It amazes me how hedged up the way seems to be with this little car. I installed the clutch cable and one challenge after another made a very simple matter into a huge time consumer. The cable has a thick protected sheath that terminates at two stop points. The one in the car fell apart so I made my own version. After removing it because the new cable wouldn’t fit its dimensions I refashioned it to work. The original mounting came off the car and to properly replace it meant I’d have to get underneath, which is no small matter considering how low to the ground it is. That’s why there are lifts and maintenance pits. The reason to go under the car is that the abutment has to be  bolted through the fiberglass and backed on the other side with fender washers. That was not going to happen. So I bolted it to the floor instead. If I were doing it over I would design a mount that fastens on and off from inside the cabin. Good thing it’s a small car because the way it’s done is I drilled and tapped holes for 1/4″ 20 threads per inch. I used the piece to pilot holes in the floor and in a copper backing plate. I screwed in the fasteners, put the cable in the piece, and put it in  place. Then I fastened it underneath with nuts. Then I trimmed the extra.

Installing the clutch cable to the pedal cluster was far too difficult because I had already put the seat back in. Way too small a space for my leviathan form. The seat was in and out several times though. I could have waited, except I didn’t think I’d have to get back in there.

The only way to get the old cable out was to pull it from the engine into the cabin. The only way to install the new one was to pull the engine end through the little hole and drag it over to the rearward abutment in the motor mount that the water hose passes through. Then I added the nuts and the clutch arm cradle piece and did a rough adjustment to take out the slack. More to come.

I put away tools and put the wheels and brake drums back on. Then I topped up the swirl pot with water.

After a careful search to see if there was anything I ought to have hooked up or torqued I reconnected the battery and tried to start the car.

No luck. After numerous cranks, the float chamber of the carburettor was still dry. Tomorrow I will prime the thing and see if it works. Maybe it doesn’t like sitting. It’s been three months.

In that time I took the trans axle out along with the exhaust system (except the manifold) and I cleaned it up and painted it with Por15. The release bearing is new along with the pressure plate and disk for the clutch. And the Pilot bearing, which I learned to remove with white bread and a dowel.

The pivot arm bushing is now new and the shifter plate has been cleaned up  and painted silver.

The paint job that was there in the first place was not top quality. They painted over dirt and grime and did no prep for areas of oxidized alloy. The water pump and thermostat are new. The crazy extra plumbing from hot block water straight into cooled water has been removed. I installed a bleed valve above the highest point of the coolant universe. Knowing what I now know, I could do the whole job in a long weekend. Knowing nothing made it last three months. A month for a day.

Starting out, I didn’t understand how clutch disks are actually employed in their job. I thought I knew, but I was wrong. I also didn’t understand the need for the abutment at both ends of a push-pull cable. I’d never seen a 12 point nut. I didn’t understand the different attributes of exhaust ceramic and wraps. I was wrong about the flow direction of the coolant. As usual, I had it backward. Now I know the purpose of each of the six ports on the water pump.

So it wasn’t a total loss.

Maybe knowing all that stuff has value. It certainly does if I keep the car.