Hi Guys,
Another quick update - I know, its becoming a habit!!
Decided to keep working in the engine bay and try and finish that off before moving onto the cab. Still quite a few things to finish off in the engine bay though - some major and some minor. The oil catch can still needs to be plumbed, as does the oil cooler itself, some electrical still to do and the engine cooling circuits need to be completed. As long as I keep a checklist going in my head, I should be ok!
Now that the exhaust manifold and turbs were mounted, it was time to install the dump pipe, O2 sensor and catalytic converter. This was a fairly easy process as it had all been pre-fit before, and just needed bolting up. I did have to slit one of the dump mounting holes though to get the bolt into position to be able to be screwed into the turbo, but that was an easy fix. Not a huge amount of room with a 3" dump in there:
While this was going on, I decided to paint the rest of the exhaust to match the dump and exhaust manifold. I grabbed a can of Killrust Heat-proof wood stove paint (not the exact name, but you get the drift) which I have used on other exhausts to excellent results. Unsure of the formulation, but this stuff is excellent, far superior to virtually any other heat-proof paint I have used - including VHT stuff. Anyway, I set up the exhaust on some stands, masked off the two rear cannons, and went to town:
It went on smooth, thick and even:
I let that dry overnight and then installed it the next day. Took a bit of grunting but I got there in the end - being one-piece it is quite heavy to lift up into position by yourself, laying on your back, but in it went:
I then turned my attention to the radiator. It needed to be cleaned from the 5 year old masking tape still on it and have its thermo fan installed. The fan connector needed to be changed over from the spade connectors that were on it to the Toyota OEM connector in the loom. Quick wave of the soldering iron and heat gun and hey presto, it connects to the standard connector - its lucky I kept the original Starlet thermo fan. Then I mounted the fan onto the rad with some stainless 6mm domed Allen bolts and it was done:
I gave it a test fit and all seems to be ok. I will get around to permanently installing it as soon as I source some radiator hoses in the correct diameter and contour.
Other jobs completed this weekend was the bleeding of the clutch (needs to be done before the radiator goes in as the rad obscures the bleed nipple) - and I was glad that the clutch hydraulic circuit had no leaks. Also changed over the TPS connector from the newer type which was on mine, to the older type which was on my replacement TPS (seeing as I had smashed mine at one time during the many install and removals of the engine).
So, all in all a productive few hours on The Cat. Next week I am hoping to finish off the oil cooler hoses (waiting on a few Earls fittings) and permanently install the oil cooler. Plumb the oil catch can and finish that off, plug and oil gallery and install the turbs oil feed line and permanently install the radiator if I can find the right hoses.
Also on the list is to grab a bleed nipple for the VH44 booster and then bleed all the brake lines (might buy a PowerBleed for that I think!!) and also to fit up the new driveshafts and make sure they are the right length (hope so!). Then the entire front end suspension assembly can be permanently bolted up and aligned.
Cheers,
Tricky