On to the radiator this afternoon
'just needs a regas'
yeah....
The condenser is utterly ruined and just falls apart to the touch so I just cut it off. I will remove the remains and salvage the hoses later on when I fit a new condenser.
The radiator is also very deteriorated
Red 'universal' ATF
Cue biblical-plague levels of swearing. I guess I was right to treat the 'refurbished gearbox' with suspicion
Assuming it drives ok, I'll do a few oil changes with Mannol AG52 to flush all this rubbish out before I pull the engine and box for the major service. When its out I will open it up and inspect the drums etc
The back of the radiator is even more of a mess
I cleaned up the front panel before fitting the new radiator - this will dry out overnight and go back on tomorrow.
The engine is nice and dry at the front
I was going to fit the missing subframe brace, until I realised the holes aren't there
This is a PF subframe which has obviously been replaced at some point in the car's life, presumably since the original rusted out. This is pretty disappointing since when I first inspected the car I was quite pleased that someone had already blasted and painted the subframe. Never mind - I have spares.
36 hours.