Small steps

The GT6 is coming along slowly, but there's not much to show for an hour or so spent in the garage every evening. I've jumped between several jobs - brakes, diff, gearbox, inlet manifold, welding. That way, when I get out to Mackay every few weeks, I can chase down all the parts I need in one hit. And if I'm getting bored with one task, I can put it down and spend time on another.

The Subaru diff is mounted in the chassis. With the mounting plates from my friends in New Zealand it just slots in to place. I've decided to use CV halfshafts instead of Datsun sliding splines, as the CV halfshafts are strong, light and compact. It does mean I'll need to work out which hubs and inner flanges to use, and get some halfshafts custom-made. I've stripped down the right hand rotoflex hub to see how much material can be bored out to fit larger bearings. This aspect will take a while...

The stock GT6 inlet manifold has been opened out to take a pair of Sprint HS6 carbs. I'll post some photos when the carbs are mounted.

The Ford Type 9 gearbox fits to the GT6 bellhousing with an adapter from a Sideways Forum contributor named GT6Mike - if you want one, he's here: http://gt6-efi.blogspot.com/. Next time I'm in Mackay I'll pick up some cap screws to bolt the adapter plate to the box. I've shortened the remote selector, but still have to get it TIG welded - not easy in a back country Australian mining town.

As part of the conversion from left to right hand drive, I've started welding the battery box in place on the left side of the bulkhead. And then my welder tip jammed - something else for the next trip to Mackay!

What else? The engine is in pieces in Brisbane, waiting for some 60 thou forged pistons before I can start rebuilding it. The front seats are also in Brisbane at an upholsterer, getting recovered in 'New Tan' leather. The trick is apparently finding the right coloured cow.

Lastly, although the brake pipes look OK, I decided to renew them all. I've bought some steel pipe (copper & kunifer not allowed here), threaded unions and have ordered a flare-making tool over eBay.

MacBook Pro battery failure

My MacBook Pro battery died today, swelling up and bursting out of its case. A bit of surfing revealed that this is a common failure mode. Over the past month it had developed the habit of shutting down with no warning and at least 30% battery life remaining. According to the tell-tale indicator lights, it's still OK!

At least it didn't leak or explode... but Apple batteries aren't cheap. Damn.