Post Photobucket reboot from December 2009 continued...........I managed a bit of fine tuning over the weekend, but not really much time. I wanted to replace the 3 nuts each side between manifold and catalyst, so that I could apply a bit of Coppaslip. This is as a precaution for future removal, because these manifold nuts can be really tricky to get off after few years. I resisted using stainless nuts because these can semi weld themselves to the studs when really hot, so I stuck with plated nuts, and new washers and lockwashers. The nearside is easy with good access. Even so these nuts take a bit of starting and are stiff to get off.
Offside is much harder to access. The top one is OK, but the forward nut must be accessed from below, and the alternator gets in the way. The rearward nut is blocked by the master cylinder heat shield. Initially I tought this couldn't be removed without disconnecting the rear brake pipe on the m/cyl, but with a bit of jiggery pockery it can be done. The upper fixing is an 8mm nut on a crosshead setscrew through the inner wing. The lower fixing on the m/cyl is a 13mm nut. Once released the heat shield can be manipulated through the gap around the steering column, but it's tight. Only then can you get a spanner on that manifold nut.
And here's the job done......
One more thing. The fuel pipes rise vertically against the bulkhead in the rear offside corner. In doing so they pass the bulkhead flange which is an edge of stainless steel. Mine were touching, so I've inserted a neoprene U channel as protection. It's just visible here:
The pipes are tight, but we don't want any chafing do we?
Next on the list is to add some heat protection to the fuel pipes under the offside running board, but that means the exhaust will have to come off again on that side, so I need more time.......
