The two babies from last night were dead which was odd because it wasn’t cold. Maybe they were sick and mom booted them out knowing something was wrong. Or maybe they got injured when they hit the ground, but regardless, nature sure is efficient. The 2-3 remaining in the nest are chirping away as I type this so hopefully they’ll fair better.
More odds and ends on the car. Added notches to the main rails where the push-rods could touch. Added gussets at the top corners of the windscreen, where they may double as mounts for visors (yeah whatever.) Picked up fuel filler hose, though the Miata filler pipe, being metric, will have to be “up-sized” to match the 2″ ID of the filler neck. Fabricated the fuel tank hold-down brackets.
One thing left to decide is if and how to add stainless shielding around the exhaust header. Without it, it’s fairly likely that the radiant heat will bake and discolor the painted engine cover above if nothing is done. As mentioned earlier, a stainless louvered panel is one approach. Another is a heat panel riveted to the inside surface of the engine cover. Yet another option is welding on some brackets now to the crosstube above the header (which will also get baked) and mount a stainless shield to it. This has to be decided now in case welding is decided on. If not, the final choice can be put off until later.
The to-do list is very very short. Really.