While waiting for the ignition key to come back I started getting the car ready to run. I checked the choke, air, and oil filters. I expected an oil-bath air filter but it is more like what you would find on a lawnmower. The oil filter (orange can on the right) just trickles a stream of oil though the filter. Not very efficient but very authentic.

I removed the distributor cap and checked the points. Like everything else on the car the distributor looks fine. I dressed the points a little to remove any corrosion. I also had to clean some dried grease off the lobes and re-lubed it.

There was a good 1/4″ of rust and crud in the bottom of the sediment bowl on the fuel pump. The fuel tank seemed solid and was full of really, really nasty 7-year-old gas but there is rust somewhere. I should probably drop the tank at some point and get it cleaned up and epoxy-coated.

Time for a battery! The ONLY 6-volt battery at Advance Auto fit perfectly. Sometimes things really work out well!

And just to be thorough I pulled the spark plugs and cleaned them. Then I put some oil in each cylinder and cranked the engine though with a wrench a few times. Everything looks good!

I put my kids around the car to look for smoke and hooked up the battery. That went well so we turned the ignition on and looked for smoke again. Still looking good! I grounded the coil, put my battery charger/booster on the battery, then cranked the engine until the oil pressure went up. Time for the moment of truth! I hooked up the coil wire and the engine fired right up!

Click here for a short movie (1.38MB) of the first run and some excitement.

Now I just have to get the wheels back on it, bolt everything back together, and try to drive it!