I haven't done much since the burglary, many of the tools I need on a day to day basis got taken and I don't have the funds to replace them all in one hit. The biggies from the build point of view were my drill, angle grinder, mig welder and arc welder. I had that arc welder for about 20 years and have built 3 cars with it, it was a damn good piece of kit. Every time I tried to get started I just lost my temper and had to walk away. Today, though I managed to get started on something, just a small thing, I made some brackets for the air horns and welded them to the chassis. I had purchased one of those mega cheap mini inverter welders off ebay, it was only 50 quid and I had heard good things about them. It says it goes up to 250 amps but I reckon they must be Chinese amps cos where I used to use 130 amps on my old welder I need to crank the new one up to an indicated 180-185 to get a good weld on 3mm wall box section. Oh well, it does a pretty good job and I rarely need to go much thicker than that, I did a test piece at 5mm and it coped ok at that so it's good enough for now.
While I was at it I made a few notes of jobs that needed to be done, I decided the best thing was to get the engine and box out. Now it's been tested it needs cleaning and painting, the clutch plate needs fitting, as does the clutch slave cylinder - much easier with the engine out. There are a couple of mods need to be done to the chassis - I need some clearance for the exhaust and a bit more for the starter motor, it's a bit close as it is. I also need to remove the mechanical petrol pump and make up a blanking plate for it as I am going electric. I figure it's handy to have another thing that can be wired in to the security system that can stop it running. The oil pump leaks big time when pressure is up so I need to investigate that while I am at it.
I was a bit apprehensive about getting the engine and box put on my own but it actually went pretty well. I had to jack up the front first and get axle stands under the chassis rails as there was not enough clearance to get the legs of the engine crane under the suspension arms. Once that was done it was a simple matter to lift the engine up and forwards, it was then lowered on to a trolley that I made ages ago so I could move it about. Job's a good un.
I worked up a fair old sweat doing it, life would have been much easier with 2 people but you have to work with what you got. I think I will separate the box and fit the clutch plate first - should be a nice easy job.
clearly another thing I need to do is strip and repaint the rocker covers, they looked great when I did them but Halford's rattle cans are not petrol proof. I will give them a coat of 2 pack clear coat next time - that'll sort it.
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