Dotty, Seals, and emulsion

Where to begin. First of all an apology for not posting sooner. Where does time go ?
My only excuse is that starting the new job has seen me exhausted each night with the mass influx of information, regulations, new faces, protocols and doing the job. It is said by wise old sages that the first six months of a Radiography job is a steep learning curve, well they're wrong. There's no curve at all, its linear and vertical. The good news is that my six month contract has been extended to a further six months, now taking me to mid Feb, prior to anxiety kicking in re permanent employment. I also have an interview later in the week for a permanent job in one of the other hospitals I rotate to every six weeks, so wish me luck.
On to things MG wise.

Last post saw me wrestling with the conundrum of brake and clutch bleeding, after replacing all the seals possible on master and slave cylinders.
The Clutch master is a swine to remove. Its lower bolt is located under the main body, and only accessible via the dash end ( fortunately removed in my case) and some expert bodging of tools I'd acquired. I bought a 250cm ( 10") extension and ground a 1/2" square on the end and connected it to my (wifeys) knuckle extension. Even allowing for only one flats turn at a time and ages to get the socket onto the nut each time it was a real pain. A pain mostly because the seal kit was crap. On and off the master came at least for times, between each set me pleading for someone to help press the pedal whilst I was underneath opening and closing the bleed screw. Each time the clutch pedal was either too soft or said master piston stayed "in" after depression.
Depression is an emotive word, its how I felt after the umpteenth time of M/C removal and dis-assembly. Its a good job I bought 5 litres of DOT 4 Fluid. I've used half of it already, mostly dappled on the driveway floor....................Hence " DOTTY" 
Depression crept in thinking I'd need a new Clutch M/C.......to expensive for me to justify to Wifey after the £ 200 of suspension and brake parts I was dying to road test. Hence my frustration at cheap but crap seal parts thwarting me. The brake M/C problem was similar, only there was no pressure emitting from the rear 3 way union at all. In the end I purchased a new brake warning switch and seals ( 2 types). But, and a big but, business end of the small cylinder to operate the switch would not budge from its long thin hole. The fantastic Mr Twist says just give it a firm tap " in gloved hand" on something solid. No chance. After several weekends of penetrating fluid soaking and poking it would not budge. Eventually I resolved it by using a punch to drive the rod in 2/3mm, then using a small electrical screwdriver to prise forward the rod. It mangled the rod somewhat but heyho. The brake warning switch the rod acts on was pants( £16.00). It disintegrated the first time I screwed it in. I spent ages trying to repair it but gave up. I ordered ( for £ 4.85) a 5/16" UNF bolt to blank off the port and left the useless rod/spring/tiny "o" ring out of the equation. Quess what ? It worked !. A fit of benevolence from wifey saw her sat in car ( reading Sunday supplement) whilst I bled all for corners. Its not perfect, with some sponginess but............F*** it, after so long another job done.

What had preyed on my mind though was the emulsion in the rocker cover and thermostat housing.
I took the bull by the horns today and fetteled it. LOOK !

Top shows the cylinder head removed opposite no 4 cylinder. Bottom the oil filter when removed.

Since I'd removed the jubilee clips to the top rad hose ( to fasten round oil filter to remove it) some weeks earlier I decided to remove the rad, flush it out both ways and then some more. It was easy, which made a nice change from the last several weeks.

Some struggles with the twin carbs and manifold nuts but done rapidly if not a little fiddly then on to the head nuts. Surprisingly they came out easily after a few grunts. Could this be the problem ? did I torque them down sufficiently when I replaced the gasket the first time? I didn't have a torque wrench ( still don't- despite asking for one the last three Christmases) Did I use too much gasket sealant ? Should I have used sealant at all ? Was the gasket another cheap aftermarket crappy thing ?

Who knows. Here's after cleaning up half of the block top.

There was loads of rust at the water holes which makes me suspect I should have added antifreeze before now. A decision I regret. Good ole Lostsock. Never the wise when it comes to a peaceful life. It may also explain why 2 core plugs sort of tried to escape.

As it stands, its payday on Friday so I'll treat myself to a new original spec "Coopers Payen" head gasket, engine flush stuff ( which one though?) and coolant antifreeze/rad flush.

Next up will be the engine start and engine temperature monitoring, more bodywork (sanding, sanding and RH wing attachment).

P.S by way of a slight understatement we've had quite a bit of rain this summer and not just weekends.