Ah mid-week garage time. Reminds me of the build! Got a little bit done today… luckily I hadn’t returned the impact gun after borrowing one to remove the crank nut so I was able to remove the cam pulleys. Whilst I don’t intend to refit these, I still marked up how they fit just in case.

Intake:

Exhaust:

The tippex marks on them suggests the cam belt has been replaced at some point and it does look in good condition. I’ll buy a new one anyway, just in case.

With the cam pulleys removed I had good access to remove the front plate. A few bolts and away it came.

With that out of the way, the thermostat housing was next. With the current engine, I’ve just blocked this off. For this one though, I’ll remove it completely and fit a core plug instead.

And then what will become the new thermostat housing at the back

I’ve decided to simply follow the Rod’s manual for disassembling the engine now… stopping once I’ve got a clear block and head. And skipping the disassembly of parts removed from the car, such as removing pistons from rods. Next up, cams and lifters…