[Spenny_b]

The day ended after Alan and I unhooked the engine from the dyno last night, still the work of a couple of hours, then carefully loading onto the van and tying it down for the drive home. It was a strange feeling on that drive home; (bear with me here) very similar to the day my daughter was born insomuch that the whole week was a massive emotional roller coaster, where on the day Lucy was born, I left the hospital in a state of disbelief and shock - delighted of course - but not quite able to take-in what had just happened. The same last night; elated that we’d got exactly the numbers out of the engine that TK Chris and I had planned for….but….I can’t honestly say that the preceding time up to the point of 6.00 on Friday was “fun". For sure, working with Alan and Dave was great; Alan and I (it turns out) had very similar apprentice training, and he’s the kind of guy where nothing is too much trouble, his diligence and ability is first grade. Dave’s experience and ability in the dyno room is exactly what I was hoping for; unflappable and completely in control - the hospital Matron that you first entrust to hold your new-born. Nice guy as well. Of course, I’ve known Steve for over 20 years, so I know his ability with the laptop!

Dave and I had a chat after we’d finished the runs, and I was kind of comparing the dyno event as my “olympics”….almost 4 years of giving the project everything I’ve got. Learning as much as I can, spending as much time as I can in the garage, every waking minute where I’m not with Lucy or working, I'm thinking about the project, planning, researching, driving about delivering and collecting parts or documenting everything here. Financially it’s also a massive investment, and ultimately it ends on the dyno, where your homework is well-and-truly marked.

By putting an engine on a dyno, the amount of instant validation of your work is incredible…all those pondered moments over the years about whether you’ve done something well enough, or made something strong enough, or timed the cams accurately enough, or used the right mixture of components, or, or, or… It’s almost impossible to list all of those “oh yeah, that worked” thoughts, I don’t think I’ve had them all yet, but one that I hadn’t even considered until the drive home was that there are no engine leaks - the “Engine Sealant” thread in this forum having proven invaluable with the list of various compounds to seal things correctly (thanks Henry, it was your recommendations I followed).

As I type this, I can’t quite believe that my engine, my spannering and countless hours taken to assemble the core engine, have proven absolutely, 100% robust. Nothing fell off, nothing let-go, nothing went bang, nothing leaked (boost, fuel, oil) despite Alans continuous scrutiny whilst running. It sounded so sweet on the dyno, so I couldn’t be happier. I’ve allowed myself a little self-congratulations, and am actually quite proud of myself (hope that doesn’t come across as arrogant or big headed).

I have a copy of all the data logs, although frankly, I’m not interested in loading them this weekend and diagnosing them…mentally I’m shot at the moment, happy just to watch the MotoGP, F1 and Superbikes, unpack the boxes, manoeuvre the engine back into the workshop and do not a lot else….maybe some gardening.

So, just to wrap up the week, Dave will be sending me the dyno graphs on Monday; I’ll post as soon I have them. I *think* I have a couple of the final power runs on video, which I’ll edit and upload to YouTube.

The plan to get a load of recording went south. With all the issues we were fixing, I overlooked things like switching off a couple of the cameras and flattening batteries, as well as forgetting to start/stop recordings and running out of memory card space. But I’ll see what I have.