The next job was to set up the front suspension and for that I needed to add as many of the bits and bobs as I could to adjust the torsion bars and achieve something approximating an acceptable ride height. I was shooting in the dark as the MS engine is much heavier than the 1½ Riley, but not that much more than the 2½ - or so I'm told. I would guess that the MS and Granada gearbox weighs in at a little under 300kg, but I'll have to confirm that when I do the corner weights.

I'd forgotten how heavy this extra bit of subframe was. It carries the radiator, bumpers and fog lights whilst also providing the jacking points. There's room enough for the radiator to sit between the suspension subframe towers (giving a more vintage look) and I'm not too fussed about the jacking points, so I've left it off.

Having popped the head on - saying that, I could hardly lift it - I found that the inside of the cam cover where the distributor drive was blanked off, needed some machining to clear the cam bevel drive.

And whilst I was in the mood, I drilled out a bolt hole in the repaired water outlet - getting it in the right place too!

The camshaft balancing fandango was a bit of a fiddle and having got it all on after something of a struggle, I noticed that I hadn't aligned the two sections. It all came off again. Thank goodness for tie wraps; without them it would have been doubly difficult as the springs inside the discs are particularly strong and unless the two parts are flush, the assembly won't fit in the space at the end of the head. One of the slightly daft design features is that one of the head nuts is impossible to get at with the balance wheel in place, so re-torquing the head becomes a bit of a nightmare. I gave that nut an extra couple of lbs. and won't be revisiting it after the initial start-up.

The exhaust manifold was added as that's quite a lump. The gaskets are water-jetted solid copper and very successful. In use they anneal beautifully and are always reusable. I can't say that about the head gaskets I had made - some of the stud holes vary in their inaccuracy by up to 2mm - despite having had them done twice. I would have thought that getting it right would be as easy as getting it wrong - but then what do I know.

On the older Series I, the dynamo mounting is a simple bracket bolted to the side of the block. To find two suitable bolts....

... I ended up spending a couple of hours organising my Imperial collection, a major part of which goes back to the early 70's when in his retirement Pa started to restore motorcycles, starting with an Ariel VB bought for 10 shillings (50p). Those were the days when a Manx Norton, a Rudge Ulster or a Scott Flying Squirrel was frighteningly expensive at around £400 - Brough's were double that.

A brief interlude took me to The Great Collector's. I've been tasked with making a hood for his 'new' Talbot and there were a few niggles to sort out - full right rudder on application of the brakes for instance. Also, a trip up the road revealed a possible build-up of silt in the block. The radiator has been fully flushed so some investigation further back in the system is warranted. Perhaps a compression test wouldn't go amiss, but thinking out loud, a retarded ignition would display similar symptoms - we shall see.

Then came the business of setting up the suspension - at least preliminarily. Dimensions 'B' should be 1½" more than dimensions 'A'. What the manual doesn't state is the basic ride height and with a heavier engine it was just a question of what looked about right.

As I continue to add stuff, I'll keep an eye on the suspension and, as the components are all clean and stiction free, further adjustments shouldn't make for heavy weather.