Coo I’ve never before been on schedule before Christmas.
A few hours of spannering by Myself and Duncan on Saturday saw the engine fitted, the oil and coolant circuits completed, and the majority of the electrics reconnected.
The new gauges were also fitted and finalized, and we also managed to change half the front suspension bushes
Currently, the following need to be completed before we can restart the engine.
- Fluids fill.
- Refit Airbox (although this will be delayed pending its repsray)
- Fit throttle cable
- Fit new cam sensor…. the old one had been smashed
- Fit new driving sprocket and clutch slave cylinder.
- Refit reverse.
Once the engine is in I can start looking at stuff that is less on the critical path, such as rubbing down and re spraying the bodywork. And fitting the new nose moulding.
This is leading me to think about moving the radiators. The front is very vulnerable and pretty much any frontal impact or damage will break the cooling system (got knows how it survived the smash with Stuart at Silverstone this year) . As I’m faffing around sorting out bodywork it would seem sensible to move the radiator to the drivers side pod and save a bit of weight before I re spray the beast.
Plus I’d quite like to complete the process before the test at Snetterton in February. That way if the car overheats I can easily revert to front mounted radiators before the season starts in March. The BDN, Gordon’s Griffins T5 Mission, and the ADR all have side mounted rads so it should be possible to get it working.
The other thing we pondered was extending the operating levers on the rear handbrake calipers. This seems to be an easy way of gaining enough mechanical advantage to make them work more effectively. I lived in fear of failing post race eligibility scrutineering all last season, where we’re tested as part of our MOT compliance and a poorly operating handbrake will earn a DSQ.
Lastly the 750MC annual yearbook came out this week, and I’m mentioned in dispatches for the fight Neil and I had at Brands and my highest ever finish at Mallory (6th), having half the grid buried in various bits of scenery certainly helped, but a flying start and some hard driving contributed too. Always nice to be recognised 
.
Interestingly I’m not suffering any enthusiasm lapse this year. normally the cold winters nights fettling leave me wondering why I bother. But last years success has left me keen as mustard for the restart. .