Great news! :)

Yeah, I deliberately didn't pause for long when I started mine up, so it could crank a little to get the oil flowing before the fuel was primed. It took a few moments to start, but nothing unexpected.

A little smoke shouldn't be bad either, as you say new parts etc. I had a little just from a few little drips of oil onto the manifolds etc from when I was lubricating the new head bolts and giving the rocker arms a little soak etc.

The way I would do it is with the bleed hose disconnected at the radiator end to start.
From what Richard says above that's how he starts too, let all the air out the bleed nipple on the radiator and you can squeeze the top hose like Richard describes to help it along. Then, once the coolant flows out of the radiator bleed hole, reconnect the bleed hose.
The next step with a finger over the hole in the reservoir tank I must admit I've never done, but that sounds a good way to check the air is out of the bleed hose too.

Oh that's disappointing news about the steel etc.

I ordered another cheap camera earlier, a different style, so once that arrives I'll have a little play around and see what angles it covers. The other idea I had today was 2 cameras... Leave my existing one where it is and then (if I can) get one fairly discreetly fitted into the handle area that points mostly downwards. Then just have a little toggle switch somewhere, I was always going to make a little bracket in the ash tray for some accessory switches. Then 75% of the time the current camera will be used, but for the other times (just if I'm backing up tight against something and want to get close and not be guessing how far the towbar is from a wall or something, or want to just see the towbar for backing up to a trailer), I can flip the switch and the other camera will be active.
Maybe it's overkill, but I like little techy things like this... :D
It's on hold now until the camera arrives!

I'm very fussy about these things too, so unless it's pretty well hidden then I won't be mounting it.

Hmm, I'm pretty sure that earth wire was bolted to the back of the drivers side head on mine. Not sure is that was it's original location or someone else has done that, as long as it's secured to the engine somewhere, then I'm sure it'll be fine.

You had the manifold cover bolt issue too then! Access was a nightmare on the drivers side, even with the wheel arch liner out, I managed to cut them off with a flexible dremel in the end.

As for coolant, just start it up with the cap off and the thin line from the radiator to header tank disconnected at the radiator end. Let it idle, coolant will drop and top it up as needed. Once it starts flowing out of the radiator nipple, I put the hose back on and what to see it flowing smoothly into the header tank (Often it's suggested to blow through the thin hose too before re-connecting it). If you haven't already, also pour some coolant straight down into the front pipe and radiator via the top hose, I like to do it this way if I've drained any coolant.

Hi Alan,
I'd certainly be interested in a photo when you get chance. That's an interesting mount location, I hadn't thought of that, it would be clean and out of sight!

I've seen someone do it to a P38 with a factory sat nav screen.
If it's RGB then you'll just need to use a cheap 12v composite to RGB converter. I think the one I've seen done used a bunch of relays, switched from the reverse light feed and then that switched the RGB signal from sat nav to camera and back again.

It would be a clean install, not sure how great the stock sat nav screens are though for the image, I've never seen one in person.

Thank you all! :)

@KCR - haha, so that's what we all are ;)

Just here to say I've read through various chunks of this thread and great work! :) Wish I'd have seen your thread earlier, I was too busy on the wrong forum until this week! :D

I did my head gaskets (Thor 4.0 too) a couple of weeks ago, what an experience, as it was the first time I'd ever done anything like that... For me the taking apart was the worst bit, head bolts weren't as bad as yours, for me it was the exhaust manifold shield bolts that gave me the most hassle (and the mudflaps etc along the way!).

I had already done the water pump a few weeks earlier and skipped the sump and front cover off in the end as I was happy with the look of the engine inside.
I had a few similar experiences, like the manifold to head bolts were basically finger tight when I removed them, so the valley gasket was in an awful state.

Good luck with the final stages! The rebuild was good fun and a great feeling when you start the engine up again after all the work :)

@BrianH - I've looked at similar items, but decided I'm too fussy and it's not a clean enough look for me! xD

@Gilbertd - That's basically how it's been for me, mine is mounted roughly there, though I mounted it very slightly off centre, so that the top of the tow ball (with a cover on) didn't block any of the view. It helps to check there is nothing behind, like a neighbours dog running past or something! However for distance or backing up to a trailer it's not much use. I used the 4 pin connector behind the rear light too, very handy for these things!
I'm now considering the higher position, as you say it's not as easy to wire, plenty of trim to remove etc, but I'm so used to that higher angle from my other car (factory fit camera) I feel like it would be worth the effort. Just need to find the right camera now.

