Crying...........

Not me I hasten to add (that's crying I mean), no, Izzy is, look, tears of oil stream from her crankcase like a lone stream of water travelling in the middle of nowhere departing from a wide river of mixed emotions.............. actually, its just a bit of the oil that I used to soak the clutch plates in that has seeped out after they were compressed. It could also be the remnants of the oil used on the gears when they were lubricated prior to being fitted, so nothing to worry about.

Whenever I write the word crying, I find it very hard not to think of a certain Only Fools and Horses sketch, you need to forward to around the 40th minute, but it still makes me laugh now, I am easily pleased though.

So, back to the post, it's only a short one (you may be pleased to know) as I have been helping with an an erection putting a shed up today and the time has flown by, so yet again, Izzy has been neglected.

Look how she weeps all over the workbench...........

Seriously, it is just a bit of oil, there is no need to call social services, it is all under control and as they say, there is no use crying over spoilt oil, not sure who says it, but I am sure I have heard them, or imagined it, it doesn't matter now, its happened, we need to move on, I need to move on (clearly)

As stated earlier, this is a short post, more will be done to Izzy tomorrow but I will most likely not post (on this blog) tomorrow as its a special day, an anniversary no less, so I will probably post something, just not here??????????????????????????? you cant beat a bit of mystery, well you can, but I'm not going to explain how now, for I must away...............

Crank

As promised in the last post, the next post (this one) would be mostly featuring the crank in its rightful place, it is now, as you can see above.

That's that then, thanks for reading.......................................



It was never going to be that short was it (the post, not the crank) if you have learnt something so far from reading/looking at this blog, its that I do like a ramble. On that note, I meant to say ages ago (and possibly did but don't remember) this blog is purely a record (for me) of Izzy being rebuilt, its not meant in any way to be a "how to" or aid to anyone. There are many many better and more accurate blogs out there for that, That's why a lot of what is pictured and described doesn't show (or mention) the intricacies of doing certain things, it assumes you already know, or will look it up if interested.

So back to the crank, shall we have some more pics, shall we, shall we, ok, lets.......

First up is the are casing with nothing crank related in sight..........

Something is happening, there is a well greased new bearing present.......

Now there is something else there,the bearing has company, in the shape of of a new gasket

Then the flange (with new oil seal already in place) are fitted, I didn't counter punch the allen bolts, instead using a decent strength thread lock to keep them in place

Finally the crank, with the aid of a crank puller (from the other side) to get it where it needs to be :-)

Talking of the other side, that's what you can see below, not hugely exciting I grant you, but the whole point of this post was to highlight the crank being in.

Next up will be the mag housing being fitted, try to contain your excitement dear reader :-)

Security

As much as I would love to have a little robot (particularly one with Man City blue colouring in places) guarding Izzy 24hrs a day, I haven't, nor will I have, the mere idea is bonkers.

What I will use of course is chains, not battleship chains, that's a song, but a form of security chain (look out for more on this in a later post), predominantly for when Izzy's completed (I know that day will come eventually) and is away from the secure garage where she currently resides.

In the mean time, between further pottering I have also, while everything is still accessible, purchased and applied a suitable Datatag product, just in case any bits of her do vanish and are fortunate enough to turn up again, well you never know do you..........................................

Go Faster (stripes?)

They aren't, obviously, but the 2 red stripes were originally on all Spanish TV175's so will find their way on to the legshields of mine, when it comes to the finishing touches. I know you can only see one of the original ones in the pic but if you look at the bottom pic (horizontal stripe) you can see the second strip under the added paint, as a raised line.

Why have I suddenly thought about this, well, I didn't put any pictures up of what I have been doing recently (fitting cables and loom) as this still isn't completely done (waiting on a few more bits) they are pretty much where they will be staying but only held by tape at present not the correct clamps, ties. I also popped a spare (rather old and incomplete) engine into the frame in order to make sure cables were in the right place (length wise) as the actual engine that will be going in is not finished yet. I say not finished, its not even started, as it will be the last thing I do once everything else is done (bar a few finishing touches, like red lines lol) mostly due to the fact this will probably be the dearest part of the rebuild.

I think an accurate description for what I have been doing recently is "pottering about", makes me sound incredibly old (well I am getting that way) but its the best way I can describe the loads of little bits I have been doing, tinkering with the wiring/cables and various other bits of bodywork, spraying tank straps (managed to get a perfectly matching white) confirming what extra bits/parts I need, figuring out what I'm likely to do with the engine and working out what bits I want chromed. This includes the gear change and throttle housing as these were annoyingly never sprayed all those years ago when the rest of it was done. I also annoyingly don't have any of the paint or the colour identification so cant now get these bits done. I may, in fact I'm sure I will, once it is done, go somewhere and get a colour match done and some paint made up and get them sprayed, it would also be handy to have some for any little bits that need touching up, but for now, they are going to be chromed, I can delay no more. its been tool long as it is :-)

I also forgot to mention in my last post, I finally thought of a name for IT too, I know I haven't used it yet and have used the word "it" in this post, but from now on IT will officially be know as Izzy, there are reasons behind this that I will no doubt explain in another post (just to bore you further) but not now, so, Izzy it is, which sounds a bit like izzyitis, which could be a medical condition, although its not. I seem to have overloaded on labels for this post too so I really should stop, more Izzy updates soon.............