So the title of today’s entry gives away the punchline, but suffice to say I am very pleased to have managed to start the engine today. Woohoo! As a quick recap, I had to send the carbs away as they had been incorrectly re-assembled when they were refurbished. I’ve had an explanation from the company boss that they were installed as they came in. Err, that will be me then. However, all I had done was to take the carbs apart, decide they were in a shocking state and send them away to be rebuilt. Anyway, its all good now and that’s the main thing.

As always with this project, there were some hurdles and hiccups along the way, mostly my fault as we will see. Firstly I removed the carbs from their wrapping. They had been thoroughly wrapped but of course as they were not on the heat shield, but separated so I had to do that thing where you put the linkages together and then hold it all together as a loose assembly as you carry it over to the car and mount it on the studs. In my enthusiasm to get it started, I fitted the throttle linkage upside down, only discovering this after I had awkwardly installed all four nuts and tightened them up. The nuts are extremely awkward to fit – to get the nuts onto the studs the carbs need to be slid up to near the tio to clear the carb body. The two under the carb are even more awkward. Still at least I have now had plenty of practice. Still impatient to attempt a start, I interupped Helen from her work educating the youth of today (yes, secondary school teachers work on the weekend) and asked her to crank the engine over while I manipulated the choke and throttles. On the second turn of the key, the engine fired, but didn’t catch. This was a promising sign, so Helen cranked again and this time I caught it on the throttle and we had a spluttering rev, and a bit of popping. A third attempt resulted in steady fast running with choke and throttle applied. A little exhaust smoke was rising into the engine bay and it was a it of a smoky affair all round. Having relieved Helen of her responsibility as chief cranker I set to to correct the linkage mis-assembly.

I was determined that to turn the linkage around to its correct orientation I wasn’t going to remove both carbs. Instead I removed the front carb, and loosened the nuts on the rear carb. This gave me enough fiddle room, just, to swap the linkage around and then to enjoy the fun game of ‘put the the nut on the stud under the carb bonnet’. It really is a dexterity test and took a bit of trying, but I got there in the end without breaking down in tears. With the linkage in the right way, I could connect up the throttle and choke cables and start the engine in the usual way from inside the car. When I say, the usual way, the ignition switch is on the floor of the car, so not exactly usual, but I didn’t say it was perfect. The car started on the second attempt and I was able to walk around to the front while it ran and see if there was anything amiss. The engine was running fine with full choke but started to splutter as soon as I reduced the amount of choke, so not sure if it was still a bit cold, needs setting up or a bit of both. Anyway, this was a test and I didn’t want to push my luck, so with a quick look around the engine bay I knocked the choke off and let it stall.

So issues identified to investigate today included:-

1. Loose alternator bolt – tightened
2. Noted broken cores in the Earth cable to the battery – need to order a new one
3. Coolant level dropped – top up and check

So we have achieved ‘Engine Start Milestone’ which I set quite a long time ago. Next Milestone I am setting myself is ‘Dashboard Complete.’ This is a complicated one which is going to involve fitting all the gauges, the windscreen wiper system and the Heating and Ventilation System. However, it’s the next logical step and certaintly needs doing before any other interior work is undertaken. Thanks to all of you have journeyed with me towards this milestone. Your support and practical help have been invaluable. God Bless.