Last few bits in the engine bay before I put the drivetrain in - I'm aiming for that to happen on Saturday.
I printed a grommet for the AC lines. This one is a bit gnarly since my lines don't quite sit the same as Gareth's which is what this grommet was designed on, but it fills the hole for now. I'll refine this to be more like the factory part when I have more time.
The hvac inlet is all back together with new foam and new screws
Next is an issue which has been a bit of a challenge. This is one of the brackets for the airbox, and as you can see the weld has cracked (captain carnage replaced the rubber bushings which live on this bracket). Now it could of course be tig welded, but the nature of tig and aluminium means a lot of paint would end up getting burned off, and I really don't want to get in to respraying bits of the engine bay. So, what to do...
After much research and reading of technical data sheets, enter Permabond TA4207 2-part acrylic structural adhesive. This is methyl methacrylate based which gets incredibly strong bonds on metals, and this particular product has been specifically designed to bond unprepared aluminium as it can etch through the aluminium oxide layer to attach itself to the pure aluminium underneath. Thats good because obviously I can't exactly sandblast the inside of this crack!
The bond strength of this stuff on bare aluminium is such that in this 10x5mm crack it should achieve a shear strength of 130Kg! Thats plenty to hold the airbox in place
Its also fuel, oil and temperature resistant.
Adhesive mixed and squidged in to and around the crack
Fitted a new starter junction box, bedded down on waxoyl as it's pretty crusty round here.
Tomorrow the engine goes back on the subframe and gets its wiring harness, plumbing etc.