Never say never

You should have contacted me.....all the helicoil bits are here just down the road !

Ah! Squeezebox. Good to see you are still with us.

....yes, in from the cold!

Balls, nevermind, at least you are nearby for technical guidance. Standby the Batphone!

Helicoil kit has landed. The bore tool has some funny wax coating; I assume this is to protect it in transit. Do I remove it?
Also, not sure what I will put on the end of the bore to actually turn it, needs some kind of socket.
Do I need drilling oil or will good old copper grease do?

I thought I’d remove the wing to give me more room. I have never removed any of the front wings before. Sheared the first bolt as you can see. What now? I imagine the other two bolts will probably do the same neat trick if I have a go at them, gotta get that wing off.

E2CV6,
that protective coating needs to come off before using the tap.
I use a 12 point socket into which the square tap end fits ( will check size later), plus a 1/2" drive extension bar and a T bar.

Re. wing removal; does that mean you've never had the wings off to drain the oil in the rocker covers, adjust the tappets, adjust the handbrake and so on?
Best be careful with the remaining 3 nuts on each wing if that's the case.
The ones on the bulkhead may be OK, but it might be an idea to cut those on the sill with a 1mm slitting disc if they're stuck fast.

ken

Thanks Ken, that is why I say the wings will have to come off. Tappets WELL overdue There are quite a few things that would be easier if I could get the wings on and off.

Following batphone call and Kens tip above.....

....just checked my helicoil tap and I have a socket that fits that, if you need you can borrow both.

If you get the lighting bar off competely I am happy to weld another bolt on for you and if you are worried about the other bolts and follow Kens other tip and get them off by cutting a slit in them I have a few spares.

Good luck !

Sunday was very productive once Mick & Charlie (a BIG thank you for your help and hard work) arrived to lend some real expertise to the ‘keep Olive from the scrap yard’ cause.

The remaining three nuts on the wing had been scrubbed and duck oiled for the previous few days. Bulkhead stiff, light bar very stiff, sill super stiff. But all nuts came off without further breakages.

The Hellicoil insert did not take too long. Only major drama being ‘ole cack hands’ here dropping the tang into the cylinder. Telescopic magnet and skill learnt in the classic MB’s Operation board game, I retrieved the tang from peril.

So we fired old the old bird up, ‘sounds lumpy’ says Mick. ‘That’s her style,’ I say. ‘When did you last do the timing?’ Me, ‘been meaning to do that.’
Cue long list of reasons to put off a clearly important job. I even have a points and condenser set ready to go in. Mick being a Gentleman, volunteers to sort it out for me there and then. I eagerly accept this kind offer.

Pictures of the state of the points box will follow later after the watershed, its grim viewing some viewers may find upsetting.

So car now starts perkily, engine quieter and smoother. But, like disturbing a pharaoh’s tomb there is a curse. My carburettor is now arsing about. The spring on the throttle linkage is slack so there is some sticking going on. The engine now put-took-put-put-tooking, especially on over run. So old spare unknown carb is going to be cleaned up and swapped over to see what happens.

Anyway, much learnt yesterday for future reference. You can’t beat watching someone do a tricky job to learn what goes where. It is like a Haynes Manual virtual reality.