Time for another update and a milestone has been reached!!

Fuel filler hoses are now in place and so is the fuel gauge sender unit.

Over the last couple of days, I have now managed to finish the fuel system by connecting the tank to the pump and capping off the extra outlet I had on the new tank. So that side of things is now complete.

I've sussed out how the inlet manifold connects to the water pump and ordered the correct "S* shaped link hose. This was really foxing me for some reason, until I spoke with the engine builder who sent me link to the correct item, which is a massive £2.75! Incredible as that includes delivery.

The ignition side of things was also a bit of a mystery, so a lot of time has been sent researching and fortunately I have the correct distributor for the year of car, so just need a coil and a feed from the ignition switch side.

But, the really big news is the electrics. I decided to "dry build" the electrics by remounting the switches back onto the old race dashboard which was labelled. Luckily, I had taken loads of photos when I stripped the car, so this was a relatively easy job. I was really fearful of connecting the battery back up but unbelievably, after 2 years and having had all of the complex injection, telemetry and ECU wiring hacked out of the loom, everything worked!! Yep, fan, indicators, lights, horn, wipers etc, they all work fine.

I'm really pleased with that as the remaining loom is really nicely built and in great condition.

A big update!

The engine fired up for the first time today

Did the final bit of wiring for the ignition, fixed a couple of minor fuel leaks, (my fault, regulator connections were not done properly) and then thought, I wonder what would happen if I pressed the start button. Well to my surprise it fired up instantly! It cut out soon after as I hadn't at that point connected a permanent positive to the coil but even so, what a magical moment.

Unfortunately, the battery is past its best, so a new one is on order. I started it a few times and it sounds very smooth and very sweet. Need to run the cam in before anything else now but happy days!

Excellent news that carb looks a beast

Looks like the weber 500? I put one of those on an MGB that I converted to V8 about 20 years ago. Made a huge improvement in almost every respect. Better Idle, pickup, economy and so easy to set up. The only thing I missed about the Holley 390 it replaced was the kick in the backside when the secondaries eventually decided to open.

It is indeed the Weber 500. They certainly seem to have a good following and it's a very neat installation.

Very impressive. I like the cooling cut outs on the wings.