Rebuild details continued from PART 1 28th July 2006 - Dry-Fitted the engine this weekend, with an aim to working out pipe runs and a few other things before pulling it back out and trying to get the damn thing finished! 17th July 2006 - Over the weekend I've started putting the bits and pieces back on the engine ready to be dropped into the car, hopefully later this week. It's highlighted the need for a few parts which I can now get sorted. 11th July 2006 - Having finally got my car back from GwynneSPEED and my manifold back from being welded up (it had cracked between 2 pipes) I can start getting things moving again. So the shell now has the seat rails in with the passenger side as far back as it can go and the drivers one has been setup so I can have a fair bit of adjustment should I need it. I also had some extra cage welded in the rear so I can loop the harnesses around the bar as I was never happy with them fixed well below shoulder height on the floor. Plan now is to fit the engine back in the car at the weekend so I can start sizing up all the other things that are needed such as the fuel lines, brake lines and most importantly the dry sump lines! 22nd June 2006 - With the engine bay nice and dry I gave it a wipe over with white spirit again to get rid of any residue, then it was on with 3 coats of lacquer. Again it looks odd when it goes on but after it had dried a few hours it looked very good. Now the engine bay all done it was off to GwynneSPEED for the seat rails to be welded in, so for now there's not much for me to do except clean the garage up a bit! 21st June 2006 - With 3 coats of paint applied it was time to rub the whole lot down with 1200 grit paper... scary when it looks so good already but to apply lacquer you have to knock the paint back. So rubbed down and then washed down it did give me a change to try the lacquer out on the slam panel, the results were great so I wasn't worried about making it worse before it got better! 20th June 2006 - Got another 2 coats of Graphite Grey on the engine bay and prepped/painted the battery tray and the front slam panel ready for re-fitting. I also cleaned up the thermostat housing and metal water pipe so it could be painted in Aluminium color high temp paint, which really does look amazing once on! Next I'll be rubbing the engine bay down with some fine wet'n'dry so I can get some lacquer on there for a lasting finish! 19th June 2006 - Main goal for the weekend was to get the engine bay stripped, prepared and painted... and we achieved this! Most things were already stripped out of the engine so it was a case of popping out the last few grommets, removing the brake servo (also now painted in aluminium paint) and the steering joint. Then it was the boring task of rubbing the entire bay down with some wet'n'dry just to key the surface for the paint. We didn't bother with primer as there was already a good undercoat of original paint. Once keyed and all masked up it was time to paint... ... and the results are excellent! I was really surprised actually, not sure what I was expecting but the paint went on really well (Halfords Peugeot Graphite Grey) and even after the one coat it was like a new engine bay! I had rather foolishly only bought 1 tin of paint so I'm getting some more today to put another 2 coats and some lacquer on it tonight. Should compliment the new engine nicely! Also popped to Merlin Motorsport to buy the connections required for the dry sump installation. There were a couple of choices of hose and fittings but after much debate it was decided not to take any chances with essentially the life lines of the engine and I decided to go with the Goodridge 200 series hose and reusable alloy fittings. They are seriously light and the hose it a beautiful stainless steel braided... altogether though not cheap in the slightest, but it's the best you can get so it will do the job properly! 13th June 2006 - My good mate Andy came over at the weekend to help clean a few parts, the main task cleaning up the front subframe. Took a good while but the results are nice and it's clean enough for me so I didn't bother painting it. Fitted it back to the car and it's finally looking like less of a sad shell and more like a project coming together! With the subframe fitted and a pair of new front wheel bearings it was simply a case of bolting a few things together to get the car back to a rolling shell. With that done it's now off to Gwynnespeed for a few bits and bobs while I'm off to collect the new engine! 8th June 2006 - Having removed the engine over a month ago I carried on stripping the car and removed the dashboard, leaving only the wiring behind. This was to remove the last of the sound deadening, to remove the heater and also to provide easy access of running pipes through the bulkhead. The standard Brake Master Cylinder was swapped for a 43mm 406 item so give the brakes a bit more bite. As I have new side mount Cobra Imola's to be fitted this means the standard seat rails have to be removed fully for some proper rails to suit. With the help of a nibbler and a spot weld drill bit it wasn't anywhere near as hard as I thought it would be. Getting the seat rails in square and safely is tricky so I'm leaving that bit to a professional, Gwynnespeed. designed by: