Now you're just taking the p*ss Sam. Harsh, very harsh.

Personally I'd do a compression test and a leak down test on each of the cylinders. This will give an idea of wear generally and hopefully where the main problem is. Then you can strip down that bank and change the head gasket if general wear is not too bad - it might just be an HG failure...

I'm no expert on ECUs or the like but it sounds to me like something is getting damp - particularly at this time of year.

There may be one or two other things beyond the crank to look at if you're taking your block to 5.0....!

Well done. I'd suspect the difference in milling from one head to another is not intentional knowing Rover! You see what I mean about it going absolutely everywhere?!

Looks like the obstruction is far greater than the small amount of milling in the earlier pictures would suggest. How far are you going back into the head from the mating surface? Des Hammill's book suggests a minimum of 25mm to get the flows right.

I'm with you all the way except about trying to do anything to the ports while the heads are on the engine. Having done it on the bench the swarf really does get everywhere. Even the tiniest of pieces down the bore is going to cause problems, let alone the damage that could be done by any...

Look what I miss in 24hrs! Couple of points - i) there is, in my view, no way that you will port match to the inlet manifold in situ - you won't be able to get close enough to the head to work accurately enough in the first place but more importantly you'll never stop the swarf getting...

I don't know what is different about the cheap ones but i'd doubt that the bearings can't be replaced. At the end of the day its a ferrous pulley with a bearing in the middle so it must have got in there some how which generally means that they will come out.

Not sure that's justified but thanks Sam. All just bits I've picked up along the way. Engine out on Cobra today - now that's scary!

Just wind it in, while engaged until you get continuity?

Hi James, you were right - the switch was stopping it engaging. What's the best way to adjust the switch? Measure the resistance until the switch operates as your winding it in, then lock it down? Thanks for the help so far, Jon

Basically you pressurise the cylinder with an airline, shut the airline off and then measure the drop in pressure over a period of time - 5-10% is good, over 30% bad! The advantage is that you can also get an idea when you do that of where it is leaking from - e.g. hissing from exhaust manifold...

People will say that I always go over the top but if you are replacing the gearbox and wondering whether to take the engine out as well I'd be inclined to do a leak down test as well as compression testing, which is generally seen as diagnosing a lot more faults than just a compression test...

Thanks for the reply James. Just to clarify - are you saying that the switch might be stopping engagement or that because it's in too far the light might not be coming on. Obviously at my current stage the switch isn't operating. What should be the effect once the diff lock is engaged? Is...

Finally got the engine mated to the gearbox and transfer box yesterday. All went pretty well considering. Just one question though. When I engage diff lock nothing changes in the behaviour of the diff output flanges. I can still rotate them and the other one turns in the other direction -...

Certainly the accelerator on my 1987 90 that has a V8 in it has a spring to assist the return. So I'm guessing that that is what you are missing. Might also be worth disconnecting one end of the cable, tieing it up to the bonnet and running some WD40 down it followed by some thicker oil over a...

Cobra daytona's the next project for me... Obviously once the cobra is back on the road and the 90 is in looking like a 90 again. Maybe 10 years?? Still got my old 3.5 block but as Sam has found the machining is prohibitively expensive.

Brilliant. Well done Sam. I can only hope that mine starts so easily. Fantastic work.

It's getting tantalisingly close now!! Obvious things - I always miss them.... New air filter - no point in doing all this work and getting a load of crud that you have disturbed in the manifold as soon as you start. I'm guessing that it doesn't have an oil cooler but if it does I'd...