It's rarely that I write a so "hot of the press" blog post as this one. It's Friday evening and I've just come in from the barn. All in all I'm pretty damn happy.
First things first, I wanted to get the engine warmed up before I tried anything (with the engine heater, standard issue in Norway). To do this I needed water in the block. So I had to bolt the thermostat housing back on (without the stat for the time being) connect up the top hose, flush the system a little and fill it up. It even seems to be water tight which is a bonus.
Now I needed a battery (or three) so I fetched the one out of the old Opel, which should have been delivered to the scrappy by now, but we havn't quite got round to that yet. Connected it up, plug all the wires that I had disturbed back in, and turn the key. A faint light, some where deep under the "dash" came on. When I pulled out the wire to the oil pressure switch it went out. OK the bulbs fallen out the holder and has dissapeared into the back of beyond but I can see it and that's what matters.
I turned the key one more click and, hey presto, the starter moter spun into life and the engine turned. My joy was short lived though as the battery wasn't up to much and died before there was any sign of oil pressure. All in all, the old girl needed a helping hand, which I fetched in the form of the Land Rover and a set of jump leads.
It took a while and I was almost starting to lose hope when a little splash of oil came out the feed hole to the rocker. Peering through the hole where the oil pressure light should be I couldn't see a light either. Not quite able to believe my eyes I had to watch the oil pressure light go out a couple more times before I was convinced!
So, long story short (and you've just read all that tripe) the starter works and it's got oil pressure. As a congratulatory gesture I installed the very organised push rods and bolted opn the rocker shaft.
Now the valves also go up and down.
It was difficult not to keep going, but it's Friday evening, I've had a couple of home brews and I 've promised the Neighbours sons that I won't try to start it until they're present on sunday afternoon. So no rush and I think it's best to have a clear head for the next bits...