While I wait for more parts to arrive I have got back onto the engine. I painted it the other day and it has come up quite well.

I have chipped away most of the crud inside the water section and cleaned the piston barrel seats in readiness to receive the new barrels.




I put the gasket/shims on tot he piston barrels after checking they all fitted correctly in the crankcase. The came to the level of the crankcase with no gasket and lose fitting. The book say 0.5mm below - I am not quite there but pushed ahead.



I placed them into the crankcase and got about 0.07mm above the surface which is in tolerance. Although I have a feeling they are a little high, but maybe when torqued down correctly this will squeeze them in.

I then bolted them in tightly but not to any particular torque as these are only soft bolts I found in my drawer.



I poured in the coolant to test the seal - but after a few minutes I got slow drips from a couple of the barrels. So first tempt has failed.
I have put in an email to a local guy to see whether he can help me with this task as it has bothered me for a while to get this right - it is important right

This is the problem with anything water cooled, the water always wants 'out'.

Nice work, btw.

An idea, with the head on are the proper bolts at a higher torque..??, if that makes sense.

That could do it but I am not confident the tolerance of the barrels is correct as well as the cheap gasket/shims that came with the barrels.
I am looking at getting some replacement shims which should do the job and then try and get some advice on this job (if this guy replies, he is a little strange and I suppose as it is his job does not want to tell me how to do it, even though I have said I want a couple of hours paid work from him..... he is German )

Upon thinking!! Sequence is also important
example

I am flitting between jobs at the moment while waiting for a monster spares drop. Funny thing is that José Franssen waits to drive the packages over the border to France every two weeks to save on delivery. So it will be here next week (when I get back from the NEC).

I have stripped the rear brakes and hubs and taken the pads to be re-shoed and the drums to be skimmed. Even though they really didn't need it, I think it is worth it.

So I cleaned all the parts as usual and stripped and rebuilt the master cylinders. Everything is ready to put back on the car when I get the shoes and drums back, well, first I have to sort out the back suspension system and get that cleaned, inspected and painted.

very nice.

On returning back from the Classic Car Show at the NEC with a bunch of new tools in my hand (why can't France have Machine Mart) and a postbox full of spare parts arriving from José Fransson and CAS I was eager to get back to work on the car.



My plan is to get the car back on its wheels before I start to tackle the floor. Firstly because I want to move it and secondly the car lift is exactly on the place I need to drill out and cut for the new floor.

So on to installing the new bottom ball joint adjuster cups. I was advised to install this aftermarket upgrade, one for ease of adjustment but also to get rid of the centre spacer between the bearing cups to allow for the wear over the years. These units went on like a dream compared to the struggle I had with the originals only to find I had no adjustment left. Job Done!!



Now for the driveshafts which I have cleaned up, re-greaed and put on the new rubber boots. These were non-existent when I got the car. Installed the inner wheel bearing and then pulled through the stub axle and then tapped in the outer wheel bearing (all new from CTA). Hubs installed and ready to adjust the brakes.



So the front suspension and drive chain is all now complete. Will need to be tightened all round and the locking tabs put in place but to roll the car round I think it will be fine. I do need to re-install the steering shaft which I will do as part of the EZ Power Steering upgrade.

like

it a lot !!