First start did not go so good.

[Xavier]

I frequent this site many times but this is my first post.

After over a year of building I got my first start for my 351w, an engine that has been sitting in my frame for over a year. The first start was very rough, it took a great deal of time to get it turned over, probably 5 to 10 minutes of engaging the starter and then laying off until it finally turned over. When it did start it sounded very throaty, deep and week - not hi reving at all, like I can stop the motor by hand if I wanted to. Finally it idled by itself in 10 minutes, I was happy so I did not pay attention to what eventually led me to even more concerns than happiness. Its totally different than the first starts I have heard, however. Idle was very slow and extremely loud (louder than what I have heard from other Cobras).

In addition, the headers began to glow orange up to the cylinder head. I mean it was just idling for 5 to 10 minutes. The radiator was very hot, hot to the touch and the cool flex hoses on both sides of the radiator were extremely hot. I was not running my fan because I thought it would not be necessary for the little bit of time it was sitting there. That and I needed to recharge that battery after all of the hard starts...The water temp gauge (mechanical) was very low at this time 140 degrees or so, but the headers were getting an orange glow (very low, but noticable) and I turned it off. The engine, all of it, was getting very, very hot. Side pipes turning gold near the header flange.

When it cooled off (and it took a long time) I checked my radiator fluid again, and noticed that all of my fluid was pulled from the over flow and my radiator still appeared to be 1" below the upper hose, this would explain the cooling problem. Although I checked before, obviously a great deal of air was trapped within the radiator much more than I ever experienced before. Maybe because of the angle? The manifold had been filled with radiator fluid of the same mixture and burpped, this was confirmed again when I opened the plug on the manifold.

So I started the engine again, and again it took it forever to turn over just to the point where you think that $250 starter is going to bite the dust. The engine only ran this time for about 5 minutes to see if I got the cooling problem firgured out, this time without the cap on the radiator just to see if it is flowing or not and it is difficult to tell. At this time I can tell my left side pipe has a rhythmic back fire to it, I go to rev the engine from the carb and the engine dies. As it dies a very slite puff of gas fume comes out of my carb and makes a pop noise, very slite but noticeable enough that you think I have more problems than answers...Again I put my hand on the water neck, and maybe its paranoia or just not being used to a metal readiator hose, but man was it hot to the touch. The water neck has no by-pass hose, which I see in this forum some say not to do, some say it does not matter.

So I am looking to see if I can get help from the experts to trouble shoot each problem one-by-one to see if I can resolve this myself. I think the two unrelated problems are the starting and the cooling.

This is what I can tell you;

I am running 91 octane on an engine with a 10.5:1 compression. An Edelbrock carb (I will find the definite CFM later) with 9psi of fuel going to it. Oil is all filled up (10w40) with no leaks of any sort with an oil cooler. I have no idea what degree thermostat is in the engine and the engine builder I don't think knows either - but it is there. All starts was with the air filter off just so I can see if the choke is functioning and it was getting gas. I have an MSD6AL with Accel 52202 distributor and MSD II coil. Radiator fluid was 25% to 75% water with red-line water wetter. Starter is a Powermaster rated at 13:1 max compression ratio.

Also, as rediculous as this may sound - is there a certain start up procedure that works better to get it started? I have the 140gph fuel pump on a manual switch, regulated. Turn it on first, do not pump the gas and then ignition? I just want to make sure I am not doing something as foolish as flooding the carb.

Thanks for any replys.