I had parked my car in the workshop I share with some friends over the other side of town on Dec 31st, and not driven it until this afternoon. During January I had the heads off, and availed myself of the opportunity to repaint the intake manifold which had started to peel badly after only a few years since my restoration. I gave everything from the top end a thorough clean and using a straight edge satisfied myself that the heads weren't warped. I've now fitted composite gaskets using a new set of bolts from Rimmer Bros. Reduced compression ratio, because I didn't skim the heads, but hey, I reckon I can live with that! I didn't change the cam and followers or the rocker gear, which my learned friend who fixes classic cars all week for a living pronounced eminently serviceable!
The rocker gear was harder to loosen than the head bolts, and I had pronounced piston crown wash in cylinders 8 and 2, so I reckon I've been driving a V6 since I last did this job in 2015! Last time I used a borrowed torque wrench that must've been out of calibration, and re-used old cylinder head bolts that must've been past their best.
I dropped a quarter inch drive cross head bit into the valley as I was taking off the valve covers, which meant I had to remove the sump to retrieve it. I managed to only strip one brass exhaust nut refitting the downpipes, and shear the head off one 10 UNC bolt holding the choke light switch, which I then drilled right through to the water jacket whilst trying to removing it. Fortunately my fairy godmother, sorry, mechanic friend, rode to my rescue and fixed what I f#*ked up.
I also ham-fistedly managed to break one of the brittle plastic petrol overflow pipes that run along the top of the engine between the valve covers and intake manifold, then down the front of the timing cover. If anybody has one (or a pair) they'd like to sell please don't hesitate to get in touch. I've temporarily bodged the remains by bypassing the clamp on the intake manifold and going diagonally down and forward from the carb to the front of the engine, but it looks really naff!
Anyway, my car is back on the roads, and seems to be retaining all the fresh fluids I filled it up with, and sounds nice with a deep bass rumble, and idles smoothly without hiccuping, and responds to a crack of the whip very responsively. All in all I am very chuffed! Now I am sipping a well earned glass of Bordeaux, and admiring the dire state of my fingernails, or whats left of them, and marvelling at the way my hands smell of motor oil despite ages of scrubbing! All in the life of the hopelessly stricken P6 fanatic!