Engine back in

March is re-assembly month. It's now the last few days and I only have the last few things left to go.
After reattaching the body trim, the bumpers and lights, and after searching for one small piece of trim from the front right guard that went missing for about two weeks, it was time to put the mechanicals back in.

Close enough mirrors for now

But first to mirrors! You may recall in the first posts that I struggled to find suitable mirrors. Well I still am, I bought these aftermarket ones which are similar to the originals, but still not quite tall enough.

I am so glad I bagged and labelled nearly every nut and bolt as this made life so much easier when finding the correct bits. I admit I do have a jar of random stuff which I keep finding the perfect bolt in now that I've exhausted the bags I had labelled.

I stored most of the parts in the one cupboard too, so nearly everything was on hand.

The cleaned and painted 2R motor with gearbox reattached.

I attached the rebuilt gearbox to the original motor, after giving it a thorough clean and repaint (the motor that is) and tracking bits of engine grease throughout the house :/

Most of the engine back
together and in place

This entire unit went back in very smoothly and easily I was quite surprised, especially given the hassles when removing it. I guess cleaning everything makes life a lot easier.

I bought a replacement water pump off ebay some years ago only to find when putting the ancillaries back on, that it's got the wrong shaft on it, way too long, the pulley doesn't fit and the fan would hit the radiator. Off to ebay to find another, which fortunately arrived this week.
I found engine enamel that is pretty close to the original rocker cover/air cleaner cover colour so gave them a squirt.

Next up is the rest of the motor accessories and radiator.