Hi Gary, Many thanks for your kind comments. I will probably know my '72 pretty well by the time I finish. I suppose like any large problem you have to break it down into a series of smaller ones to make it more manageable. It's probably been a longer series than I perhaps would have originally thought though. I haven't regretted doing it but any reasonably sane person would have just parted it out (and probably done quite well out of it) rather than trying to do a rebuild. Although as Raymond Chandler once wrote 'reasonably is a word you can stretch'.
There is light at the end of the tunnel - I had hoped to get the gearbox in this month but someone in the car's past used a selection of different bolt sizes and types to fix the clutch pressure plate in place. Must have done wonders for the flywheel balance. So just waiting for a new set to arrive now and with the purchase of a new slip yoke I should be able to join the gearbox to the prop shaft, at least temporarily, to see if it will move under its own steam. Well once the engine has been started anyway. I believe that this will be the first time since 1993 so that will be an interesting day. I haven't put the new/refurbished brakes on yet so if I forget to re-connect the hand brake cable it could be a really interesting day.
The Muncie was rebuilt by Alders Automotive in Upper Dicker in Sussex. It looks fantastic and I can see that there are new parts in all the right places so I am optimistic that this will work well. I have no reason at all to suspect otherwise but until I have the gear lever mechanism all installed and aligned and I have engaged some gears, I am a bit reluctant to give it my full blessing but the omens are really good. You might be aware that it took, ehem, a little while for the work to be done but I am very happy with what I have right now.
Re: The hood mechanism. That's a brilliant tip - when I was redoing this part I was concerned that this cable is only effectively clamped by a grub screw and it's vulnerable to coming loose. Having a second cable installed inside the hood is a really interesting idea and one that I will investigate. When I got the car, fresh from it swamp location, I only could open the hood by removing the driver side grille and reaching up inside. Something I really didn't want to do - although cars coming in from the US are sprayed for insects, spiders, wasps etc before they leave port I hadn't envisaged putting that's treatment's effectiveness to the test. And yes, I did find various cocoons (I think wasps) later on in various hiding places - fortunately either empty or with dead occupants.
The engine has a recorded mileage of about 57,000 - so relatively light use. I have stripped the top end and the heads (I believe to be non original LT1 heads, judging by the casting numbers, although I maybe wrong) have been fully rebuilt with new valves, springs, seals, collets and gaskets. The block and rotating assemblies look to be in good condition and there is no bore wear at all, so I have left that area alone apart from a new rear main seal and a rebuilt oil pump assembly (the while plastic tube that linked the distributor shaft to the oil pump was completely broken) . There are lots of new ancillary parts (rebuilt distributor, new alternator, water pump etc.) so I am hoping, fingers crossed, that overall the engine is ok. Once the new starter and gearbox are installed I will do a compression test as part of the set up, which should give me a more rigorous assessment of its overall condition.
Yes - I would still very much like front bumper if it is available. Wonderful!
Cheers!