Quote:
You, ah, do realise your "before" engine bay is still way nicer than most, right?
You are right, I felt a little deflated to be honest after the first drive and looking at "before" and "after" photos and the fairly marginal visual difference considering the amount of time, effort, money and stress it put on my relationship with my wife. She definitely let me know that my attention to domestic duties had suffered during the rebuild and I had "dropped the ball" around the house over the last 6 months.

. In the flesh though, the difference between before and after is very much apparent. It was very presentable "before" however, it most definitely required machining, the bores were extremely worn and the head was in desperate need of a reco so the disassembly of the engine would have left it looking worse for wear without a repaint I'm thinking. It wouldn't have looked as nice as it would have been before a rebuild when pulled apart.
Quote:
Once the engine's run-in you'll like its performance better. What sort of ignition system are you running? How rabidly original do you require the engine bay to be? A good(!) electronic ignition system is heaps better than points-condenser.
Obviously timing and carburetion have to be adjusted correctly.
What kind of thermostat are you running?
Good catch on the fan!
I am using a Pertronix Ignitor electronic ignition kit which is neatly concealed within the original Bosch dizzy. (No ballast resistor or external ignition module.) The points are gone!
The thermostat is made by Tridon.
It's amazing how fortunate I am with the fan bolts, seconds from ruining a brand new radiator core. Someone or something was looking out for me on that one!