The car is due out to have the exhausts done in a few weeks so I wanted to get as many little bits and pieces done so that when it comes back it’s almost drivable. First on the list was to finish off the brakes. I had run all the lines and bled the fronts, but the rears needed a mount for the flexi and bleeding. I cut and shaped one out of a piece of aluminium, then bled it all through. I was not happy with the amount of flex in the firewall (the raingear wipers need you to remove one of the braces) tho, so pulled the column down to see what I could do about it. I decided to make a rubber filler piece to take up some of the slack at the front mount and after a bit of trimming and testing it ended up a lot better.

Next on the list was fitting the shifter. I’d put the cable on a few weeks ago, but left it coiled up under the car. After working out roughly where I wanted it to sit, I drilled a pilot hole and checked it from both sides just in case. I took it out as big as I could go with the drills I had, then finished it off with a burr before bending it at an angle for the cable to run in. With it all fed through, a few adjustments and it seems to work perfectly. I decided to finish off the dash then, so fitted the new control arms for the heater controls and filed it all down a bit so that it worked smoothly. After checking it all went together, I took it all to bits again and fitted it in the dash along with the wiring. A quick double check that everything cleared the wiper transmission, and I fitted the glovebox while I was at it. The only thing left was the clock, which had been replaced with a picture of Jesus and Mary dated 1971 on the back. It wouldn’t fit now, as the PCM is behind there, so I cut the casing down and sealed the back up so I could run a bulb to it. With it lit, it looks terrible so it went in unlit in the end. Looking better all the time now.