V.F.H.---

sounds like yours is among the consensus opinion: i need new needles.

as far as "goosing the pedal a couple times" -- if I do this before cranking it seems to shorten the revolutions before firing from several to 1-or-less.

True or not, I've been told that cold cranking is one of the most harmful activities for an engine, as the oil pressure doesn't build enough to start lubricating the top half of the engine, and the revs aren't there to lubricate the camshaft. It's been stressed to me on more than one occasion that you should do what you can to get an engine to fire up as quick as possible.

As far as the revving during warmup, same idea; I've also been told that idling is not particularly good for camshaft lubrication, which is especially critical in a new build. I'm really just trying to do what I can to maximize chances of success.

Hopefully this pic size hits the spot...



I also plan to post pictures of the process I went through over the last year or so... When I acquired the car it had a fresh paintjob on the outside, but under the hood was a mess. Over the last year I pulled the old engine, cleaned and painted the engine bay, and finally got the new engine in. It was my first time painting any part of a car, but more on that later.