... er, swallows.

This little chap was lurking in the old carrot wash; I expect he clattered into something swooping about the buildings - either that or it's a fledgling getting ready for the trip South.

The plan was, with the aid of Awkward and Albion, to put the engine and gearbox into the chassis by the weekend, so that meant that I had to get the rear springs swapped as the nearside had slightly less boing in it than the offside. As the Special will be flown for the most part solo, it was a good idea to put the stiffer spring on the driver's side. In so doing, dopey had the chassis drop on his leg through not properly thinking things through. I was lucky and got away with a graze and large bruise.

Because the spline count on the Ford input shaft is different to the Morris clutch plate, I've put in a Capri plate and turned up a new widget for the centering tool. The Capri plate is slightly smaller than the Morris item but I doubt it'll make any difference.

The release bearing is brand new and came with the seized 6/80. It also came with a pair of new holding clips - something I don't remember fitting to the Hillman clutch! The worst part of this operation was fitting the box to the block and hoping I'd got the measurements right so the two parts would close up properly. All went well after a tense moment when the shaft appeared reluctant to engage!

All that was left to do was lift the engine in and thankfully, it was a smooth operation. With the addition of the jury-rigged bulkhead, some remedial work might have to be undertaken so the engine and gearbox can come out as one. I haven't examined the set up as thoroughly as I might as yet. There's some minor filing to do on one of the engine mounts, but nothing serious.

Learned Counsel asked me to knock up a design for the Mazda-engined Locust formula T-shirt. As a reward for my efforts, a free quality shirt and a day at Snetterton testing and setting up the car's new rear suspension links at the end of October - when it'll be wet and extra exciting no doubt. I remember a track evening when the car had a Ford engine in it - the MX-5 donk up front will certainly be a bit more of a handful.

For a new breakfast run venue, an Airstream caravan parked next to a campsite near Dunwich provided better than the usual trailer fare - fresh eggs, bacon you couldn't read a newspaper through, wrapped up in Ciabatta. Five of us turned up to the party, including this A7 Special which I believe is quite a hot ship.

The Hillman performs well now that I've ditched the electronic ignition. It's not quite on song - a rolling-road session would be beneficial in this regard - but an early start and a leisurely pace gets me to where I'm going.