Exhaust Leak and other fettling

In the chase to get better part throttle running I had a smoke test done (where on the way I smacked the radiator, see previous post). The smoke test revealed a large exhaust leak so I got the car back to the garage and made a list of things to do.

1. Remove exhausts at the header/collector slip join, clean up, apply LOTS of copper RTV and refit.
2. Replace damaged lower hose. Actually this is handy because my coolant/water mix was a bit off 50:50 so drain and refill with correct mixture
3. Replace carb to manifold gasket (leaking)
4. Fit fuel pressure regulator

Job 1: Removing and refitting the exhausts is by far my most hated and despised job on the car. It beats anything, even brake/clutch bleeding. the potential for damage to the paintwork when heaving the exhaust around trying to get it off the slip joints makes me lose sleep. So - I decided to do this first and get it out the way. I removed the sidepipe/collectors as a whole. Cleaned up the ends with some sand paper, brake cleaner and rags to get back to clean metal. The leaks were obvious as there was soot everywhere.

Piled on absolutely masses of copper RTC and reassembled. Job done in about 3 hours. Things learned: fit the sidepipe as a whole with everything connected. Previously I just fit the collector, then fit the sidepipe sometime after. All the wiggling around when fitting the sidepipe would certainly have messed up the nice seal of the copper RTV on the headers/collector. This time I did things in a better order (I think).

Job 2: Coolant drain - I've done this many times now and it's not much of a challenge, just a pain. I pulled the lower hose off over a large bucket and just left it to drain for a bit. New hose, Samco Classic 38mm to 35mm reducing elbow. Trim to length, job done. 

Job 3: See next post.....