She-a-no-a-start-a

After the carb reassembly I went to fire up Ms. Legs and she cranked but didn't fire. Now one always wants to go back to what last changed, and look there first. But in this case, after a physical check for the obvious (gas line not connected, coil wire off) none of which showed any faults, I considered what could have, in dissassembly and reassembly of the carb, could have caused a complete failure? The answer is nothing, if you assume the carb is delivering its dose of air/gas. A substitute shot from the ether can acted in place of that but still no start.

So, the next thing to suspect is the electrics. Sigh. Didn't we just go through all this? After more wiggling of wires, it is time to bring the meter back out. But think again: what was the last thing to change in the electrics?
I had filed the points in an operation just previous to starting this blog. The point-filing was to address some voltage bounce seen in a previous test during hand-turning of the engine while trying to set the point gap. It turned out the points had some tits on them and there was an inconsistent spark--different times, sometimes not at all!--due to the gap and uneven surface. So the points are cheap and easy to replace and may be out of spec from ham-fisted dressing anyway. You should only dress (not file, burnish--rub with xxxfine emory if you don't have a "burninshing tool") points in the field, to get back home. Because you have to ensure parallel mating of the surface. Burnishing should only removed deposit tits caused by arcing--the points tips are actually pretty hard--but enthusiastic polishing could result in points that are misaligned. They're one of the cheapest parts on the car; replace 'em.

I'm off to the parts store....