>1. Anything I should particularly watch out for, pay special attention to, etc?
Don't drop the engine on your foot. It's not likely to do
either one a world of good...
Take your time disconnecting everything before you try to
pull the engine. This means throttle and choke cables,
heater control cable, coolant hoses, fuel lines, vacuum lines,
heater hoses, etc. You might find it easier to remove
the starter before pulling the engine, but I'm not sure;
it's lots easier to get a B engine out with the starter
removed, but I seem to remember more room in the Midget's
engine bay when I replaced the starter on mine.
Oh yeah, the clutch hose, down next to the starter. You'll
have to pull it from the slave cylinder, too.
>2. What other things should I fix/check/replace whilst I have the engine out
> (please also list any parts I should have to hand)?
Things to look at:
- Engine mounts. If they haven't been replaced in a while, you
might want new ones.
- Hoses, same thing.
- Clutch slave cylinder. See how badly it's worn inside. You
can (and might well want to) fit new rubber components to it
while it's out of the car.
- Leaking gaskets, etc. on the engine. You can also clean it
up while it's out of the car.
- general engine compartment cleanup. Now's the time to get rid
of that layer of grime that you can't get to with the motor
in place.
Things to have on hand:
- A good parts shop's phone number if the mounts are shot, likewise
for the hoses and slave rebuild kit
- A good hardware store for the bolts that you don't want to reuse
- Lots of Simple Green and a couple of good nylon brushes for
cleaning things up
- Lots and lots of shop rags
- A couple of manuals; I'd recommend Lindsay Porter's Guide to
Purchase & DIY Restoration, the Haynes manual for the 1275,
and the Bentley manual for factory references.
- Patience. Sometimes something that doesn't go right the first
time, or doesn't come right off, will do so after you rest,
calm down, look it up, and try again.
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