Pighead - thanks for the info. One quick question - should I be able to see oil coming from the rockerarms if I'm using an electric drill to spin the pump, or would that only happen when the engine is running do you think? I will look into a mechanical gauge too.
I was able to get it running and even moving under its own power this afternoon - a nice milestone. I didn't make it around the block as the oil pressure is still possibly an issue. I'm hoping I didn't run it too long in my excitement at just hearing (and smelling) internal combustion. I think there was either some twigs, mouse poop, mouse remnant or some combo of all on the header/exhaust manifold because as soon as it started up and got hot, it smoked & smelled like BBQ - not good BBQ though!
I ran it just long enough to do a quick initial timing adjustment - but I've got a ways to go I think. I didn't want to run it any longer w/out settling the oil pressure issue for the good. BTW - Pighead's static timing method worked great at getting it to fire up and run long enough to run around and start shooting w/the timing light and rotating the distributor.
Oil pressure - once again, I was able to get the gauge to register just under 1/2 by turning the key to the "ON" position and using an electric drill down the dizzy hole to turn the pump. When I started the engine today, the gauge hardly moved - if at all. As I said in my previous post, I took A LOT of time making sure the dizzy was seated in the oil pump gear before and during the starting procedure. I could still have missed though and I'm planning to do some more checks and measuring next, before running the engine again. I'm also wondering if the issue might be electrical as there are definitely some electrical issues that need to be sorted out. I plan to check that too.
I noticed that the Temp gauge did not budge either.
Can anyone tell me what I might expect the voltage on a multimeter to read if I look into the volts coming from the oil pressure sender and comparing them to what the gauge should read? Is this a rational way to check the electrical function of the gauge? Also, is there possibly an electrically related issue that is NOT present when I'm turning the oil pump w/a drill vs when the engine is running? There was a light that stayed ON on the dash gauge when the engine was running - I think it was the Charge Warning Light. I did not look into this further yet.
Some good, some bad, but all in all I was glad to hear it run this afternoon. I had planned to take a slew of photos and even a video of the first start up, but alas, I did not. It was cold as heck today and I was moving forward at a decent clip because we're supposed to get 3'-5' of snow between tonight and Friday. We'll see if that actually happens! I will definitely take some soon though as that's always my favorite part of reading other people's threads. . .
Just one more to add tonight of the newly recovered front seat - which already has dog prints on it! The rear was redone too. Certainly one of the bigger line items on my budget list, but I think worthwhile as the guy did a great job and it's one of the main "contact" points between passengers and the cruiser. It was still cheaper than buying new foam and covers from SOR & doing it myself!
by myself, I found it to be more of a Shakespearean Comedy! get some refreshments and have a couple buddies come over and help manhandle the dang thang! It can be done by yourself(if you have masochistic tendencies)
