Had a really pleasant day working on the car today.
I left it a couple of weeks back with the engine out on the floor to replace the clutch.
The new clutch kit and solid flywheel turned up a few days ago from a local online supplier. I had also ordered driveshaft oil seals and the funky-sized o-ring that seals between gearbox and IRD from Britparts and the bloody parcel had gone missing. Nobody knew where it was and the online tracking said it had been left with my neighbours but the signed name wasnt anyone nearby. With help from Britparts it was traced to the local post office, which has recently closed down and the parcel was being held at the mayors office. I was collared by the harridan that works there last week and picked it up then.
So, on went the flywheel and clutch kit - no problems there. I then bunged the gearbox onto the engine which was heavy but slipped on ok. The IRD has been problematic since I bought the car as the threads in the filler plug hole were stripped and it leaked. I kept topping it up and just bodging the filler back in with instant gasket or silicone or whatever I could get my hands on, but while it was off had a better crack at it. A prolonged skoosh from a tin of brake cleaner cleaned up the hole and I mixed up a wee bit of chemical metal which I smeared around the edge of the hole. I covered the plug threads with clean grease and screwed it into the wet chemical metal....not tight, just by hand. Once set, the plug unscrewed easily and left nice clean threads. When I refilled it this evening, I didnt wang it up really tight as I dont know how strong it will be, but its a million times better than it was.
The gearchange had always been looser than a cheap hoors knicker elastic, so while it was all out I looked at the linkages and balljoints which were pretty worn. The worst was a pin on the gearbox which transmits the levers side to side movement to the selector shaft sticking out the box. I knocked the pin out and it was really worn so found a bit of 9mm steel rod and drilled the holes larger to suit and knocked it into place. Its loads better now.
Anyway, with the IRD on, I scooted the engine under the shell, lowered the shell using the engine hoist and a strap on the chassis rails, then lifted the engine the last 18 inches up to meet the engine mounts.
One of the bolts on the L/H mount stripped its threads too, but no biggie as its easily accessible. A while back I bought a cheap helicoil kit from ebay which covers M6 up to M14, and its been a real boon....not the kind of thing you use a lot, but you are bloody glad to have it when you need it! Drilled the hole, tapped the thread, screwed in the insert and then the original bolt went in nicely.
After that it was just plugging the dozens of hoses, pipes and wires back together. All went well, and I have no wee bolts, clips or other bits left over.
I couldnt start it as the battery is flat and the car is surrounded by mountains of tat so no way to get another car near enough to jump and I couldnt be harrised dragging a battery out of something else, so I left it on charge and will get it running tomorrow. The first time I pressed the clutch pedal it just dropped straight to the floor and didnt spring back. Rather than set fire to everything then hang myself, I bled the allegedly pre-filled hydraulics which allegedly shouldnt need bled and it seems to be ok....pedal is nice and light.
Sense of achievement......check.