Its alive !

Manifold

Last up today; the exhaust manifold - It went back on with the original Ford metal gasket & cap head bolts from GBS (see later post - problems here with the head seal) :

(note to self: that positive battery terminal is just close enough to the edge of the scuttle that if tightening/loosening it with a spanner its very easy to short circuit the battery through the spanner on the bodywork - I think I need a little rubber trim just there to prevent future issues)

First Start

.... Now there is nothing preventing a check of the engine...

Family audience watching from the driveway;

Fire extinguisher handy;

Attached the +ve battery lead;

Ignition on;

Dash lights up, all the dials sweep across their range and back to zero;

Volts showing 12v, No fuel (perhaps theres not enough in the tank to register);

Check the gearbox is in neutral,

Turned over the engine, and instantly fired into life !

Its a good job I'm partially deaf - nice meaty sound & although I only ran it for a few seconds it sounded reasonably smooth :) in fact - what do I know re smooth -  it sounded LOUD :)

Excellent!

BIG GRIN - bl**dy fantastic!

I haven't wired in the IACV so the car wont tick over without a healthy dose of accelerator. My air  intake butterfly valve shuts off all air intake, the intention being to let the ECU control the IACV for tickover.

No leaks anywhere either. (Update 24 hours later, one minor drip from somewhere on the LP fuel circuit)

I need a plan now to finish parts off; if I fit the silencer & sort out the IACV wiring I can run the engine a little longer (without winding up the neighbourhood) and check the ECU, Clocks etc are all working correctly.

Remaining major jobs for IVA

• Silencer
• Steering line up and tighten ball joints and track rods
• Brake fluid
• Boot area, finish spare wheel carrier, boot carpets & boot cover
• Wheel arches all round
• Dashboard fit
• Seats fit

I really should think about sending off the IVA forms; I need a new VIN plate too - my original had 2012 build year on it and one thing and another delayed me a little into 2013.