I call my third wife babe.

A former coworker of mine who had been married 3 times told me to NEVER call my wife by her real name.  He said to always call her something like:  honey, sweetie, cutie, etc.  His reasoning was that at some point you WERE going to screw up and use the wrong name on your current wife.

I don't have a cell phone yet so I have to rely on old digital cameras for the garage.  They still work and I don't have to worry (too much) about getting grease on them.

Don't think of it as shameful!! I too at 60 odd years old am starting to suffer loss of short and long term memory loss, it's a bitch especially being a restoration mechanic! but notes and photo's (thank god for the camera phone) will take the frustration away. I've got to the point where names are begining to be a problem my poor dog looks at me with such sad eyes when I call her by one of her predecessors names........................and the girlfriend? thats a whole different issue.............

Found it this morning short in tachometer and probably some creative wiring but it started right up

I'm just going back and doing one thing at a time. All new parts. I timed it this year but put new parts in it last year...servo was in the way and I burnt one of those extension mirrors on the solenoid and never got back to it. then (if I can find the tow-strap) I am then going to push it out of the garage and try to tow it up the hill and time it again. Then I will go from there. I use to have a strong memory...phone numbers, what I paid for parts yada yada. Now like everyone tells me I'm going to have to start a "memory book" so I remember things...shameful

tothefloor: I forgot about your stroke challenges... I'm coping with "chemo-brain" - sometimes the very short memory/attention slips a cog.  I can be busy doing something (like make pastry for the quiche) and completely forget one little task (like putting the milk back in the refrigerator). I think it is harder on my wife!

I remember having troubles like yours before I started upgrading my induction/exhaust system and got into carb trouble. Spark would disappear and make starting difficult or impossible. I finally discovered that the tiny flexible ground wire from the points mounting plate was not secure where it attached to the shell of the distributor. 

1st my stroke makes it hard to communicate...lost about 50% of my vocabulary, memory is shot but not sure if it's long or short term probably both. Math skills are gone...I can't even count change. Now I'm retired by necessity, so I have nothing to do but to play with my hobbies and I am almost at 40 years with the mini...so not so bad.

Yes...I turn the key and the engine turns over without the cylinders firing. I tuned it last week or so finding TDC on the flywheel. It was marked at 7 TDC but a fried here suggested 4TDC. (I know this guy and his credentials on minis go way back). I tried it and it ran like it hasn't run for years. Saturday 1 & 2 were wet and all four were the same brown/blackish color. Compression was down 150, 145, 155, 130 but that shouldn't have stopped the car from starting. Brake servo hoses I just read now.

It does sound like ignition, I think I have been here before. At the top of the lobe I am open to feeler gauge .014 that is about all I can do until I get it out. Unfortunately I am still stuck it the garage but i'm thinking about pulling it out with my truck and about 15 feet up the small upgrade, (i'm facing in so I need to pull in reverse) and there is no way I can push it. I'm not crazy about that idea but that was way I can make sure the timing is right.

I tried starting fluid 2x but it doesn't start not even for a few seconds...so not fuel I think. I know starting fluid is not the way to go. Water in the carb has been mentioned twice...just putting it off. I must have been at the bottom of the tanks the other day as I put in 9.5 gallons so water in the carb could be an issue. But if water sinks in gas it should have come out first. But I have never dealt with that before on this car.

I don't know what the condenser does but if I have spark I think it still works. Low tension lead...maybe I could change that but I have spark at the plugs...but I believe that has been the culprit once before. Only thing I have found is my coil is warm/hot...but that could come from cranking it. I know I have one around but I just can't find it yet...but again I have spark at the plugs.

What do you mean by "now it doesn't start at all. Just runs and runs" and "just same thing just ran and ran"??
Do you mean the engine just cranks over on the starter without the cylinders firing? Sorry, seems confusing. When most people say an engine "runs" it means it will operate on fuel at various rpms.

