Since Russell kindly helped me put the engine and box back in and strengthen the chassis up I have been able to get on and do a few jobs to start getting things back on track. It's been good to get stuff that has been on the floor or on the bench for months back on to the car. I had made the firewall and partly installed the brake lines before putting the engine back so it seemed logical to finish that task first. It didn't go brilliantly, mainly thanks to lack of parts - notably a couple of bleed nipples. One in the front had been tightened up so much that it was badly deformed and was never going to seal. I hadn't inspected it - it was just one of those jobs that somehow got missed - a good example of why testing is so important. The one on the rear nearside was missing altogether, I must have removed it to get a replacement and then forgotten all about it - doh.
Never mind, I thought, I will get on with the clutch instead, sadly that didn't go too well either. I got the slave cylinder mounted and then went to make a rigid pipe from the master down to a flexi hose that then goes in to the slave, only to find the fittings I had were not long enough for the deeply recessed port in the master cylinder - something else I now have to wait for.
Plan c was to fit some of the things that already been test fitted in the build - radiator, hoses, horns, exhaust headers - oh hang on a minute - no bloody exhaust paint - back to the shops. Got back from the shops then could not find the box of unc bolts that I had purchased. I had enough in my reserve stash to do one side but not the other, so that was another dead end brought about by my atrocious, disorganised planning.
I had put the air filters on temporarily to see how they would fit -the answer is they don't. I will need to get some flexible pipe and make up a couple of brackets, the bonus is it will move them away from the heat of the engine and allow them to suck in cooler, denser air.
The flip front will now come back off and I will paint the off side exhaust header ready for fitting when I can get some more bolts. I shall also make some small brackets so I can fix things like brake pipes down better, they are very strict in the BIVA test about such things. Most things like cables and pipes have to be clipped every 300mm, I am making sure I am doing them every 200-250mm so there is no problem come test time.
It shouldn't be long now before I have a proper rolling chassis with service brakes, handbrake, steering, suspension all sorted and the engine and box ready to go. The next big challenge will be the exhaust, I have no idea whatsoever how to tackle that. I will need to sort that though before I move on to the bodywork side of things. I have now had this car for a little over a year and have to admit to being a bit disappointed as to how much progress has been made. There are loads of reasons for that, many of which have now been worked out so progress should be somewhat swifter.
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