John,
<... I don't think I have ANY water circulation at all...I am running a thermostat. Maybe I should remove it...>
I think definitely you should remove it.  Then make sure your cooling system is vented as thoroughly as you are able to.

<... After each short 15 second run I added maybe a pint of water...>
Sounds like you're not vented.  If you were vented, there would be no air in the system and you couldn't add water unless some had come out ...>

<... Anyway, the oil came up to about 180, but the water temp never moved off the peg, and the rad and pipes never even got warm after any run....>
Is the OIL circulating OK?  Are the oil coolers getting hot?

<... I have a slight drip from the lower water pump fixture which goes to the rad. If this is the suction end, then I'm probably sucking air into the system....>
It's a closed system.  You can't be sucking anything IN unless you're leaking a similar amount of something OUT.  The tiny leak you describe is trivial at this juncture.  Vent the system and get rid of the thermostat.  Those two things will definitely change what's happening.

<... I have a cheap mechanical gauge hooked up at the back (because my westach reads 90psi when the engine's not running and goes off scale when it starts). The guy watching oil pressure says that the cheap gauge went full circle, past 100 and hit the zero stop coming the other way...>
Get another cheap electrical gauge and a cheap sender for about $20 and replace the Westach system.  Then when things are a little more stable, check the Westach gauge and sender one at a time to check which is bad.

John Slade wrote:

> Just occured to me: you don't use oil injection, do you?
No, Finn. I'm mixing 2 stroke oil 100:1

Thanks to all those who gave me input on starting. I put in a new set of
plugs and she blew some smoke, then started right up. Looks like the main
problem was preservative gunk in the engine which took a while to blow out.
I can now start the engine on demand and run it as long as I want to. So...
we're on to step 2. :)

I ran the engine for a total of 8 minutes spread over 5 or 6 runs this
morning. It runs on computer B. If I switch to A it dies immediately. I plan
to study the EC2 manual in depth with respect to programming, but I think I
have a few mechanical issues to deal with as well.

Cooling.
I don't think I have ANY water circulation at all. After each short 15
second run I added maybe a pint of water. In a later longer run of about 90
seconds I may have overheated the turbo. Perhaps it seized and this is
what's causing my breathing problem below. Anyway, the oil came up to about
180, but the water temp never moved off the peg, and the rad and pipes never
even got warm after any run. I have a slight drip from the lower water pump
fixture which goes to the rad. If this is the suction end, then I'm probably
sucking air into the system. I am running a thermostat. Maybe I should
remove it.

Breathing.
The engine seems starved of air. I hear a suction kinda noise on throttle
change and the manifold pressure is hovering around 20 inches of hg. (starts
at 30). If I leave the throttle alone the engine will cycle up and down
between say 2000 and 3000 by itself. It sounds sweet and happy, but
obviously something's not right here.

Oil Pressure.
I have a cheap mechanical gauge hooked up at the back (because my westach
reads 90psi when the engine's not running and goes off scale when it
starts). The guy watching oil pressure says that the cheap gauge went full
circle, past 100 and hit the zero stop coming the other way. The cheap gauge
has air in the line, but that wouldnt cause this behavior would it?. What
oil pressure should I be reading.