[SEL] Great engine day

[Vivas1993 at aol.com]

G'day folks,
 Monday was a great day for me !  I finally took delivery of an engine that I 
have been wanting for a very long time. The new toy is an 8hp R&T Austral :-)
 My engine buddy, Leo & I met Ron & Donna, who hauled the engine from Cal. to 
Va. around 11:30 Monday morning.  After the unloading the engine from their 
trailer to Leo's rollback, and the usual engine talk, Ron & Donna were off to 
PA. and we took the Austral to Leo's place.
 Once we looked the Austral over for a while, seeing things that needed to be 
repaired or replaced, we belted the engine up to Leo's JD tractor to spin it 
over for a while. A couple of valves needed adjusting and the timing valve was 
stuck & way out of time.
 The fuel trap was removed & cleaned, a new gasket was made for the air valve 
case, along with a few more things needing attention.   Once all these items 
were taken care of, we decided to try to start it. The fuel tank is in bad 
shape, so we just poued the kero. in the fuel trap. We don't have a starting 
lamp, so we heated the hotbulb with a couple of propane torches.   With the old JD 
turning the engine over, we finally got some smoke coming out of the muffler. 
After a little more heat & pouring kero., it was running on it's own, after 
who knows how long !!!
 There are still several parts that need work or replacing, but it sure runs 
nice ;o)
 To borrow a line from a famous fellow -  Life Is Good !!!!
 Dwight Vivas
 Matoaca, VA.