From the description of the drive and later failing I'd say check the points first, sounds like a classic case of the points closing up

Carb is a hif44. Jack at 7 suggested it may be water in the carb I did get down to the bottom of the tanks the other day as I put in 9.5 gallons of fuel. Right now I'd love to get it out of the garage and up the hill a little bit so I can reset the timing. I had to get the other day to 4 degrees before top dead center I had been using 7 - 8 degrees before top dead center. 4 degrees made it a lot simpler lot more peppier than 7 to 8. I did use starter fluid and it just same thing just ran and ran. Thanks for the ideas though guys I'll go through them one by one

While you are checking ignition, don't forget the spark plugs. Are they dry or wet? Are they clean or sooty? If wet and/or sooty fuel is not being burnt properly - either not enough spark at the right time, or too much fuel (or both).

You say you have spark and fuel. The symptoms therefore suggest to me you are getting too much fuel... the engine gradually floods. The engine was running fine, so don't mess up the mixture. After checking as Doug suggests, I'd suspect the fuel inlet needle valve/jet and the float.

There has been (maybe solved now) of some inlet needles sticking, but only when warmed up. Since you went for a hard drive, I suspect under-bonnet temperatures got high enough to warm the carb to the point the needle stuck open. Once the car has had a chance to cool down, the needle may have freed itself, allowing you another drive. I had this problem and even had the car stall out while idling in front of my garage and refusing to start. If it is this problem the solution is simple, especially if you have a HS type carb where you can remove the top of the fuel bowl. HIF type carbs need to be removed. Once you get the float out, check it for fuel content - it may be sinking. Next, if the float is OK, remove the needle and with a fine file or emery paper rub a few thou of an inch of each edge of the needle - it doesn't take much. That gives it more tolerance for expansion in the brass jet.

Start with a simple test.  Tip a thimble of gasoline down the carb throat then try to start the car.  If the engine fires, runs briefly, then dies, you have a fuel problem.  If the engine fails to fire, look for ignition faults.  

In general, do not start by focusing on the carb.  Start by going through all of the ignition system even if you just went through this to put the car back on the road.

Begin with the points.  Clean and regap them.  Make sure you put a thin layer of grease on the 4-lobe dizzy cam that opens and closes the points.  If your points have a felt wick rubbing on the dizzy cam, make sure the wick is wet with engine oil.  Do not run the dizzy without grease on the cam or a thoroughly wet felt wick.  Failure to lube the dizzy cam will result in rapid wear of the heel block on the points which in turn closes the point gap until the engine will not start/run. 

With the points set and dizzy cam lubed, check your static timing.  5 to 8 BTDC should be good enough to get the engine started.  You can fine tune it dynamically once you get the engine started.  If the engine does not start and run after setting the points and timing, turn your attention to the fuel system.  

Before you consider carb adjustments, look for disconnected/cracked vacuum lines at the carb and disconnected/cracked brake servo hoses.  

Going good so I took the mini out for a hard drive. Don't know for sure but it was more than a hundred miles as the cable gearing for the halda that gave up the ghost. Anyway we're tooling a long at sunset and everything seemed pretty good then all the sudden I started getting a Bogen or shuttering in 4th gear. At this time it would take less time to go forward then it would to go back. Not a lot of shuttering or bogging but enough two notice. We finally got to the main road it was about 50 miles back home. Most of the way home I drove it in 4th gear so I really didn't get down into the lower gears . When we got home my daughter looked at me and said I didn't know if we were going to get back and I looked at her and said yeah I don't either.

So the next day I couldn't get the car started. I had fuel and I have spark at the plugs but it would just turn and turn. I think I flooded it. Because the next day it's just starts and runs and no problems then today I had it running drove it around and up the driveway but the wife wanted to do something so I had to pull it back in the garage now it doesn't start at all. Just runs and runs. Any ideas that don't involve taking off the carburetor???