Air intake gasket & Tappets

Hi

Got back late Wednesday and have spent Thursday and Friday decorating, the living room was first and it looks nice and fresh, dining room and hall next time home.

As always I have been busy getting bits and pieces ordered, some of the parts I have already mentioned in my last blog and these have arrived. 

First a new set of Red HT leads.

I have a set of Magnecor leads on my MX5 which I bought on eBay as a used item for around £50 and were as new but a new set for the Panther would be nearly £100 so I have bought a cheaper set for £30 which are still 8mm silicon and look and feel good quality. I have also ordered a new Distributor cap for £17 and a Rotor at £4.50, there is probably nothing wrong with the ones I have apart from being rather old.

I have also got hold of a Ford clutch alignment tool for £5, a Unipart old new item on eBay.

Two of the bigger items to arrive are the Pacet fan and the VDO gauge.

I bought these from Europaspares and they arrived yesterday and are looking good, unfortunately they won't fit and this is because the sender and warning sensor need to both fit into the tee piece which sticks out right into the fuel inlet for the fuel pump.

Still; not a problem as I have ordered a brass 1/4" male / female elbow to bring it to the side of the engine avoiding the fuel pump. I never asked the price of the sender unit when I phoned in my order; there are a number of different senders in the older catalogue I had but not VDO, I thought it would cost around £30 but got a shock at finding it was £50 especially expensive when you consider the oil gauge was only £35, still needs must.

I will have to get onto Europaspares as there is no wiring diagram with the gauge as promised and without it I would struggle a bit to get it right, and they did promise me one.

The Pacet fan arrived and that looks a very well made and heavy fan, I never realised that Pacet is the only British maker of these fans, every other one Kenlowe etc are made abroad. (Buy British).

Included in the photo are the capillary controller and the tee piece to take the capillary sensor plus wiring loom.

I got started today by fitting the inlet manifold, I have been given a lot of advise in the fitting of this part and have followed the advise closely. I gave all of the surfaces a good clean again making sure there was no paint carried over to the faces, which there was. 

The gasket comes in the flat and needs to be bent to fit, it is of course important to bend it in the right direction so I spent a few minutes on test fitting plus I still had the original and double checked against this. The gasket needs to be bent along the correct line so as to fit into the corners where the heads join onto the block, to do this 2 pieces of wood are put front and back and clamped into position.

then using a straight edge to hold it flat the gasket can be bent and then repeated on the other side.

Test fit the gasket to make sure the angles are correct.

It is important to seal the corners were the gasket sits with silicon both top and bottom, but me being me decided that if you are supposed to seal the corners then why not seal all around.

So I have.

The gasket is put into position then the manifold positioned carefully on top, I had already cleaned all of the bolts and the nuts and gently tightened down evenly before torquing. The inlet manifold has 4 stages of torquing unfortunately my torque wrench starts at 44 Nm before that its basically guesswork so I started where it clicked very easily then added a quarter turn until I got to the fourth stage. The sequence is  7Nm / 11Nm / 18Nm / 23Nm, part of the advice I have been given is to repeat the final torque for three days as the gasket settles into position. Just wish I had spent more money on the torque wrench and got a lower setting one.

Once the inlet manifold was in position I refitted the Distributor, I had made sure that #1 unit was at TDC before fitting the heads, the Distributor was still setup to its original #1 position that I had marked on the cap and it dropped straight in, I had practiced this a number of times to ensure I got it correct. Once clamped down I checked that the oil pump rotated by removing the pump cover and turning the engine.

Once all happy with the fit I got started on the sump pan, I had a lot of carry over from the powder coating on the sump face which had to be cleaned off with the rotary brush which gave it a good clean finish. The face of the block got another good clean as it was now very oily and I needed to silicon seal around the edges where the tabs entered the block. Once I started sealing I decided to carry on and seal the whole gasket, just in case.

The flanges went on and the clips knocked over, I fitted new 6mm stainless bolts and washers and tightened down evenly although in some places the gasket squeezed out a little due to a little over zealousness.

Next was the rockers, these had been all cleaned and were ready to fit straight on, I only tightened partway before slipping in the push rods and positioning them under the rockers, I found that putting them in before the rockers are partially down allows the rods to flop about and out of position. The rockers then tightened down to 63Nm, I then turned the engine to ensure that everything was free and it was nice to see the arms moving up and down.

Once the rockers were tight I then got the book out on setting the valve clearances, I have done this many times on ships main engines and on generator engines which are really quite simple when you get used to it, only just on a much much bigger scale. 

