A good bank holiday weekend, with some time spent on the Kilo-Hippo-Delta. Actually invested quite a lot of time, but seemingly not a huge amount to show for it.
The block face is now cleaned. (I used a "plastic padding" body filler applicator to remove the remnants of the old MLS gasket for this as the blade I used for the head lead to some very small scratches on the corners of the block that I wasn't at all happy with. Scratches are well away from the critical sealing areas, so no harm done I hope.) I also checked the liner stand proud. Fortunately, none are below the block's face - but all four liners are flush, with no stand proud above the deck face. I won't be using an MLS gasket - so either a standard type elastomeric, or perhaps a "blue" Payen (BW750) gasket.
Approx 6 litres of oily coolant drained from the sump. Lovely. Now decanted into cans and ready to take to the local council depot for safe disposal.
The engine tray is now removed. Not difficult at all - all the cable ties etc. just seem to me to be making a mountain out of a mole hill? I haven't put the alloy under-tray back on - I can see that being a little more "fun" ...
The old oil filter put up a bit of a battle: it broke my strap tool which only succeeded in denting the casing before it failed. I had to improvise then, and used a medium-sized G-clamp on it - using which I could get enough purchase and leverage to get it free. A fresh filter has been fitted for when the engine is re-filled with oil (and a cleansing agent).
I have disassembled the original head, so now have 8 inlet valves, 8 exhaust valves, 32 collets (each valve has a pair), 16 valve springs and caps in a spares tray, so I can rebuild the replacement head, swapping any bent valves before sending it away to be skimmed.
I also investigated why the reversing lights weren't working. The gearbox switch is mullered. Will order in a replacement with all the replacement seals and gaskets.
I still haven't measured the old stretch bolts to determine whether they can be re-used or replaced - so that is on the to-do list. But I am pretty much at the point that the engine can be rebuilt once the head is ready
I also inspected the front brakes - these look to have been replaced recently - minimal disc wear and a decent amount of material still on the pads. Once the car can be driven off the drive, I'll check the operation of the rear drums and the hand brake mechanism - but I still suspect that the VCU needs replacement.
Oh, and I've been leaving the windows open in the hope that the chemical warfare odour in the interior will slowly fade. It's proving remarkably resistant: I ended up putting the run roof stowage pouch in the washing machine, as this was still off-gassing noxious odours despite being hung on the washing line all week!!!
Finally, I scrubbed the driver's seat clean. It was covered in a nasty shiny/ greasy black residue. Yuk. But now the interior looks pretty presentable - albeit will some wear on the driver's seat edge and bolster.
I've so far resisted the temptation to go on eBay to buy the roof bars (not supplied on the "S" model in 2001), leather seats and 17" sport-line wheels... But it's not stopped me looking! LOL