So, it’s been an excellent weekend working on the car.

More inevitable tidying up, sweeping up and putting things in the roof of the garage to create more space.

Also, I think i’m probably done with the parts washer for a while, most things that need cleaning are now clean:

• block pressure washed clean – lots of crud came off, and the oil-ways were shot through with water. The oil-pump was also manually exercised (we have video – it looked foul and disturbing and reminded me of the line in Clerks: “I masturbate caged laboratory animals for fun”.
• pressure washed the inside of the rocker-cover. I’m now fairly positive there’s no grit in there. sand blasting it wasn’t a smart move.
• front engine cover cleaned and polished. It’s not mirror shiny, but i’ll do that if i have a quiet evening.

Then came the good stuff. The pinto is out, the gearbox is out and all the bits that can be weighed have been weighed. I think the pinto with flywheel and clutch = 95kg. The duratec will weigh a lot less.

Next job is to put the new bellhousing on the duratec block and offer it up to the gearbox and shove it back into the car. Let’s see how far back I can get it.