A milestone was reached in the E-type’s restoration journey today. We decided to try to get the engine started. Without seeing or hearing her run, there would have been concerns over mounting costs going forwards.

To help with today’s task, Paul Reybould (Lead mechanic from the Black Country Living Museum), came to apply his considerable knowledge of all things classic.

Previously, we had installed new plugs, leads, distributor cap, rotor arm etc, in order to give us the best chance of success.

First, we added a few squirts of oil into each cylinder, then turned the engine over (ignition off), until we could see the oil pressure rise up on the gauge. Then, we replaced the plugs, removed the air filter box and set up a bottle fuel supply. Paul again worked his magic to achieve a stronger spark by cleaning and adjusting the points and we were ready!

For video clips of what happened see below…..