69 replies to this topic

[johnR]

I ended up replacing the brake master cylinder, then one of the swivel hubs started leaking so I serviced/refurbished that. With the rolling chassis back on four wheels I re-started work on the engine, lapping the valves, fitting them and fitting the heads to the block. I now need to check the cam lifter pre-loads and bolt on the front cover and sump. This afternoon I made a tool to prime the oil pump out of an old wheel nut which will be welded onto a length of thin tube to go in my drill. I feel I'm making good progress now - once the engine is fitted I'll be massively incentivised to finish all the parts and wiring to get it mobile.

 

[johnR]

The engine is now home! This afternoon I bolted on the engine mounts that line up with the original Land Rover chassis mounts and the starter motor. Before and after engine resto

Edited by johnR, 17 January 2026 - 05:05 PM.

[johnR]

The engine is now in! Exhaust manifold fit is the next challenge - one fits OK but the other has a lump cast on it (for a sensor?) which fouled the bulkhead. I've ground it off and will now have to get the resulting hole welded up.

[johnR]

Today I worked on plumbing the engine in - mocked up the remote oil filter position, finished bolting the bellhousing to the adapter ring and measured up for hoses. Also trial fitted the carbs and airbox - amazingly the choke cable is exactly the right length to use without modification! The clutch flexi will need to be re-routed as the standard position fouled the exhaust manifold on that side - shorter one ordered.

Edited by johnR, 02 February 2026 - 05:57 PM.

[johnR]

Finding a shorter clutch flexi was harder than I thought - solved in the end by Exact Engineering in Totnes - fantastic next day service for a realistic price - I can't recommend them highly enough! I've now made an extension to the accelerator pedal to take the end of a cable, fitted the exhaust manifolds (what a pig with limited access - just like Mini engine mounts!) and removed the second swivel joint for re-furbishment after filling it with oil was rewarded with a leak. While I was grubbing around underneath the chassis I noticed that the front shock lower bushes have become very loose so new ones are waiting to go on. 

Apart from a few tweaks of various components, re-wiring is now the main job left to do and I feel I could rig the engine for a test-fire fairly quickly. Exciting!

 

[Retro_10s]

corrr look at those honking great SU's  

[stuart bowes]

hoovering up old ladies and little children as you drive along lol

 

looking good though, enjoying the updates

Edited by stuart bowes, 08 April 2026 - 02:02 PM.

[johnR]

corrr look at those honking great SU's  

Yes, much sexier than EFi!

[johnR]

I've loosely run the majority of the front  wiring loom - just need to decide whether to route it between the pedal towers or between the clutch pedal box and the junction box (leaning towards the latter). I love the colours of these braided wires - almost worth the extra expense!

[johnR]

This was what it looked like when I got it

Then I removed this:

Now it's 99% done - just need to connect the dipswitch and earth the fan, then on to wiring the instrument panel