During the week I contacted Brucom, the manufacturer of the power cables and they offered to replace both my cables just to make sure.  They posted a new set which arrived a couple of days later, top quality service.

I've noticed a change in the garage recently.  Now that I am no longer welding, grinding and painting the garage is a little easier to be in and as a result I am starting to notice more long term guests.

Having cleaned up the area under the tank where I stuck a rubber insulation strip, fitted the grommets into the bulkhead and run the wires through into the boot I was able to fit the tank for the final time, I hope.

The new and old cables.

I replaced both the positive and negative cables and generally tided up in the area where the battery is stored and then fitted the battery.

I felt a little tense at this stage as I was about to turn the power on and I dreaded a load of issues with the wiring.  I had the battery isolator switch turned to off and plugged the fuses in before turning the switch on.  I waited for a while without seeing any smoke or hearing any frying noises before I ventured to trying the electrics out.  The first thing I did was to turn on the lights and I was delighted to see the dashboard gauges light up.  I then turned on the ignition and jumped when I heard a really loud noise only to calm down once I had realised that it was the petrol pump.

So now all I need to do is plug the radiator sensor in and connect the oil pressure gauge pipe to the gauge before filling it with petrol, water and oil.  Then I can have a go at starting it for the first time and that feels very exciting.

So before I head out of the garage at the end of Saturday I thought I'd fit the temp sensor when this happened.

I have a little to think about now.

I have been working on small silly things which were quite enjoyable to do but not without their challenges.  I finish the battery tray and installed it which has made me happy for some reason.  I went to connect the battery leads only to discover that the positive terminal was loose and on close inspection it came apart completely which was some frustrating.  I repaired and sent a picture to the company that made the leads for me and they have kindly agreed to replace it which is good.

I have been reading some other posts and articles from people restoring Healey 100's and noticed that they use completely different parts suppliers to me so I checked the relevant websites out.  One of them had a tray for sale that sits in the compartment for the twin batteries to provide an extra storage facility.  I presume they put the battery in the boot but wasn't really sure as the main focus was on the idea itself, it looked very cool.  Making the battery tray has been fun and reminded me of the mucking around I got up to when I was building the kit cars of yesterday year.  It also occurred to me that I should have welded two battery support brackets in for the other side so that I could mount a small storage compartment for tools etc.  Now I have a project for the future.  When the car is finished and I have sorted all the inevitable gremlins out I will make a drop in storage compartment for the opposite side to the battery for tools; cool.

I also drilled the holes for the wiring loom to go into the boot, some holes for rivinuts to mount said loom and a couple more to hold things such as the negative battery lead whilst the tank was out.  This all created a fair amount of swarf which collected in the boot area.  I had previously taped a section of neoprene into the boot on top of the chassis ridges that run under the tank to protect the tank and the swarf stuck to this like glue.  This isn't good as it will rust easily so I ripped out the neoprene, only it didn't come out easily.  I have a clean up job to do and then I will put the tape on the tank rather than the chassis.  I do need to drill more holes for the bracket that holds the spare tyre in place but think I should do that once the tyre is in place with care to ensure I catch all the swarf produced.

Things are progressing nicely.

The drive from Chamonix to London took a little effort last Saturday so I wasn't at my most energetic in the garage last Sunday.  The first week back at work coupled with a requirement to mark the mock exam papers meant I had limited time in the garage this weekend.  However, I have removed the the fuel tank and marked where the holes need to be drilled for the wiring.  I have also made and painted the battery tray.  I have fitted the exhaust only to realise that it doesn't fit and worked out what needs to happen to get it fitted.  So that feels ok.  I have had to sandwich this work between some required work on the daily driver, my wife's Vespa and my Triumph; no rest for the wicked.

It is Sunday afternoon and I am sat on the sofa with a beer awaiting the start of the Spurs vs Manchester United game, COYS.

I am now tucked away in Chamonix for a week's snowboarding holiday which is no hardship.  It gives me time to reflect on what I need to do next to get the car running.

Fuel system:

Remove the tank and check the drain plug, trim the outlet pipe and drill the holes for the rear section of the wiring loom and the spare tyre retaining bracket.  Refit the tank and connect the fuel pipe and fuel gauge wire.  This really shouldn't take very long.

Exhaust:

Make a bracket to connect the rear pipe to the middle exhaust mount.  Connect the pipes together without exhaust paste.  Trim the rear of the pipe so that it doesn't hang out too far.  It has been suggested that I wrap the front section of the pipe, I'll look into that.  I also need to connect the front bracket to the engine and the down pipe.  This really shouldn't take too long as the exhaust has been trial fitted and is essentially there.

Electrical:

Make a battery mount.  Fit battery, battery cables, engine to chassis earth strap, fuses and check the wiring for shorts etc.  I am going to tape up any unused leads on the wiring loom such as the wires for the lights.  Fit the wiring to the gearbox/overdrive.  This lot could take a few days at my current work rate.

Odds and sods:

Fit the throttle return spring.
Make a new abutment for the choke cable and install it.
Fit the oil pipe and washer to the gauge.
Fit the radiator temperature plug.
Fill with oil/water.
Check timing.
Check oil pressure.
Start

Do a dance, have a beer, post a video on Youtube, Instagram and send a copy to the BBC.

