More Bits

Here we go then, some more bits to play with:

... Oil cooler kit - comprising cooler, pipework, oil thermostat and tak off plate. On the left is the braided clutch hose.

I also picked up the handbrake cable... and fitted it:

I had also taken my gearbox yoke down to get my propshaft made up. However, fortune would have it that Andy happened to have a propshaft of the exact length made up and sitting in the stores - it just needs a bit of cleaning up as it's been gathering dust for a while:

Off on hols for a week now so they'll have to wait!

Off to GD on Friday

Spoke to Andy at GD today. Firstly he says not to worry about the clearance between the spark plug boots and the headers - it'll be fine (so that's good). Secondly my Oil Cooler kit is in. So I've arranged to go down on Friday morning and pick it up, together with some other bits. I also need to drop off my gearbox yoke to get the propshaft made up. Which reminds me I need to measure up first!

Whilst I'm there on Friday I'll place the order for the body and sort out some queries I have regarding that. The plan at the minute is to get the body in the latter half of November - if there is a build slot available?

So that means I have to get all the chassis / engine work completed by the start of November in order to build a rolling trestle for the body. So that means an engine start in the next couple of months! It's not critical to start the engine at this stage - it's just a temptation that I can't resist!

Exhaust - Part 1

Fiddled around with the exhausts this morning for a short while. Fitted the centre balance box on its bobbins:

I then used the centre box and the headers to line up and fit the 90 degree bends to the link pipes. The joints were made with RTV silicone and an exhaust clamp. The next step will be to fit the link pipes and bends between the headers and the balance box - I'll have to remove the balance box for this.

Plugs and Overflow

Spent some time looking the spark plug boot / header problem - still not convinced that I can get away with doing nothing. The leads and boots are rated at 600F but I'm not comfortable with them being so close together:

Eventually I decided that it was time to do something constructive so I fitted the header tank expansion overflow piping:

Header Tank & More Hoses

More progress on the cooling system. I've now fitted the Header Tank and secured all the hoses with stainless hose clamps:
The header tank was fitted the top engine bay brace with two M6 rivet nuts and bolts. These do not take a great deal of load as the tank rests on the cross brace and is effectively held in place by the hoses.

Having fitted the headers it has become clear that another problem has surfaced. The spark plug boots under the outer two pipes on both sides are only about 10mm away from the pipes. This may be too close for comfort and may mean that I need to wrap the headers (this would also help with the oil cooler pipework which will also run close to the headers) - Looks like another question for Andy at GD.

Headers

Thought it was about time I did something so next job on the list was to fit the exhaust headers.

Encountered a problem right away - I couldn't get them into position??? eventually I discovered that I had to remove the rocker covers in order to get them into place!

So the next step was to lay a small bead of RTV silicone on the header face of the gasket around the ports and bolt holes. I then placed the gasket onto the header, fitted the bolts and tightened up. Easier said than done as there is little room to get a spanner in so it is a bit of a pain only being able to tighten the bolt one flat at a time... but job done in the end.

Repeat for the other side and all done:

Whilst I was in the area - I changed the PCV hose for a length of my new red PSH hose:

Next comes the rest of the exhaust!

Hoses

Got home today to find a package waiting - silicone hoses from PSH , and very nice they are too.

So nice I had to see what they looked like...... so I mocked them up! Now I can drill for the header tank fixings and then fit the hoses permanently.

Radiator

Strange one this.... but I spent more time trying to fit the Chinese puzzle of a radiator than I did the engine! In the end I had to "adjust" the top brackets... then it all went together nicely. Then I spent a couple of hours painting it - I don't know what they paint radiators with but it falls off as soon as you look at it! So after a couple of hours of trying to fit it, it looked a bit the worse for wear. Anyways, job done in the end:I also re-fitted the tremec shifter in the forward position. Bit of a pain scraping off the old silicone gasket though. New RTV silicone bead - 6 bolts - another job done:As I was on a roll this weekend I even filled the diff with the oil I've had since January!!

Exhaust system next. Hmmm.......

Engine in !!!!!!!!!!

