Well the day came....

A few minor jobs to complete:

1) Put the earth lead onto the bell housing as per the new method approved by CC

2) As suggested by a few people attempted to loosen the oil filter rather than doing it at a later date with the engine in the car... someone with arms like a gorilla must have put it on! broke one oil filer removing tool (rubber strap one) & had to move up a grade i.e one with a bicycle chain on it. Even checked with Derek that it didn't have a left handed thread on... eventually shifted it but I'd say the filters condition could now be described as 'used' but fortunately didn't puncture it so hopefully it will be OK until the first oil change. Done up hand tight? really?.... by a gorilla. Good I got this out of the way prior to it being in the engine bay anyway...

Troops arrived & off we went! started at 10-30 & engine in by 12-00! very pleased. A bit of shoving & pushing but it eventually slipped in... I wont go into all the gory detail but  if I was going to do it again (not any time soon....).

1) I'd reduce the amount of pipe lagging & maybe use a couple of layers of masking tape. We had to remove a lot of it as it was in the way..

2) The cardboard is fine in the tunnel to prevent the initial side swipes but you have to remove it to get the engine in

3) Biggest issue I had was caused because the engine did not lift correctly (i.e. it was not level with the block) the covers are at about a 10 per cent angle not flat as you might expect. I did know this but in the end we had to put the gearbox mount on & then just hang the engine from one point on the front of the engine so we could lean it over correctly (with a bit of help from a jack underneath the engine). Once it was at the correct angle everything suddenly went in fine... But not sure how I would have improved the initial hang as there aren't many attachment options to hang the engine from the crane.

How you would insert the engine without an engine leveler?... no idea... with difficulty! glad I bought one...

Once the engine was in plenty of tea & back slapping & then close operations for the day as I wanted to 'read the manual' re the next stage.. not that this will help but may as well show willing...

Sunday:

Bit of torquing up & noticed one of the engine mounts (holding on the rubber blocks) was noticeable longer than the other 3. I'm guessing this is to account for the earth strap which no longer goes on the mount. Being OCD & not wanting one bolt to be hanging out further underneath the car e-mailed Derek to confirm & to send me a matching bolt...

Not sure what I want to do next but may go for some lo tech jobs front brake pipes, hand brake cable & chase the metal polisher to see if he's finished my exhausts yet... oh & think about plugging some of the wiring in... maybe some plumbing...