The last episode of Carnage saw Scotty lamenting a bunch of key issues holding him back from going for the first test drive in the VE Valiant ute, with throttle and shifter cable dramas causing headaches.

But a new day brings a fresh perspective, and with renewed enthusiasm, Scotty set about tackling those dramas.

The first was the kickdown linkage. The bracket on the carby was binding up with the brand-new kickdown cable, regardless of how much Scotty played with it. The kickdown is vital to setting the line pressure needed to keep the transmission alive, so it was an issue that had to be addressed.

Rather than waste more money on suspect aftermarket parts, Scotty decided to DIY a bracket that he knew would work. Luckily, the Carnage workshop is fully kitted-out with Hare & Forbes goodness to tackle such a task, and it didn’t take Scotty long to whip up a bracket system.

With that done, the next job was to install a new shifter cable for the transmission. During the build process, Scotty’s had to drop and reinstall the transmission countless times, and it seems that somewhere in all those installations the original shifter cable got crushed.

Thankfully, the new cable went in without any glitches, and Scotty had it properly adjusted and ratcheting away with ease.

It looked like we were finally ready for the VE’s maiden voyage on the black stuff, but just as Scotty buttoned up these issues, Melbourne’s temperamental climate struck again and rained out any hopes of that happening.

So in the next episode, Scotty will bolt the front dress-up gear back onto the old girl and head out for that elusive first test drive, and then it’ll be time for the dyno – so stay tuned!