After far too long a period not able to work on the car, we attempted to start the engine.
Whilst one of us filled up the fluids (coolant / hydraulic /engine oil) the other finished fitting the air intake and throttle body to the top of the engine. The oil we are using is millers motor sport break-in. We also added 20 litres of fresh super unleaded fuel into the tank. We had drained the old fuel before taking the engine out.
To get the oil pressure up we turned the engine over on the starter motor with the fuel pump disconnected. It took a minute of two for the fuel to flow once reconnected but the engine didn’t fire up properly!
A quick check and we found some of the coil pack plugs were not pushed all the way in, so we only had sparks on a few cylinders. With that corrected we tried again and wow how it roared into life. The light weight flywheel is immediately obvious, letting the engine revs rise really quickly.
We kept the car at a fast idle 2500 revs to bring it up to full temperature, adding more hydraulic fluid to the power steering and coolant as the air bled out of these systems. After about 30 mins of running we were done. No leaks found and only a few minor pieces to refit before heading out on track to complete the running in.
After recurring the front and rear bumpers, under trays and engine covers, we needed to recheck all of the ride height and alignment before driving the car. This actually needed minimal adjustment so didn’t set up back too much time.
We booked a track day at Snetterton to complete the running in of the engine. The aim of the day to do as many miles and possible. On track we limited the engine revs to ~4500rpm for the morning, clocking up over 100 miles around the circuit.
The engine ran fine, so over the lunch break we dropped the running in oil out and switched to our preferred millers nanotech race oil. Upping the Rev limit during each 30 min session in the afternoon we finished with another 80 miles on the clock and getting up towards the 7000rpm red line.
We didn’t time any laps and but the engine felt good and our top speeds were comparable to race conditions so everything seems well. With the race season pretty much over, we won't be running this year, but know there is relatively little stopping us getting out for some racing next season!
