Aldo, that engine will have breaker-points unless it has been converted to electronic ignition (I think they painted them orange from 1977 to 1979, and switched to electronic ignition in 1981), so you may have had some water in the little circular silver box the points are in. (That is the destination of the wire from the coil into the engine casing). It is fairly water-tight, but not intended to stand up to a high pressure wash-down. My favourite way to dry out automotive distributors is to take off the cover, blow them out with compressed air, then wait a while for them to dry out in the sun. Once you get them to start they warm up and dry themselves properly. (Ah, the joys of Lucas distributors. Joseph Lucas is still known in vintage car circles as "The Prince of Darkness" because of the quality of his headlight systems.)
Sorry I wasn't monitoring last night when you posted, but it looks as if it didn't take you long to sort it out. I'll close this thread.
Last edited by grumpy; 15/03/11 02:25 AM. Reason: Add detail
