After reading Circolo's post I thought I ought to post my experiences of getting my car back on the road, so.....
After 6 months of my Sprinty being off the road and a run of bad luck with one thing or another taking priority with my finances, I have been squirreling away parts and I am now well underway with getting her back on the road again.
List of things that needed attention:
Cracked manifold
Badly corroded oil cooler pipes
Non self centering gear leaver
Noisy rear wheel bearing
Service - plugs, filters, oil.
New battery
"To do" list whilst her guts are all over the garage:
CHOD and other coolant hoses - silicone replacements
Exhaust manifold gasket
New radiator
Refurb of the framework housing the fans
Everything is going back together nicely, except I had a tug on the CHOD earlier to make sure it was on securely and it slid off - engine end not thermostat. Can I get it back on.... can I heck! Don't even know how I managed to get it on in the first place! - Ongoing battle
Any way, that aside, oil cooler and pipes, manifold, new gasket and bolts/studs - £50 for 10 of each
- were fitted today. Took a bit longer than anticipated thanks to dropping a manifold bolt while trying to fasten it to the difficult to access stud on the top left as you look at it. Fell down somewhere near the belts so downed tools until I found it.... eventually found it on top of the oil filter????
Next Saturday... refit heat shields, air con compressor and belts, radiator, fans and if time, take a look at the gear centering mechanism and no doubt have another slanging match with the CHOD.
New clutch and belts were fitted by Johnnybarvoturbo about 300 miles before I took her off the road.
With only 1 spare day a week at the moment, I hope to have her somewhere close to MOT ready by early February. I really cannot wait - might be an excuse to use up some holiday!
Once the mechanicals are sorted and it is through its MOT, I will be looking to refurbish the suspension and probably fitting billies and eibachs whilst I am at it... then an LE body kit later in the year all being well.
Hope to be back on the road soon and attend some meetings!