Take a block of metal, put something flammable and explosive inside it, then ignite that something. While this is certainly a reasonable description of an engine, it is also not too far off that of a grenade. I’m sure if you’ve set off started several engines yourself before, the scariness goes away. But when it’s your first time, and you put all the tubes and wires in yourself, and not too long ago you didn’t know what a clutch plate looks like, it’s quite nerve wracking.
(That’s not our engine, BTW…)
The nervousness probably began when I decided to figure out the pins for the starter motor. So I put it on my desk in my study, connected up what looked right, and tapped it to the battery. Click. The solenoid when on and off, but no spinning. This was by design, I wanted to make sure I got that part right before committing to the big cable. So next it was to wire up that big copper lug. Ready, steady, go – flip sakes, that thing is a beast. It jumped about 10cm into the air, and came crashing back down onto my desk. If your finger was in the wrong place it would be chewed to bits. And that’s JUST THE STARTER MOTOR!
So the previous post stuff all happened, bringing us to Tuesday night. Engine start night. There are so many hose clamps that I was pretty sure we’d forget to tighten one of them. Start attempt #1:
What happened? The engine is all set to go, the necessary switches are flipped and I’m about to hit the start button, when I decide to glance at the fuel tank area. The spreading pool of flammable fluid is evidence that the predicted loose hose-clamp is on a fuel line. Sucky.
So a 10 minute stoppage is called, while the fuel is mopped up and the air is cleared. Then it’s back to setting the switches and pushing “start”. Or rather, the tiny red push-button switch.
There were definite signs of life, the branch was getting warm and you could smell half-burnt fuel. But no success. The coil connectors seemed loose, so they were re-attached and a third attempt made.
SUCCESS! What an awesome feeling, and what a cool sound. This is going to be a fun car to drive. Of course, we’re still a little way from there yet, but a big step closer.
We were worried that the engine did not idle – it’s computer controlled, so it really should. Then we realised that it seemed to be getting no air through the throttle, because it was completely (as in almost sealed) shut. A quick call to the guru (Andre) confirmed this, and he recommended taking off the vacuum hose from the air manifold to the cam cover. You can see this in the next video – it just lets through enough air for the ECU to do its job. With this done, the car started like a dream, and idled perfectly.
The next day I decided to get a video of the idle, as well as record the sound using a proper microphone (rather than the silly little thing in the camera). I managed to then overlay the new soundtrack on the video, to bring you what she really sounds like:
You will need a set of decent speakers for this, since most of the sound is really in the bass range.
A huge thank you to Andre, who has been a massive help the whole time. I’m pretty sure his regular assistance and guidance played a major role in our Rocam not ending up like the engine in the first video.
Thanks for watching.
B