Well, what can I say? That was a very successful day all round. My thanks go to Dave Gibbons for all his help (although he is to blame for this aberration to my normal lifestyle!!). We removed the old plugs, checked for spark to make sure the mag was still working ok & we had oil pressure, fitted new plugs, filled the tank with the methanol that Dave Raper had very kindly included in the deal & hey presto, it ran!! Well, it did after a few false starts, although the amount it rocked on the jack stand was alarming, so we will probably change the design of that somewhat. However, after the initial start, it began to run on just what we were squirting into the intake & eventually we discovered it wasn't pumping fuel which we eventually traced to the feed pipe from the tank being clogged with crap! Once we'd blown through all the lines, it began to run properly, job done! There was an issue with the idle being too fast, which we traced to the cable needing adjustment & few little tweaks to the throttle system, but that was all really.
Next task was to actually drive it!! After a considerable effort, we managed to push it all the way up Dave's yard, due to seriously binding brakes & then had more false starts until we put a lot more fuel in & then it was time for my first drive, not only of this car but a real proper dragster!! Due to the location & my inexperience, I daren't attempt a full throttle launch, so a few bunny-hops were the order of the day, but it ran, drove, had gears & best of all, stopped!! Whooo hoo!! Time for lunch & then another run, more of the same except that at the end, there was no throttle response! It seems a bolt had dropped off the linkage under the floor! Still, we had achieved what we set out to do & could be satisfied that with a couple of tweaks we could run it as is!!
We now have a small list of things to do, as well as the mods to make entry & exit easier for the larger gentleman who will be driving!! Once again my thanks go to Dave Gibbons for the facilites & oportunity to do this, I don't think my neighbours would be quite so happy as the cows, sheep & goats near Dave's. Also, I must thank Dave Raper for being such a great guy to deal with, not only did he accept my offer for the car, he went out of his way to help, checking over the trailer that came with the car to make sure it was serviceable, & then painting it to make it presentable & not only including all the spares, equipment & books & documents, but throwing in a 25l drum of methanol & a gallon of nitro!! As he said "well, you'll want to fire it up, won't you?"! Nice one Dave. My thanks also to Mike Tomlin & Simon Williams (previous owners) who have contributed info & pics, much appreciated guys & I hope to see you at a track next year with the car. If anyone knows how to get in touch with Dave Miller, I would dearly like to make contact with him, if only to show him his creation is still alive & well.
There are 3 videos that I posted on my FB page, I've tried several times to upload or copy to here, without success, sorry guys.