1963 Etype FHC – Engine First Start

It is always an exciting milestone when you get to start your newly rebuilt engine for the first time. It can also be a nervous time, as you never really know what is going to happen. The first start of the engine in my 63 FHC restoration occurred recently. It went reasonably well, although not without a few minor issues.

Having a succesful first start begins with attention to detail long before the start attempt occurs. One fortunate aspect of an older engine like this one is that the neccesary subsytems that are required are reasonably available to pre-testing or at least pre-inspection. Probably the most important part would be the spark ignition system. I was careful to double check that the spark plug wires were connected in the correct “firing order”. You can do a basic test of the coil by manually opening the breaker points and checking for a spark from the center lead of the coil. You can set the ignition timing statically, which usually gets it close enough to allow the engine to start.

With its electric fuel pump, you can pressurize the fuel system prior to starting the car. As was my case, you might find a few of the “banjo fittings” to be leaking. You can also check to make sure your float valves are seating, by looking into the carb openings and checking for pooling of fuel. My carbs were rebuilt by the renowned Joe Curto. I didn’t touch a thing on these carbs and as we will see the car started right up.

The third triad of having an operational engine i.e. fuel, spark, and compression, is a given on a rebuilt engine, although if there is any doubt, you can do a compression check before you attempt a full start. Actually a leak down check is probably the better bet, as it does not require cranking the engine. This may sound to be a little redundant but on the recent rebuild of my Porsche Cayman engine, a pre-start compression check identified an intake valve that was not seating properly.

Speaking of cranking the engine, initially mine did not want to crank. The starter motor was trying but it could not rotate the engine. This was basically due to the fact that my engine builder, the renowned Dick Maury, assembles all the bearing surfaces with assembly lube. This is a very thick oil that stays in place and protects the bearing surfaces during initial startup. It has the side effect of generating maximum friction forces in the engine. By adding a jumper cable from my F150 to the existing battery, the engine would rotate, although very slowly.

You might ask about pre-lubing the engine. Dick and I are both of the opinion that a proper engine build using assembly lube can withstand the very modest bearing loads that come with cranking an engine at one or two hundred rpm. These old school starters do not crank very fast. As we will see, I established oil pressure pretty quickly.

Another area not vital to the first start but important was filling the engine with coolant and checking for leaks. I always start my coolant fill as straight distilled water. There is no use in having a bunch of radiator fluid all over the floor, as invarably there will be leaks. I use a simple radiator mounted hand pump to pressurize the system and check for leaks. I found half a dozen leaks. All were repaired without much effort.

So I had triple checked that the engine had oil in it and was ready to go. I hooked up my manual starter switch and I also hooked up my inductive timing light, which gives you a comforting flash to indicate that the coil is firing. I clicked the starter switch. “Ruh ruh ruh” as the starter grudgingly turned over the stiff engine. Suddenly it coughed into life! Woo hoo! My first start was short lived, as I immediately noticed liquid under the engine. I shut it down and reviewed what had happened. Basically oil was coming out of the horizontal canister on the side of the engine that houses the oil filter. I had a quick call with Dick, where we quickly established that the gasket for the oil filter was leaking. I got that resolved and was ready for my next attempt. BTW, Dick said that by the time oil gets to the oil filter, it has already reached all the important bearings so in effect my short start had pre-lubed the engine.

At my next start attempt, the engine happily fired right up. This startup is documented in the video below. Pretty cool and pretty exciting. I still have “shake down” and “break-in” ahead of me but it was very gratifying to have the engine start-up under my belt. A big milestone in my restoration!!!