The clearances are 0.014" or 0.35mm for the inlet and 0.016" or 0.40mm for the exhaust.

I have followed the instructions in the Haynes manual and hopefully have set them correctly, I shall check them again tomorrow just to make sure It is right.

Basically; the engine needs to be cold and you follow the sequence of steps laid down in the Haynes manual, when one set is rocking you then adjust the clearance on the corresponding set. Turning the engine each time until they are complete.

Well that's the engine finished, just the mounting brackets, flywheel and clutch to fit then its ready to go in. I have the alloy rocker covers which need modifying to take the vent pipe from the carb but that's another day first I need to get the engine bay cleaned and painted.

see ya
Paul

Distributor & Head torquing

Hi

Well as sure as eggs is eggs is what I said and the phone call half and hour ago which confirmed my cynicism, so I am off tomorrow for a week. Still it will pay for my wire's.

Had a good day up until the call, with the morning out in Tynemouth and a walk over to Saint Mary's island (the tide was out)

Saint Mary's Lighthouse

So much for North East tourism.
I managed to get a little work done yesterday and some more today, yesterday I only had a couple of hours so I concentrated on the Distributor, it was in a bit of a state so out with the rotary wire brush and it came up very nice. I stripped it down as much as I could.

Which just really meant the rotor being removed, the cover plate and clips, there is not much I could do with it, if it works leave it alone. I tried to pull a vacuum by sucking on the hose but I just ain't got the puff, I did check the arm attached to the vacuum device and it moved ok. The other thing I could do was to oil the felt pad to lubricate the bearing.

A good coat of paint and it looks like new, will look into getting the new cap and rotor while away.

Todays work was on the other engine components and also the engine paint job, as I said I was going to look for a touch up paint but decided to get a tin of red hammerite and hand paint the engine again. I gave it a rub down with a scotchpad before painting and it has come out quite good and I have a load of touch up paint left.

The starter motor got the same wire brush treatment as the Distributor and painted with the black chassis paint.

Before

After

Just need to polish the electric connections before fitting, not the best photo, it is in the vise as it is still a little wet.
The alternator came next and cleaned up very well before getting its painting.

Before

After

Again still a little wet.

I attached all of the powder coated parts to the engine and decided that it was about time the heads went back on, the brush for cleaning inside has still not arrived so I will add a cooling system flush agent and it will get a good clean once I start it and as with the oil I shall drain it and hopefully any bad bits will come out.

The gaskets have stamped on them front top so no getting it wrong and the heads just popped straight on, I had already cleaned all the faces and the bolts which just needed a little copperslip before fitting.

The torquing came from the Haynes manual for the Granada Mk2 2.8 which differs slightly from the 2.8 Capri but not much, the rotation starts in the middle and working out spirally, first stage 39 -54Nm second stage 54 - 69Nm then wait 10 to 20 minutes then third stage 95 - 115Nm well this is what the manual says. I did it by doing a small 10Nm to ensure the head was perfectly flat before any heavy torquing then 40Nm then 65 and waiting 15 mins then finally at 110Nm

Once the engine is run for 15mins at 1000rpm the torque is to be checked again at 110Nm.

I finished of by painting the inlet manifold and setting it on the engine, I had hoped to fit this tomorrow and the rockers, still next time.

Heads on

see ya
paul

Setting up Distributor and Engine mounts

Hi

Not much done this weekend with it being Easter, still I have managed to find time today to get some bits and pieces sorted.

I drained the acid out yesterday and washed out the residue with fresh water, I think I may have been a bit premature in filling with acid as what this remover does is to loosen the rust and then you brush it off. I have ordered the cleaning brush for getting inside the block but unfortunately it has not arrived yet, I am going to wait for it before I refit the heads to make sure as much scale as possible is removed.

I had a look at the engine mounts that I picked up from the powder coater's and attached the new rubber resilient mounts, originally they were stuck on with rust and had to be hammered off so a coat of copper slip before fitting will future proof the removal of them.

The heads needed painting before fitting and as I have 3 tins of black VHT paint I decided to keep the theme of black on red going, with the VHT paint no primmer is required (so it say's on the tin) so I have masked up the faces and given them 4 coats and they look great.

I have also fitted what I can to the engine that won't get in the way when I fit the heads, these include the new thermostat and housing's, timing plate and the pump pulley. I have used the new Payen gaskets but belt and braces I have also used Hylomar sealant on the housing sides.

