Engine Removal (4)

Build Day 6

My friend Chris Morgan came over in June to help get the engine out and to take it to his workshop for stripping and inspecting. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera with me so I don't have any photos of the engine being removed.

Chris has now stripped down the engine and apart from the crack in the block it isn't in bad nick. The crack is repairable as it hasn't gone all the way through which is encouraging and has helped me make the decision that the car the car will be restored as modified concours (or reasonably close to that aim - costs, availability of part and ability will dictate how close we get) now rather than as a track car with a new lump.

Below are some of the images of the stripped engine.

Valves

Piston Bores

Camshaft

Block stripped

Piston and Crankshaft

Waiting for Chris to come back with a re-build plan and cost now - in the meantime its back to stripping down the rest of the car.

Next Steps

The local glass repairers came on Friday to remove the front and rear screens. The rear is in fine condition as is the front seal so these will be kept for re-fitting. The front screen is beyond repair so will be replaced.

With the strip down all but complete (just the engine to be removed on Tuesday) I thought it would be sensible to make a list of the next steps/considerations that will determine how the re-build will take shape.

Next Steps:-

1. Remove engine and await engineer's report on condition and rebuild viability.

I am hoping that the engine is salvageable - it has a cracked block but hopefully this can be repaired. Assuming it can be repaired, I intend to go for a rebuild to include as many performance enhancements as possible without losing the original 'look and feel' as my plan is for a completed car that can be described as 'modified concours'. 

If the engine is FUBAR (f**ked up beyond all repair) then the rebuild will take a different path. It will then become a track car of some description. At this stage, Im still thinking to go for a full body restore but fully stripped back interior with roll cage etc.

2. Fully assess body for damage and identify welding requirements. 

The car has had a poor previous repair to the right rear quarter panel. This has been replaced badly and has caused some rusting where it joins to the sill and under the rear window. It may be better to replace this with a new panel.

The front seat support bar will also need some repairs.

Other than that the body doesn't look too bad on first inspection. Hopefully nothing significant will transpire but either way nothing will be done until we know the fate of the engine.

3.  Depending upon the results of points 1 and 2 the seats will need to be assessed for their repairability.

The drivers seats is a mess with worn side supports and badly ripped fabric. The others don't look too bad so it will be interesting what the experts can do with them - I will be going to see the Graham at Intertrim in Telford (the guy who build my Cobra Seats) for his opinion. Finding a set of good condition second hand seats will be like finding fairy dust!!!

4. Body Preparation for Painting

Will need to make a decision on what to do in terms of body prep - sand blast, acid dip or manually rub down. Again this will depend on what can be done with the engine and also the seats. If both of those issues can be resolved then I want a really good quality re-spray which will mean some kind of bare metal prep.

Rear Suspension Removal

Build Day 5

The last major task in the strip down is the removal of the rear suspension assembly. This should be a relatively straightforward exercise as it should all come away as a single unit once the brake hoses and various supporting brackets are removed. The difficultly was likely to be that the nuts and bolts wouldn't budge.

For once though lady luck was on our side and everything came away without too much bother.

Rear Suspension assembly in-situ

The picture below shows a close up of the near side rear shock absorber and how it fits into the rear suspension assembly. We're not going to take this out as it will come away with the whole assembly.

N/S Shock Absorber fitted to suspension assembly

The whole rear suspension assembly is removed which will be refurbish/replaced later.

Rear Suspension assembly removed as a single unit

 And here are a couple of photos of the underside of the car with the suspension assembly removed.

Rear Suspension assembly - gone!

Rear Suspension assembly - gone!

A job left over from last time was to remove the front side windows and associated trim and winder mechanisms. This was a bit fiddly but managed to get it all out in the end. The local glass replacement guys are coming in the week to remove the front and rear screens and my mate Chris is coming on Tuesday with his engine hoist so that too will be out and away for assessment and re-build.

Door glass and winder mechanisms removed

Something that amused us when stripping the exterior body trim off was the little note a previous repairer had left behind - the photo below says it all...

'I Waz Ere 6-6' Shame the year has rubbed off but whoever it was did a pretty shabby job - look at that paintwork!