Finally, yesterday, we launched the operation to place the new engine in the Blitz. We fairly quickly established that the crane on the back of John's ute couldn't lift the engine in the way we needed to get it in the right position in the engine bay. My dad and I raced up the road to our neighbour's place to borrow the good old tripod again.
This time, we had to open the top hatch in the Blitz and run the endless chain through it, attaching the hook to the bell housing. We manoeuvred it into position and lowered it onto the crossmembers. We ran into a problem when we discovered that the hook was jammed between the bellhousing and the floor of the Blitz, but a bit of deft screwdriver levering once the tension was slackened off the hook got it out.
We also cleaned up the gearbox and put it back in and took off the two fuel tanks, both of which are inevitably full of rubbish. We'll have to clean them out with some product before we can use 'em again, but John has recommended the stuff we need. We also reconnected the clutch pedal and had some discussions about how to get around the fact that the accelerator linkage across the front of the engine is prevented from going in it's normal place by the different water pump. Obviously some modification will be necessary there!
Anyway, things are happening. I'm hoping to get the old girl going before I leave for the Defence Force next year, and we're on track for that, touch wood!
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11-11-09, 06:57
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