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The power of orange jam ... from Gina?

Is was either that or lurve!

My wife will help me if I really need it and have wine available!

Monday 20th July 2015

Hmmmm......removing the front clip is somewhat harder than I thought it would be. Saying that, it's mainly me rather than the process. Didn't get to the Coupe until this afternoon and at this stage the clip is still "on" but just sitting there. Under the car, releasing the headlight harness from the frame was easy. Next was going to be unfastening the nut holding the radiator collar to the front crossmember but there wasn't a nut to unfasten! Looks like it was missed being put on again back in 2010. Then turned to the radiator drain cock at the front of the lower radiator tank, the cock turned but.....nothing happened! So resorted to a partial drain by loosening off the hose to the water pump at the water pump inlet, caught "most" of the coolant but a lot still escaped. Didn't matter though, I'm an old hand with mop and bucket from the workshop days.

Rigged up my hoist at this stage, an old 1 ton chain block I picked up from EleanorS. Chained it to 2 of the garages rafters about 4' in front of the Coupe, should be OK(I hope). Plan is to roll the Coupe into position under the chain block, hoist the front clip up, roll the Coupe back then lower the clip to the floor.

Put the front wheels back on and rolled the Coupe into position. Then using 2 lengths of rope, one attached to the mudguard(fender) brackets attached to the radiator collar, the other threaded through the gills of the inner mudguard(fender) and the big air vent, looped these through the lifting hook of the chain block and started lifting. Front was coming up OK, rear looked to be struggling. Discovered a couple of things, instead of "bolts, 4 each side, securing the rear of the mudguards(fenders) to the cowl" should have also found the nut and bolt each side securing the inner mudguard(fender) panels to the cowl! Also discovered the left side mudguard(fender) brace was still attached and......I'd missed the clamp holding the wiring harness(loom) to the inner mudguard(fender) panel. As well the fuel pump heat shield was fouling and the fan was catching the lower radiator hose. At this time decided to abandon the lift, returning the clip to sit on the frame and will take up the running tomorrow.

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Mal; You need to put a 4 by 4 on top of the rafters or a block between them as not to damage the rafter ( cross ties is what they are) good luck. Jon

Tuesday 21st July 2015

Not much done today except the clip is now separated from the body. Main obstacle needing to be overcome was removal of the fan, which had been catching on the lower radiator hose. Although I've done this a number of times before it's always a chore because of the lack of working space between the fan and the radiator. As I've said previously, the radiator acts like a cheese grater on the skin and is NOT a comfortable working experience. After working for a while on one of the four bolts with little progress, bit the bullet and off to the tool shop for a 7/16" ratchet spanner(wrench). At the tool shop, after the young guy said they are costly found a wide selection of ratchet spanners(wrenches). That is all except for a 7/16", or I could have bought a full set for an exorbitant price! Next stop, the hardware store, where they didn't have singles, only sets at a less but still exorbitant price. Third port of call was Supercheap Auto. Again no singles, only sets, but now at a realistic price. Home again, and gee isn't it good to have the right tool for the job? Still requires some knuckle scraping but the bulk of the work is done without the cheese grater effect!

Now the moment of truth, was there enough clearance, had I forgotten or missed some other fastening/bracket/hose/ fitting? Started raising the clip with the chain block, main problem being to keep the chain from rattling against the mudguard(fender) but soon developed a technique for that. Would raise it a bit, check each rear corner of each mudguard(fender) and the radiator, fuel pump heat shield and generally check the whole situation, raise again, repeat checks, raise again, etc, etc. When the clip was up high enough for the rear of the mudguards(fenders) to clear the front tyres pushed the Coupe back without any worries. Positioned the thick towels being used at the rear of each mudguard(fender) on the floor with another under the bottom of the grill shell then lowered the clip to the floor.
Jon, for the advice "put a 4 by 4 on top of the rafters or a block between them as not to damage the rafter cross tie". Fortunately nothing untoward happened as I'd almost backed myself into a corner with the way I was doing things and didn't want to backtrack. However, will put the advice into practice before the clip goes back on!

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Wednesday 22nd July 2015

Just a few things today. Removed the radiator from the clip and cleaned the oil, from the leaking seal, off it. Rang Wade to bounce off him who to use for the radiator clean, check, test and possible rebuild. He suggested that, although the last guy he used in Sydney's west was good, the guy he's found up the coast is excellent. Outcome? I'm going on a road trip Monday to visit Wade complete with radiator under arm! Other thing was I removed the screen from the upper radiator hose in-line filter. It's been doing it's job with about half the screen filled with trapped particles but obviously I hadn't being doing mine in cleaning it regularly. Probably explains why the Coupe has been running a little hotter than before.

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I have never seen a screen like that. Is that something Wade made?

"I have never seen a screen like that. Is that something Wade made?"

Ken,

No, although Wade gave it to me, it's a commercially available Tefba in-line filter. Open link then scroll down.

Thanks! Never heard of one. Seems like a great idea.