I have reached a very important milestone in this project!!!

IT IS ALIVE!!!!!

The engine runs!!! Sorry, but I got so involved (and a little rushed), that I completely forgot to take video.

A couple of good friends (thanks John and Jimmy) got a set of old T bucket headers to me that I used for a temporary exhaust.

Initial fire-up didn’t happen without a problem or two. Self inflicted of course. I completely forgot that the oil pressure sending unit was not installed and merrily cranked away while setting the pre start-up timing. Made quite a mess!

It still needs a little tuning, but the oil pressure is good (60 PSI), vacuum is good (18-20 inches), the transmission seems to work and nothing mechanical makes any bad noises. Had a couple of minor leaks, but that’s to be expected. The cam has mild specs, so it doesn’t have a lot of lope, but I kind of expected that.

It sure does feel good to hear it run! 2 ½ years to get to this point. I NEVER thought it would take so long.

I ran out of time and have to go back to work (gotta pay the bills), so it’ll be another week before I can get anything else done.

Mike