...and I've had precious little going on on my own projects...
I hope my various chums who appear in these photos don't object to them being up on the net. Oh well, here is a set of photos I present for your amusement, education and edification. These turned up over the weekend chatting to a friend over a cup of tea.
That is happening in the pictures is that one 1968 Vauxhall Victor estate is being fitted with the engine out of a 1971 Vauxhall Viscount some time in 2001, which is now, quite frighteningly a decade ago.
So I scanned them and emailed them to the folks in the pics, and thought maybe y'all would like to see them.
Not all photos are necessarily in the correct order. There are no XIF tags on paper.
What you can't see from these photos, we were all somewhat engaged elsewhere so not taking photos at the time, is that the engine swap was done from underneath the car. We undid the front subframe mounts, used the engine crane to winch the car up into the air clear of the engine, still sitting on the subframe. We then put loads of old tyres under the car to hold it up while we removed the crane. The original plan was to roll the engine out forwards on the wheels of the front axle however the engine was too tall for this and we couldn't get the car any higher on the crane.
So we removed the wheels from the front axle and then we grabbed the car and rolled it back leaving the engine sat where it was.
We then used the engine crane to lift the engine out of the front clip and winched in the new engine and messed about lining that up and persuading it to fit, before rolling the car forward again and lifting it over the engine on the axle on the ground. We then jacked the axle up to fit the wheels on and then bolted the whole assembly into place.
All this because one of us (who will remain nameless but it was Chris) insisted it was easier this was after all “car manufacturers put the engine in from underneath in the factory, right? Must be easier”
This is the project management phase. I am taking the opportunity for a swift Marlboro before starting on the serious work. Thats the "new" engine and its recipient.
This is Martin working away removing stuff. Or maybe he's fitting stuff? Who knows for sure now? Martin was the first guy I ever knew who wore latex gloves to work on a car. I used to think this was a bit odd, and possibly in some way less than manly. And I used to wear make up so that was a serious criticism coming from me. These days I get through a box of those things a month. [and not for any weird masturbatory reasons before you even think it]
here you can see Leon and Martin observing while Chris and I are underneath the car, probably removing the prop. You can see that the front axle is in place although there is an engine on the crane. I think this is before we took the old engine out.
Leon and I. Please note the Vauxhall sweater. I still own that and still work on cars with it on. Amazing durability. Please do not notice how much root growth I am demonstrating in this picture. Leon looks horrified. Perhaps he had a premonition about the work to come. Perhaps its my dreadful dye job. I am taking the opportunity for a swift Marlboro I note.
in this shot we appear to have either the old engine out and on the axle or the new engine in place. Martin (lab coat) seems to be making a run for it, Chris is saying “maybe it would have been easier going in from the top” and I am taking the opportunity for a swift Marlboro.
One distinct memory I have of this weekend was me singing “I wanna hold your hand” at Chris while we struggled the prop off, or maybe on, and that eventually someone threw a spanner at me.
That’s the old motor. Notice the tyres. I appear to have lost something (other than my sanity) Is that a Marlboro in my hand?
I said to my little one, can you spot daddy in that photo? And she could. Right first time. Can you?
Little is happening but it seems dark at this point. It was also very cold. I remember it being cold.
I believe we may be getting ready to push the car back over the new engine at this point. Note that on the drive is a metallic blue FD Victor 2000SL saloon and red car which is either Martin's Opel Manta A or another FD Victor which Martin owned for a while, this one was a 1600 Super. It was bought with a short MOT for something like £165. Those were the days!
In fact here it is.
I believe that Martin and Leon are talking to me as I am underneath the car in a similar but opposite prone position to Chris at this point in the proceedings.
So what have we learnt? That my ability to keep my hair dyed a uniform colour has been a long term failing, that car club clothing can have extremely long life spans, that I was practically a chain smoker, health and safety was never forefront of our minds back then and that it is not “really easy” to perform engine swaps from underneath the car. We also learnt it is harder to make a Viscount engine fit a Victor than we thought.
I think Martin still owns that Victor. I'll see if I can find any photos of it when it was finished.
