I have a 1979 x19 with the 1300 engine and carbureted that won't start. I drove it fine for a while and even turned the carburetor to idle at 1000 rpms. After that I continued to drive it like normal. After a short sit of a couple of weeks the car decided to not want to start and had a dead battery (we have been fighting a battery drainage problem for a while). The engine turns over fine and even sounds like it wants to start with a short increase in rpms but then quickly drops to just the starter motor. It used to start quickly and still tries to do that but fails and goes back to just turning over.

We are getting fuel to the carburetor as well as spark in cylinders 1, 2, and 4 (3 is harder to get to and assumed 3 out of 4 should work). The timing hasn't changed as well as the firing order since running. We have tried playing with the set screws on the carb but with no success. Does anyone know what we are missing? My thoughts are fuel getting to the carb but not passing through to the cylinders or something electrical?

i recently bought an X1/9. lt started fine when l bought it. And the times l started it after that until today when he had been left in the garage for 4 days. Mine does have carb problems. We also feel there is a coil breaking down as the spark (or shock you get from the coil) isn't that great. 'd start with checking the spark is good.