[Mick O'Malley]

This afternoon I had another crack at fitting the thermostat housing. Once it was off I began removing all the instant gasket which was stuck like the proverbial to a blanket, first from the housing, then the top of the water pump. It's held in place by two screws, one of which is much longer than the other. I noticed that there was water from yesterday in the longer tapped hole so stuck a screwdriver in to clear the mystery blockage. Not possible, as the sheared remains of the 55 year old screw were stuck halfway down the tapping. I ground a little off the end of the broken screw and fitted it with a plain washer so that it wouldn't bottom in its hole: I think this was probably the fly in the ointment. I also ran a die down it and its oppo as they were fairly rusty. I again cleaned both the mating surfaces with acetone before applying the instant gasket, waited the recommended ten minutes for it to skin over, and reassembled. According to the blurb it takes 24 hours to fully cure, so I won't top up the rad and fire her up until tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Here's the dash with its replacement clocks, looking much better IMO.



Regards, Mick