Engine Startup

Finally - I have started the motor for the first time, in preparation for the dyno.

Seeing dyno time is typically charged as an initial minimum set fee, then also for the amount of time you spend there, i want to make sure i don't waste time chasing electrical or leakage issues. Therefore - I want to get the engine initially idling reasonably well, the oil pressure where it should be and the coolant system operating as it should.
The 100% temporary stand you see below is actually a lot studier than it looks. It's made from 3mm wall-thickness box tube and all joins are fully welded. I have included the poly-urethane engine mounts in the construction as well just to give it a bit of movement





















In case anyone is wondering, I have both a hose and a fire-extinguisher close by in case a disaster happened. But the nice thing about EFI is that you can pressure test the whole fuel system first - as the EFI pumps prime things up without having to turn to engine over. Secondly, you can crank the engine to make sure you are getting spark too.

That "dry sump" reservoir you see at lower left is a nice piece of Tupperware that sits in a box so it doesn't topple over. I have various sieves and magnets in it to catch any metal fragments. I caught a few too (nothing un-toward), as well as a few flakes of Glyptal paint. It just goes to show that no matter how clean you go (and i was paranoid about it) some bits just "appear" when a motor first fires.
Another benefit of the dry sump is that you can easily slip the high-torque-drive (HTD) belt off and spin the pump over with an electric drill. I did this a few times of course before the first start with the rocker cover off to watch the oil come up through the pushrods. This pump seems to sit at 70lbs pressure from about 1200 RPM onwards. It sits at 40lbs at an 800rpm idle.

I would have loved to upload the video of the first time the engine fired with coils on the right plugs and zero spark advance (to make sure the crank sensor was in the correct place)...... But the file is just too big and let's just say the video function on my camera does not do the sound justice. This thing is seriously loud.

I expected that of course having those big headers, but the deep sound it has from 520 cubic inches vibrates the whole house. Add to that a few initial timing issues where i had the wrong coil on the wrong plug (my fault) which produced some stunning back-fires (equivalent to a shotgun). The result of all this fiddling and head-scratching of course is that my neighbours really love me just now.......(not!).

Since that first startup, I have put some spark timing into it and it runs very crisply for the few seconds I have it going (very short bursts for now as i have no coolant in it). My next task is to finish the coolant system by plumbing in those remote electric water pumps and controller. Once that's done it's off to the dyno (finally).