I am not fitting the sump until the distributor is fitted as the distributor also drives the oil pump and I want to make sure that the pump turns, I have test fitted the distributor and turned the engine by hand with the pump cover off and it turned nicely. Still, I'm not going to take any chances so the sump will be last on.

Next was a little practice; if you have read when I first removed the engine you will know that I had to remove the distributor without being able to turn the piston of #1 unit to TDC and marking the position on the distributor, also I was not to sure of how to refit it in the correct position. I have done quite a bit of research since then and also had an email from Terry B and it really is quite simple, there are even videos on youtube of how its done I decided to give it a try before fitting the heads so I can see the piston moving in the correct firing order to the distributor and I marked each one in turn and engraved it on the cap. I am going to buy a new cap and rotor but can transfer the marks.

Basically it does not matter where on the distributor #1 is, this is random depending on where it is when fitted just as long as you start with #1 piston at TDC firing and not on the exhaust stroke, you find this by the notch on the timing wheel being inline with the degrees on the timing plate so if #1 is at the top of its stroke and the notch is not lined up then it is on its exhaust stroke, just turn and it will come back to its firing stroke. 

To find this with the heads on you can stuff a piece of tissue into #1 spark plug hole and turn the engine by hand, when it blows out and the timing marks line up then you know you are at #1 TDC.

I had originally marked the order on the cap with what I thought was a permanent ink marker when the HT leads were attached but when I looked only 1 and 6 were left on, but #1 was left so I turned the rotor to that position then slid the distributor down its hole. The gearing is side driven from the cams so will not go straight on, you need to hold it down and turn the engine and the gearing meshes and it slots into position.

 Doing this also slots into the oil pump so this was when I turned the engine and watched the pump turn.

Once the distributor is in position with #1 at TDC then it is a simple matter of turning the engine and watching the pistons come to their firing order 1-4-2-5-3-6, so after marking #1 hand turn and when #4 comes to TDC you take off the cap to check that the distributor has turned 1 notch and mark the #4 in that point and so on until all done if that makes any sense.

Not much else I could get done today so I thought I would see what the whole thing will look like so I positioned the heads and air manifold.

It was after fitting the heads that I realised there are areas around the heads that need painting so I have masked these off and primed and sprayed and will finish of tomorrow.

I also need a find a matching touch up enamel paint, Humbrol signal red will probably match as I have knocked bits of paint off in a few places and being a bit anal I'll see them all the time and it will drive me mad.

Still plenty to do on the engine and then I will start on the engine bay.

See ya 

Paul

Water hoses & Head conversion

Hi

Back again and hopefully for a 3 week leave, rotation changes have given me an extra week off on pay but as sure as eggs are eggs I'll end up having to pay for it somehow.

Its been 2 weeks of spending while away and over a £1000 spent as I am hoping to get the engine fitted this time home and a whole lot of work to do before hand. 

First off was the upper and lower hoses these would have been a bit difficult to track down but after doing a little search work on the Panther club tech area and comparing the photos with what I have it was easy. I found these as always on eBay, this is a great place to find obscure classic items as there are loads of sellers selling new old car parts.

Top off the picture is a Ford Fiesta 1976 onwards hose, it is the bottom hose from the radiator to the engine, this is an original Motorcraft item  EKF 255. £2.49 + p+p

The middle hose is the upper radiator hose and is from an Austin Allegro (first car I ever drove) and is from the 1500, 1750 (1973 - 79) model, this is a QH item RH1157. £6.99 + p+p

The bottom hose is the thermostat by-pass hose I bought last month from Tickover.

I found no problem locating any of these hoses so hopefully there will be plenty around for many more years to come or if you are forward thinking then get em while you still can.

There are a number of different size hose clips used for the hoses so I have bought a selection of 30 stainless clips in 3 sizes to suit them.

The fuel system needs renewing so I have bought new Nitrile fuel hoses and whole load of Mikalor spring clips, the copper supply pipe is fine as you would expect but the rubber hose has perished. I also bought a nice chrome fuel filter

The engine bay is a big priority and all of the hoses will be examined and if necessary will be replaced, the rest of the hoses are available from Halfords in metre lengths so no need to order.

I have also bought the stainless bolts for the rocker covers and the bell housing.

The rust and scale in the heads and engine block water galleries have been a bit of a worry, I had written to a business called L.B Restoration asking if an item of there's was suitable for getting rid of the rust and they where kind enough to put me on to a rust remover by Bilt Hamber called Deox C which is suitable.

