Reading, UK, 31st March 2009, 20:30: A Duke is reborn!

Dan (turning ignition key): Oh my God! What the hell was that noise? Johnson: That was the engine starting. Dan: Oh. I see.

Doctor Johnson came round this evening so we could work on the engine. Turned out to be the most productive five hours since The Duke was shipped down to my drive. Of course, there was no logical reason to believe that two intelligent men with the right tools and the right parts couldn’t get an engine to run in a couple of hours. Nevertheless, when the engine roared into life I couldn’t quite understand what was happening.

As I’ve blogged many times in the past, the big holdup on the project was getting my hands on the two adapter plates which attach the distributor and carburettor to the engine block. Those arrived on my desk at work last week, along with various other items I needed to get the engine up and running. It actually came as quite a shock when I looked through all the items piled in the shed and realised I had enough to give it a go.

After we got all the bits installed we turned it over and not a lot happened. Half an hour later, after a fish and chip supper and a couple of beers we tried again. Bingo! It makes a lovely noise too. Not the weak, irregular rattle I’d expected, but a good solid hum. Firing well and idling nicely when warmed up a bit. Could I be any happier?

Here’s the technical part anyway. Land Rover owners will notice I’ve spent a lot of money at Britpart. I know it’s cheap crap and I know it’ll probably all have to go in the end, but I didn’t want to spend a grand on an unknown engine!

Coil and 24v voltage dropper installed on the rocker cover.

Distributor adapter plate bolted onto the engine block at last!

Painting in the timing marks on the pulley. Excellent advice from Fulltilt on the EMLRA forums, helped us massively when using the timing strobe

The ignition system all wired up and ready to go.

We were very paranoid about the timing. So many horror stories about badly setup systems and the damage an idiot can do! In the end it turned out to be dead easy. Just follow the procedure in the book; stay calm; check, check then check again!

The illusive and expensive carb adapter plate. Fits perfectly in its new home.

The carburettor itself. A cheapo Britpart job which probably won’t do wonders for my emissions or MPG, but it was worth the £50 just to hear the engine run once! I haven’t got all of the ancillary parts I need yet. There’s a nasty leak in my heater hose, the timing advance suction hose is missing and there are various other bits that are held together with sellotape. Plenty of fun left to be had. Not forgetting that I have to tune it too!

We were so happy to have it running that we went mad and lifted the tub off.

Bottomless! So much work to do on the chassis. Expect to see much blogging on the subject during April. Grinding, welding, wiring sweating and crying are all on my list of things to do!

Many thanks to Doctor Johnson. Fellow adventurer and All Round Hero of the Modern Age!