I'm incredibly pissed off as there is potential for another big bill when there really, REALLY should not be.
Mick at Diamond has been a star and quietly working out a plan for what needs to be finished, what's missing, what's needed, etc. Alas, thoughts were turning to actually getting the engine up and running (i.e. turning it over). BUT... as the freshly built / new engine has been stood exposed and open to the elements since April 2016 he has noticed signs of corrosion and potential problems from not ensuring the engine was at least protected in some way. The upshot of this is that Mick is quite rightly concerned about hooking it up to the starter and turning it over in case, well, you can guess why. The engine was superbly built by Steve and his work is not in doubt at all, and neither is the concern that Mick has, but the state of the engine is in doubt and a concern. When the cost of the engine alone could buy you a handful of Clios it's hard not to be very, very angry.
Can you not cut your losses and just break the car. Sounds like a frikin Royal pita.
There comes a time when you have to cut your losses, that was about 5 years ago! Please don't pump any more cash into it!
Feel bad for you 😧
I hear you chaps but I'm in far, far too deep. I don't think I've ever published this but with all the problems and rebuilds and fixes and mess-ups and delays and parts and labour and yada yada yada... this trophy owes me the best part of £40k. Yes, you read that right. The 'joys' of keeping a spreadsheet of costs.
So... what to do next? After a lengthy chat with Mick last night (he's a good bloke and fully deserving of the reputation he has) there are a few options really. Just man-up, lube it up and see what happens when it's turned over. That could be expensive. Alternatively, I could get it sent back to Steve for a tear down and rebuild. Another expensive option and there is no guarantee that Steve will be available to do it. Or, get Mick to do the engine tear down and rebuild (which I have no issue with, but - again - is not going to be cheap).
Of course, it might be the case that everything works out just fine but the bottom line is that the car / engine should absolutely NOT have been allowed to get in this state. Fuming doesn't even come close to how I feel. I'm f**king raging. This has just about tipped me over the edge. I will have to jump one way or another soon but I just need to decide which way really. As daft as it sounds, what's another few grand on tear down, rebuild and parts replacement in the scheme of things? Well... it's money I shouldn't have to pay and my budget did not account for this sh!t.
I feel thoroughly let-down and demoralised right now. I'll update with what happens over the coming days / weeks.