Went to the Kit car show at Exeter and picked up the final bits and pieces for the build including a hood set [British weather : ( ]
December 11th
Removed bottom end of engine from car to replace piston rings and bearings.
December 20th
Fitted new main and big end bearings.
December 29th
Fitted new piston rings and assembled bottom end ready to replace in the car. Working on brackets for the engine mounts to raise the engine up about 1".
January 9th
Fitted bottom end of engine in car and new bracket to fit under engine mounts.
January 17th
Fitted head and modified the exhaust manifold and pipes owing to the increase in height of the engine.
January 19th
Fitted the ancillaries onto the engine and started the car. A bit smokey and noisy on start up but it soon settled down.
January 20th - 22nd
Cut out the boot covers from 3mm ply. Cut leather cloth to fit the boot covers and glued in place. Fitted s/steel boot linings to form the boot.
January 27th
Unhappy with a small ticking noise from the engine so dismantled engine to find cause.
All components checked, found 1 link on the timing chain very stiff and slightly damaged.
January 28th
Replaced timing chain and guide, head gasket and bolts. Started engine again with no problems.
February 5th - 6th
Fitted carpets in the boot, screwed hinges onto boot lid and added a lock to finish it off.
February 7th
Checked windscreen and pillars position with hood fitting in mind, ended up with 68" from top of screen frame to back tube not the 66" as per video. Placed hood over the top to check, found the screen had to go back a bit for the hood to fit although the hood will probably stretch a bit when warm.
February 10th
Fitted packing on top of the dash tube to support the bonnet and fixed the mini demister vents to this. Cut the flexi pipe to fit between the heater and the vents and finished off by using the plastic vent covers from the Sierra to cover vent holes on the bonnet.
