SamKidney

Made a start on the box tonight. New bearings and speed sensor drive pressed on and 5.1 crown wheel torqued down. Bearings hopefully to land on Friday morning so I can shim it all up and have it assembled in time to fit on Saturday. Had the cam cover off the K24 this afternoon too and it’s impressively clean under there which looks promising.

Looks cool that Dan. Almost looks like it belongs behind a bar as a drinks/glass store, not a garage.

That’s a fair head of hair! Congrats mate

Picked up what will be the new heart for the Coupe this weekend. Its a K24a3 as removed from an Accord Type S. I’m planning to rebuild this as a “forged” high compression NA engine that should make somewhere in the region of 270-290bhp though the magic figure I’m aiming for is 300 or near as damn it, while doing so on unleaded. Also got chance to get across to Scunthorpe and remove the head from a friends high compression B18C. He’s only just fitted the engine and unfortunately he’s been met with a plethora of oil leaks and a rapidly pressurising cooling system. Cue one spurious, and failed head gasket. I’ve got a rather nice gearbox to build for another EP3 this week with an M Factory differential and a 5.1 Final Drive I’m looking forward to getting stuck into too.

I bought the EG The asbo cannon exhaust is not included.

Summer should see the purchase of an Integra too

Quick update on what I’ve been up to with regards to Automobiles. As some had seen on the angry thread my agreement with th gaffer went tits up with regards to working on the Hondas after hours. All being well I’m on the final stretch to my own unit now, but in the mean time I’ve very kindly been allowed the use of another garage on evenings and weekends to continue my work. The chap with the Civic Jordan I look after came forward asking for a K swap. Gathered the appropriate pieces of the puzzle, and got it done over a weekend. The B16 from the Jordan was sold onto another local chap who asked me to fit it for him too. The Jackson Supercharged CRX is back for a health check and alignment. I have another K swap Civic that is awaiting a 3rd gear synchro, an EP3 waiting for an LSD and shorter final drive fitting and two B series Civics for turbo converions and one engine rebuild. Im going to view a lovely japanese import Civic EG6 SiR 2 tomorrow evening as a treat to myself. I still need to break the UK CRX Del Sol VTi I have too. Things are looking up.

Forgot how good of a watch Sellero was, mint

I had my first proper pedal out on the new bike last week/weekend. Rides a beaut and I’ve not completely lost it either. Much happier on a 26”. Back in the gym as of this week too. Might try a local trials comp or two if I can get some fitness back.

15 minutes from Shipley Glen/Addingham Moorside for me properly good natural riding.

Cousts or ADMs for me.

Turns out there is already an established garage/mechanic on the site I was looking to lease a building in and the site owner, understandably I guess, is reluctant to let another start up in effort to prevent any friction between him and current tennant. Was a 5 minute bike ride from home/was on the way home from “work” too. Bugger

Biting the bullet and taking steps towards sorting my own workspace out. Phone call with estate agent regarding property arranged tomorrow.

Had a run out to Tegiwa Imports yesterday. Was a bit too late and missed some nice Hondas. Had to leave before I spent too much on new bits I don’t really need. Was nice to give the civic a good run out.

My Try-All carbons started to creak before they let go. Just inspect them regularly for any signs of abnormal marks/distress in the lacquer.

This is the plan really. Minus the loan if I can find premises with a reasonable rent/lease figure and rates that aren’t extortionate.

He’d agreed to me doing the hondas after hours, providing it WAS only Hondas which it always has been, early last year. The irony of it is I was looking for a unit anyway because I didn’t want to take the total piss out of the use of his space and I’m getting too busy to have engines and boxes scattered all over the place here, so I was on the way to doing the right thing anyway. I’ve been looking and there’s a few units that have caught my eye. I’d like to go and start loan free if possible, I think I can do it with what I have. Will just be a year of hard graft and long hours but I think it’ll pay off.

It’s a mind f**k, I’m going to use the next few weeks as a stop gap purely to get back in front with my finances and find a workshop of my own.

Well he’s called me into work, I knew he would do but the atmosphere could be cut with a knife. Definitely time to sort my own place out even if it is just for after hours out of here until I get my foot in properly. No enthusiasm to work here not being able to do what I enjoy after I’ve done. There’s more to it than just not being able to work on the Hondas.

Combination of things, the lad I worked with is a self centred wanker. I won’t go into the details of it all but his grounds for dismissing me are a joke. Just a bit gutted really. 6 years working there and building a bond/trust with customers that recognise my efforts and ask for me when booking/enquiring etc. Was all familiar and I enjoyed being there. I don’t like change.

Jobless

Jitsie/Echo are your best bet.

Merry Crimbo to all. The roads are pleasantly quiet here so I’m going to wake half of West Yorkshire up shortly with a spirited run out in the Civic to see some family.

Had it a little while now. Was an absolute bargain, absolutely love it.

After a year of braving any cold spell we had I decided enough was enough and fitted the heater matrix I’ve had on my tool box top for 12 months into the 306. I never want to or will do one again. I’ve got Civic dash removals down to about 25-30 minutes. The 306? 3 hours. Then I broke the heater matrix hose fitting removing it. Que another 3 and a bit hours to refit the dash with new matrix fitted, but unable to be plumbed in. A kind chap in Castleford answered my plea on Facebook for said fitting, hard to find for a 22 year old Peugeot that you don’t see anymore, and gave me a replacement for nothing. Straight to the garage, fitting piped in and clipped into the matrix. I have heat and it’s utterly glorious. Civic is next on the cards, completely reversing all the dashboard chopping I did not long ago.