John S's Journal

Having only run this engine for a short time after reviving the car, I needed to check compression. The new water pump was waiting for me after our time away on the coast last week so today’s plan was to fill up the cooling system and see if I could get the car to run well enough to check things out further. It was a little hard starting even with the choke on so I enriched the HS4’s and backed off the timing a bit and it settled right down and ran pretty well. Let it idle for quite awhile and watched the temp come up to normal with no leaks so it appears that the cooling system is now in decent shape with the new pump, radiator and hoses. Oil pressure is strong at idle around 165 psi. No strange noises emanating from the engine bay but the exhaust system is another matter.

Got a chance to check compression for the first time and the numbers were pretty decent. 145-160-160-160. The number one cylinder is right at the threshold of a 10% deviation from the others so I’ll have to keep an eye out for that one. I’m going to recheck my valve lash settings again and I may run some SeaFoam through the car at some point. Overall,
I’m pleased with how the car has come out of hibernation.

Switched things around in the battery box. Installed a quick disconnect that I had on the donor car and turned the battery around to accommodate the switch. So much more convenient than lifting the negative cable off every time I stopped working for the day. I like to leave it disconnected when I’m not working on it. Still waiting on a rear brake adjuster that is due in a few days so I hit the back plates with another coat of Rustoleum gloss black paint. Also changed out the old flex hose with a new one.
I need to pull the pedal box, brake and clutch masters off of the donor and see about getting them ready to go in the GT. Virtually brand new as is the slave so they will get transplanted. The damaged bonnet on the donor is coming off which will help with access on that PITA job.