Good day today. Lifted the engine and gearbox from its pallet and moved it to the back of the garage. Pushed the chassis outside and then back in again to get everything lined up. Then, inch by inch, in it went:

I had originally fixed the engine mounts to the block - however clearance is so tight that I had to take them off and fit them again once the engine was more or less in place.

Once the gearbox is into the transmission tunnel I put a jack under the end of the gearbox so I could start to level things out as the engine and box moved further in.

All in all it took about 45 minutes to get the engine in place. Then it was time to mark out and drill the gearbox mounting plate. Once this was trial fitted it was then removed and sprayed with VHT paint. Whilst the paint was drying I refitted the engine bay braces. I needed to jack up against the lower front chassis member in order to flex the top of the chassis out so I could fit the braces.

I also had to unbolt the ignition lead guides as they were fouling the chassis at the back - I need to do some adjustments on these. The finished gearbox bracket was re-fitted and all the mountings torqued up - Job Done!

Time for a beer - or several!!

P.S. There is plenty of room to swap out the clutch slave bracket:

Engine in .... T -1

We were supposed to be away this weekend but there's been a last minute change of plan - weather played a big factor. So........... looks like it's time to bite the bullet! I'm confident I can change the slave bracket in-situ so in goes the engine this weekend.

Rigged everything up and done a trial lift to check the angle of dangle...... seems OK:

So tomorrow I need to shift the engine to the back of the garage, get the chassis into the right place, remove the two engine bay braces and drop it in. I'm sure it won't be that simple?

One critical point is the top bell-housing bolt. Most GD builds omit this bolt when using an SBC and Repower bell-housing as the bolt can foul the chassis top rail. So I can either chance it, remove it or grind the head down a few mm and replace it? Something to think over tonight.

I have already removed the gear shifter to give more clearance and also as I'll probably reverse it to the forward position to avoid having to crank the gear lever too much. Again this may not be possible due to the proximity of one of the top horizontal members on the transmission tunnel.

Final Clutch Adjustment

The gearbox was removed from the engine for the (hopefully) last time and the length of the ball spigot was fine tuned and the whole lot re-assembled:

Looking for something to do I thought I'd fit the gearbox speedo bung. The gearbox comes supplied with a rubber bung in the mechanical speedo output. As I will be using the electrical speedo output I need to fit the proper bung:
This comprises of an alloy bung, a rubber o-ring, a clamp and a clamping bolt. Didn't take long to fit and the end-result is pretty neat:
Hmmmmm need something else to do now?

Murphy's Law

I am now the proud owner of a replacement set of Rocker Covers, a gearbox bung and a set of engine mounts (but no bolts!!)

However, Murphy's law has struck again as it has been confirmed that my clutch slave bracket appears to be one of a dodgy batch supplied by Repower. Only problem is that Repower are on summer shutdown for a couple of weeks so I'll have to wait for a replacement!

I might do a bit of measuring and see if it will be possible to install the engine and box and swap out the clutch slave bracket in-situ??

The engine and box are now together but the box is still on the hoist as I have not torqued the bolts up as I'm only 99% convinced that the ball spigot is adjusted to the right length.
So looks like I'll be scratching around again for a short while!

More Clutch Bother!!

Right then - got the replacement ball spigot - (on the left)
- fitted the bellhousing only and adjusted the ball spigot length until the clutch fork was in the right position.

Put everything back together and...... bugger!!!!

The domed nut on the end of the slave rod won't fit in the recess on the clutch fork!

Looks to me like the clutch slave bracket should be bent back towards the gearbox more than it is?

Looks like I'll be phoning Jez again!!

Still Waiting..........

...... for the final engine / gearbox bits & pices. I should get the adjustable spigot ball tomorrow so I should be able to fit the clutch/bellhousing/gearbox to the engine this weekend.

The other bit's a pieces are apparently still in a container on its way from the good ol' US of A. Looks like the engine won't be going in this weekend then!

I've now got a revotec electronic fan controller, stainless hose clips, header gaskets and bolts, RTV silicone and my silicone water hoses are being manufactured at this moment. So add to this the exhaust system currently under the bench then there will be plenty to do as soon as I can get the engine in.