At approximately 2:30 p.m., May 27, 1996, the Hardly Boys RaceSpit4 left
its cave of many months under its own power. IT LIVES! It took quite a
bit of starter spinning before oil pressure registered on the gauge, but
it then came up quickly. Then a quick reconnect of ignition. Switch on
the fuel pump and watch gas pour out of the front carb jet. Switch OFF
fuel pump, reconnect pipe from float bowl to jet, and try again.
Switch ON fuel pump and ignition. After about 7-8 tries of holding open
chokes and attempting to work the accelerator linkage with one hand
whilst tapping the starter button with the other, the engine caught and
ran.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!
So far as I can tell, it's going to be its old self very quickly. The
same 60+ lbs. oil pressure at warm idle, that same wonderful blend of
exhaust sound and slurping SUs, that bit of a push you back into your
seat feel, that go-kart handling even on soft, dry-rotted Michelin ZX
slave tires on a gravel driveway. And the sounds and smells even jogged
the wife's memory in a fond way. (In the past, she has competed in the
car with some success, as have Rik and I.) Of course, the children were
thrilled as well, especially watching Dad navigate the gravel,
off-camber, .04-mile teardrop oval we laughingly call a driveway.
There is a minor water leak to tend to (between the water pump housing
and the head, NOT between pump and housing!?), but that's it. I haven't
even reset carbs or ignition yet! (OK, there is a bit of work to do
there, but nothing that will materially affect running.)
The leak was intermittent enough that, by watching the water level
carefully, I was able to go ahead with my break-in. I have not yet
checked the compression since that break-in; I'll be curious to see what
that reads. I suspect all rings, including the TotalSeal gapless second
rings, have bedded-in well, as the blue smoke had already tapered off
somewhat during the course of the breaking-in.
Speaking of rings, I had been a bit surprised a couple of weeks ago when
I opened the rest of the package of new Grant rings from TRF to begin the
reassembly process. I had found that the oil control ring was a single
cast-iron piece, not the more common three-piece arrangement. Of course,
if I'd RTFM thoroughly then, instead of waiting until I needed torque
specs and tightening order for head bolts, I would have known that this
was apparently original spec. up until the Mk.3, when the factory went
to the three-piece oil rings.
Optimism so reared its head that I was compelled to actually bolt the
bonnet back onto the car, in an attempt to remember what the car looks
like complete and level. Soon, perhaps this weekend, I will get the SUs
thoroughly cleaned up and rebalanced. Sometime before July, I might even
try to hunt up a set of points for it and maybe tend to the odd bushing
here and there in the suspension. I've also got to make sure I've got
tires and wheels for autocross (I'm still hoping to find those @#!*&%
Minilite lug nuts that I know are lurking about somewhere), and perhaps
I'll try to get to a local event as a tuneup/reacquaintance before the
VTR National in July.
Of course, if I win the lottery before the end of June, it's off to
England to see if I can't hunt up a LeMans-style fibreglass bonnet, or
perhaps someone's secret stash of a complete set of alloy panels,
and.... Or, I could at least try to touch up the rust on the boot lid!
--Andy
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* Andrew Mace e-mail: amace@unix2.nysed.gov *
* *
* Mrs Irrelevant: Oh, is it a jet? *
* Man: Well, no... It's not so much of a jet, it's more your, er, *
* Triumph Herald engine with wings. *
* -- The Cut-price Airline Sketch, Monty Python's Flying Circus *
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