yesterday while i started on rust repairs (got quite a shock under alot of bog), my dad took the speedo out to replace the oil light, light bulb as it was stuck inside the housing.

upon replacment of the speedo and wiring, with new bulb. we have no battery light (red) and still no oil light (green). and the engine now refuses to start. although will turn over.

everything is in place in the engine bay, the distributor seems fine. we did put a new rotor button in a few days ago, non-bosch.

tacking my multimeter onto the coil gives steady readings.

help ?

Check the + side of the coil for power with a test light when the ignition is on.
If you have power, check in the dizzy for spark at the points with the cap and rotor out.
If no spark, clean the points and set the gap to .016"
If no power at the coil, you need to check the power into, and out of the ignition switch. It is the black wire out of the ignition switch to the engine loom.
There is a thick red wire into the ign switch.

Im not sure what year you are working on, but dont forget the gen and oil light are triggered by a - signal, and the + black wire to the spedo should go to the outer surround of the dash globe housings for them and the ind dash light.

hope this is some help

basically petrol motors need 4 things to run
1. SPARK easiest at night remove dist cap and rotor have someone turn engine over the points should spark on the high points (lobes) of the distributor shaft -ok? replace rotor(put on shaft and spin until it drops into place) and dizzy
2. FUEL take your air cleaner off and move the throttle shaft(connected to the accelerator cable) you should see/hear/smell fuel being squirted in the throat of the carb DO NOT USE MATCHES:P
3. TIMING remove no1 plug and set motor on top dead center (rotor coming to mark on distrib + no1 lead)timing mark on pulley coming to split in case no1 piston coming to tdc(top dead center)
4. compression remove all plug leads get decent comp tester all cylinders should be above 110 and within 10psi
any breakdown of an old carbie and point motor should follow these basic steps
hope this helps:beer

thanks newoldmanx but the engine runs perfectly, iv gone over it again and again since iv owned it.

it turned out to be the dodgy DIY wiring harness the PO had put in, just had to strip a wire, attach a connector and slide it onto the only empty slot on the fuse box.

and xornge, your reply helped me pinpoint the problem. thanks

sweeet

good to hear, love the easy fixes!
hate dodgy PO's!