So there have been multiple days of failure in terms of getting the engine to finally start.

Day 25

So Day 25 saw me attempting to get the engine to start for the first time. I have gone over everything and the first few attempts weren’t showing any substantial oil pressure on the temporary oil gauge.

One of the major issues that was happening was that I started to smell burning rubber.

The starter would begin to smoke at every use. At first it looked like the plastic covering the wire from the solenoid was the issue but it was really awful.

I had taken some breaks that day since I wasn’t making and progress and finally realized when looking at a photo I’d taken that I had installed the starter incorrectly. I was trying to make sure all the wiring was done and everything was right but I failed to realize that I had installed the starter the wrong way. While it would still engage the flywheel, and would still turn crank the right direction, it was wrong.

Even in the correct position the engine would not start but I did start to see some oil pressure and fuel in the filter finally.

Starting fluid in the carbs did not help.

I ended up having my son take a look at the setup and he basically told me he sees a ton of failed starters that are supposedly remanufactured or new throughout a given month. He also thought that it sounded strained, and though I had been keeping the battery charged, it was from 2013 and he said it probably wouldn’t hurt to get another battery and starter.

Day 26

It took a few days to sort out but I got another starter and bought a brand new battery.

I turned it over several times and was finally getting serious oil pressure increases, enough to finally trigger the idiot light to go out.

However, I started to see some oil leaks.

The barbed outlet at the fuel pump is leaking. I could have sworn I used the properly thread sealant on this but apparently something is wrong here. That’ll have to be redone, and of course this’ll mean having to remove the muffler since there is no way to get at this properly with a wrench.

At least I know the fuel pump is definitely working and directing the oil out to the filter and back in. I’m seeing some oil drips at the temporary oil pressure gauge I have on it too so oil is making it to the main galleries.

I’m now getting substantial fuel at the filter instead of the trickle I’d previously seen during earlier attempts.

I’m not getting any bang yet which leads me to believe it has something to do with the coil (which was brand new and barely has any run time on it) or the new distributor.

I’m getting there.

Soon.

I’ll go over it all again later tonight or tomorrow.