7 Months since the last update and a few things have happened to this nugget.
1. the clutch was "dragging" - it would shift okay'ish below 3krpm but anything above and it was almost impossible to change gears. Give the throttle a blip to 5krpm when stationary with the clutch in and 1st gear selected and the car would lurch forward. I spent months changing the whole clutch hydraulic system, new master, slave, braided lines adjusted and bleed dozens of times. but it just wouldnt fully disengage.
Ended up pulling the gearbox and found the brand new flywheel was 0.1mm out from the tight end of the specification, which is bloody stupid as i would have thought something new would have been correct out of the box. Had the flywheel machined down about 0.2mm, then reassembled and fruit and banana me, perfect clutch feel and shifting!
2. that fruit and banana sump and bloody oil leaks, made from the finest chinesium and unbeknown to me the reason the transfer case was hard to slide on was because it was self clearancing against the sump and making it look like swiss cheese. fruit and banana sake.
Put some chewing gum in the hole and finally, after how many years - the car is leak free!
Its all been fixed for the last few weeks and i've been driving it around a lot, its bloody hot going without air con, but so much fun!
I do love this picture, there hasnt been many days over the last 10 years where this car could be outside - but next to the RS (sold the Fiesta and regret it) it reminds me of an older sibling showing the youngin how it should be.
...anyway seems tomorrow, 3rd of Jan is a Mitsubishi vs Subaru night at Kwinanna Motorplex and well, that seems a fitting debut for this thing. No idea what it will run down the quarter, but if it survives a pass without killing me i'll be happy!