5th March 2011 - Exhaust Manifold

Another short day after a later than usual start, but ending with the completion of one of the jobs we hadn't been looking forward to - the cutting of a big hole in the side of the bodywork for the exhaust manifold to pass through.  Unfortunately, neither of the manuals gave details about where the hole should be, but we found the details and pictures in the "Aerorace" manual (as that model uses the same engine).  We started by masking off the area and marking up an the area indicated in the manual. Then, probably due to our nervousness about the job, chain drilled a hole about half as big as it needed to be.  Several hours of careful filing and trial fitting later, we had a hole which matched the one we drew at the start almost exactly!  With careful twisting, the manifold fitted through the hole, just, but when in place had plenty of space between it and the bodywork.  The gap even looks a little too big, but it definitely wouldn't have fitted through otherwise: