Final preparations for Mallory

Having complete the repairs with a week to go I hadn’t been out to the garage since last Saturday. On Friday morning I popped out there to download the logs from the DigiDash and do a couple of minor jobs. I was highly unamused to see a lake of oil under the car I was also pretty surprised as I’d actually run her up to temperature specifically to check for leaks.

So I got the jack out, got her up on stands again and started mopping up the oil. Once I could get under there I could see a steady drip coming off the rear engine mount. Rather perturbed (and seeing my weekend trip to Mallory fading away) I crawled right underneath with a torch to see it was actually coming from a crack in the gearshift casing. Clearly when the prop clonked the gear lever it’s knocked the spindle over and cracked the casing. It’s a pity I hadn’t noticed it before as swapping the cover with the engine out would have been a 10 minute job. I decided that although this was the end of my leisurely Friday it wasn’t the end of the world. Unfortunately that cover can’t come off without removing the clutch slave and the dry sump pump with its pipes connecting it to the sump.

So much of my day was spent getting all that gubbins off the engine, removing the cracked cover, getting the cover off the old engine and getting it all back together. Since there was enough force to crack the casing I didn’t risk using the gearshift shaft and stuck the one from the other engine in.

Eventually I could stick the oil back in and run her up again to check for leaks.

On returning from Snett I’d realised the front wheels weren’t as free as they should be. The replacement pads for the HiSpec calipers had been a tight squeeze and I’d sanded them down quite a bit hoping that using them would soon bed them in. I was however aware that Adrian had once tried this and ended up boiling his fluid, so I whipped the pads out and sanded them down until the wheels turned freely.

After a bit of work on the paint overlap lines on the bonnet with some wet and dry followed by cutting paste and finishing compound I got her off the axle stands and had a quick blat up and down the drive to reassure myself that the clutch and gear selection were working. They were

Saturday morning was a simple case of getting the car on the trailer and the tools on board the motorhome. The weather forecast is looking good so I’m trying my best to be optimistic