cheers Eks, you still going to chatsworth, thought i would ask as i can see your getting rid.

great stuff niff and so glad you persevered with her

cheers proccy, as JBT said i was very very lucky that i did not bend a valve with the timing being so far out, all seems good at the moment and the engine seems very strong so fingers crossed.

No worries James,
You wanna post those piccys up of just how far the timing was out.
Unbelieveable.
The exhaust cam was parallel with the head when it should be near vertical.
Great results,and no excuses for missing Chatsworth now buddy

i wont be missing it mate, with or without the coop, but now with.

Ill get those pics up later today.

Should shock a few people

I await the pics with great anticipation mate!

As promised the pics of the timing of my new engine before cambelt change and re time by JBT.
(no bent valves either, lucky [censored]!)

That's a damn good quality picture from your phone dude.

There's no way that engine should be running being that far out.

i was due a stroke of luck (car wise).

I really thought that was it after seeing the timing, as you probly could have noticed.

Lotto is on for tonight mate

Good on you for riding it out

cheers guys, i dont think i would have bothered without the help from johnnybravoturbo, but all seems well at the minute so hopefully ill get many more happy miles from her.

Yes i do recall seeing the ''petrol can and a match'' symbols in your eyes,.

i was gutted mate, although the thought of driving the little yellow fiat about was not such a bad thing lol.

Like you said i think we both expected to have another dead coupe knocking around the side of your garage lol.

nice one niff you lucky devil,not a bad lad that jbt fellow is he hope to see a smile on you face next time i see you

there will be a big smile matey, and yeah jbt saved this one.

O the joys of coop ownership !

Since having my new engine fitted ive been watching for leaks like a hawk.

Anyway i noticed she was using a fair amount of coolant so the investigating began.

Ive not had much luck recently bar the timing issue with this engine and guess what ? its the coolant hose of death leaking.

Anyway i found that it was leaking from a split where the hose connects to the stat so i managed to cut away a bit of the hose and re fit it, seems to have worked, ill be watching for leaks now constantly as the paranoia has set in lol.

its still leaking a tiny bit

could it not be the residue of the original leak dripping off?

well ive just had the battery out and airbox and checked the pipe over again, tightened them up just a little bit more and im going to go for a drive.

it was not dripping as it was before but when i got my hand around the end of the pipe i was getting coolant on my fingers, but no dripping like before.

I gave the pipes and bits that covered in coolant before a good wipe.

Assuming it was the original, I'd get a new one fitted PDQ.

Obviously, you've made sure that any corrosion on the thermostat stub has been cleaned off?

Top tip for avoiding corrosion on alloy stubs like that: try to get the jubilee clip as close as possible to the end of the stub. That avoids coolant coming into contact with too much of the stub, where it sits trapped under the hose and does its nasty work of eating through the alloy.

stat is only a matter of months old and i made sure i cleaned all the stub ends and pipes before re fitting.

Im going to order a new pipe tomorrow from fiat and fit it as soon as it arraives.

Just been for a drive and it seems to have stopped, i think it was what proccy said, the residue from the origional leak coming out.

Ill be keeping an eye on my temps and also checking the pipe every time i go or have been out in the car, still going to swap the pipe when the new one turns up but for now all seems ok.

An i have always fitted my clips as close as possible to the stub, but cheers for the advice stan its always appreciated.