Reassembling the 403: June-July 2014
The rebuilt radiator and the three refurbished Solexes goes in as well
7 July, the 403 ready to install the transmission shaft and the exhaust
Disaster....the man who sold me the overdrive conversion kit (the same that sold me the incomplete clutch conversion kit, BTW) did send a shortened transmission shaft, but as the overdrive assembly is longer than the gearbox alone, the joint is now surrounded by this part of the chassis and it is not a tight fit, it simply doesn't rotate at all.... A b***y mess
Well, this one was solved manufacturing a new transmission shaft but it was costly and complicated. Why can't people send you the correct parts to begin with?
10 October: reassembling goes on....
Mr Bartoli in Faenza, an artist in building exhausts for high-performance automobiles (he's a specialist for Lamborghini and Ferrari) already manufactured a pair of new silencers for my 409: a great job. He has done a completely new stainless-steel exhaust system for my 403 using the original, quite rusty Burnell 2-in-1 system as a template. It looks nice, though at first it was too much noisy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLeZr6HyONA&feature=youtu.be
...and the superb leather gaiters protecting the front springs and other components, graciously supplied by Julian Caples and the Bristol Owners' Club of Australia
