The engine bay was pretty disgusting so while the carbs were off, I removed most of the visible grime from the top of the block whilst also cleaning everything in the area that the carbs would sit. Swipe the pictures below for the before and after - quite a change! (Yes, those rusty bolts are driving me mad but I'm refusing to touch the engine before I know if it's actually running ok!)
As well as this, we decided to pull off the carb mounts and inlet manifold just to check their condition and decided that the carb mounts had run their course so we replaced them with upgraded solid aluminium anodised variants. Not only are these much stronger than their rubber counterparts, but they wouldn’t perish in the future and are far more stable thus removing the need for the carb support arm.
The inlet manifold was cleaned of grime and any residue left from the old gaskets and then we began refitting all the components back to the block, replacing all the gaskets (for the inlet manifold, carb mounts and carbs themselves) with high quality gasket sealant.