fit into the permanently mounted hollow ones and can be removed externally.
See more about coils at: https://mk1-forum.net/viewtopic.php?t=35282&start=10
To make the inevitable replacement of the coil easier (it's a long reach under the dash on the Ulster), I made up a pair of short, hollow bolts, bored and threaded them internally and bolted them to the bulkhead. The bolts holding the coil clamp fit into the permanently mounted hollow ones and can be removed externally.
See more about coils at: https://mk1-forum.net/viewtopic.php?t=35282&start=10