Winter starting

[bayliss Thomas]

For the first time since around begining of December I had the chance to go for a drive in the old girl. Now as you all know the car is new to me therefore I am still to learn its little quirks, engine starting being one of them.
Maximum choke and cranking failed to fire the engine, then I tickled the throttle a little and the engine made an effort. More throttle and brmmmm brmmm, were away. Fairly impressive to run on all cylinders from the first start in many weeks.

[Ron Kwas]

bT;

I need to know engine intake/Carb configuration to give any sort of usable advice...

Cheers

[Faust]

Ron, think Bayliss has a 123gt...

Bayliss: are you running the twin SUs on your car? if so, it might be worth checking that the choke is operating correctly (I run a Weber 32/36 on my Amazon and I'm not exactly a SU expert).

I find that my Amazon will start with 3/4 choke and a couple of seconds of cranking if I leave it longer than a couple of weeks even in the coldest weather.

Not surprising IMO... they are designed for Swedish winters after all!

[Derek UK]

After a lengthy sleep it often/usually means a 20 second or so churn before the engine gets any fuel and wakes up. No big deal as long as your battery is good. Cold weather lowers the volts available, so another thing to bear in mind.

[bayliss Thomas]

Thank you chaps, my car is in standard setup I believe, twin SU's and so forth. Today I decided to have another run out, shame to waste such good weather! All ready to go turn the ignition key and it snapped off in the barrel. Darn it!! My car is over to Robert this week for tow bar and he has kindly fitted me in with a ignition key barrel replacement job.
Fortunately the key snapped off leaving the ignition on so I can bump start the car to get it over to Robert.
Anyway, I do think its a matter of my driving the car and getting used to its ways regards starting up from hot or cold. Either way what a brilliant car the Amazon is.

[grahamwatson]

Is that Ron I can see coming over the horizon......................?

[bayliss Thomas]

Originally Posted by grahamwatson

Is that Ron I can see coming over the horizon......................?

Its Robert! my days of fettling and repair are almost over thanks to fingers which resemble frozen sausages.

[Ron Kwas]

bT;

GW has it right!...shame on you, for being caught out by a well known weakness you should have installed a preemptive fix for! Now, at more nuisance, effort and probably expense, you need to proceed here: http://www.sw-em.com/service%20notes...n_Ignition_Key

...as far as cold-starting and running until Temp Needle comes off the peg...assure (at Carbs!) Choke control is resulting is about 1/4" of Jet lowering, as seen here:

Source: http://www.sw-em.com/checkchoke.htm

...and adjusting the Fast-Idle Screw to raise idle just a little will help with stalling.

Good Hunting!

[bayliss Thomas]

Originally Posted by bayliss Thomas

Its Robert! my days of fettling and repair are almost over thanks to fingers which resemble frozen sausages.

Originally Posted by Ron Kwas

bT;

GW has it right!...shame on you, for being caught out by a well known weakness you should have installed a preemptive fix for! Now, at more nuisance, effort and probably expense, you need to proceed here: http://www.sw-em.com/service%20notes...n_Ignition_Key

...as far as cold-starting and running until Temp Needle comes off the peg...assure (at Carbs!) Choke control is resulting is about 1/4" of Jet lowering, as seen here:

Source: http://www.sw-em.com/checkchoke.htm

...and adjusting the Fast-Idle Screw to raise idle just a little will help with stalling.

Good Hunting!

Sorry I have been a bit slow with ' ron coming over the hill' I get it now. And thanks for all the guide notes.
tbh I didn't know the ignition key problem was so common a fault, I do now! I note that my key and barrel are aftermarket, the key is particuarly poor quality and I really should have had a spare of higher quality made. As you mention its more agnst and cash now. I still really like my amazon though.