TR2/3/3A Finally started 17 year old rebuilt motor!

I posted earlier about our 17 year old rebuilt, never started motor for our 59 TR 3. It would just barely turn over with a new fresh battery. We did all the suggestions recommended here on this site and after 3 days of turning engine over with Marvel Mystery oil, cleaning all electrical contacts, warming engine and oil it still would just barely turn over and not try to start. So as a last resort I had the owner use the hand crank along with the battery and we got it to turnover fast enough to start. We let it run about 10 minutes at 2000 to 2500 rpm and had to stop it to fix a water leak. Trying to restart we had to use the hand crank again. After another 5 minutes we lost our electrical connection to the coil and it stopped. This time it started without the hand crank! It actually ran quite well with a temp of 185 deg F but an oil pressure of 100 lbs. I don't know if the gauge is correct but if it is, is 100 lbs oil pressure going to cause any problems? Next time we will try another gauge and check the pressure. All in all a successful day in the garage. Always nice to hear the engine run for the first time! Have a good day!

John

Right on, and yes get a new gauge and plumb it in. I have 2 old gauges that read high. I believe when the oil expands that little brass deal inside that after a while it gets easier and they read high, but I am not sure, yes get a new gauge.

Congrats...always exciting starting a new motor for the first time!

100 psi is a lot for a warm motor, but it is adjustable from the outside of the filter head. As Steve said, best to verify the actual pressure before making any adjustments. You may find it is actually much lower than 100.

When's the test drive?

Also replace the oil with fresh oil, of a weight suitable to your climate. Heavy oil in a fresh engine can overwhelm the relief valve and cause the pressure to go high before the oil warms up.

High pressure is not necessarily an immediate problem, but does increase the chances of failures like leaks at the oil filter, or breaking the oil pump drive.