Thank you all for your encouragement, and thank you Willo for the link. Dave, I will be in touch.
Not many photos at the moment but I have some of the journey home. Couldn't work out how the insert image worked if anyone wants to guide me.
My plan is to farm out quite a few jobs as I am impatient to get on the road. I am, however, looking to end up with a very high level of finish and will be doing a lot of the detail work myself. The colour will change and I have always been drawn to the e coating process but not felt able to justify it on other cars. I am thinking about a rollover jig so that I can thoroughly check the shell and do any further repairs before sending it for dipping (or direct to refinishing) but at the moment I am investigating the engine. The outside has previously been cleaned and removing the rocker covers reveals sparkling valve gear and no sludge. The covers themselves have also clearly been thoroughly cleaned on the inside and there is clean oil in the sump, but attempting to remove the inlet manifold makes me think this engine has not been dismantled in recent times. I know it has been stood for at least 5 years but nothing is known of its history before this (or the rest of the car). I will have to make up some sort of tool to lift the manifold off its studs, more makeshift approaches, plus plenty of heat, having failed so far. Then the heads... I have read of other peoples struggles with these.
