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Spitfire 78 spit quits when warm

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BlkY2k

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A friend of mine has a 78 spitfire 1500 that he has been restoring for awhile.
Recently it has started to die after it gets warm, it can happen idling in the driveway or out on the road. Yes it`s been on every sort of wrecker there is lol.
After it quits and we try to restart it acts like the timing is off, it will crank but wont fire til you let go of the key. Have check the diff, reset timing, he`s running a crane electronic ing. Replaced the coil, checked fuel,even pulled the inline regulator to make sure.
This has us stumped, it will not start again til it cools completely, as in over night.
He is running a header and a webber edg carb, I checked to see if it was vapor lock but can`t really tell. I pulled the plugs the last time it died, but they looked ok, not wet but not dry either.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
 
Welcome BlkY2k !! Where is Mi, USA located? Mississippi?

From personal experience, I'd immediately remove the Crane and
replace it with old fashioned points/rotor and condenser. I had a
Crane and a Petronix, installed by professionals, and both were
the root of my "engine dies" problem.

I got less than 100 miles driven from the Crane and less than 200 miles
driven from the Petronix. I've just hit 1700 miles driven on points.

PS: My car has also been towed by just about every vehicle available
here in the tropics. The flatbed have my driveway/garage set on their
GPS as final destination.

try the points,rotor and condenser- cheap test tool to see if the Crane
is the issue. You should really carry a set of points,rotor/can
in your trunk as backup. I carry six of each but I drive a TR6.

d
 
I was wondering about the crane box, I`ll let him know. Thanks and its Michigan as in the Great white north.
 
BlkY2k said:
I was wondering about the crane box, I`ll let him know. Thanks and its Michigan as in the Great white north.
Click to expand...

<span style="color: #660000">Ah Michigan, one of the lower provences of Canada.
Gets kinda cool there, eh?

d :thumbsup: </span>
 
I agree with Tinster. Try temporarily switching back to points & condensor.

But something else to look at is whether the Crane box is getting full battery voltage. The installation instructions are seriously confusing, and trying to power the box with the reduced voltage supplied to the coil can cause all sorts of strange problems. But if it's the original coil, then you have to keep the resistor wire in series with the coil (otherwise the Crane box can overheat and again cause problems) ... assuming of course that it's an XR700 instead of an XR3000 (which requires that the resistor be bypassed/removed).
 
TR3driver said:
I agree with Tinster. Try temporarily switching back to points & condensor.

But something else to look at is whether the Crane box is getting full battery voltage. The installation instructions are seriously confusing, and trying to power the box with the reduced voltage supplied to the coil can cause all sorts of strange problems. But if it's the original coil, then you have to keep the resistor wire in series with the coil (otherwise the Crane box can overheat and again cause problems) ... assuming of course that it's an XR700 instead of an XR3000 (which requires that the resistor be bypassed/removed).
Click to expand...
I don`t know which box it is but I`ll find out. I know he said someone told him that the resistor needed to be bypassed though. Now I`m wondering if it is the xr700 and maybe by removing it, it did overheat. hmm
 
Make sure the ignition switch is providing voltage to the coil when in the run position. I have come across several high mileage 6's where cranking they have voltage, but if the key is not held just right, lose voltage to the ignition. When warmed up they lose voltage to the igniton. So when you go check voltage, with a test light or voltmeter, most people only check when cranking... Also check with the key in the run position...

Then check how much voltage is at the coil. Get the proper coil(ballasted or not) the folks at Crane can guide you, go from there.

I recommend the Allison, which was Crane before Crane bought it. The quality and guarantee were much better than Crane.. The only problems I have seen with Cranes in the field have been installation errors.
 
Ron, you're an Expert and certainly helped get my my three
year restoration of a ragged out TR6 viable and in the street
scooting around.

BUT>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

my car was diddly squat unreliable with two electronic
ignitions (Crane and Petronix) until that Canada guy David
ripped it all out and installed points and a can.

just my personal observations. Car runs great now. The Crane
and Petronix a total waste of $$ and they were installed
professionally, not by me.

IMHO.

dale
 
Cuz, who was the professional? Pedro's mechanic? ........

Mele Kalikimaka to you too and up your Vitamin C,D intake...
 
Definitely check the switch. Also check the line to the carbon canister. My canister was removed and the PO pinched the line off. After running for a while vacuum built up in the tank and shut off the fuel flow. Open the gas cap and if air rushes in, that's it.
 
Dale, thank you for the kind words. However I do not consider myself as an "expert".. I am a professional who is always trying to improve my expertise...

I figure the day I stop learning, it's time to pass my innards on to someone who needs them more than me and send the shell to a medical school so someone else's learning can improve.


Now as for your ignition maladies. I still am waiting to hear what your operating voltage is as you run down the road...

You do know that there are several other options for ignition that would be permanent... 123 and the Ford thin film that someone had posted on the web a couple of years ago...
 
BlkY2k said:
...it will crank but wont fire til you let go of the key.
Click to expand...

And that is a big time clue. For it's indicative of not getting power to the ignition when the ignition switch is in the start position. It only gets power when the ignition switch is returned to the run position.
 
These were the exact symptoms I had when my Allison ignition failed this summer. I replaced it with a Pertronix electronic ignition module and I replaced the coil too since its readings were suboptimal too.

Scott
 
eejay56 said:
Definitely check the switch. Also check the line to the carbon canister. My canister was removed and the PO pinched the line off. After running for a while vacuum built up in the tank and shut off the fuel flow. Open the gas cap and if air rushes in, that's it.
Click to expand...
Did you replace the Canister or just unpinch the line ?
Reason, I ask is that I removed the Carbon Canister on my TR6 and found a different way to vent the line.
But once, I got distracted while filling up and overflowded the tank. By doing that some gas got into the vent line we're talking about and blocked it as sure as if it were pinched.
On the way home, when the engine started to cut out, I figured out what was happening and flipped the gas cap open. I closed it and after just about the same length of time that it first started to stall,it stalled again
Flipped the cap open and carried on.
When I got home I blew the gas back into the tank with an air compressor thru the line
It happened one more time since, when I had really filled up with some cheap gas for the first time in a long and took a hilly curvy road on my way home. I guess some gas sloshed into the vent line somewhere along the way.
It didn't take long to figure out what to do. It'll probably happen again though, I buying as much of this gas that I can while it/s cheap. Cheap..did I say cheap. Cheaper.
 
I'm wondering, does it have the "water Choke" on the SB 150 carb. If so it sounds like the issues I dealt with on my drive home with my 79. When I tore down and re-built the carb, I noticed that the water choke the enrichment needle was corroded in the enrichment tube. Thus the choke was stuck, car ran super rich, barely running at all.

Re-build kit was cheap. After replacing all the o-rings, and giving everything a nice coating of lube she has run great ever since.

I have an Allison ignition system, never had an issue with it.
 
I have to disagree -- I've had the Crane X700 for many many years and have not had 1 problem with it. Of course, I did install it myself....Ha.

Seriously, it seems like you aren't even sure if there is a gas probelm [vapor lock etc] or a spark problem [coil, electronic ignition, etc]. Next time the thing quits -- at least test for a spark. If the plugs aren't wet after cranking for a while --- gotta wonder if the thing is getting gas....and the Crane box is not even the problem.

Steve G
76 Spit
 
See if he is running the CEI constant ignition amplifier, (black box on bulkhead, next to clutch master cylinder).
 
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