No Flight First Start - Well Sort of.
01-21-2008, 02:31 PM
#1
Drifting
Thread Starter
No Flight First Start - Well Sort of.
21 January 08 - First Start
I put gas in the car to prime the fuel system and check for leaks. Switching the ignition on the fuel pump would run for 5 seconds as set on the ECM, but I couldn't get the fuel pump to prime. The fuel pump, at about 2" above the bottom of the tank, was too high to self-prime. So, time to drain the fuel from the tank and move the fuel pump lower.
I fabricated a drop bracket (I'll go back and add another brace later) to bring the bottom of the pump flush with the bottom of the tank. Of course that required new fuel lines to and from the pump. Luckily I still had a few lengths of aluminum fuel line tubing setting on the rack.
Once it was all together I put fuel back in the tank. Then, the pump leaked. I drained the tank again, (did I mention it is a pain to drain the tank to remove the fuel pump?) I had disassembled the pump earlier to rotate the mounting bracket on the motor and in the process had mis-keyed the bottom plate which has one register bushing taller than the plate. After fixing the fuel pump leak and with the pump in it's new lower location the system finally primed up to pressure. The only leak was one fitting at the pressure regulator which needed tightening.
Finally, I took the plunge and hit the key. Cranked but no fire. I gave each injector stack a shot of prime, cracked the throttle a bit more and it fired right up. A quick glance for leaks, then looked inside for oil pressure ... and no oil pressure. Quickly shut it off.
I had primed the oil system a couple of times before installing the engine using my test gauge so I knew the oil pump was ok, but I'd never checked the dash gauge. So, I pulled the distributor, put in the primer drive and turned over the oil pump with the cordless drill. The gauge came right up to pressure. I re-installed the distributor just to make sure it was in all the way down and fired it up again, but still no pressure. I pulled the distributor again and checked the depth to the oil pump drive with the primer, then compared it to the distributor.
Sure enough, the distributor reach is about 3/8" less than the primer. I guess the Hilborn manifold sits higher than a normal manifold, and is one thing I had not checked before. I'm going to have to either find a longer reach dual sync distributor, or most likely see about having mine machined to take an adjustable distributor collar then try it all again.
The motor only ran for probably 60 seconds total with the two starts so I doubt it did any damage. I re-primed the oil pump again while turning the motor over and still get 50 psi. I'm going to need to set the throttle stops up higher, as at idle I needed to hold a little throttle (I removed the return springs from the linkage so I could work it by hand easier). So, one step forward and one step back and it's on to the next problem.
Oh yes, did I mention it sounds pretty mean with a good lope and the distinctive header ring. It's pretty loud running in the garage, and may need a bit of additional muffling put into the side pipes but it's not as loud as open headers so measuring the sound level will have to wait for another day.
-Greg
I put gas in the car to prime the fuel system and check for leaks. Switching the ignition on the fuel pump would run for 5 seconds as set on the ECM, but I couldn't get the fuel pump to prime. The fuel pump, at about 2" above the bottom of the tank, was too high to self-prime. So, time to drain the fuel from the tank and move the fuel pump lower.
I fabricated a drop bracket (I'll go back and add another brace later) to bring the bottom of the pump flush with the bottom of the tank. Of course that required new fuel lines to and from the pump. Luckily I still had a few lengths of aluminum fuel line tubing setting on the rack.
Once it was all together I put fuel back in the tank. Then, the pump leaked. I drained the tank again, (did I mention it is a pain to drain the tank to remove the fuel pump?) I had disassembled the pump earlier to rotate the mounting bracket on the motor and in the process had mis-keyed the bottom plate which has one register bushing taller than the plate. After fixing the fuel pump leak and with the pump in it's new lower location the system finally primed up to pressure. The only leak was one fitting at the pressure regulator which needed tightening.
Finally, I took the plunge and hit the key. Cranked but no fire. I gave each injector stack a shot of prime, cracked the throttle a bit more and it fired right up. A quick glance for leaks, then looked inside for oil pressure ... and no oil pressure. Quickly shut it off.
I had primed the oil system a couple of times before installing the engine using my test gauge so I knew the oil pump was ok, but I'd never checked the dash gauge. So, I pulled the distributor, put in the primer drive and turned over the oil pump with the cordless drill. The gauge came right up to pressure. I re-installed the distributor just to make sure it was in all the way down and fired it up again, but still no pressure. I pulled the distributor again and checked the depth to the oil pump drive with the primer, then compared it to the distributor.
Sure enough, the distributor reach is about 3/8" less than the primer. I guess the Hilborn manifold sits higher than a normal manifold, and is one thing I had not checked before. I'm going to have to either find a longer reach dual sync distributor, or most likely see about having mine machined to take an adjustable distributor collar then try it all again.
The motor only ran for probably 60 seconds total with the two starts so I doubt it did any damage. I re-primed the oil pump again while turning the motor over and still get 50 psi. I'm going to need to set the throttle stops up higher, as at idle I needed to hold a little throttle (I removed the return springs from the linkage so I could work it by hand easier). So, one step forward and one step back and it's on to the next problem.
Oh yes, did I mention it sounds pretty mean with a good lope and the distinctive header ring. It's pretty loud running in the garage, and may need a bit of additional muffling put into the side pipes but it's not as loud as open headers so measuring the sound level will have to wait for another day.
-Greg
01-21-2008, 02:43 PM
#2
Drifting
I'm hoping for you. 60 seconds with no oil pressure is a long time. You might be okay if you used a quality assembly lube and had a good recent prime.
Every fuel system I have modified included one or two petcocks in the bottom of the tank for draining. Additionally, you can drain a little every now and then to check for condensation. I started this after I got a load of water from a gas station.
Did you figure out a way to mold the headlight covers?
Every fuel system I have modified included one or two petcocks in the bottom of the tank for draining. Additionally, you can drain a little every now and then to check for condensation. I started this after I got a load of water from a gas station.
Did you figure out a way to mold the headlight covers?
01-21-2008, 03:16 PM
#3
Drifting
Thread Starter
I don't think it ran any longer than it usually takes to get oil pressure after an oil change. Just long enough to see it was running then look inside to check the gauge.
No, I havn't gotten back to the headlight covers yet.
-g
No, I havn't gotten back to the headlight covers yet.
-g
01-21-2008, 04:15 PM
#4
Race Director
Longer oil pump drive rod maybe? Sounds easier to find or fabricate than a longer distrib.
Doug
Doug
01-21-2008, 04:35 PM
#5
Drifting
Thread Starter
It should be pretty easy to machine the distributor body for an adjustable slip collar. They have distributors with the adjustable collar, but of course mine wasn't made that way.
-g
-g
01-21-2008, 04:48 PM
#6
Drifting
01-21-2008, 06:30 PM
#8
Race Director
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Greg, Glad to hear of and see your progress. Let us see more updated pictures etc. Good luck! 
Dennis
Dennis
