I've been fiddling around trying to get the inlet manifold to sit properly. Used OEM gasket and end seals but the bolt holes wouldn't line up.
The problem seems to be the end seals won't allow the manifold to sit in the V even with the end seal torqued down.
There is a dab of RTV in the angles but not that much.
Should I just slice the excess off?

Does anyone have any favourite sealant for the early non gasket sump? The choice seems to be between Hylosil 601 or 606 according to the manual or Loctite 5900.

I had a quick look around but couldn't see any way of getting an email notification if someone replies to a post. I've been very slow responding to a couple of replies. Is this feasible or too much of a problem for the system?
Thanks, David

Moving on to the front cover which came back from the vapour blasters with the oil pressure relief valve in bits and parts missing.

Many thanks to Turner engineering for a replacement piston.

Looking at the oil pressure by pass valve there is a hollow tube within the spring should there also be one on the bypass valve?

Just starting on on the CVC's engine and before I knew much about suppliers from conversations on the forum I bought a blue bagged camshaft. Would you trust it or not?

Does anyone know of a source for the black plastic clips that fix the rubbing strips? They seem to only come with a new strip rather than a separate part.

Before the CVC goes to the body shop I wanted to raise the window which I had lowered so that I could still get access. I was going to power up one of the wires going to the motor but wondered if anyone knew which ones power up. The choice is Red/Yellow, Yellow/Blue, White/Grey and Green /Grey.
All other electrics are disconnected. Any other alternatives gratefully received.

I am about to "invest" in a hydraulic press to sort out the panhard rod bushes and the very distressed rear radius arm bushes and wondered if there is a work around for the LRT-64-001 as they don't seem to be available other than at mad prices. I don't have facilities to make anything on a lathe.

As practically everything is off the CVC now I would really like to get to the top of the chassis at the rear and can only think of separating the body and chassis. Is it too scary a job? The whole car is on a 4 post.

Has anyone been to the Malvern autojumble before and found anything useful for P38s? It's coming up this Sunday.

Thanks

Dave

Having struggled to get the oil seals in the hubs I'm still left with a 2-3mm gap between the outer face of the oil seal and the front face of the hub. I should have checked on the gap when I took them out but does anyone know if they have to be totally flush with the hub?

So, I've extracted the engine and dropped it off at SRS in Sutton who have pressure tested the block and found it to be fit and well. The crank is standard size and reusable as are the heads which have also been tested. Considering the state of the sump contents and the rusted camshaft and pitted rockers I've got off lightly so far. They are going to price up a full chemical clean and cost for the bits.

Whilst it is away I've been messing about with the insulation pad on the bulkhead. The foam had become exposed and where the engine had been run without an offside heat shield the bottom of it was a bit tired. I tried finding a method of sealing the foam to provide a new skin including raiding the medicine chest for Opsite which is supposed to provide a skin. Nothing worked so I contacted Plastidip who were very helpful and patch tested a couple of products on it, settling on ColorBond in Mercedes Anthracite.
After about five coats it looked a lot better and more stable and with the addition of some new heat shield fabric from Textile Technologies it looks quite presentable.
As the heat shield is stuck to the foam I might add some additional mechanical fixing before it goes back in.

I'd add some pics but In Imgur I can't see a direct link button. There is a copy link but that doesn't show up in Preview after pasting the link into the add image button link. I know Gilbert has told me how to do this twice. The joys of old age.

Front of chassis gradually being cleaned and painted.

Trying to work out a method of getting the gearbox and transfer box out bit by bit. The bell housing is off but the rest looks pretty heavy and I need to find a balance point if it all comes out as one.

Oh dear. The camshaft is shot, the rockers are pitted, the tappets are dished and I haven't even looked at the bottom end yet.

Does anyone have a favourite supplier of oem standard parts for a rebuild?

As a supplementary what were the original colours for the block, head, rocker covers and sump?

Thanks in anticipation.

Digging deeper into the CVC reveals a genuine replacement stripped engine STC1965E Serial number AAA S15742 L9

The crankshaft pulley is marked as ERR5085 but has no oil thrower. Parts book seems a bit vague as ERR5085 is replaced by ERR7379 with ERR7374, the thrower.

Does the thrower actually do anything as once the seal has failed I would imagine throwing oil around is not helpful?

Does anyone know the history of the replacement engine serial numbers?

Thanks as always.

As I dig deeper into the CVC I've just removed the expansion tank and either I or a previous meddler has formed a very small crack in the breather pipe on the base of the expansion tank. Has anyone had any luck plastic welding the crack or would araldite bond well enough?

Bit of an odd mix I know but does anyone have part numbers for the foam that lives under the bonnet lock panel and over the A/c radiator? Couldn't see anything in the parts book.
Also is there a reason for the wire cover over the chassis mounting nut on the panhard rod?

Many thanks.

Tried fitting a front drive shaft oil seal, FTC4822, this afternoon. I put the seal, described by LRDirect as OE, in the freezer and heated up the housing and met with no success.
Measuring the housing and seal showed a .6mm difference. The old FTC3452 was fine so I wish I hadn't bothered.

Should I just pay the money for LR or are Bearmach any better?

Working my way through the muck and bullets on the CVC and found the OS lower ball joint dust boot in tatters.
It looks a fairly scary job but does anyone have a trick for removing the lower ball joint without taking the top one off too?
If not, do the cheap Chinese extractors work?
There is no play in either joint so reluctant to do more work than necessary.
Any views on the necessity for the alignment tool appreciated too.

Dismantled the plenum chamber on the P38 and found a bit of wear in the spindle. I'm not sure how much movement is acceptable but having spoken to SC parts and Gower and Lee they don't have any parts anyway. Does anyone know of a source or how much play in the spindle is OK?

My first post here. I've just acquired a pre production P38 and someone has cut off the EAS pipes as they go into the valve block, a spring conversion that has then been partially returned to normal. There are new airbags on the corners and I wondered if anyone had suggestions as to the best route forward. There is a secondhand set of pipes on ebay. As part of the restoration would it be best to replace all seals in the valve block and pump and will I need a full diagnostic setup?
Many thanks,
David