I finally got my tax disk and numberplate authorisation form yesterday, got a q plate made up and put on the car, then got a whole 13 miles before cracking the sump on a manhole cover. pictures on my website below

Hope you switched off in time ;(

It's worth it in the end, honestly !

Bugger that's bad luck! looks like you did a proper job on the sump that's a big hole, did you notice in time to save the engine?

get in touch with the council surely the manhole shouldnt be that high!! there must be room for some compensation

I cut the engine after a few seconds and rolled to a stop, so the engine should be fine, and i would contact the council for compensation but i don't want the blame for the trail of oil i left allong the road

Thats is a big hole. Hopefully you'll be back otr soon

While its in bits put in some baffles as wellImage deleted by owner

Unlucky, Great website btw, always nice to find a new build diary to browse through

I was thinking about bafels, but was going to see if i needed them first. Any thoughts people?

You know you needed them after you have knocked out the big ends!

20 minutes cutting the material, it should not cost any more to get welded in so no argument really.

In the whole scheme of things given the time you have spent building the car this is just a faction of time and money.

Regards Mark

Is that you with the file? You look like whatsisface from Catchphrase!!

bloody hell!
That's bad luck and just isn't fair to have it happen on your maiden drive!
Did you get any photos of the offending manhole? (for evidence purposes)
Surely you'll be entitled to some form of compensation from the council for this?
What ground clearance did you have below the sump?

ha, no its my dad, i'll tell him u said that, its the first job i trusted him to do, and i took the file back after about 30 seconds - it was quicker to do it myself !!!

Nice build blog there, surprised to see you needed a cat for a March 94 engine? Mine was a Feb 94 (no cat) and I was under the impression August 95 was the cutoff date..

I think i could have just passed withought it but after the first fail i just wanted to get through the test. I'm sure it will fall off at some point, a lot of the trim on the front suspension has already.

incidentally he tested mine as a ford zetec engine which was in his database and so was virtually the same as a bet test (i think there was a bit of a wider limit for lambda) he wouldn't give me a non cat test as he had a match in the database for the engine. Follow the emissions diagram in the sva book and it'll make sense

[Edited on 6/3/09 by jamrogers]

My dad just sent me this..... He's a funny man isn't he.
Rescued attachment Low Sump.JPG