Bracing

After fitting the cooling and heater pipes, I decided to fit the 2 front cross braces.  These just needed a few taps to fit, and then bolted up using the high tensile cap head bolts.

A fairly straight forward job!

Heating & Cooling System

I managed to find some time to work on the car during my time off which has moved on quite a bit.  The weather has been excellent for October, and a lot of outside jobs have also been done which took priority.

I re-fitted the radiator which I had previously fitted the fan brackets and fan.  I cut some rubber hose for the top mount.

After initially receiving the incorrect radiator tank (I have a newer LS water pump), I have finally manged to fit it to the upper cross brace.  I set the tank on the cross brace and lined it up to the water pump using the 38mm to 32mm silicon hose.  I then marked and drilled the underside of the brace and tapped the hole to M6 and bolted it up.

I temporarily installed the air inlet pipe to be able to align the windscreen washer tank.  I checked the overhang of the bodyshell to ensure that the tank wouldn't foul, and decided that I would make the centres of the caps at even distances from the air inlet.

I ordered the stainless pack from GD for the heater matrix and also for the lower radiator hose.  The 2 x 16mm pipes have brackets pre-welded onto them for fitment on the upper cross brace.  I had to remove some of the tank brackets to permit fitment, and I used M5 button heads to fix it.

 I also used the CNC machined thermostat housing supplied by GD which I finally bolted up in the orientation that seemed to fit best.

I need to order more stainless clamps to finally fit the hoses and finally bolt in the upper cross brace.  I still require to order some 16mm hose for the heater, and figure out the final position of the heater matrix.