Late last year, my Nine Sports developed a small miss that was aggravating , but not particularly terminal or surprising. After a few months layup during our cold winter months, however, it became intolerable. The car would idle well, but applying any amount of gas would result in a condition that was akin to fuel starvation. Jumping to conclusions, that's where I started.

I checked for gas in the float bowls and there was lots. I checked the in-line filter. It was dirty, so I changed it. I emptied last years residual gas from the tank. It smelled ok and was crystal clear, as I had cleaned and coated my tank the perevious year. No improvement. I changed the carbs to see if it would improve the condition. Still there. Fuel starvation, it seems, was not the issue.

I had an excellent spark and no apparent leaks with the lights out. I checked, cleaned and adjusted the points and gapped the plugs. I pulled the high tension lead off the coil. Aha!! Carbon and corrosion. This had to be the issue. I cleaned it all up and restored proper contact. No improvement, but certainly a worthwhile thing to attend to.

On to the valves. On removing the valve cover, I found coolant on top of one of the head studs - mild panic - but it was only leaking through the bolt hole. I remedied this with a little liquid gasket under the washer and around the stud. I checked the clearances. They were a little inconsistent so I adjusted them. Some minor improvement, but not the root cause. I checked the compression. Everything was even across the board, with a minor variance in number 3 cylinder. Not enough to be concerned about in terms of sufficient compression, but could it indicate a head gasket problem? Possibly. but there was no water in crank case and no white smoke and vapour out the tail pipe. Nevertheless, I was on the verge of stripping the head off to check further for breaks in the gasket or valve seating.

One last item to check. I pulled the distributor to examine the gears. These can actually wear razor thin over time and throw off the timing. Still some good meat on the bones, so I put it back. Then I noticed the connection of the low tension lead which runs from the base of the distributor to the coil. It was hanging on by 3 strands of copper. I thought "this is too simple" after all the other items checked. However, sometimes the simplest things cause the biggest problems. I stripped the lead back, resoldered the connector and bingo, it fired up with its former gusto.