Desnagging

Other than the steering column linkage - water thermostat snag which was predicted (minimal though - only a small extension flange needed to rotate the thermostat which my neighbour has kindly offered to make in his workshop, the other desnagging required is to make a small cut out in the nearside inner wing where the alternator is current touching it.

First the fibreglass was cut out with the dremel. Having the vacuum hose on next to the dremel blade took almost all the fibreglass dust straight away meaning that I could see what I was doing and not covering everything in fibreglass dust! Must remember that for all occasions now.

I drilled all four corners of the stainless to give the dremel something to meet, then with the dremel again I started gently cutting into the stainless.

Above I haven't chopped out fully yet.

Might need to go a little lower as the panel has move out slightly now the pressure has been released.

Not bad for 30 mins early on a Sunday morning, and much faster than having to strip out alternator to get to it from the inside.

Busy body

Yes, the major update! The body is on.

With the excellent September weather long gone - I was too ambitious in overestimating sorting out all the last little tasks - October came and went... And Sunday 9th of November arrived. Men were sourced, bribed with promises of beer and food once the job was done, they came in their masses, wives and children too.

Given AK recommend 4-6 people to help with the task, Mrs B counted 30 at peak attendance. Not bad!

One rolling chassis - check.

(The calm face is covering up the fear of having forgotten to do something really important. Mind you it's not like launching a boat for the first time... At least this shouldn't sink. Well, it will but not in its native surrounds)

One body prepped and ready - check.

I will so not miss brushing against the holly hedge each time I want to work on it. Vicious stuff.

Trial fitting. Working out the best angles and if / where anything was likely to snag.

Thankfully it was all clear, the careful measuring for gear shifter etc paid off.

Applyin the sealant around top of floor pans to prevent water ingress between body tub and chassis.

Given the weather was due to turn a bit later I gave Dave some sealant and asked him to mirror my side.

And back on again.

Some wiggling and pulling on the body was required to get all the bolts through but that was to be expected as the body continues to settle and set when it was stored but easy enough to do.

Team photo (of the ones that actually did the work)

And relax...

Only one small issue. I forgot to drop the oil cooler down from on top of the air intake where I'd left it to roll the car out. The gap between the corners of the radiator and top of the body meant I couldn't squeeze the hoses through.

Sorted now though, I held it up to drain some of the oil out back into sump and then removed the hoses, fed them through and reattached.

Job complete!

There's a lot less space in the garage now.

Totally uninteresting

To most however I thought I'd post this as there is much suspicion and fear about car wiring looms.

I need to tidy up some of the chaos pictured below

The easiest way is to consolidate some of the additional wiring I've added in and if room have it run in one conduit.

So stripping of the external tape covering and then peeling the conduit out from around the wire loom exposes it fully. Add in additional wires as necessary and then pack it all up in reverse.

And then you get the finished result below. Much tidier and easier to fix and manage so that nothing is in danger of moving about or touching something hot that it shouldn't. 

Just waiting for a bit of additional conduit for the red power lead to be delivered which I will fit a small amount prior to putting body on to make sure I have it located fully as access to this area afterwards will be tricky.

See, I said it wouldn't be interesting but important for IVA to make this stuff all tidy and well protected.