This is a rust remover not a converter, I have had a go and have mixed a very strong solution and believe it from a person who uses a lot of different acid cleaners, it's strong stuff. 

I have plugged and taped over all of the holes on the engine and heads as best I can and have filled with the solution, it will probably be empty by the morning with the odd drip here and there but hopefully it will have done its job. I shall wash out the galleries and heads tomorrow and see just how good it is.

That's about the only physical work I have done today as most of it was spent driving around the north of England collecting my heads and the powder coated items.

The heads look good although they never bead blasted them as they said they would, that's most likely because I cleaned them so well they thought it not necessary. It cost £300 for the conversion, expensive but I am very pleased I had it done.

The hardened inserts are difficult to see as they are designed to be very small as the big problem found in un-leading these heads is that there is very little metal between the galleries and the exhaust ports and it is very easy when machining the recess to cut through ruining the head.

Very nice job.

As I have said I have also picked up the latest batch of powder coating, which includes the sump, engine mounts and water connections which shall be fitted once the galleries have been cleaned out.

I have spoken to John Wade again and have sent a cheque for my Webber DGAS and hopefully shall receive this sometime after Easter.

Another buy has been with Europa spares, I had a good chat with the tech guy there and have bought a 52mm VDO 5bar oil pressure gauge with a sender unit and tee piece so I can connect both the sender and the oil pressure warning light. I have also asked about chrome bezels for the VDO gauges, Europa do the 52mm bezels but not unfortunately the 80mm one's for the speed and tacho but being very helpful he is going to try and track them down for me.

Another of the important items is the electric fan, I have chosen a Pacet Clovafan Club kit 367mm 14" at £145, I chose the kit over the basic fan as it includes the capillary thermostat, wiring and fixing kit. I have also bought the Thermostat adapter at £16.90, this adapter T piece is connected in the hose between the radiator and engine which you have to cut to allow the adapter to fit in. Without this you are required to slip the thermostat into the hose before fitting to the radiator with the capillary tube sticking out and hope it seals when you tighten the clip, much neater with the adapter.

I am hoping to get started properly tomorrow although Lynne has decided that this leave should be spent decorating and has decided that the Living room Dining room and the Hall are to be decorated so looks like I have two jobs.

Se ya

Paul

Webber ordered from J.W.Developments on 01902 798303.

Hi
Well a nice quiet day today.

I have 3 coats of paint on the engine and its looking a whole lot nicer than than it did, I got the last coat on last night before bed and it was nice and dry this morning, I did a little more masking this morning and sprayed the pulley and dip stick black.

I have been and bought the stainless bolts for the water pump, sump and thermostat housing and have been able to fit the pump. The pump flange face had quite a bit of pitting around the edges running in around 5mm so i gave it a coating of Hylomar then fitted with the new gasket.

The fuel pump came next, these faces where pretty perfect so it went straight on with the new gasket.

I also screwed in the oil pressure pickup with a little locktight to seal the threads, I may; when doing the interior look into fitting a proper oil pressure gauge on the dash and replace this with a pressure unit.

As you can see in the photos there are rust marks in the water galleries, I spent some time this morning scrapping as much of the loose scale as I could reach using a long thin chisel and blowing the debis out. I managed to get a good amount out but am still worried about loose rust getting into my new radiator core and blocking it. I had a talk to John Wade this morning and mentioned this and he uses a mixture of Sulfuric and other acids to clean out the waterways, unfortunately I am unable to get a hold of this acid mix. So I have trolled the internet and have found a Phosphoric acid tank cleaner, this is advertised as a de-ruster and de-scaller. I have wrote to the site asking if it will be any good for what I need and who knows it may be even work. 

The rest of the day has been spent getting bits cleaned and painted ready for the sump and heads to arrive.

In these photo's I have loosely fitted the the air manifold

As I said I have been talking to John Wade today to confirm my carburetor, I was put onto John by Terry Borton as being one of the best in the business on Ford V6 engines and setting up Weber carburetor's for the Cologne V6.
The carburetor designed and setup by Ford for the Cologne is the Pierburg or Solex 38, I have been learning a lot about carburetor's lately, and the main thing I have learn't is that you just can't bolt on a Weber to a Cologne and expect it to work, it just don't happen. I don't know exactly what is required apart from re-jetting but there are a number of alterations that John does that allows the carburetor to work straight from the box with only the minimum of setting up.
So anyone wanting to get rid of their old Pierburg / Solex and have a lovely shiny Weber then you can contact John at J.W.Developments on 01902 798303.
Well last day home tomorrow, I have a trip to North shields to pick up my powder coating and then a trip south to the outskirts of Durham to pick up my heads, I was promised they would be ready so fingers crossed.
See ya
Paul

Painting engine

Hi
I had a delivery this morning of the new engine mounts, I only ordered them on Thursday and they arrived this morning costing £9.99p plus p/p.

