Engine start problem

[f3jgarfield]

Hello,
About a year ago I purchased a 230SL 1966 automatic. it came all the way from the Cayman Islands, when I first got her the engine would start almost immediately once turned the key.
It was great. about two month ago the car need some 2-10 seconds before kindly starting. now a days  the car require a second battery as a "jump start" because it just drains the one battery it has in order to start. the strange thing is that if the car was running and stopped by the driver, if I try to start the car in a time-frame of few minutes to 10 minutes the car will start fairly easy, if left seated for a while, again the above happens.
I thought it was a battery problem and replaced it with a brand new one, didn't help...
now I think it might be a problem with the fuel pump, maybe she just looses pressure or something. also I think it might be the Ignition Point (locally we call it "platine")?

anyone ever encounter any thing like that?

Thanks,
Tom

[ja17]

Hello,

Yes, make sure to check all the inexpensive and easy things first!  The ignition points are definitely a suspect. Use a dwell meter to set them if possible.

 Next go to the main fuel filter. Fuel volume and pressure along with the engine starting aids can be checked if the simple fixes do not work.