1.5GX will not start!

I've recently purchased a 83 golf GX,
Sounded fine when I purchased it. It got delivered to my home and unfortunately it sat under a cover for the last 2week as I work away.

Come to start it now and it just turnes over but it will not catch, Got a friend of mine to have a quick look but neither of us are mechanics so this maybe a idiots guide….
The fuel pressure is good and it sprays fuel out of a pipe he took off.
All the plugs are sparking well, and it sounds like it has good compression. 
It has a immobiliser fitted that drains the battery but surely that would cut either fuel or ignition so pritty sure that is disengaged. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated or if anybody is near Bradford area willing to have a look, I'll put the kettle on! 
It sounds like somthing of nothing but it's such a shame as I carnt even drive it to the garage! 

is it cracking over fast enough

if it cracking really slowly then it may struggle to get going

It's going fast enough yeah, just isn't catching. Could it be somthing to do with the timing?

Yes or could be soemthiby to do with the carb

Is it still the pieburg carb?

I'm having the same problem with my gx so I've put my battery on charge but it might of flooded its self

Yes a thinks it's the pierburg

might be worth removing the filter and putting a little fuel directly into the carb, had to do this with a car i was fixing, there may just be a blockage in the carb fuel intake???

just a guess but good luck with it, its bound to be something simple, has it been stood for a long time, if so the injectors in the carb may need unblocking

Engines need 3 things to work - compression, spark and fuel. If it was running when you got it then you can assume the compresion is OK.

If you haven't fiddled with the distributor then the timing will be correct but you need to make sure there's a spark going to the spark plugs. Easiest way to check (and most painful) is to have someone hold the lead coming off the top of the spark plug while you turn the engine over. If your mate jumps then there is a spark. Don't worry, it's only a slight electric shock and won't kill them unless they put their tongue on the plug whilst clutching their pacemaker. .

Sometimes your mate has enough sense not to believe you when you say it won't hurt so unplug the lead from the spark plug and stick the end of a screwdriver in the plug lead so you've got a metal path for the spark to travel. Rest the screwdriver against any part of the engine where it's metal but don't let the screwdriver shaft touch the engine. What you want is a gap of about 1/4 inch to see if there is a spark jumping from the screwdriver shaft to the engine while you turn the engine over. No spark? Check the distributor is getting power.

Got a good spark? OK, it's petrol you need to check. Take the airfilter off and pour a capfull of petrol directly into the carby throat. It should cough now when you try to start. If it does cough then there's not enough fuel in the carby or there is a blockage somewhere. Check the carby.

Try these things and let us know how you go. .

Cheers

Paul

if its been cranked over loads it could just have flooded, take a plug out and have a sniff it it stinks of fuel then yup, flooded. best method to fix that is remove the plugs and just leave it, you can crank it over with plugs out and watch the resulting jet of fuel out the holes but thats not great

if you did decide to do that pull black and/or white/purple wires off the coil so it cant spark as that could result in disaster

a good buff up of the plug tips can help if they're sooty, a brass wire brush is ideal for this as it'll clean em up without risk of damage to the tips

Right I have had a bit of fiddle about with it today as I'm back home for a few days… 
It's not flooded and the plugs look in all good condition, their also sparking correctly aswell! 
I'm more or less possitive it's the carb so I poured about a tablespoons worth of fuel directly into the carb and it was just slightly spluttering… So I could be wrong but I think it's the injectors are blocked maybe? 
It's fine using shell Vpower isn't it or could it be too rich and cause more damage? 
Thanks for all the advice people 

A carb engine doesn't have injectors.

Try using some easy-start spray, if it runs on this for a few seconds then cuts out, its fuel related. If it doesn't run then its ignition related.

It could be that the ignition timing is well out, if its correct then starting is much easier.

It could also be that the battery is a little flat, or the starter motor connections etc are poor, so its turning over too slowly to start reliably every time.

Yeah I ment their must be some kind of fuel feed in the carb that may be blocked… 
I'll go to local garage tomorrow and get some easy start, how ever the battery is completely flat so I have to jump start it as the immobaliser has drained it completely. But it is turning over fast enough just dosent seem to be catching.

aye you would say 'maybe the carb jets are blocked' next time and we will all nod our heads sagely in agreement

anyway, try the start spray as said, if it helps next pop the fuel line off the fuel pump and poke it into a container, pull the black wires off the coil (just in case! fuel vapour is bad mkay?) and get a helper to crank it to make sure fuel is actually coming thru

Maybe the carb jets are blocked   
Ive try'd the easy start before and the fuel is coming through… 
Does anybody know of a decent mechanic local to bradford/keighley way as this is bugging the hell out of me