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It Starts, and Runs, and Runs on!!!

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kindofblue

kindofblue

Jedi Warrior
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Some very exciting news today. After 14 years in a barn, and 3 months of slowly replacing parts and making minor adjusments, the 250 started and achieved idle.
I had my wife helping me. First I was turning it over, and she was spraying the engine starter into the air cleaner. She was afraid of the goop coming out when it would have a minor backfire. We switched, and I provided a constant stream of starter fluid, it finally caught after several fits and starts. Each time it caught, I smoothed out and ran better. I guess we had three periods of about a minute or so of idle.

The third time we switched. I was in the car, watching the revs stabilize at 2000 rpms, she was spraying the fluid. When I was satified it had rumbled enough, I turned the ignition off. It kept running! I pulled the key out and it was still going, I was off the gas at this point. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nonod.gif Just as I was hopping out to pull the negative battery cable, it sputtered to a stop. I think it wanted to drive off the jackstands. Robust little car, so happy to be woken up.

Enough fun for the day, I didn't want it to get to hot. Not oddd noises. The longer it ran, the quieter and smoother it seemed to get.

Imagine that, 14 years in a barn. Within three months of working on it, it runs. I put in a battery, new cables, new plugs, gapped the points, checked the carb floats, hooked up the electronic fuel pump, and provided a "feeding tube" with some fuel. Thats it. Everything else was ready to work. Next time, I may only need a week to get as far.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif
 
Congrats!

These things are tanks. When I bought my 3 out of a barn in 84 it had sat for 9 years and I put a new coil on it and had it running in about 2 hours. Of course the front hub fell off the first time I drove it to school but that's another story....

keep up the good work, make it safe, and enjoy it!
 
When I started the GT6 it had lived for 10 years under a tarp. It was my wife's first car and she REALLY wanted it back. After dragging the car home, I told her that if we couldn't get the engine started I wasn't spending another day on it. We manually filled the float bowls, put in new plugs, new oil, set the points, checked the timing and after a few minutes cranking on a donor battery it fired up. This was both exciting and hysterical. We'd forgotten to look at the exhaust and discovered as soon as the engine caught that there was no muffler. The old pipes rumbled to life and sprayed out a 10 foot long, 6 foot wide rooster tail of soot and rust all over the garage. We switched off the '6 and laughed about our success.

Congrats on getting the 250 started. Go easy on that starter fluid. It's not good for you or for the rings.
 
got my 1966 TR4A out of a barn in Rhode Island three years ago. Had not been of the road for 25 years, bought it sight unseen for $500. Figured I could part it out if it turned out to be a dog. Getting it to run was the easy part! Turned out the car was fairly intact and driveable, the body work is what is taking up most of my time now. The thrill I got when I finally got it running is something I still remember!!! How did you coax your wife into getting involved? My kids want to help, but the wife never!!!

"live with passion!"
 
[ QUOTE ]
How did you coax your wife into getting involved? My kids want to help, but the wife never!!!

"live with passion!"

[/ QUOTE ]

I think my wife is very understanding. As long as I take an interest in helping strip wallpaper around the house, and which paint colors we are using, she is supportive of my projects. I asked her if she would like to help, I told her what the days activity was and she was excited.

She said the car shook a lot when it ran. Of course it did, the timing isn't perfect yet. Of course, she isn't exactly into getting her hands greasy. I showed her how to change the plug wires on the 95 Impreza. She said she could see why we enjoy it so much, but its not for her. Especially the dirty hands. And boy is the 250 greasy.
 
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