Not sure if this is allowed or the right place for this, admin please relocate at wish
A bit of a thank you to the forum and sheer amazement at the A Series engine
Last year I completed a rebuild, top to bottom of every component in the engine bay. Brilliant - until it wouldn't start and every component was now in question as untested. After 2 months of trying, lots of advice and even a rolling road, the engine was running but something seemed off - she really struggled to start, she seemed sluggish and very tappy to my ears but at this point I couldn't even remember if this was just "what minis are like". She'd had a new cam, the Evo01, and been bored out +20" too so everything that seemed new, I put down to my own novice status.
Well cut to today - fresh from another trip indoors, the engine started easily with a half dead battery, two pumps of the pedal and half choke (fast idle only). The timing had been out 180 degrees the whole time. How she even started the first time, how no one (pros included) had noticed the issue and sounds from the engine and how I had even made the mistake the first place, I'll never know.
Conclusions I choose to draw from this:
She's a beast
Question all advice until you understand it completely - no matter the source
Check check and check again
Thank you to everyone in this brilliant space - would have given up yonks ago if not for this community