Once running:
Rebuild the drive shaft so that the arrows line up and fit the UJs.  Send it off for balancing?
Fit the handbrake cable and lever (new pawl?)
Bleed the brakes
Fill the differential with oil
Connect clutch linkages
Fit a seat

Double check all nuts/bolts are tight.

Drive

I had given myself the target of getting the car running by Christmas when I installed the engine at the end of the summer holidays.  Obviously I've missed that but I don't feel like I am a mile away from it so I don't feel bad on myself.  There were a lot of things to buy and that hampered progress a little.  Now that Santa has been and gone with wonderful generosity I don't need to buy very much for a while.  In fact that list I have just written only has diff oil, brake fluid, handbrake pawl and the balancing of the drive shaft to sort so not too bad at all and certainly not a barrier to success at this stage.  So, what about the end of February for a little spin then?  No, ok, how about Easter?  Yep, that seems reasonable.

I am convinced that the overdrive will not work straight out of the block so that will take some fettling and ultimately, time.

Once it has been for a run I need to get all the panels out of storage and then work on getting the filler done, now that will be exciting.  Getting it running will also be very exciting.

Snatched a bit of garage action here and there over Christmas.  Started by fitting the cut-off switch.

Santa was kind to me this year.  I also received an exhaust and a pile of small bits and pieces that will enable me to plough on at full speed.  I can only think that I have been a good boy this year.

The exhaust was the wrong item though which gave me an excuse to visit Moss in London and change it, all sorted below.

The front section fitted really nicely, nothing else did though, oh well.

Taking a rest at the end of a long hard day in the world of Healey restorations.

The only negative was that I managed to crack the petrol pump when I screwed it into the car, damn.  Now I do have the original pump and it looks the same so I could swap the offending part if the crack develops into something more substantial but for now I am blocking it out of my mind. Ho hum,.....

Been busy being festive so haven't had that much time on the car recently.

I have drilled the holes for the battery cut-off switch and am waiting for the paint to dry before fitting it.  I used a multi meter to establish how the switch worked and realised I didn't understand how the wiring worked in this area so I posted a help question on the Austin Healey Experience website where some patient sole explained the blindingly obvious to me.

My wife saw the finished dash for the first time today and thought it looked great, that was a good moment.

Having fitted the overdrive relays on the left so that I could fit the new relays on the right I made a cage for them to protect them, I had visions of using the parcel shelf and accidentally placing something metal on it and then shorting across the terminals.  No worries now.

The USB socket is in and looking reasonably subtle, I hope.  Pleased it has its own cover which helps with the camouflage.

Choke cable and wiring fitted.  Very fiddly to do and very stiff to use.  The damn bolt/clamp that I made (which took a lot of time) broke so I am back to the drawing board on that one, oh well.

Having realised that the dip switch wiring was unclear as to which way it should be connected I posted the question on AH Exp. site to be advised that the switch should be mounted from the outside of the footwell.  It took a bot more grinding but I am pleased with the result, looks much cleaner now.

I am going to have another go at the choke cable fixing clamp today and then fiddle some more whilst waiting patiently for Santa with my fingers crossed that he delivers the pump, exhaust and battery.  I would be getting it running between Christmas and the New Year but we are going snowboarding on Saturday so it'll have to wait.  I can tell that I am seriously into the car at the moment as I love going to Chamonix snowboarding but it feels like an inconvenience, the life of the spoilt!

Yesterday I started work on the last of the engine bay wiring by drilling the distributor drive shaft and fittings a new retaining pin then installed it.  I soon realised that to get top dead centre on number 1 cylinder I needed to turn the engine over by using the nut on the end of the crank.  This is a large nut and I didn't have a spanner big enough so I decided to modify the biggest one I did have.  Now the only troubling thing is that I had already modified this spanner for a previous job and I can't remember what the job was; I have a little worry that I am going to do something later on and be really annoyed with myself that I didn't use a different spanner.  Anyway, it worked and I found TDC and installed the distributor.

Next up, the plugs and leads.  Frustratingly, I only have 5 of the little brass washers that set the copper centre wire to the contact strip in the cap and I need 6 (4 plugs and either end of the HT lead) which is a real pain.  The reason it is a pain is that they are only 35p each but by the time I pay packing and postage it'll be well over £5 and that just annoys me, being stupid is really costly in life.

Everything in except the lead from the distributor to the coil which is made.

Starting to think about what to do to get it running.

I need to fit the parcel shelf so that I can install the choke cable and once done I think that is that.  I know I have a bit of wiring at the back to do, such as fitting the battery cut out switch and indeed the battery itself.  I also need to run the last few pipes in the back to the petrol pump from the tank and install the tank retaining straps.

I also need to fit the exhaust and fill with oil and water.  Fit the final linkage in the clutch assembly.  Engine to earth strap.  Adjust and tighten the throttle linkage.

The oil, exhaust and battery are all coming care of Father Christmas so I have no choice but to wait for those.  Hopefully I can get everything else done by then so that I can get it running asap.  Feels very exciting.