How to Diagnose a Classic Car not Starting

Some useful tips for checking why your old car won’t start. By old I mean a classic car with a simple carburettor, ignition coil and distributor. When it wont start or breaks down, usually it is something simple. In this video I talk about my experience when I broke down and how I got going again by diagnosing what the problem was. The usual reason is some fault leading to no fuel or no spark.
For checking the spark it is very useful to have the neon strobe light like that shown in the video. Sadly those neon ignition timing lights that i used are not so popular now (mine was pretty old!). You could try searching on the internet for “gunsons timelite” to find one or this should be a good alternative spark tester to do the same job:

Rubber disposible gloves are also useful, here's the links for

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The video is about my personal opinion and experience and contains no paid for product placements. No responsibility is accepted for any perceived recommendation for or against a product or feature nor any consequential damage or harm since this video is just my personal experience. You accept by watching this video that you accept any responsibility for any subsequent actions or decisions that you take.

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Beyond -whitesand:

[dallasw]

All good information thanks man. Haven’t figured out my issue yet but good to know all thsi

[frankdavidson]

never have a metal watch band on your arm while working on an eng. i have a scar on my wrist from that .it got tween batt and gd got hot very quick burned me because i forgot to take off --- never again

[slicks]

Would it start sometimes and sometimes not? Because mine does that. I've rebuilt the carb and still nothing could it be the spark plugs/wires?