They are advertised as for a Cortina / Granada and are pretty close on measurements. The width is a little smaller at 72mm as opposed to the 76mm fitted but the important bit is the height which is 41.5mm, the ones fitted are 40.6mm so pretty close and maybe they have squished down over the years with the weight of the engine.

I started the day with the removal of the 2 broken 6mm bolts on the sump flange, one came out quite easily using a pair of mole grips while the other needed chiseling flush and drilling and tapping.

The rest of the day has been spent prepping the engine for painting, its surprising that after all of the time and effort I spent cleaning, it still needed hours more. I first attacked with brake cleaner, this is a solvent based cleaner so it cleaned out the oil in the corners quite well and with the rotary wire wheel got all of the surface oil of the engine. I then steam cleaned all over which lifted the rest of the deep ingrained oils. 

The masking came next and all mating faces were buffed up first before applying the tape, and masking paper.

I have used an etch primer again on the bare metal and gave it 2 coats with an hour in between.

I have temporarily fitted the water pump as the masking off of that area would have been a little difficult, I have still to buy the stainless bolts for the pump and the sump but will get these soon.

While waiting for the first coat to dry I got to work on the inlet manifold masking this off and gave it a coat of primmer as well.

Hopefully I shall get the first coat of red on tomorrow morning and one later that day. Mothers day tomorrow so maybe nothing will get done

The fuel pump is dry and looks good painted black, I think the contrast against the red of the engine will look pretty good.

I have been in contact will Ray from the web site http://www.veesix.co.uk Ray also has a Panther interior business called RS Sewing Solutions, I have told him my requirements for the car which is everything and I have received his prices which are very reasonable. He is able to make everything from the mohair hood and cover, door cards, carpets even sun visors in matching leather. So I am going ahead and will be buying in bits. It will be quite a while before I am ready to fit the interior but if I start the buying now it will spread the cost as this is; next the respray going to be the most expensive part of the restoration.

Well that's all for now, time for a Guinness and a curry

See ya

Paul

Heads Dropped Off

Hi

Well the heads have been delivered to the Engineering firm for un-leading, I had a chat with the guy there about the valve stem guides and he agreed that they was no play or wear in the guides so they are not to be touched. The cost is around £25 per valve plus vat and I pick up on Tuesday.

After dropping them off we had the day out in Durham but I still managed to get home with time to spare for an hours work.

I thought I would have a go at removing the tabs left over from the removal of the gasket and it is not as straight forward as you may think for fitting a sump gasket.

You can see the tabs on either side of the bearing cap and these penetrate around 10mm, you may also see at the top left of the photo the oil pump covering the nut for the cap. So the first job is the removal of the oil pump, this is straight forward just 2 torq bolts and remove, remembering to grab the drive shaft as it falls out and rolls under the car.

The nuts can now be removed, these have a torque of 95Nm so the breaker bar was used to get leverage and the nuts and the studs came out together, full of dirty black oil. The fit of the cap is very tight and sealed, so it required a good tap with a rubber mallet to raise it enough to get a lever underneath, but once the seal broke it came up easily. You can see in the photo the oil seal in its housing so I took the opportunity to change it while I could.

The removal of the cap also gave me a chance to check for wear on the bearing shell, I was a bit worried that by sitting in the dirty oil for so long would acid etch the shell but a spray and clean and it looks perfect.

Nice and shinny with no wear or erosion, you can see in this and the next photo the rubber tabs that are left. It may be possible if removing the pan to work on the oil pump or to check the oil suction strainer to re-use the original gasket and not have to go through all this, but unfortunately I snapped one of the tabs when removing the pan.

These tabs are easily removed and the old sealant around the housing landing area was cleaned off with a razor blade.

The refitting was a bit tricky as the tolerances are very tight for getting the housing started, I sealed the landing area with Hylomar and also put some on the tabs, a good oiling and the shell was refitted. 

The upper section of the sump gasket is fitted into the groove and the tabs pressed as tight as possible before positioning the housing cap squarely down into its slot then started with a tap from the mallet. The tabs try to lift out a little as the cap is tapped down so these also need tapping down either side to keep them in place. Once down sufficiently the studs can be replaced and evenly brought down into its final position checking the tabs are going down with each turn of the nuts then torquing to 95Nm.

