First Start … Success !
This evening we rolled 2136 out of the garage onto the driveway and got her all set for the first start. Have been getting ready for this moment over the past few months with a lot of help from my friend and neighbor Larry. The motor shims went in and motor leveled with no problems, still need to check if the hood fits. Throttle linkage is setup, heat insulation around the brake lines that run near the manifold and temporary choke cable was setup. Coolant system flushed & filled, all electrical connections were verified and 2 1/2 gallons of gas into the tank.
Had my family and some car buddies there, one of which was Steve (aka PANAVIA). A few cranks of the starter got fuel to the carb … and the motor started right up! Steve was checking things over as the engine warmed up … no leaks, funny noises or smoke … he looked like a doctor giving a patient an exam … motor warmed up to 180 deg,
oil pressure around 60 psi … and it sounded great … revs quickly and has a nice lope at idle. The motor had been fully assembled and run in on the dyno and several pulls made, so I knew the motor would be just right … Tom at FE Specialties built me one very nice 302. Did not have a muffler installed, just the head pipe with the tail pipe shoved on and the whole hodgepodge supported with a brick! It was a bit loud but sounds so good!
I was too busy setting things up that I forgot to get some good photos of the car … just one shot in the dark before we rolled the car back into the garage. I'll take some pictures soon to show where things stand now.
Have a few more loose ends to wrap up in the engine room, including checking the hood for clearance. The biggest item will be fitment of the exhaust system and mufflers, then getting the whole setup ceramic coated. After that is wrapping up the clutch slave cylinder, transmission tunnel and seats.
Right after the first start up … no muffler, just pipe !
