327 - Firing Up Our Fuel Injected 327 - Strike One

Strike One!  It didn't start.  Ty & Bonnie T., Dennis & Annette K. and Dewayne & Jane J. joined Gerri & I for the first attempt to start the 327 Corvette.  This is one of many video's Gerri took throughout the day but it gives you a general idea of how things went.  The video is about 3 minutes long so if you're on a slow connection you may want to pass.

After lots of trial and error we finally concluded that lack of fuel was the issue and we believe it may boil down to this.  There were two versions of the drive cable and housing for the high pressure fuel pump.  There was a long version and a short version.  The difference between the two is about a half inch.  Below is a picture of our set and it's mismatched.  The housing is long and the cable is short.  We believe that when it's installed the cable end to the high pressure pump is not engaged.  The engine cranks but the fuel pump doesn't.  Thanks Ty for noodling that one.  I am not sure how long it would have taken me to figure it out.  I will order a proper set today.

A more disturbing issue exists though.  During the prefiring preparations we ran the oil pump to make sure the engine was well lubricated.  We found an oil leak and it appears to be coming from this oil galley plug (double click on the photo for a good look).  This plug, when installed properly, requires sealant and 20 ft lbs of torque.  If this is the source of the oil leak it will require removal of the head and that will require the removal of many other components.  If you know how to tighten this plug without removing the head please be sure to let us know.  I am not happy about this.  More to follow.

The fuel injection unit is now back on the bench.  While we wait for the new drive cable and housing I am sure we will be exploring and learning more about how this unit works.  I will say the education we are receiving is a definite plus.

Thanks to Dennis, Dewayne and Ty for all your help.  I am sure these guys would agree that when it did run it really did sound awesome!

327 - Throttle Body, Exhaust Pipes and 1 FI Engine

We examined the throttle body on our 327 and only found a couple issues.  In this photo you can see a gasket that's too small for the butterfly to operate properly.  The butterfly valve hung up on this lip.  A couple swipes with an exacto knife and the butterfly valve works smooth as silk.

Our first Period Correct item arrived yesterday.  We received a new set of stainless steel side exhaust and they look great.  They are still being fit to the chassis in these pictures.  We will have them fully installed by Saturday.

They even came with stainless steel exhaust tips.

The fuel injection unit has been reinstalled and it's ready to be tested.  That's an oil pressure gauge you see above the bell housing.

Oil has been put in the engine and the oil filter.  On Saturday we will manually spin the oil pump for a few minutes then hopefully we will be able to hot wire the coil and light this bad boy up.  Should be fun.  Ty will be here to help extinguish any fires.

The next update will include a short video of our first attempt to start the motor.  Stay tuned!