You can see that the tabs are as hard down as I was able to achieve but I will still put a bit of sealant into the corners before replacing the pan. I then replaced the oil pump and that was that. I must admit it is a bit of a workup just to change a sump gasket but I guess Ford has its reasons.

I would suggest that anyone removing their sump pan has a new gasket and a new oil seal available as mine snapped very easily.

I still have a snapped bolt to remove which I had forgot about then a good solvent clean before steam cleaning then ready for its coat of primmer, but that's for tomorrow.

See ya

Paul

Engine Gaskets

Hi

Well back a little later than I expected, I did an extra weeks overtime as the ships 2nd Engineer took a sicky and since the redundancies took place there is zero slack in the system. After phoning all the 2nd's on leave and getting told where to get off they scraped the very bottom of the barrel and talked me into staying, so instead of going home I had to stay on in the 2nd's slot. Still the extra money will go into the restoration coffers.

I have only ordered one item when I was away, mainly because I forgot to measure the items I needed before I left; I was going to order the rubber fuel pipe and filters, the rubber engine mounts and the water hoses. I did manage to order the Thermostat to inlet by-pass hose from Tickover as this can only be one size, I know that the upper and lower radiator hoses come from a Fiesta and Allegro but no rush for them as yet. I will order tomorrow and fit next time home.

I spent most of the day waiting in for the courier arriving with my gaskets, I know its a little sad but these are the probably the best gasket I've ever laid eyes on. I am very glad I took Terry's advise (again) and ordered them. The one's from eBay bear no comparison.

They cost £50 plus vat & postage for the upper set from F.W.Thornton, also included with the set were the stem seals for the heads.

I have found out why my sump gasket is different from the cork one supplied in the bottom set I have, apparently my engine has been fitted with a 2.9 sump pan; don't know why as it is a 86 model. 

Somehow I doubt it makes it go faster.

This gasket cost £17 plus vat and postage, when I said in my last blog that I had to cut out the original it was the bottom tabs you can see in the photo that I cut. I have been told that I will have to slacken the bearing housing to remove the old one's then insert the new and torque up again.

I have also been busy getting the items ready for the powder coaters.

I had a bit of a hard time removing one of the rubber engine mounts from its bracket as the nut is welded onto the bracket and the threads from the mount was rusted solid. With minimal access I had to do a bit of a bodge job to remove it, no one will know once powder coated. 

The aluminum water housing's got cleaned up as well, and after the rusty bits were sandblasted I found a bit more damage than I thought.

You can see the holes in the pipe that revealed themselves, these were filled with soft solder and filed clean.

Everything is now at the powder coater's, the price was a bit higher this time as there is a lot of masking to be done around the flanges and the interior of the sump but still well worth it and I pick them up on Tuesday.

I have also managed some painting, the fuel pump has had its second coat of black gloss and the water pump has has its first coat of bright red. While I was at it I gave the radiator another coat of black and its now ready to fit onto its housing.

I have had a change of mind while away concerning un-leading the heads and fitting a new carburetor, basically I will regret sometime in the future not doing so while the heads are off. So I have found a firm in the Durham area called Cleasby Precision Engine Services to do the job and I shall take them there tomorrow. It will cost £250 plus vat without new valve guides or £300 plus vat with, I have taken advise from a Cologne engine expert (John Wade) who say's that it is more than likely that at only 35,000 miles there will be no requirement for the valve guides to be changed, I have slid the valves up and down in the guides and there is next to no play to be noticed; so they ain't getting done.

The carburetor I have ordered from this very same expert is a Webber DGAS 38 with a manual choke, I could have gone for the automatic choke but I like the idea of pulling the choke and starting the engine like it used to be, it seems to add more of a feeling of involvement than just turning a key or as I may do: Pushing a START button. Also the fuel savings in this current climate will be welcome. 

I had a long conversation with John and learnt a lot, he has advised me to leave the original air intake on instead of fitting a shinny K&N as it supplies a whole lot more air and fitting a K&N air filter.

I also still hope to fit side exhaust pipes and have bought the correct size stainless manifold flanges from John, these are laser cut and one flange has a larger hole to take a bigger pipe for the siamesed side, I was going to make my own out of a piece of 10mm stainless I have, but drilling the center holes would have been a bit of a problem.

So tomorrow is a trip to Durham to drop the heads off, Lynne also has the day off so we shall make a day of it and get started again on Saturday. 

See Ya 

Paul