John S's Journal

Installed the HS4’s from the wreck as they are a known quantity. All the hard work was yesterday. The manifolds were snugged up and waiting for me to put the carbs on and plumb the fuel lines. I just put the dizzy about where I though it should be, turned the key and it struggled to catch but eventually did. Idle was pretty lumpy so there is more to do there so I got the timing light out and set it for 10* BTDC with the idle still low. Decided to leave it there for now as the water pump sounds like it has marbles in it and there were signs of small leaks.

I have a 3 month old radiator to swap over and probably the water pump as well so I cut the old bottom hose and drained & removed the rad and the thermostat. I’d like to be able to make the swap tomorrow and flush out the cooling system as well as get the carbs dialed in a bit better to see if I can smooth out the engine. Still need to do a compression check but would like to run the engine some more before doing so.

Feels good to breathe some life into the GT after a 34 year hibernation. Still impressed with how unmolested this car is for being almost 50 years old. With the exception of the smog equipment, everything is intact in the engine bay. No wiring bodges anywhere. Looking forward to getting it on the road some day. Exhaust system is disintegrating as there were rust particles flying out of the tailpipe but oil pressure came right up and no smoke anywhere. Starting to make a list for Basil...