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Prepping for the First Start


King+Sons

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Looking for insight and advice as we try to start the engine on our 1971 2002 for the first time. We don’t know the history of the car (here's what we do know) nor why someone else abandoned it mid-project. We’ve enjoyed the researching so far (many FAQ searches) and the gathering of parts, all while having lots of fun (see our project car website link in the blog description). Now to put fuel to spark, and see what we’ve got engine-wise.

 

Current status:
- Mechanical #1: The engine turns by hand; we’ve changed the oil and adjusted the valves.
- Mechanical #2: Still sorting out what’s original and what’s not. This (Photo 1 below) is a later head, correct?
- Electrical // ignition: New plugs, wires, points, condenser, rotor and cap installed.
- Electrical // ignition #2: We have not touched anything around the coil. Any insights into what we’re seeing here? (Photo 2 below)
- Electrical // battery: We just got one; thanks to Mike Self for suggesting (via FAQ) a Group 26R from Wal-Mart.
- Electrical // charging: Old alternator was toast (had it tested) and we have a used loaner from a friend. But the drive belt is off (see below), so this first start (and maybe short run) will be battery-only.
- Electrical // starter: We connected the battery and the starter does engage, yay. The oil got sloshed around with no ignition stuff connected.
- Fuel // tank: The gas tank is out of the car. (But it does look clean, thankfully.)
- Fuel // carburetor: Just dump a bit of fuel down this carb? Help! (Photo 3 below)
- Fuel // delivery: New parts on hand, but not yet installed: fuel hose, fuel line, fuel filter.
- Cooling // radiator: Removed and just got rebuilt. (If the car starts, we can run it for one minute without any cooling system, correct?)
- Cooling // engine block: Drained and flushed.
- Cooling // water pump and thermostat: Removed and will get replaced.
- Cooling // heater core: No idea. But, we were thrilled to see that the heater fan works when we connected the battery.
- Cooling // hoses: Some are off; all will get replaced. What’s up with this hose under the intake manifold that we found plugged with a spark plug?! (Photo 4 below)

thanks,
Eric

head.jpg

coil.jpg

carb.jpg

hose.jpg

6 Comments


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Cool project!

 

The coil and relay wiring looks okay to me from here (tho I guess I could go out and see if I have that unused terminal on the relay aft of the coil).

 

If it were me, I think(!) I'd install the cooling system and belt, and a fuel tank. Tho I guess you could get away with a gas can with a line dunked in it. and hopefully without catching anything important on fire.

 

And so, keep a fire extinguisher handy!

 

Yeah you can run the car for a minute without the cooling system in place.

 

Also I believe that a hose clamp is absent aft of the fuel pump. That can possibly allow an air leak and minimize suction at the tank.

 

Cheers,

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Judging from the bare wire sticking out of the brake booster hose going to the manifold in your carb pic, you might have a vacuum leak that would thwart you plans to test start the engine.  You can just plug that manifold port if the hose is bad to run a test start

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So the “mystery coolant hose” is actually from the absent air pump, and the proper way to plug it (to prevent vacuum leaks) is at its source in the exhaust manifold. (Thanks for that note, Mike.)

 

@halboyles: My 5-cylinder Audi days are over, but what a cool car it was! A 1987 Audi 5000 Turbo Quattro Avant, 5 speed, black on black; great in snow, massive visual presence, and heated seats both front and rear (the ultimate skiwagen). But alas, it was slow (10v 5-cylinder instead of the later 20v) and it had numerous electrical gremlins. It looked cool and sporty but drove big and slow.

 

audi5000.jpg

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We're not getting spark to the coil and will next do the "direct connection" thing just to try for our first spark. But, as a follow-up to the wiring photo above, here's a close up of the ignition relay--which has something wrong with it (or is mis-wired, most likely) because it clicks whenever the battery negative terminal is connected or disconnected.

2_ignition_relay.jpg

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Update: We got the wiring sorted (many thanks to The Hack Mechanic!) after reviewing different wiring diagrams. This comment had the winning diagram, and here's our conclusion:

ignition_relay.jpg

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