Hello again!
A few bits and pieces to wrap-up since the last post. I mentioned that I was working on finalising the positioning of the exhaust primaries - all of the pipes had at least one unglued joint to allow a bit of adjustment, so everything was assembled with the turbos in place, and these joints were glued.
Until this point I had allowed for the exhaust pipes to be pinned into the six sockets underneath the engine; this is fine in theory, but with the undertray fitted you can't see where you're trying to put the pipes, let alone get the pins into the holes! Plan B: drill out the sockets, fit some magnets into the heads, and the pipes are secure but free to move:
Since this photo I have filled the open joints with Greenstuff, so the pipes are pretty much ready for primer and painting.
My main focus for the last week or so has been assembling the engine. Until now the two cam-box pieces have been left separate, but these have now been glued in place; I can now start adding more of the detail elements!
The main water pumps on the back of the engine needed more work before they could be painted, so I added the triple-lobed adjustment plates around the centre, made a couple of hose pieces to connect to the lower water rails, and tidied-up the two curved outlet pipes:
The pumps have been painted and fitted - photo coming up below!
At the front of the engine I've added the alternator, drive belts, the throttle mechanism and the two short pieces of hose for the turbo oil feeds:
The six plugleads have been fitted into the distributor cap, and the lines routed over the engine to the left-hand cylinder bank. The right-hand lines had already been semi-fitted, but were now given a final trim to length.
Underneath, you can see the magnets in the six exhaust sockets, the lower water rails connecting to the pumps, and the solid oil line running to the front of the engine:
At the back, another view of the water pumps and distributor cap. I've also made a start on adding some more of the wires and hoses to the top of the engine, and trimming the connecting tube between the two intake plenums to the correct length:
This morning's task has been to set everything out for the end-of-year 'kit shot'. Other than a handful of obscure small pieces that even I'm struggling to remember what they are, the following is 99.9% of what I've made since the end of 2018:
A smaller spread than last year, but this is always the point where I realise how much I've done in twelve months! 2023 has been a year of painting, engine assembly, tub assembly, and adding details. No, I haven't done anything with the wheels or main bodywork parts this year, but I don't think I ever planned to. I can't finalise the wheel spacing until I have the suspension assembled, and although there's plenty of things to be done with the bodywork, I'm still undecided about the livery. All jobs for 2024, I think!
Although I don't have a specific deadline for completing this project, I'm optimistic that by the end of 2024 it should be nearly there. I don't intend to do any bodywork painting until at least March or April, so maybe I'll spend some of the next couple of months getting the body into shape - I still have to make the exit ducting under the tail, for example, and headlight pods, doors, etc. There's still plenty of work in building-up the gearbox and adaptor bellhousing, and all four suspension corners need to be put together. As always, some of these jobs can be done in isolation, others are part of a larger sequence.
Finally, thank you to everyone who's had a look at this build, whether you've been following from the beginning or have only stumbled across it recently. I continue to enjoy the creative process that scratch-building requires, and I hope that my attempts to 'freshen up' certain aspects of my work keep things interesting after five years.
Let's see what 2024 brings...
SB