Oh my...and here I thought it might be the transmission.  Hard to believe this problem has wandered around like a lost soul.

I 2nd Minimike1's suggestion get some cold ones and pizza and invite the club over to sort this out.

Yup, and this is my free 100 mile tow.

Just a thought, but might be of some value.

A Triple AAA Plus membership in Southern California includes one free 100 mile tow per year....

Maybe the policy is the same where you live...

Unfortunately Mike, I'm sure none of the club is interested in going to Staten Island (I don't even want to be here!)

ve9aa - the worst case scenario with the guys in manhattan is that they don't fix it. Not another dime is coming out of my pocket on this one and they know this. My AAA membership gets me free towing so I'll try this out first.

Oh my, we've made it to page 3.

You should offer pizza and drinks to the club and have the meeting in your garage to sort the car out!

"I'm going to call AAA tomorrow morning and have them tow it back to the repair shop in Manhattan. I made the guy swear that any work completed here on out is free of charge. Also working on getting some of a refund for my $1200 head gasket job when I noticed there were a few cut corners in the work they claimed to have done.

I know taking it back to the same guys isn't the best idea in the world but the guy in charge (NOT the"

Oh DEar.......why do I feel this won't end well?

Hey sorry I dropped off the map for today as I spent all of yesterday fiddling and had to do other work. My old boss was gracious enough to extend me through the end of the week while my car isn't functioning.

I'm going to call AAA tomorrow morning and have them tow it back to the repair shop in Manhattan. I made the guy swear that any work completed here on out is free of charge. Also working on getting some of a refund for my $1200 head gasket job when I noticed there were a few cut corners in the work they claimed to have done.

I know taking it back to the same guys isn't the best idea in the world but the guy in charge (NOT the guy who was doing the repairs) seems pretty genuine in that he wants to get this fixed, and has apologized profusely. I think the line "would you do this to one of the Rolls Royces that come through here?" worked pretty well.

After they get it up and running I plan to take it out to MiniMike when he has time to inspect it (although if it makes the 2 hour trip without incident that's a pretty good inspection).

I've been in contact with LIMENY - I'm actually going to try to get to their meetin tomorrow (in my mother's Altima )

Cheers,
Rich

Mike, his new dizzy is electronic and he should not need to time it as long as he puts the drive gear back in the same place just more work for him.

As usual, opening up too many cans can leave you with a batch of troubles. The starter issue might be isolated by removing the starter and bench testing it with a good car battery. It should through out the bendix and engage the starter gear. With the start out (2 bolts and one wire), you can use a large flat bladed screwdriver to turn the engine. The whole point of this is to get the engine to top dead center. Take a section of a wire coat hanger about 12" long and slip it into the the # 1 cylinder closest to the fan. when the piston comes up to the top of the stroke, put the dizzy back in, and orient the rotor to point to the # 1 plug. That should get you close to getting the car running.Snug up the pinch bolt and try to start the car. (starter in, plugs in, all wires connected) did you look at your original dizzy and see if the shaft is wobbly?

BTW, it's easier to gap the points in the dizzy on the bench than bending over reaching through the front panel.

Rich knows I'd be working outside and don't relish doing this stuff in 30 degree weather.

If you're totally confused you could try calling Joe Curto. He's got a guy who works in his shop named Erbie. Not Herbie. They are in Queens near Shea Stadium 718 Seven Six 2- 78seven8. It's closer than I am. BTW, Joe is the SU carb expert.

The sun has been up for a while and here's hoping that the lack of posts on this thread mean that richgilberto has his dizzy drive installed properly, the car has started, and he is keeping the timing light pickup from falling to the pavement.

Tried the "local" Mini club?

LIMENY Click the link there at the left ... not to take anything away from Mike, but he's a hike and a half from Manhattan and zip's right about the cost of having it hauled 100 miles or so.  You might want to contact LIMENY and put out a call thru them for help.  Gotta be someone in Queens or west Nassau county that's willing to have a look (or may even commute to Manhattan everyday!).  Also, cheaper than a tow might be to pay for a train ticket to bring Mike from the end of the island into the city.  Just a few thoughts from and old Long Island boy.

Me? At this point, I would beg/borrow/pay* for a tow/trailer out to Mike's place out on Long Island. He's offered to help out and has been around these things long enough to have a clue.
Trying to diagnose & solve problems is tough on the interweb thingy. But, it sounds like the clock is ticking. We could toss ideas at you for months if not years.You mentioned early on that you're moving to New Orleans. If Mike is cool with it, leave the thing with him, let him sort it out, ask how much you owe him, fly back and drive the thing back.

*-From the year I spent in the area, I would shudder at the cost of a tow out to LI.

I presumed you had pulled the drive gear out with the dizzy by this post. put the drive gear back in the engine in exactly the same position, be very careful or your previous problems will seem like a walk in the park.

If the starter is making noise we need to know as posted before if it clicks or whirrs.

You may have to remove the starter and test it, is the battery fully charged are the headlights bright ?

If you do remove the starter you can turn the engine over by using a screwdriver through the casing against the flywheel teeth.

All this is a mute point if you put the gear back in the same place before you removed it you do not need to turn the engine over just put the new dizzy in and get it close to where it should be, it sounds like low voltage or a weak starter is your problem with the engine turning over.

Are you trying to turn the engine over by hand with the car in park ?

"The starter motor makes noise when I turn the key, that's all."

Does it "click" or Whrrr" ??  I'm surmising (on the basis of some of the photos) that you have a late model A+ engine??  In which case you should have a pre-engaged starter?? So,  if the starter turns, the engine should turn??

"The drive mechanism on both distributors are exactly the same"  that's good.

But we really can't go anywhere until you can turn the engine over (to set it at TDC).

Can you get a spanner (1 1/8th inch I think) on the bolt that holds the crank pulley and turn it?

Cheers, Ian

The starter motor makes noise when I turn the key, that's all.

The drive mechanism on both distributors are exactly the same (just double checked).

I got the drive gear out using one of the bolts at the top of the alternator. It's 2" long and much easier to get to. Still cannot budge anything to adjust timing.

I think we're only suggesting you take it out in order to eliminate one thing that might be preventing the engine from turning.

Can you please confirm that the engine won't turn over (plugs out, shift in nuetral)?

And, is the drive mechanism of the dizzie you removed (item on right in earler photo?) identical (same shape/size) to the one you replaced it with??

Cheers, Ian

Okay, I will try taking this out. I hadn't realized it was necessary to do so.

Thanks!

The bolt that holds the bottom of the rad to the engine mount is 5/16" UNF and will work for you.

I didn't take the drive gear out! That requires use of a bolt which cannot be obtained in a local hardware store. I only removed the distributor. I cannot rotate the engine by hand, which is the current problem.

From what you have done the only thing i can think of that is stopping the engine turning over would be incorrectly inserting the dizzy drive gear, remove it carefully following the previous posts on how to and see if the engine will turn over then. If it still will not turn over you need to look at the starter and make sure you have 12 volts going to it.