Having started my engine for the first time a few days ago, I've noticed that the inlet manifold must be very slightly porous in 2 places on the top as there is the tiniest leakage of coolant. I've had a very close look at the underneath of the manifold and this area is dry. Although there are a number of ways that these leaks could be fixed, what concerns me is that there may be leaks internally that I cannot see. For instance that coolant is leaking into the intake ports to be ingested by the engine. Or leaking between the manifold water passages into the vacuum passage, and then again being ingested by the engine. Any thoughts??
As for starting my engine [one of the last ones prepared by VSE] I put a bit of oil in each cylinder and then cranked it with the plugs out & the coil disconnected until oil pressure indicated. I noticed that as the oil pressure came up, the engine cranking speed dropped very slightly, and I'm guessing this was the oil pump coming under load? I turned the key with the plugs reinstalled and it fired and caught immediately, and with the carbs at their basic settings it actually idles very smoothly.
ATB
Andy
