Idle Hands . . .

Still waiting on the uprights - let's see if they come through and they arrive at the factory tomorrow.

Gearbox mount before and after surgery

In the meantime, the gearbox mount needed cutting down, so I did that. Fairly straightforward - just need to cut off all the spurious bits on the sides, as it is mounted from below via the holes you can see. Quite a neat job - shame we won't see it!

Still figuring out how to locate the holes for the mount - nothing is predrilled - looks like I will have to put the engine and gearbox in, mark where the holes go, remove the engine and gearbox (perhaps just a little bit), drill the holes, then refit the engine and gearbox. Sounds like a bit of a faff. Am wondering about making some slots in the frame in the approximate position the mount so I can just drop it straight in.

Manifold before and after attack with a Dremel

I also took a look at the exhaust manifold. Looks like it was welded by a monkey, or a two year-old, or both. Decided to clean up the inside for better gas flow. That must add More Power!!!!

As I have done the gearbox mount and cleaned the manifold, I decided to get the engine ready for installation - removed the old manifold and heat shields and fitted the new one - the nuts (which should be replaced each time you fit the manifold) should be torqued to 23 lb.ft - 31 N.m.

Switched the oxygen sensor over also.








Apparently, there is a little nub on the gearbox that needs removing, otherwise it won't fit, so "off with his head"!

Also removed the MAF sensor, and fixed the blanking plate, which needed trimming. The screws were also too long, so I cut them down after threading them into an M4 die to recapture the thread afterwards. The rest of the engine blanking etc will be done once it is installed.  I had a trial play with the engine hoist and load leveler to ensure I could suspend the engine from the block to leave enough room to get it in. As everybody who has built one of these has no doubt experienced, it will be tight!

Had a lot of snake problems today. Again, one was coming into the garage as I was walking out - was able to shoo it out - it looked remarkably familiar. It went into the same hiding place as before. After a while I thought it made a run for it and I found it hiding under a bushy cactus - however I went back to its hiding place under the house and it was still there! This means there are at least two of them (three counting the one that was taken away the other day). Here is the security guard getting rid of him. He had a fight with the other one and it got away and hid under the house again.