After throwing around a few ideas with Peter & Clayto, we decided the next step was to take some measurements and drop the whole guts out of the car for better access as it would be coming in and out half a dozen times. This was first going to happen today, but it turned out I was going to be busy so as I know my way around the shed I headed back down not long after we got back to Brisbane.
A rather surprised Rz found me tinkering on the car after about an hour & joined me to talk shit for a while. Plotted out a few things, decided what was easy, what was hard and how best to waste Clayton's wife's money (because Clayton himself has probably run out). A lot of things were nearly perfect but just that tiny little bit too close for comfort, a la the sump that fit with Clayton's measurements but didn't leave a lot of breathing room.
I started by hoisting the car up, cracking all the critical bolts, removing the wheels & removing any little bits and pieces that were going to be in the way. Rz did some brow-wiping and muttering on the exhaust side of things.
Before we actually removed the engine there was a lot of discussion on alternatives & options, and as you can see Rz was on the ball having already grabbed some random exhaust parts for trial fitting.
Once we had our heads around it we had to do a fair amount of rearranging, as there wasn't a lot of room in the shed. In particular the day involved moving a camper trailer, motorbike, some ford V8 thing, a Cortina shell, a 265 engine for a VG Valiant, really pretty much one of everything.
The net result was a better understanding of what needed doing & the motor/box on a hydraulic stand ready to go in/out as required. Let me just say I'm glad Rz is responsible for the design & welding of the pipes, as he explained it it all made sense but there's no way I'd have thought it would work the way he planned.
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