Not running right at all

……………

Thanks a lot, I will check all those items. The backfiring did blow a hole in the muffler, so it’s a bit noisy. It’s 30 odd years old so I can’t complain about that. The distributor cap sounds quite possible. It’s not old but it is Chinese made and cheap looking. It all started all of a sudden after making a long drive on that weekend and then the trouble started when I was about 100 miles from home.

I did a similar thing in my legere, rushing to attend a business meeting (only car I had at the time ) and it resulted in a whole series of problems, starting with a blown exhaust manifold gasket.
The moral being ” be gentle, the youngest traction is 58 years old”….
Hope the resolution comes quickly…

Larry,
I think this sums up your situation:

[attachment=0:1xc7471p]unnamed.jpg[/attachment:1xc7471p]

Isn’t that an Austin engine on the book cover? In which case, you can’t unfuck it.

While we’re on the subject, the second world war American war correspondent, Ernie Pyle wrote:

Once, on a misty Scottish airfield, an airman was changing the magneto on the engine of a Wellington bomber. Suddenly his wrench slipped and he flung it on the grass and snarled, “Fuck! The fucking fucker’s fucked.” The bystanders were all quite well aware that he had stripped a bolt and skinned his knuckles.