Mines not painted yet, but most painters I know do the same depending on the type of paint. If it’s two pack they will paint everything off the car and acrylic is done the way he said.
Jim

Hi Vern, I’m with Ken, it’s a lot easier to fit them one by one. The fellas at GMH make it look easy as they do it all day every day. For us weekend warriors who only have to do it when we do a rebuild it’s a different story. The amount of time it would take to bolt it all together, then try and fit it up would most likely take twice as long as replacing them one at a time especially if you only have a couple of extra hands. I’ve taken mine on and off a few times now and you find it easier each time, and as Ken said make sure you take the headlight buckets out of the guards it’s definitely much easier.
Jim

I forgot to mention that while the pin and bush are larger diameter, the outside diameter of the bush is the same. Thus both size bushes will fit the kingpin end.
Jim

I found out the hard way as well FB on have a thicker diameter outer pin and bush. Having said that you can interchange the arms, you just need to know which model so you get the right pin and bush as the inners are the same.
Jim

Hey Fraz, I did my front end a few weeks ago, if you haven’t pulled it apart, I measured the distance from the bush face to the inside edge of the control arms. I found that an old brake shoe was close in size so I cut the end off the shoe and cut it down to suit. The thick end of the shoe was wide enough for the bottom arm and the flat section above the end that goes into the wheel cylinder was big enough for the top arm. From memory the top was around 20-24 mm and the bottom was 40-44 mm.
Jim

Dave’s photo is correct, the plate bolts into the spare hole in the mounting plate and then down to the exhaust. It is meant to support the engine pipe and take the strain off the manifold and studs. Just use a piece of  20-25mmx2-3mm plate measure the length from the hole to the top of the pipe, bend the plate and allow 25-30 mm tounge for the clamp and 5-10mm at the top for the bolt hole. And if you really want to get technical, heat the tounge and bend it so it fits around the shape of the pipe.
Jim

There are three points for the exhaust hangers, first one is at the rear engine and gearbox mount, it bolts through the plate with an angle bracket. The second is the one Dave has pictured which can be purchased from Rare Spares, and the third bolts through the spare wheel well with a cup head bolt then the hanger.
Jim

Can anyone help me with photos of the twin header pipes for a grey motor in an FC. Trying to work out how the pipes fit between the gearbox,the idler arm and the rear engine mount.
Thanks in advance.
Jim

Not a happy camper, rolled the car out of the garage onto the patio so I could finish off the fit up. Fitted the motor and gearbox into the front end and started the header pipes. Then jacked up the rear end and changed over the old FC diff with the cleaned and painted EH 3.55 diff only to find out when I put the wheels on there is a real slap and lag in the diff. The while rolling the car back into the garage, my son noticed a distinct noise from the diff as well (so much for the in good order diff from a customer). Luckily I have a 3.36 centre I can swap over and hope it’s in better condition. At least the car is mobile and ready for the move tomorrow.
Jim

Hi Fraze, I have a spare set of lifters in reasonable condition if you’re interested.

I think the engine bay was the body colour up to the late 59s which was black.
By the way, your engine is a lot lighter than mine.
Jim

Yes mate, I was given an untouched EJ motor by a customer of mine. It had broken rings and no.2 bearing had turned, block has been bored plus 60(already had new pistons) and the crank 10. The head has 186 red valves and hardened seats and a mild cam, as I have triple strommies and headers. Just started cleaning the gearbox which was a bit sluggy, so might see about a rebuild kit.
Jim

Got the front end all finished yesterday, cross member rebuilt and bolted back onto the subframe. Cleaned up and painted the engine and all the boltons as well as cleaned the gearbox ready for new gaskets and paint. Next step bolt them back together and fit them into the front end and set the header pipes for clearance between the gearbox and the idler arm.
Jim

Hey John good to hear from you, due to health issues with my wife and myself I was going to sell it but not much interest. We have run out of time as we are moving in two weeks so it’s a mad scramble to get the car mobile so I can move it over to a mates place. He has let me store it in his shed so I can work on it a couple of days a week to get it finished.
Jim

Turns out the caps are different shades but the paint is the same. Did the whole engine and bolt-ons with two and a half cans, happy with the results.
Jim

Getting ready to paint the rebuilt engine, I have four cans of Power Plus Grey, two are light grey and the others are darker grey all four have the same part number. My question is which is correct? so ICAN get as close as possible to the correct colour.
Thanks in advance,
Jim

Now the house is sold and had no luck selling the FC, I have been finishing off the front end and diff so I can get the car mobile and move it to a mates place. He has let me use his shed for storage so I can work on it over the next few months and get it back on the road.
The only trouble with moving into an over 55s village is they frown on a lot of noise from hammering and grinding. But at least the villa has a double garage so I’ll have a place for it when complete.
Jim

Hi Marc, good to see you have finally started, looks like a good solid base. A word of caution though, you might want to look for any signs of rust in the usual places as it’s far better to fix it now than have to redo it later on. A couple of guys have done the quick fix now but have had to redo the car 5-10 years down the track. I know I’ be pissed off after spending all the time and effort to get the car back on the road and then have to go around again.
Jim

Due to time constraints with our move, the FC is no longer for sale. A mate has offered to store it for me while I finish it over time. Then I’ll look at relisting it as a restored vehicle(maybe)
Jim

Thanks Ken, I’ll stay with the later setup for that reason. Haven’t had much interest in selling the car as is, so a mate will store it for me so I can finish it off and then relish it as a finished restoration(MAYBE)
Jim