Carburettor initial set-up

[davidbradley]

Recently bought the car but cant get it to start.
It, fluffs enough to throw the starter pinion, but wont run.
I'm cleaning thngs & setting jneedle valves & float levels etc
The choke lifts the piston as I think it should.
Mixture is set at 3 turns from the jet being level with the choke bridge
The throttle stop is at 1 turn after all slack has gone.
I cant see any gap round the butterflies - is this normal?
My recollection from SUs thirty odd years ago was a 1/16" gap around the edge (top & bottom). A'm I mistaken, just cant see how the engine could get enough air as it looks now.
Just seeking advice on how it should look.
By the way, I'm struugling with the fast idle as the cam has no stop to set up with a 7.9mm rod as my manual says. What should I do?
Thanks

[Deleted User]

Hi David,

my old 1200 estate did that until I figured out the coil was buggered. rrr-rrr-rrr-rrr-plink... over and over again. Tight tappets can give the same symptom too but the starter is usually more irregular sounding due to the valves not sealing.

If the throttle spindle is worn then it is not uncommon to back the idle screw off fully and find the hot idle rpm is still higher than normal. The crankcase breather adds quite a lot of air which doesn't go through the butterfly.

Andy.

[Steve Cureton]

I presume the car has been stood a long time so first task is to put some fresh petrol in there, then check it's reaching the carbs. Are the plugs getting wet with ptrol, if so then assume fuel is okay and check the electrics - do you have a good strong spark at the plugs? if not then work backwards looking at you points, HT leads etc. If you do have a good spark then check the ignition timing is correct.

Only once you have fresh fuel at the plugs accompanied by a good spark and acurate timiing should you even think about stripping carbs etc.