I hope my various chums who appear in these photos don't object to them being up on the net. Oh well, here is a set of photos I present for your amusement, education and edification. These turned up over the weekend chatting to a friend over a cup of tea.
That is happening in the pictures is that one 1968 Vauxhall Victor estate is being fitted with the engine out of a 1971 Vauxhall Viscount some time in 2001, which is now, quite frighteningly a decade ago.
So I scanned them and emailed them to the folks in the pics, and thought maybe y'all would like to see them.
Not all photos are necessarily in the correct order. There are no XIF tags on paper.
What you can't see from these photos, we were all somewhat engaged elsewhere so not taking photos at the time, is that the engine swap was done from underneath the car. We undid the front subframe mounts, used the engine crane to winch the car up into the air clear of the engine, still sitting on the subframe. We then put loads of old tyres under the car to hold it up while we removed the crane. The original plan was to roll the engine out forwards on the wheels of the front axle however the engine was too tall for this and we couldn't get the car any higher on the crane.
So we removed the wheels from the front axle and then we grabbed the car and rolled it back leaving the engine sat where it was.
We then used the engine crane to lift the engine out of the front clip and winched in the new engine and messed about lining that up and persuading it to fit, before rolling the car forward again and lifting it over the engine on the axle on the ground. We then jacked the axle up to fit the wheels on and then bolted the whole assembly into place.
All this because one of us (who will remain nameless but it was Chris) insisted it was easier this was after all “car manufacturers put the engine in from underneath in the factory, right? Must be easier”
This is the project management phase. I am taking the opportunity for a swift Marlboro before starting on the serious work. Thats the "new" engine and its recipient.
This is Martin working away removing stuff. Or maybe he's fitting stuff? Who knows for sure now? Martin was the first guy I ever knew who wore latex gloves to work on a car. I used to think this was a bit odd, and possibly in some way less than manly. And I used to wear make up so that was a serious criticism coming from me. These days I get through a box of those things a month. [and not for any weird masturbatory reasons before you even think it]
here you can see Leon and Martin observing while Chris and I are underneath the car, probably removing the prop. You can see that the front axle is in place although there is an engine on the crane. I think this is before we took the old engine out.
Leon and I. Please note the Vauxhall sweater. I still own that and still work on cars with it on. Amazing durability. Please do not notice how much root growth I am demonstrating in this picture. Leon looks horrified. Perhaps he had a premonition about the work to come. Perhaps its my dreadful dye job. I am taking the opportunity for a swift Marlboro I note.
in this shot we appear to have either the old engine out and on the axle or the new engine in place. Martin (lab coat) seems to be making a run for it, Chris is saying “maybe it would have been easier going in from the top” and I am taking the opportunity for a swift Marlboro.
One distinct memory I have of this weekend was me singing “I wanna hold your hand” at Chris while we struggled the prop off, or maybe on, and that eventually someone threw a spanner at me.
That’s the old motor. Notice the tyres. I appear to have lost something (other than my sanity) Is that a Marlboro in my hand?
I said to my little one, can you spot daddy in that photo? And she could. Right first time. Can you?
Little is happening but it seems dark at this point. It was also very cold. I remember it being cold.
I believe we may be getting ready to push the car back over the new engine at this point. Note that on the drive is a metallic blue FD Victor 2000SL saloon and red car which is either Martin's Opel Manta A or another FD Victor which Martin owned for a while, this one was a 1600 Super. It was bought with a short MOT for something like £165. Those were the days!
In fact here it is.
I believe that Martin and Leon are talking to me as I am underneath the car in a similar but opposite prone position to Chris at this point in the proceedings.
So what have we learnt? That my ability to keep my hair dyed a uniform colour has been a long term failing, that car club clothing can have extremely long life spans, that I was practically a chain smoker, health and safety was never forefront of our minds back then and that it is not “really easy” to perform engine swaps from underneath the car. We also learnt it is harder to make a Viscount engine fit a Victor than we thought.
I think Martin still owns that Victor. I'll see if I can find any photos of it when it was finished.