Hey Pat, yes, sorry, been busy with many things the last few weeks, not much opportunity to update the thread.
Things are moving along steadily. After getting the engine and transmission back in, I didn't have any time to play with the car for a couple of weeks; work commitments, diving trip, projects on the other cars...
A couple of weekends ago I was able to do a lot of the "top side" plumbing in the engine bay - connecting all the oil breathers, vacuum lines and so on. The A/C is now back on the engine, plumbed in, as is the power steering pump. I still need to connect the throttle linkage and the air intake snorkel & filter.
As I predicted, it's only when you get the engine installed that you can accurately know which plumbing fittings would be needed for the water cooling circuit, and so it has proved to be. Only two changes required; the first is a 90º fitting for the header tank outlet (I had a 135º fitting, but this pushes the hose too close to where the air intake will sit). The second fitting is an M14 > -8AN male/male adapter for the turbo centre housing. I previously had a banjo connection mating to the extension piece I made, but this fouls the exhaust system (LH silencer tailpipe). All easy stuff to fit.
Last weekend I spent a day or so removing the oil tank; it's not a job I forgot to do, more a job that I kept putting off! But it needed to be done so that I could flush out any last remaining dregs of oil. A good job now done, the whole oil circuit has now been flushed through in readiness for the new oil.
Last night I had a kick-up-the-bum phonecall from Chris - although he doesn't know it was a kick-up-the-bum call, it was a great chat to catchup, but somehow after we speak I always feel completely motivated to get back out into the workshop and get stuff done. In that remaining 3 hours or so of the evening, I think I got more items crossed off the list that I did the previous weekend!!
-Starter motor connected
-Reverse switch on transmission connected/routed/tethered
-Transmission tail stabiliser bars connected
-Water cooling circuit bleed hose cut to length and fitted
-RHS traction control timing wheel fitted, and driveshaft connected/torqued
-RHS sharkfin re-fitted, inner arch installed
-Oil feed and return lines fitted and P-clipped
-Hot air hoses for the HVAC fitted (the rear pipework, not front)
-Clutch slave cylinder pipe attached to transmission mount
Tonights job is to finish the HVAC hosing, connect the gear linkage, LHS driveshaft/TC timing wheel/TC hall effect sensor, then get the car lowered so that I can continue the engine bay work.
After that, it's time to route the ECU harness in the cabin under the carpet, make a new mounting plate for the ECU (and other parts of the system), then refit the interior...finally. I can then get the passenger seat out of my house! Dare I say it, but then I think we're really close to the car being ready for Sam to come and build a fire-up map. Gulp.