Man, I'm getting closer and closer to getting the engine finished in my Datsun 510. The engine is completely assembled (much easier than I imagined it would be), and it's now actually installed in the engine bay of my car. I ran into a problem with the engine mounts (I might have to pull the engine back up and swap out the mounts... not sure yet), but so far it looks like it's going to be just fine. I can't wait to fire it up and see what kind of engine-builder I really am.

As a side note, if the engine seizes up or pings itself to death, I won't be too upset about it. I've only invested a few hundred bucks in the project. While I'd love for it to run, I have a sinking suspicion that something will fail on it, and if that happens, I've got another engine project in mind that'll be just fine. If it *does* work out, I'm going to be overjoyed and will drive it all over the place.

Once I get the engine install completed and the car actually runs, I'll probably make some steps towards making the car street-legal. However, I'm not in a hurry to do that. I don't mind just driving it around my neighborhood for now, just to pat myself on the back for having built up the engine. I'll take the slow road on that part of the project, because I've got another project in mind that I want to start. I want to build a super fuel-efficient lightweight vehicle to run back and forth between my house and my local shopping area. With gas prices the way they are, I just don't see any sense in having the SUV out there when it's basically in walking distance. But who wants to carry a cart-full of groceries a couple of miles? So building some kind of micro-vehicle to handle that job seems like a reasonable goal. We'll see how it goes.