Glad to help. I found that info elsewhere so paying it forward.

The valve covers are back from the powder coaters.

I had initial visions of a high gloss red finish, however the powder coater suggested a matt finish given the state of the castings.

The finished work isn't going to suit a show engine, but is fine for what I want. The biggest concern is one of the upper valve covers where bead blasting revealed a bigger hole than expected. I still plan to fit billet covers, but will use JB Weld to rebuild the corroded areas for possible future use.

Meanwhile the gearbox saga is hopefully coming to an end. One of the shims (2.5mm) for the front diff clutch pack was incorrectly supplied, but that wasn't the size I required in the end. Phew. It took a 1.7mm shim, so in future any work will require a bigger shim to compensate for worn discs but that is in the future. As they range from 1.5mm to 2.5mm in 0.2mm increments that means I have 1.9mm, 2.1mm & 2.3mm in my spares box. If you were a gambler, I'd just order the two smallest shims for a new install as logically the discs will be at their largest and require the smaller shims. BTW The parts have varying manufacture dates from 1998 onwards. I'd say there's either little need out there for these parts or there are a lot of worn boxes out there.

Just the rear diff clutch pack to be assembled and that's it with the box. I shudder to add up the cost. The C4 system may be renowned for its durability but there's a $$$ surprise waiting for any pre 1993 box owners needing work on the clutch packs.

The fan shroud is back from the powder coaters. Satin Black.

It's very close to the installation phase of this build, but not until the rear shocks have been refurbished. I have RUF Bilsteins and while they are 90's technology I like them so it's worth making them as new.

Nice!

First paint pics
 

External parts are ready for their top coat and the body is coming along. Maybe another week or so until the reassembly starts :)

She's going to be nice and clean when you're done! :cool:

That's the plan. Plus there will be a lot of new parts in the suspension system, including the same spring plates you fitted.

The last hurdle has been jumped with the gearbox. The mechanic felt the bolts were stretching when reinstalling the diff so he had to wait until new ones arrived for the final push. Ready for install!

Success is a quiet fan
I found the fan scraped unless the mounting flange on the shroud was as original so I scraped the powder coating off that. A new decal helps to lift the look.

Fan and intake installed. New fan, powdercoated shroud and engine carrier (Rennline reinforcement kit), new decal. I decided not to go with powder coated or even polished intake runners.

I need the new CNC Billet valve covers to close it up. I also need to research how all of the engine tin fits. I have a lot of bolts in two different sizes.

Picked up the gearbox today. Unfortunately I can't fit it to the engine as I omitted to order one of the needle bearings in the clutch fork :(

On a side note the mechanic said there was evidence of prior work on the differential. If only our cars could relate their story!

I am very naive on the methods to clean engine parts, cases, etc. how did you exactly get that gearbox so clean?

Yes, I have the same question. What's the best solvent / method to clean the gearbox. Mine is off my car and separated from my engine. But I need to clean it and would love it to look like the one in the photo above.

I degreased it before giving it to the mechanic and it was an average job. Apparently he used generic degreaser, steam and manual scrubbing to get it looking like this.

Ricardo, can you please post pics of your transmission from all angles? The mechanic wasn't sure where one external support went and my photos don't show it.