Well. That was interesting.
I can deal with the heavy as feck clutch. I've got some quads on me from cycling/fell walking so no issues there. First time setting off I nearly stalled it right infront of stevie. Got the hang of it from there, no issues. Took it for a spin past Dr oatkers for those who know the area, around a 10 minute B-road blast. New thermostat has solved the over cooling issue which is nice. The first thing I noticed, other than the much improved gearing, was the whine. It's LOUD. Imagine the straight cut noise of reverse in every gear, amplified 2 or 3 times. It's constant. I knew it'd whine, they're a semi-helical final drive. I just didn't think it'd be quite so loud. So my quiet motorway 5th is a non starter.
Acceleration wise it's most certainly slower. Much less punchy in 2nd. I've not given it beans from the line yet so can't report back on traffic light GP times with my new and improved 1st gear. It's still quick AF though.
Last thing was the IACV which I disconnected the plumbing from. Previously it'd hunt until 70°C and settle down. For whatever reason it won't settle now. So stevie farted around with the idle before we decided it'd just be easier to disconnect the thing entirely. So that's what we did. I don't have an EML so no light was thrown
Up next: Fix brakes. S300 ECU. Delete VSS, re-use VSS to drive a set of mini clocks using some old rover parts. Install OEMish dash. Begin tuning
PS: Norv... Brakes is either air trapped and requires 'aggressive' bleed whatever that means OR the square pyramid adjuster for the rear drums isn't sat on a flat section. Hard to explain. It'll be sorted.