Stag engine out. Whats next?

[Andrew Lacey]

We thought we were starting to do well with our stag, the idea was to start putting engine components back today but things rarely go to plan.

Andrew put new core plugs in a thing which is not to easy to do with the engine in. Actually they were a bit of a pain. This morning I was already to give the engine a bit of a clean and start to put it back together when andrew checked where he had put the core plugs, and it looked like fluid had been leaking from the head gasket, also one of the core plugs did not look quite right.  So after reading a previous thread a while ago about possible head gasket failure, I had the bright idea to take the engine out.  guess what? Its now sitting on the floor in the garage with two bolts losely holding the head on.  I will let you know how we are getting on in a few days.

Tina

[Bryan]

Tina / Andrew - ouch, not something you wanted to do i guess! Let me know how you get on with getting the heads off. With the engine out you won't have to remove the slotted studs will you - maybe saving you a drilling and retapping operation.
Got my new carpets and door trims and engine mounts  yesterday. Looking to change the engine mounts soon to allow replacement of s/s exhaust.
Good luck with head job and keep us up to date.

[Andrew Lacey]

Bryan,

Glad to see your car is up and running,  new carpets and door trims, your car should look great. Althought from your photo on an earlier thread it looked great anyway. I just hope it wont be to long for us. We are working every hour we can on the car at the moment. As andrew works nights we do have all afternoon to work on the car which does help.

Once engine was out and andrew took the heads off, he also managed to get the studs out thanks to someone previously using copper grease. We thought the heads look slightly iffy so Andrew took them to be skimmed. We now have them back. Also we ordered extra thick head gaskets. The bores and bottom end are in good order. 

As we have the engine out and hopfully will not be out again I am going to paint the engine, clean the heads. I cleaned up the gearbox today which did not take me to long. Things have not really gone to plan, but we would have had a few problems in the near future if we had not taken the engine out. It has not dampened our spirits its just means abit more work and time.
We are aiming to put the engine back in early next week.

will keep you posted

Tina

[Bryan]

Tina / Andrew. I'm just itching to get out - roll on May. The weather up here is absolutely crap at present. Hasn't stopped raining for about two weeks. She's not going out in that! I'm leaving the exhaust and mountings until the end of the summer now unless i get a problem sonner with either. First rally is on the 1st of May at the Museum of Flight near us - this museum recently opened it's doors to Concorde so a big crowd is expected - you maybe saw the footage on the telly - Concorde was carried on a barge from the Thames to the local nuclear power station's deep harbour and driven on special transport to the museum. I know i sound a bit of an anorak but you get to know these things when it's on your doorstep. The 1st of May is also the first day i have the car taxed and first day i can really try her out so..... here's hoping! Good luck with the heads again. Were they warped by the way or was the skimmimg just a precaution? Hear from you both soon. Bryan.

[volospian]

These things never go to plan. I fitted the new carpets a few weeks ago and during the rewiring I thought I had a short. I pulled all the center consol apart again, pulled the carpets away and traced everything back, only to discover that, ahem, I'd wired two wires the wrong way around ::)

Muppet!

Still, everything went back in fairly tidily :)

On a side note. I reupholstered the drivers seat a few weeks ago with new covers from rimmer. Looks OK for a first attempt, plus some of the foam had to be replaced and I only had some square stuff from Dunelm to replace it with. Oh and my Moto-Lita wheel looks very nice indeed now it's fitted :)

[Andrew Lacey]

Volospian

Glad to see you have your wiring problem sorted out. We finished putting our carpets in today, hopfully the dash surround will be fitted tomorrow.  The work always seems to take longer than you think. Our engine is now back in,  its easy to take things out, but putting everything back together is a different matter. We have done alot more than we expected to do in one hit. 

Bryan,

Not long now before your first rally, hope you have a great time.  As you have guessed we are still working hard to get the car ready.  The heads were not warped, we had them faced because they looked abit  suspect and had between 8 to 10 thou skimmed off and gas tested.

Tina :)

[Bryan]

Tina / Andrew. Rain stopped play. Got as far as the roundabout at the outskirts of Dunbar and it started to lash down. The whole day was a wash out and i never actually made the 10 miles to the rally. On the up side there were no leaks. Dad was there with his Magnette and said the whole day was a disaster as it never stopped pouring the whole time. Have had the car out since and she is going really well since the new bushes etc at the back end were fitted during recent welding underside. The whole car feels really tightened up. Just one or two oil leaks to resolve and she will be fine. You both must be close to finishing now. What progress?

[Andrew Lacey]

Bryan,

Sorry to hear rain stopped play,  Heres hoping for better weather next time. At least you have managed to take her out, I bet it feels great to have her back on the road. hope you sort your oil leaks out soon.

As for us we are nearly there, I must admit it has not been plain sailing, I think we need a break when shes on the road. Andrew is hoping to book her in for a MOT next week, then a week monday Andrew will be taking her to kent to have a soft  top fitted. We still have the frame to refurbish in the next week before Andrew goes. I have made a list of things to do before the MOT, we still have to put the seats in, wing mirrors, seat belts, front grill to put on, also a few more bits and pieces. But the main thing is the engine, still have a few wires to connect, put HT leads on, also double check everything before we start the engine.  Here's hoping everything will go well, but have to wait and see.
We still have to get hold of a top windscreen finisher and a spare wire wheel, we have tried ebay to no avail, although did bid on a windscreen finisher last night but got outbid. so will have to make a few calls tomorrow.

Will let you know how we get on with the MOT

Tina/Andrew

[Bryan]

Yes keep in touch with the progress and good luck with MOT which may have been done already as i'm a bit late in replying. Sounds like you are both going to town on this one. She will do you proud. Still waiting to see photos of your peculiar interior!  Took a run to a local town over the weekend. Came back with the hood down and wife's hair was all over the place. She wasn't impressed. Well I thought it was funny. To top it all a bird s**t in the car whilst we were parked. Lovely!!! Keep up the good work and hear from you both soon.