Starting the Engine for Storage
It was important to me to get the engine started. I got the engine last August; however, I got a call about a possible new job, literally as I was rolling the engine up the driveway on the cart. I put it in the shed, but wasn't happy about her home or the shape she was in. I haven't had lots of time, but I pushed to make time to get the engine in good enough shape and in a location she could rest for awhile. I did get her running today. I ran the oil tubing, hooked up a fabulous old fuel pump with a glass bowl, used the starter that came loose with the engine when I got it, and hooked up the battery from my PV system (solarpower.org). The idea was to get oil running through her, get her warmed up, and then be assured that she was OK to set for awhile. It is good that I removed the head, as there was some rust in one of the cylinders. Not much, but it would have spread. I honed it out and it looked fine. You can see a picture of Romeo, the 330 American with the bad frame through the workshop window:
These old engines are so simple. To start her up, I just had to run a wire to the positive side of the coil and hook it up to positive on the battery, the negative side of the coil to the distributor wire, the positive battery terminal to the big connection on the starter, and the negative side of the battery to the engine, and there we go. I have to quit arcing those screwdrivers of mine on starters. :)
I knew I had to rotate the distributor back from TDC, but I ended up turning it further than I thought:
I got a Holley carburetor as a core, but it seemed to work fine. One winter evening, perhaps I'll rebuild the Holley. It doesn't give the HP that the WCD does on Ruby, but it looks nice on the engine. The Carter is quite a bit more complicated than the Holley.
I believe that the rear seal may be gone. There is a lot of oil coming out the back and flung up by the torque converter's ring gear.
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