It's been an age since I last posted so it is time for an update.
It's been a busy few months, albeit not so much on the 5. I had a holiday at the end of August and decided I aught to steer clear of the garage for a few weeks beforehand. I didn't want to loose a digit before my holiday! So those two things wiped out pretty much a month. I then spent another couple of weeks fuming that I wasn't on holiday anymore

. Then.......a minutes silence please...I sold my Meg after 7 happy years.... gutted!

It was the right thing to do though. I am determined to get the 5 on the road and I think this is an important step towards that. So, I am now bumbling to work and back in the 3 cylinder wonder....which, ironically, has also taken up my time over the past few weeks. It was running like a bag of crap when I got it, and throwing a crankshaft/camshaft correlation code. Anyone that knows the Vauxhall xep engines will know they suffer with timing chain issues. So, I ordered up the parts and set to.
It'd be rude not add some parts for the 5 to the order so I got a pair of track rod assemblies and a set of engine mounts.
Makeshift garage extension
This is how far the timing was out - the locking pins are in at this point and those slots in the end of the camshafts are supposed to be horizontal!
Plus, whoever was in here last went ham with the silicone. There was actually some blocking one of the smaller water pump outlets. I even found some in the oil drain basket filter!
Fresh chain and tensioners.
No words for the below......
I also found a split coolant hose during the rebuild. I cannot find one of these in stock anywhere so I had to improvise.....with a 22mm elbow!
Once that was done and dusted, and running waaay better, the family workhorse decided it wanted some of my time too....So it let go of a handbrake shoe, which made all sorts of lovely noises. Luckily we were only a few miles from home and managed to limp it back. It turned out that the handbrake shoe mounting plate had rusted enough for the shoe retaining pin to pop out. How bad could that have been!
Good ol' eichers.
With the trauma of the Meg going and having to fix those pair, I decided I was due a new tool.
Battery, angled die grinder.

I couldn't really see any other battery die grinders on the market so I was a bit dubious. It seems great so far. I'm impressed!
Anyway, enough of the excuses, on to the progress.......