Another new member!

Hello all, finally got round to buying my own one of these (TPJ663X 1982 if it rings a bell for anyone). Really did well for £450, the rust is at a very early stage and is not corroding anywhere serious. Things that, as far as I can see, need to be done are:

Two small weld patches, one to the side of the engine compartment, one on the drivers side sill.
Engine running poorly; doesn't idle and backfires/misfires on fully open throttle (ignition timing and carb rebuild to me)
Some mounts and struts under the car are corroding but not excessively, could be sanded and treated
Would like to install carb blower
Brown wire mod
Brakes have lips
Peeling lacquer
Shabby alloys

Thanks for reading!

Welcome to the club Jeff.There's plenty of help available if needed.
John

If you dont have any luck with the carb blower (It did not work for my car) you could try an electric fuel pump instead? I hear the continuously circulating fuel helps cool the carb?

I think the exhaust manifold heat shield is worth a try also.

Looking forward to more on this car

Thanks John and Jeremy for the welcome - have since been tackling the engine running issues which I can't quite get my head around - the characteristics of popping and cut-out on open throttle and refusal to idle suggest a vacuum leak - yet the engine is running very rich (should be lean!) regardless of where the mixture screw is set. Very odd.

Also, honoured to receive my first neighbour complaint about the noise

Jeff

If it has stood for a while then petrol deposits and other crud can block up the carb, gaskets can get a bit leaky (as you say a vacuum leak) Worn points (is it still on points?) . Put new plugs cap and leads on. Condensers can give odd misfires. Check the timing. In short work through the car while giving it a good service. If the carb is misbehaving and won't easily clear then buy a replacement don't waste too much time on it. Is there a hose missing on the manifold to do with some sort of emission control? Something to remember is that it may be a combination of faults.
When you get it sorted you'll have a great little car. I'm just off for a blast in mine in the sunshine up the A1

Great help thank you - some of those things I hadn't considered so will be checking through some of them today! Ignition timing has been checked and seems in order (under partially opened throttle the engine sounds as sweet as anything).

Enjoy that - very jealous! Will post an update at the end of the day

Jeff

End of day update: Car now "idles" at about 1200rpm, and when cold will idle at about 2500rpm, with very loose feeling throttle control in general (revs up and down very slowly). Will eventually die at idle anyway. Condenser and points were changed to no avail. Will be buying new leads tomorrow, current ones are on the way out - frustrating stuff!

Hello Jeff, your problems do sound like blocked jets. These carbs are notorious for blocked jets, commonly from bits of rubber coming off the inside of the fuel lines. The carb float bowl might need a few goes at cleaning as dirt and rubber bits can lodge in the many passages cast/drilled in the carb body.

Thanks, will be checking this tomorrow. I may go and get the carb balanced as a matter of course!

If you have a standard Weber DATR/DMTR it won't need balancing, in fact it can't be balanced!

The best thing to do is replace all the fuel hose with good quality rubber and fit a filter just before the carb inlet. New fuel hoses are a good thing to do for your own safety anyway!

Oh dear - showing my carb-novice colours there! Fuel lines and relevant filter are brand new! Will thoroughly check the jets today and update soon. (Also, silly question; are the main/main idler jets the two closest to the choke?) Thanks

There are no silly questions, only silly answers!

If you look at the photo, the primary idle and main jet are on the right of the well between the chokes. The secondary idle and main jet are on the left. From the top the idle jets look like plain brass screws, the mains look like drilled brass screws. Don't overtighten them when you replace them.

Thank you very much for the photo reference - helps a lot! I am assuming this also applies to the 34 DATR that I have on mine?

Yes the DATR/DMTR carbs all have the same basic layout. The one in the photo is a US spec with a few emissions control add-ons.

Jets cleaned with tyre pump - no difference still! Yet to check the airways on the carb but beyond that I have no idea where to go from there! HT leads and air filter changed as well. To reiterate, the car will start, and will rev really nicely at partially opened throttle. It will however not even try to idle, and when the throttle is fully opened, the revs completely die, then shoot up a second later. Stumped!