Was able to spend some of the holiday getting the freshened up B20/M41 in the car. Got the engine bay looking much spiffier as well with a rattle can paint job and lots of elbow grease.

First turn of the key yielded nothing. Pretty disappointing. Moved the ignition wire on the aluminum starter from the 15a terminal the 50 terminal which got it cranking but not firing. My buddy jogged the distributor a bit on the third attempt and it fired right up. So good to hear it start and run smoothly after committing a substantial amount of time and money to it. Adjusted the idle speed and timing to get to about ~2,300 RPM and let it run for 25 minutes while putting all the tools away to break in. No leaks, no dash lights, and it runs cooler than the B18 ever did. Still a ways from being road worthy (clutch system still needs sorting, as does the wiring).

Of course I've got more questions, though getting it to start is a huge confidence boost.


1) This is a fuel injection head. I apparently forgot that I needed to block off the port for the coolant temperature sensor. It's currently plugged with an ill-fitting bolt with lots of teflon tape. Looks like a fine thread . . . maybe metric as I'm guessing OEM is a Bosch sensor. Does anyone happen to know the thread size?
2) Even with the transmission in neutral and clutch hydraulics totally empty, the output flange spins slowly when the engine is running. Applying pressure to the output flange with a prybar will stop it fairly easily. Anything to be concerned about?