Well, since the last epistle, things have been pretty quiet at Cageyenne Autos.  Other things have got in the way, and without giving a life history, the motorbike has gone, the house in France has gone, an apartment in the Isle of Wight has appeared………and a bl**dy oil leak from the near side of the Burton.

Sadly that has entailed removal of the bonnet, front body and all of the wiring that has got in the way; the heat exchangers, the manifold, all the carburettor connections, all have come off to be able to investigate.

The oil leak was seen to come from the  pushrod guide tubes. Off with its head!  Unlike many cars the head has two aluminium tubes running from the underside and which are intended to locate the pushrods onto the cam followers in the block.

If, when the head is refitted, it is not done with extreme care, the tubes crush where they enter the block, distort the rubber seal and thus the oil leaks.The tubes are removable but only with enormous dificulty – ECAS’ website says don’t attempt it.  Those who have done say it can  be done with a hacksaw but my attempts to saw cut into the aluminum head and (probably) caused even more damage.

So a second hand head has been obtained (thank you Martyn Wilson) and has now been refitted.  Valve clearances checked and all the bits screwed up.  Then the banjo oil feed bolt fitted and tightened – too much and sheared – new one ordered.  Then it was obvious that one of the manifold bolts thread had gone. New longer one ordered (rather than fit helicoil at this stage) as it is one that can be bolted through.

So that is where we are at now.  Next week will see the bits reconnected and the engine run to see if the leak has been fixed.  If that is the case the next blog entry will proudly show the rolling chassis and then the body refitted