Chasing down things to the first start, I found a number of little things preventing it.

First, the Neutral Safety Switch is not used for the manual transmission. I did some searching on VMF to find that I just need to connect the two wires and effectively make it always on, or I could have pulled one wire and run the other all the way back to the solenoid. I went with option A.

Then I found after installing the starter, I failed to properly connect the wire. It seems just getting the 18lb starter over my head as I lay on the floor was enough for one day and I never went back. That was like a year and a half ago. So, I connected the wire and the beast was cranking. But not firing.

Looking further, there was no fuel. I checked the pump for vacuum, and it was in spec. I checked the various lines for blockage, and nothing. I then put some vacuum on the fuel line from the tank, and it produced fuel. Good so far. I did the same closer to the carb, and that also produced fuel. Last piece was the banjo joint on the carb. I think the issue was the fitting was not at the correct angle, so it was blocking the flow of fuel into the carb. I corrected that and tested it.. I was surprised to have it fire up, so I missed the video of the first fire from the cranking, but I got it in a little late.

Of course, this also identified a few issues. You can hear the alternator belt needs some tightening. I also found the linkage to be binding a bit, which is why it would not idle down to a reasonable speed. My biggest concern though was the white smoke. I think the oil is also a bit milky, but I am not sure if it is just a first fire up and the film is burning off, or if there is possibly coolant and oil mixing in bad places. That’s why they call it a project.