Dont know what to do next

[dozzum]

Bought a beutiful red GT2 1.6 for £200
Changed all the locks as the key had been lost, new tyres all round, new lights and grill on front as it had been messed around with, new brake cylinder and a new bearing and had to replace the fuel tank because it had been patched up by the previos owner so was obviosly rusty, was waiting for the weekend to put a new tank in so didnt put too much fuel in, then going up a hill it must have sucked up a loada shit and died. Managed to put some more fuel in and get it home.

Changed the fuel tank and filter (put a bigger inline fuel filter in as i though this might prevent it clogging as easily in the future) the old one was full to the brim with shit even though it had been changed by the reviuos owner a few months back. Drove it to work with no problems, took it out on my lunchbreak to show it off to someone from work went about 30 miles running like a beast. Then it started to die. kept blowing the fuel lines through and had some spare fuel filters aswell, but kept dying if i revd too much in higher gears. Had too leave it and get a lift back to work from a friend.

Went back up after work with a foot pump and an attachment for the hose and blew it through, got it going but still not properly.
Fished a loada rust out of the tank with a magnet and a coat hanger last night, so i assume the filler neck is dropping shit in, but havnt found a replacment yet. So i dropped two of those egg shaped neodynium magnets in to collect the rust up untill i can find one. The only problem i could notice when it was in neutral was that if you blipped the throttle suddenly it would stutter like it was going to die.

Took it out for a test and sure enough it started playing up and died after about 5 minutes. Checked the filter and there was plently of fuel getting through. Tried for ages to start it and it just refused. Squeezed the pipe after the filter through a bit and tried again. Got it to start so i revvd it up to about 4000 and there was an almighty bang that scared the shit out of me and my friend. Checked it over and found nothing leaking so can only assume it had backfired. managed to to drive it home but it only ran in 1st so it took a while.

My dads gonna have a look at the carb tonight.
Any suggestions as to what could help, and also is it possible to get replacement gaskets for the carb if they turn out to have gone.

[monzajake]

Check your sparks ie plugs, leads, cap, dizzy, coil, and the timing.
If you had fuel getting up there but it wouldnt start, there must be a breakdown on the spark side of things.
Fuel and spark equal a start..Some times..

[the edmundator]

Bought a beutiful red GT2 1.6

No you didn't. You bought either a GT 1.6 or GTII 1.8. Sorry if this seems pedantic, but it will help to make sure you're buying the right parts. If you're unsure whether it's a GT or a GTII, GTIIs all had colour-coded bodykits and the tartan fabric on the seats and are G to K (occasionally L) reg. To confuse matters slightly, a GT could also be a 1.8 if it was the 1989 model-year version (F or G plate) but would have black bodykit and light grey seats, carpet and door cards. If you're sure it's a 1.6 and it has a black bodykit, then it's definitely a GT.

I recently had a problem with intermittent running on my 1.8 GT, which turned out to be the ignition amplifier. The car would start up and run fine for a while, but once the car had warmed-up it would run rough and then stall, then refuse to start again until the ignition amplifier had a chance to cool down. This sounds a little bit like your problem.

An easy thing to check is, can you see any rust in the in-line fuel filter in the engine bay? If not, then it's less likely that rust is the cause of your problems.

I ended up replacing spark plugs, leads, filters, dizzy cap, coil and distributor before finally hitting the nail on the head with the ignition amp.

[dozzum]

My mistake it is a GT 1.6.
I know the spark plugs were changed by the last person who owned it who is a mechanic friend of a friend. But i'll get my dad to check them anyway along with all the other things suggested and i'll let you know.
Cheers for youre help

[dozzum]

update time

My dads been busy while ive been at work today, hes taken the carb apart and cleaned it. Started it up and it ran beutifully, didnt die if you suddenly blipped the throttle in neutral and pulled nicely. We took it out for a little test run, it died once near the bottom of a hill but started again then went up a huge hill nicely and on the way down it died just like someone had turned the ignition off. Tested the spark from the king lead into the distributer and that was fine. Also its got a coil so no ignition amplifier apparantly. Left it on the side of the road for a moment while weve come home to get some plug spanners to test the spark from the plugs, but the thoughts at the moment are the coil could be gettin hot???

Any other ideas???

I really love this car but i dont love it enough to take it to a garage to spend hundreds of pounds fault finding.

[dozzum]

it started reluictantly when we got back to it, but it isnt running properly. It'l rev nicely upto 5000 if you build it up slowly and down again slowly, however if you blip it suddenly it dies. There is a small amount of rust in the fuel filter again but not enough to block it. Gonna ring a scrapyard tomomorrow and see if i can try replacing coil and distributor one at a time and see if that helps.
Also what is the small reservoir after the pump and before the carb for??? and is it normal for there to be air bubbles in the return?

[dozzum]

apologies again, there is an amplifier, found it hiding in the tray under the plastic cover. Gonna go to the scrappy n try one of those tomorrow. fingers cross they have one and it wrks.