So. Spent today fitting the engine into the bus. Had a bunch of shits and bits to fix up like fixing up my dizzy, rewiring for the alternator, fitting a new exhaust, adding the electric fuel pump, running new fuel lines, cleaning red dust from everything. In fact it took most of the day just getting everything to the stage where I could fit the engine.

One thing that really struck home on our recent interstate jaunt to ReVolks was how damn slow the bus is. I have often joked that when I toured around Europe (also in a 1600 bay window) you would have to go flat out down the hills just to be able make it up the next one. Well somehow the reality of driving a 1600 bus over very long distances  had managed to become little more than anecdotal humour. This is a bit of a shame, as had I remembered how painfully slow driving a1600 bus was I might have opted to build something a little larger. After all, as our cousins in the good ole yew ess of aye say... 'there's no substitute for cubic capacity', or is there? Faced with the reality of having to build another bigger engine I opted to take the easy way out. Forced induction!

It's been a while since I did anything on the Oval. It's pretty much been left abandoned in the garage and used as a bit of a storage shed. I think that this is a necessary step in any restoration project, or at least thats what it seems like as all mine end up this way at one time or other. 

So after sitting for the past few years its time that the oval project was revisited once again - mostly as I've decided that I'm going to race at speed week next year.

The 1600 single port build that I have been working on is using a Mikuni carburetor. These are normally found on Harley Davidsons and are fitted with filter covers. Whilst there's a lot of different bling style jewelry air filter cover available (Harley owners generally seem to be some of the worst for bling) this was no good for the 1600S/P build. What I really wanted was a nice velocity stack to finish things off. 

Its been a quiet couple of months, the oval went onto the back burner whilst we led up to the xmas break - its a really busy time for me at work and with the bit of time that i did get off over the xmas break I found myself building a pond int he back garden. Not that I'm complaining as the garden was missing a little tranquility, the pond provides a great place to sit and contemplate whilst having a cuppa...