Good to see some updates but not quite the best updates. hopefully the diabetes gets under control soon enough.

That is a very strangene exhaust doovey. It it bolts on after the muffler wouldn't it stick out the back of the car heaps?

 

Got the K block back from the machinist and checking it over before assembly. This was the motor that would run ok at idle and then struggle once warmed up. Had thought cracked piston but they looked ok. Clearing out the rust and scale build up and noticed the cooling channel between cylinder 3 and 4 was non existent. 
 

 

after about an hour working away with a screwdriver, scraper and hammer I managed to break through the buildup of solid crud. Have since cleared it all the way. 
 

I wonder if this could have explained the issue. Anyway new pistons with a bore, and some other things. Should hopefully go alright. 

Ah, so familiar! They just fill up with rust & sludge in the rear water jackets. Are you going to fit Banjo's bypass to get  the hot water circulating around the back of the engine?

Hmm. I’ll have to hunt that thread down

Factory SL goodness

 Fun day stripping out engine bay in prep for paint stripping.  There’s a fair amount of White House paint in there.  And of course the usual non metric bolt in a barely accessible location holding up the exhaust.

Lots of work stripping the paint in the engine bay. The white house paint very tenacious. Fair amount of surface rust to deal with but grinding it back for eventual rust converter treatment. 
 

Had a really good look at the air box for the heater intake, and managed to find a hole through into the cabin. Initially I was thinking I could get to it from under the dash, but then noticed another hole at the other end. This car is a keeper so had to be done properly, so out with the spot weld drills. 

First the interior needed to come out including the original carpets and coco fibre  underlay insulation. And the seats which are absolutely perfect. Can’t risk them catching fire with all the cutting and welding. 

A bit of work to clean it all up, but fortunately it is looking very good from underneath other than those two holes. 
 

Now it’s out, I’m very glad i took it out. 

Edited December 1, 20223 yr by parrot