@leolito - Hmm, do you know if there are any photos of Marty's install around? That sounds like just what I had in mind! The trim in the upper tailgate isn't the worst, I removed it all a while back when I was removing some old faded tint film and someone hadn't fitted the section around the brake light properly previously, so it was a little loose. I also added a cable for a rear dashcam at the same time, so cable route is possible through the existing rubber grommets. The cheap Chinese camera that came with my headunit seemed a bit big to fit in the handle/plate light area properly, I started looking at alternatives a while back, but got distracted with other more important jobs on the P38 :D Would be great to see Marty's and/or your install when you complete it :)

Was wondering where those of you with reverse cameras have them mounted?

My P38 had some under bumper parking sensors fitted when I bought it and they are old and pretty useless. I thought about replacing them, but then I realised it wouldn't work so well, as I have a fixed towbar that would be the first thing to hit anything.
When I fitted a cheap android 7in unit, I did fit a reverse camera, next to the towbar, it was a temporary solution until I could find a better place to mount it.

Currently neither the camera or sensors are much use, as all I want them for is to know where the towbar is.

I thought of trying to fit something into the upper tailgate handle/number plate light trim, if I could find a camera with the correct angle, it would probably be a good subtle place to fit it, that actually allows a bit of a guide to how far away the towbar is from anything. It would also help for backing up to trailers then too...

Any ideas or inspiration of where you've fitted yours if you have one would be much appreciated :)

Thanks Richard! :) Haha, yeah, it's not that basic, just compared to most P38's I see now! Front fogs are something I'll fit at some point, as I like the look of them too. As the car is black, the bumpers not being colour coded doesn't matter to me, I rather like the look.

Yup, sadly I see so many like that when looking at the for sale ads. It made me very curious to why the last owner bought it and for what reason... I bought it from a guy that has a local garage and had ended up with it (my guess is when the last owner finally had enough of it and wanted to get rid asap), so I never got to meet them. They only had it about 2 years, only replaced the fuel pump and a couple of brake callipers based on the paperwork from the time they owned it. They did however get a fixed towbar fitted, an Alko hitch. Even though there was an un-used detachable under the boot floor... So I guess they just used it as a cheap caravan tow car for a bit. I find the history of a car very interesting and wish I knew more about it's previous owners!

Just tried it again after super-gluing the stem back on and it fits!
Here are a couple of photos. Ignore the white marks on the top surface, sometimes the PLA I'm using does that... Not really sure why.

I'll try printing it in ABS next and see if it's strong enough then.

Hi all,

Another new member checking in here :)
Been on the .net forum for the past year, but Richard recommended this site. I have to start by thanking Richard, he's helped me various times and given many great tips and tricks :)

So I have a 2001 4.0 (on LPG) in fairly basic spec (a County), it has leather seats, AC, cruise control, but not all of the luxuries like a sunroof, electric seats, painted bumpers etc.
I bought it just over a year ago in fairly good condition, I've always like the P38 and when I noticed one for sale fairly locally I couldn't resist. Looking at the paperwork, it had been owned for a number of years by the same guy that appeared to spend a lot on it and was his pride and joy, but the last owner seemed to let things slip in the couple of years they owned it. Started with the usual list, like leaky O-rings, perished cruise hoses etc and most recently blown head gaskets.

Looking forward to contributing to the forum and probably asking more questions!

I'm new to this forum, just moved over from a recommendation from Richard :) Just been having a look around and found this.

This is a great idea! Only this week when I was cleaning my car I thought about these clips and I thought of trying to 3d print something too! I'm going to try printing yours @dave3d and I'll let you know if it fits!

Edit: Printed a test one in PLA (as that was already on the printer) and unfortunately it snapped when I tried to turn it in the slot. I've just super-glued it back on and will try to see if it's deep enough. I'm not sure if it snapped because the 'side bits' on the stem part are slightly too big, causing it to not be able to turn and lock in the slot?
Difficult to explain... I'll try to take a photo and explain it better :D Of course ABS should be a bit stronger, but I guess due to the layers during printing and how small the stem part is, it does create a bit of a weak spot :( The top flat part is spot on though!