Gearbox is back from the shop. had a couple of hiccups trying to collect it... kept accepting shift swaps at work, and it didnt line up with repair shops opening times.

Front bumpstops/gaitor kit finally arrived from "Shop4Parts" which now means i can actually build my front end, now all i need is time.

first on the list after gearbox reinstall is timing belt, the only job im actually kinda daunted by, not sure if itd be easier with the box out... might see how much movement is in the front engine mount buuut im super wary of damaging it. at this point im not sure how far off i am of just removing the engine. didnt really wanna get into an "engine out" job.

Once all that is done, test fit the bigger wheels... welding the rear... rebushing, upgrading and rebuilding the rear... then onto diag of why i get a flashy injector light. after that its "just cosmetics" left to sort

I’d take the opportunity to do the belt before you put the box back in. I use a big trolley jack under the engine then just release the remaining mounts so that you can get a couple of inches clearance for wiggling the old stuff out, new stuff in

Cheers Jamie

Belt done.. snapped the lower cover bolt so that tied me up for a couple of hours. Tis now retapped and copper greased.
Box is inplace and half bolted up so its starting to bear some kind of resemblance of an engine bay again which is nice.

Next on the list is front suspension, brakes and wheels.

My current daily scraped its MOT so this isnt as important as it was a couple of months back. Which is nice means i can take my time and do things that little bit better

just an fyi, my nexcloud is down for a bit whilst i attempt to streamline my homelab. may be up at the time you press a link... it may be down... if its down i apologise. normal service shall be resumed as soon as i get it sorted.

Hello all,

Huge update for this, i had some pretty big IT issues since October... my nextcloud has been completely rebuilt along with a slightly different domain. (Mods if you can delete all links above with the "thed3dl3g.uk" domain id really appreciate it)
Lost around 4tb of memories, in a huge data loss, (thought i had it backed up... didnt)
I had a desktop mobo failure, an upgrade of server kit, an addition of a properly setup backup server. just cosplaying as a network guy/sysadmin for the most part.

Between all of that and playing with linux, ive had precious little time to get on with anything of any worth.

on the plus side... front end is pretty much built, need to fit brakes and change all the fluids, but all the front end big bits are now where they should be.

Next on the list is rear brake compensator, and refit of the rear "axle" all the poly bushes are in, hoping to hit it Friday and, fingers crossed, Monday.
got a fair bit of work at the rear, new solid brake lines, still need to find /replace handbrake cables. welding. rear Eifels. ultrasonics fit. kinda need to get my head out of "computer mode" and get back to what im good at.

Ill update with pics, as soon as i find the time. the ol girl isnt dead, just had to take a back seat for a little while. i have mixed feelings about it, but here we are