thanks for that. its all a bit confusing. 

I have another engine sitting in the garage from my last mk1, which had been rebuilt some time, years ago, and the pistons are different in that again. they dont have the shape for the valves. 
 
the original engine in question now, is at Michael's garage, so i can't go look at it to compare at the moment. 

Panko
I have another engine sitting in the garage from my last mk1, which had been rebuilt some time, years ago, and the pistons are different in that again. they dont have the shape for the valves. 

 
I'm no Kent expert, I'm more a Pinto man, but I believe the pistons with valve cutouts are to suit the later 711M engine which has a flat head surface and the one with no cutouts are for the earlier 681F engine which had small chambers in the head.
 
For a good short explanation search for Ford Kent Crossflow in the following link and have a read.
http://www.italian.sakura.ne.jp/bad_toys/cosworth/
 
If you're keen, the following link explains the differences between the engines in the Kent family and how you can mix and match between them.
http://www.lotus-cortina.com/library/block/blocks.htm
 
 

So i got the car home and it took prime spot in the garage next to the XF :)

I decided to have a crack at giving the old paint a bit of a cut and polish. test patch on the boot lid.
Before...

After...


So it has plenty of scratches still, but has taken the cloudiness out. Ill leave the rest to be done professionally, its definitely beyond my expertise.
Today, I decided i would give the under belly of the car a scrub, and i mean scrub. degreaser and a wire brush kind of thing lol. 41 years of dirt, oil, lead to my driveway looking like this....

this lot came from the front RH wheel arch on its own :o



its much cleaner underneath now. Thursday, I plan to start pulling the front end out. whole front end, minus steering, is coming out to be rebuilt.

Got up this morning to find this on my door step ;)


Twin barrel manifold for my down draught weber :D
(yes its off a Capri 1600GT. I have already started making a bracket for the throttle cable that bolts on)
I then gave the car a wash and took it for its last drive until i get the new front end it.



If you look close at the boot lid you can see where i did the test cut and polish

And this is how i left it for the day. Tomorrow work begins. Fun times ahead :)

Im having pretty good luck with the car.
The front end is entirely out. and have started putting it back together. So the new tie rods are in, sway bar is painted ready to be re-fitted. New control arms are ready to go back in. sway bar bushes, brake pads. the last things i need to get are the steering coupling and brake hoses.
I'm also just awaiting my new springs to come. once i have the springs the front end can go back in, and it will be rolling again. wheel alignment, diff alignment and it should pass roady and have plates on it by next week :D

Good stuff, sounds like you're doing everything right, should pass with flying colours... Bet you're hanging to get officially on the road...
Cheers Drew.

oh **** yeah I am. 
 
so is my best mate haha. he runs 2 classic minis, usually i drive whichever mini he isn't. he's hanging out to take take the escort and his mad worked 1360cc Cooper S replica :P 
 
the only thing i am a little unsure about is the rotors. they are dam expensive to replace with new ones, so I've got 2 second handers. 1 of mine is rooted, and 1 of the second handers are a bit average. I'm hoping the brake place will be able to machine up 2 good ones. 

Ive made good progress this week. Not much more to do now. 
 
sway bar with fresh subframe black paint. 


 
sway bar, new control arms and tie rods fitted. 
 

 
steering column dropped to repair the steering coupling 
 

 
steering coupling repaired, cleaned. looks nearly new 
 

 
interior all back together 
 

 
discs freshly machined up 
 

 
new springs 
 

 
bit of height difference. apparently only 1" lower when in the car...we'll see lol 
 

 
old vs new. just goes to show what some cleaning can do. all I've replaced on the "new" strut is the springs. the shock inserts are the same, all the rubbers (shock sleeves and bumpstops) tops and all are the same ones, just been thoroughly cleaned. 
 

 
passenger side back together, and thats where i had to leave it for today, as i have to go to work shortly. Turns out you can't put the struts back in with the sway bar installed, so i had to remove it from the car entirely again 
 

 
more to come tomorrow  if all goes well, it will be on its wheels by tomorrow night. 

Well today went well. i finished everything i needed to get it driving again. 
all the brakes are in and working...the brakes are awesome in it haha, and they haven't even bed in yet obviously. 


 
now, before i took this photo, i ran into some trouble...
 

 
chop chop 
 

 
 
clearance issues. 
 

 
so i lowered the car, and even with the 13s on, it was grabbing the front corner of the guard. silly design. when Ford released the Lotus Twin Cam Escort, they actually trimmed that corner off. so i had to do some massaging 
 
vvv this is the final result of my home attempt of massaging the guard. Ill get them all rolled properly when its registered, especially if i want to fit the 15s on. I've also discovered that the 13s are actually 24mm oversized diameter, compared to the factory 12" tyre size. so that wouldn't be helping with clearance. 
 

 
anyway, once i got that sorted i put it back in the garage on stands, hooked up the last of the brake hoses and and bled the brakes, then corrected the front end alignment so i could at least drive it (its going in for a front and rear end alignment tomorrow morning) 
 

 

 

 
 
 
 

Well i already own the 15s. Ive had them for ages. They are alloy Saab interceptors. Lighter than the 13 steelies. When i can afford to spend more money on it, ill consider some 13s. But expensive.

Ive just left the car with tyrepower to do the alignment, he confirmed the tyres currently on are 23mm over sized :( that'd explain why it rubbed. So thats frustrating.