Your pics look good. This rebuilt engine was not carelessly stored. There’s some rusty discolouration on a few cam lobes but I expect they’ll clean up. Shiny cylinder walls good though you should also perceive a hatch from a fresh honing. Your startup procedure is good. Assembly lube is fairly stable stuff so you’ll be ok. With a new oil pump, clean oil galleries and desludged crank the critical bearing surfaces in a rebuilt engine get lubed pretty fast when you first spin it over with the plugs out. Next thing you need to do is a compression test.
Thanks Nick. It turns pretty easily now with one hand. My ratchet handle is quite long at almost 2 ft. Still relative to the first “budge” I am happy. More importantly, a starter will not have any problem turning this over. I just need to get one.
I did observe the cross hatches on the cylinder walls such that I can see them. It’s why I said I’ll get a borescope so I can actually see with some fidelity. I don’t know what the compression is but I found it amusing to watch each sparkplug pop up as I hand cranked the engine (they’re just sitting on their hole). So I have some confidence the compression will be good. So now I’ll count those flywheel teeth and check the timing and valve lash, etc. BTW, the brownish coloring on the cam lobes and elsewhere is mostly gasket cement, some is old oil varnish like on the bearing caps. It wipes right off the lobes.
Turning the engine over successfully is a big relief as you all can tell from my posts. There are enough things on the car that appear to be sabotage, theft or just simple carelessness that I am checking everything.
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Great news. And progress like this gives you grins and motivation. Congratulations. 
Amen Brother! One more thing checked off.
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Hard to tell from the photos(could just be the angle), but the intake cam appears to be slightly retarded, which would lower your compression figures.
Hey Lee, thx. I do not yet know how to check or set the cams. This is my first XK engine other than driving them. Can you say what you are looking at? I know I have to check the entire setup, I just am getting to that.
It’s all in the E Type Workshop manual: I’ve got a grotty old one, you can have. Send me your snail mail address in a PM.
Paul, I’ve already sent you my address in a PM. You didn’t get it?
Do you by chance have the original tool kit? There might be a cam tool in there. It looks like this. You just set it over the cam end and try to stick the tang into the notch on the end of the cam. You can get close by eyeballing it, but it’s easy to be out by 5 degrees which is unacceptable. Also if the engine was assembled correctly the dist rotor would be pointed at cylinder 6 tower, assuming you had a distributor.
Thx Erica. I’ve seen that tool. I don’t have it but figured I can make it? I do not have any tools that came with the car. One of the many MIAs. On the distributor, one did come with the car, I think the 4088D which is not original for the S1 3.8. Still it should work. I understand the rotors points to Tower 6 when the engine has Cylinder 6 at TDC plus 10° advance. Right?
On the cams there is a slot on the timing gear end, these should be equidistant along the plane of the camcover surfaces. I.e. when looking down onto the cam shaft the slot should be in line with the centreline of the cam, not rotated to either side. Hope this makes sense?
It’s a fairly precise, and relatively inexpensive, tool. Just order one from the regulars. SNG etc
Your time and efforts are better spent elsewhere.
To check visually both cams have single notches, and both notches should be centered, and the distributor rotor pointing at number 6 If you can’t seem to get the two notches centered at the same time, then you know your cams are out of time. Your one photo appears to show the notch close to center. You can rotate the engine until they both are. Although since you thought you were seeing the plugs jump, my guess is you know the cams are probably ok.
Hi Scot…the notches on the ends of the cams should both be exactly at 12o/clock at the same time as number 6 piston is at its tdc on its compression stroke…then the pointer should be adjusted to line up with tdc on the crank pulley…the rotor on the dizzy should then be pointing towards the plug lead that goes to number 6…Steve…
So what Lee observed was that on my Pic 9 above, the same pic as Bob re-posted, the alignment slot on the intake cam appears rotated counterclockwise relative to the bearing centerline? That would be retarded then. As he said. Makes sense to me. Thx Robin
I know, I know. I’m such a spendthrift. I try to make everything. I’m convinced though, I put it on my purchase list. Yes the plugs, jut sitting in their hole, either fall over or pop right out. It is how I tell if I am close to TDC on No. 6, then I look in and wiggle it a smidgeon. I also need a pointer for the crank damper pulley. 6+6=12. Easy to remember. Thx Steve.
I don’t have a rotor as yet, so I didn’t try to match the rotor to the #6 tower position, but I did get the engine on #6 cylinder compression and take a some of pics of the cam position. It appears to be off a bit, being retarded on both the intake and the exhaust. I know these marks are not the best, but it gives some idea. As both cams appear retarded, albeit not to the same degree, I am probably not exactly at TDC. It is hard to do that as the crankshaft has quite a bit of stiction and when it lets go it jumps in rotation. I’d try putting it in gear and bumping the car, but it is on dollies.
I also now think I have a leak in the oil sump. Looks like a welded repair right in the middle of the pan. I’ve cleaned and marked that now, so I’ll know exactly what is leaking by tomorrow.Uploading: IMG_20201115_145808380.jpg…
It is irritating when I get logged off right in the middle of an upload. It was at 98% and logs me off. Probably my pathetic server connection here in these mountains. Anyway here are the 4 pics of the cam position.
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Take the spark plugs out.
Exhaust is advanced in photo, intake retarded…but this is just relative to each other. Until you get the #6 at exact TDC, we won’t know much else at this point. Make sure you keep the tension in the chains all on the exhaust side as you get to TDC.
The cams are not far enough out to cause a problem. I wouldn’t fuss with them if you have more important problems to fix. If the chains are new, it’s not bad having them slightly advanced because as the chains stretch the cams will retard a little. Check the chain tension and cams after 1000 miles.
Bill that’s my take on it. Certainly not a tooth off.
Chain stretch?