Engine Introduction

I have called this introduction, for one very important reason. I completely changed my plans for the engine, as it turns out for the good.

First of all, what have I got here, well, its a 2.25 litre Petrol, 3 main bearing engine, and while there is no guarantee, looking at the serial number looks like the same engine it came out of the factory with, some 59 years ago.

My plan was to get the engine running before even considering what needed to be done. First thing I wanted to do was to do a simple compression test, so bought a fairly cheap compression tester.

While waiting for that to arrive, I thought, lets see if it turns over on the starter motor (which I had recently re-furbished, read about that here). So connected up the battery, with the starter push button, using my new cables I bought when I bought a new wiring loom and lets see what happens.

Well, it worked, engine turned over.

BUT! after I got the compression tester, charged up the battery tried again, and….. the engine wont turn over, its locked up! SHIT! what have I done?

What I was also hoping for was to see oil on the rockers.

So, change of plan, not going to try to start it, decided I will do a complete re-build on the engine. This is going to have a massive impact on my budget and timeline. But given Isobel is highly un-likely to be on the road this year, as I had planned / hoped for, the time will not be too much of an issue, and given the amount of time and money I have spent so far, feels like it would be skimping on something so important.

So, off we go, first thing is to strip the engine down.