Mike And Tricia Marshall's Journal

Well, we hadn't done a whole lot since the engine went in. We had family visiting from the UK, and while they are excited about the prospect of the Sprite being back on the road, they are not quite as enthusiastic about us spending every waking minute in the garage with Gloria instead of with them.... so not much progress!! Added to which, Mike started a new job, and we took a vacation (shock, horror, gasp!!) so we put things on a bit of a hiatus for a month or so!.

However, we're right back to it now, and last weekend we finally got the engine running after almost 20 years! BIG moment!!

It wasn't quite as straightforward as we hoped. We wanted to get oil pressure before we started her up, so disconnected the spark plug leads, and turned her over. Turned over great, new starter with the Rivergate kit, good charge on the new battery, no oil pressure:-( Tried several times but not even a flicker on the new Oil/Water Gauge. Searched on MGE for any tips about how long it might take for oil pressure to build, eventually found a post somewhere from way back when that suggested keeping the engine turning over for a lot longer than you might think. So we tried again, and suddenly we have great pressure!!

Now for the start up - reconnected the plugs, and we turned the key. She fired up on the first turnover, and despite the timing not being quite set yet, she sounded great. Here's a link to a very short video we took of the first start - https://vimeo.com/43437905.

Just need to tweek a few things and we'll be able to put the rest of the front together, a bit more carpet gluing and we'll be done (Yeah, right!!!)