Tune up check and spheres...

Last week I've synchronized the carbs and adjusted the mixtures. The points were in synch so I did not touch anything there. The engine is running very smoothly and the car drives well. 

The choke cable is broken; this tag helps a little for a cold start.

Yesterday I started the car to get the spheres out for check/recharge/rebuild. One front sphere was dead, the other had only 100 psi in it. The rear were over 50% of the pressure so we just recharged them. The welded main accumulator lost some pressure but it is still very good. David Cossit-Levy and I had a hard time to open a front sphere. It was probably crossed threaded and the beginning of the thread was damaged. We spent a total of 3 hrs to do everything and we broke 2 chain Wise-grips in the process. We've rebuilt the beginning of the threads with files and a Dremell but I think that is the last time this sphere can be rebuilt; it will be a tough one to reopen.  

I'll be installing the spheres today.

Drove the car...

I have reattached the steering column to the dash to be able to drive the car.

I had to make wires to bypass the electrical system. The ignition switch is bad and when I hard wire the coils, the starter turns. I have unplugged the ignition switch and I can start the car by connecting my jumper and use the starter relay I've installed. It could be the harness but when the ignition switch is unplug things seem to be normal. A new ignition switch is needed before attempting to troubleshoot the system.

The car drives well. The brakes work and the BW trainy is working well also. The right front sphere is blown and there are some ball joints noises.

The third carburetor is not synchronized with the others; Once done, I'll check the mixtures.

The fuel pump and coils were not getting any electrical current.

The blue wire on the right feeds the fuel pump and coils.

Made a jumper to start the car

Later on the ignition switch gave me trouble; I will have to hot wire the ignition and fuel pump to get the car running. 

This harness fell apart just by touching it.

Finally got the car started. This car had a tenant in the exhaust...

Mice love the SM exhaust and the console.

I did the tension on both secondary chains.

The cover on the A bank is a pain to remove due to the cables going to the BW transmission.

The B bank should be easy...

... actually not; a damaged thread prevented me to torque to specs. Someone added a washer to move the nut to a better spot on the threads. 

I have re-threaded the stud and added 2 new copper washers. I've used some aviation sealer to seal the threads.

The top washer was in bad shape; I've replaced it.

For future reference: The chain tension torque is 14.4 ft/lbs; the same for the bolts holding the tensioner. The cover nuts were torqued at 17 ft/lbs, which is a lot. It should be around 9 or 10 ft/lbs.

The engine is running nicely before even checking timing and carburetor synchronization. Looking at the spark plugs, the carburetors will need a little care.

  

Assessing...

Ti=his SM did not run for 2 years. The electric current is not going to the ignition coils and to the fuel pump. 

Due to a dirty ignition switch, the starter was not getting enough  current to be activated; a classic symptom on the SM. I have installed a relay with a button which fixed the problem. A very convenient feature to tune the car and do a compression test.

1, 2, 3 on the top and 6, 5, 4 on the bottom. Some cylinders did not fire evenly while the car was running.

A first compression test yield:

1 = 85 psi

2 = 110 psi

3 = 65 psi 

4 = 115 psi

5 = 110 psi

6 = 110 psi

Cylinder 3 has more than 25% difference with the best cylinder.

I've suspected the rings to be gummed up (Oil very dirty). I've put some WD40 in each cylinder and let it sit for a while. The trick worked; a second test yield:

1 = 110 psi

2 = 115 psi

3 = 100 psi

4 = 125 psi

5 = 120 psi

6 = 120 psi