The other evening as I was struggling with the gearbox, I noticed a very nice chromed pin - a sort of long needle roller - on the bench. I hadn't seen one before and wondered where it had come from; maybe it had fallen out of something from the lathe? I didn't think any more about it until last night when I discovered 2 more sitting on the bench.

They must have come from the gearbox. I split the selector casing from the gearbox and half-a-dozen more fell out. They'd come from the layshaft rear bearing- the bolt that I'd undone thinking that it was part of the reason I originally couldn't get the selector casing seperated from the gearbox, didn't need to be undone at all. All it did was let the layshaft axle slip away from its mounting and spill needle rollers all over the bench. So that was that little distraction out of the way.

I'd spent most of the day re-jigging the selector lever mechanism to remove as much slop as possible. The top lever arm needs to be a bit longer I think because, as I get further away from the original selector lever, more force is required to operate it. The top lever also needs to be the other way round (facing forward) or the 'H' pattern will have 1st and 2nd on the right.

I haven't quite dismissed the business of a right-hand change but what's questionable is whether there's going to be enough room in the right-hand side of the cockpit. The Great Collector has an AC which has fallen foul of this problem. The body makes it very difficult to change gear and spoils what would otherwise be an exhilerating drive. I could confirm for myself the position of the gearlever but I lack the radiator shell which is down with the radiator people; with the radiator shell I can gauge the width of the body at the cockpit:

I've sorted out more stuff to go for blasting and powder-coating. The rear axle casings, the fuel tank and brake drums are just going to have a light blast and a coat of primer until I decide what's best. If there are no more holes in the fuel tank (there's one in the sump) I can powder-coat after I've done the repair. The drums are going to be the same colour as the wheels - Aston Martin BRG. I could have had them ally-sprayed and then buff them up a bit to provide a bit of contrast behind the wheels but, 2 things; a) I don't want to draw too much attention to the hubs (they're a bit pitted) and b), on reflection (so to speak) I'm trying to keep the look as under-stated as possible. A flash of nickel here and there is all I want in the brightwork department - the wheel nuts will be plenty. The spring hangers are included in the powder-coating pile.

I had to slip up to Norfolk for a couple of days - summoned by Cook to the kitchen - and in my wanderings, noticed this tree. Hello? What's this? At the base of this tree was a gold coin. Well, not exactly gold.. chocolate as it turned out, but from 10 yards it looked pretty convincing.

Norfolk is so full of surprises.