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And Finally...
The damage is limited to all the exhaust valves and a couple of inlet valves..Phew! One piston has had a smack or three but it is very minor and not a problem. New valves are obtained, refitted (along with the head gasket) and everything timed back up. Power on. Hit the starter..and all is well. We look at each other for a while waiting for the next problem. Nothing. We don’t trust it. It’s playing games with us. Any minute now the roll cage will fly off or the wheels will burst into flames...Nothing. The engine runs sweetly...The Demon has gone.
Truth be told we enjoyed the battle. Even the time we pulled the engine and box out together and filled the driver compartment with gearbox oil thanks to a duff rear seal…
Or the time we pulled the wheels to check the brake shoe wear and found pints of brake fluid swishing around...Which meant new shoes and cylinder, which was seized, which meant cutting the pipe, which meant new pipe, etc.
Or the way the bolts kept shearing level with the head when we tried to change the inlet manifold...Still, we beat it in the end (or it got bored and went off to haunt some other vehicle). So, the resurrected Trespasser will debut at the Northern Nationals at York in August 2004.