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Starting a barn find

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eejay56

eejay56

Jedi Warrior
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I'm bringing my 200$ Spitty home tomorrow and have two questions for the experts. The first is the engine is supposed to have been rebuilt shortly before it was parked. Is there any way (short of disassembly) to verify this? What should I look for? The second is what should I do before attempting to start it for the first time? I figure I'll change the oil and gas(if any!), check the plugs, squirt a little oil in the cylinders and adjust the valves. Anything else?
 
eejay56 said:
I'm bringing my 200$ Spitty home tomorrow and have two questions for the experts. The first is the engine is supposed to have been rebuilt shortly before it was parked. Is there any way (short of disassembly) to verify this?
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Not really IMO. You can do some basic verification that the engine is in good shape, like a compression check, looking for wear/looseness in the rockers, etc. But it should be hard to tell a freshly rebuilt engine from one with 30,000 miles on it, IMO.<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:] The second is what should I do before attempting to start it for the first time? I figure I'll change the oil and gas(if any!), check the plugs, squirt a little oil in the cylinders and adjust the valves. Anything else? [/QUOTE]I would leave the plugs out after squirting some oil in the cylinders, disconnect the coil and spin the engine with the starter long enough for the gauge to show pressure. Make sure it's full of coolant and the dashpots have oil. Then put the plugs in, hook the coil up, and start it.
 
Pop the head and pan and take a look.

Gaskets are cheap.
 
True, gaskets are cheap. But short of the rebuilder leaving bolts atop a piston or a screwdriver jammed into the crankshaft, I don't know that even a visual inspection would show all that much.

I'm with Randall. Make sure fluids are where they should be...and fire it up! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
Totally agree. Prep it and try it out - you have the perfect rolling test stand. One thing to maybe think of is tie the fuel pump to a small gas reservoir instead of running out of the tank. In the past, I've rigged up a short piece of tubing from the pump inlet and hooked it to a quart or so of gas - mindful of safety at all times to avoid spills/ignition sources etc.

Randy
 
Yeah, I'd get it running and listen to it.

But one thing: Grab the front crank pully (vibration damper) and push/pull it. It should have not more than about 0.015" of back-and-forth "play" (this is really called "thrust").
If the crank has excess thrust, it could have worn or incorrect thrust washers. Thrust washers are a real weak point in these engines. If they get too worn, they fall out into the pan and crank damage soon occurs.
If you suspect excess thrust, you'll need to drop the oil pan to examine.
 
someone told me to put it in 2 or 3 gear and push the car back and forth a bit to loosen up a stuck motor ,

Not sure if you have even tried to turn yours over yet....
 
While you have the plugs out and are squirting some oil in cylinders, take a cold compression test, might have been broke in. If difficult to start us WD 40, safer than starting fluid and smells better. Remeber to check tranny and diff levels and after starting change brake fluid.
Check grounds to distributor and electric connections to engine. They had it apart, look around for something forgotten. Also, clutch will need bleeding. Good Luck!
 
Hi There Eric,

If your in doubt /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/confused.gif about the engine turning over or whatever:

I would shoot some "MARVEL MYSTERY OIL" into the cylinders.
This stuff is great! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif It loosens up all sorts of "UGLY" stuff that may be in those cylinders.

Let it soak in at least overnight & then continue with a cold pressure test etc etc as others have suggested.

Best Wishes & /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/lol.gif

Russ /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/banana.gif

PS: Don`t forget to change the Oil & Filte shortly after trying the above!
 
or just ATF and let it soak
 
Thanks everybody, It will be a few days before I can try to start it. It appears that the engine is all there but it is "Some Assembly Required"
 
Eric,

When I went to look at my barn find (really an "under a fir tree for years" find) last October, I checked that all the fluids were topped up, put on a borrowed battery, and just turned it over to see if it would even start. Amazingly, it fired right up with only a puff of blue smoke. It had five year old gas in it, so it smelled funny and had a really lumpy idle, but it ran.

The time sink for my car was the hydraulics, and rust holes. I rebuilt the brake master cylinder, and replaced the clutch master and slave cylinders. I had to replace a rear U-joint too. After a bit of a tune-up and some new fluids, the car has run pretty well as a daily commuter for the last couple of months.

It's made me reassess my old perception that Spitfires were delicate, finicky, unreliable sports cars. This little car is pretty tough. My old Mk. 1 always needed fiddling to keep it in top tune, but not this car.

Scott
 
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