March 2014 Pt2

It sure has been a while but the Count is well on the way to having it's new half chassis rails fitted now and is looking good. It is amazing what the old ones look like from the inside, well probably not quite so amazing as scary. The cracks in the rail above the hole for the eyebolt and the wafer thin rust sections are something to see, so too is the row of self tappers that are in one of the rails, who knows what that was about and all I can say really is the ignorance is bliss. To be honest I guess I really was quite lucky nothing happened on the run from Queensland to Melbourne, though it did make the trip without a hint of any problem, so as I say about ignorance. Hopefully at this stage I should have the car back by early next week and then I can get it registered and get everything ready to go for the trip. I am not counting on it as I have to coordinate times with the vehicle inspector, get permits and then get a VicRoads inspection as well, but hey a fella can only hope!

 

MARCH 2014

The Count has been for its road worthy inspection and as expected it failed, though happily the things it failed on are in no way as terrible as all the things that I had imagined would need looking at. It is amazing how you can talk yourself into thinking things are going to be a nightmare when they are nothing of the kind in reality. I called a couple of places to check if I could get a roadworthy done on the car and when they realised the car was a 1955 Morris Minor they lost all enthusiasm, so to get work done on it I wanted someone that would know what they are doing. Well I have found someone that should know what they are doing. I have now taken the car to a mechanic to have the few items repaired/replaced and they have now contacted me and come up with a list of items that they think need addressing. Well this is going to take some time as the most major item is they have determined that the chassis rails need to have a half rail replacement on both sides, something that has been on the cards for quite some years now, but on seeing what they are concerned about I have decided that it may as well go ahead. That and the king pins have a little play at the bottom trunnion, so they need replacing as well and the tie rod ends. Oh well given the amount of kilometres that I intend covering in the near future I guess it is better that it is done now rather than failing somewhere in the middle of nowhere. It is rather disappointing given I had hoped that the chassis rails would be ok and I would be saving the cost of that replacement towards the actual trip, but you have to go with safety and reliability don’t you. On a lighter note I did manage to sort the dash lights, or lack of, problem that I had. It seems that as I have actually bypassed the parking light wiring in the loom with a complete (well now I have done the tail lights too) new set of wires, the dash lights had been missed from the connection. Wiring them into the new parking light wiring has solved the problem and they are working just fine now too. So too is the number plate light, new wiring to that as well has sorted the smoke inducing problem and it’s working just fine as well. I have removed the auxiliary gauges that I had re-installed prior to driving it from Queensland and the car looks a lot better for it, actually that is the reason I had removed them last time really(they looked awful), well that and the fact I am none too sure of their actual reliability. 

The interior dome light still isn’t working and I am still not sure what is happening there, so at some stage I will trace the wiring for it and see what is going on as I am sure it is something very simple. Mind if I have to keep removing the glove box on the drivers side it is going to completely self destruct, given its age and its condition it is actually quite surprising it is still holding any shape at all. I am currently hoping to have the car actually registered and officially (not on a permit) back on the road and registered with all new shiny number plates fore and aft by the end of March. 

I realise given the ambiguity of the mechanical schedule with the works on it and the difficulty of getting it back over to the roadworthy inspector and further the fact I have to get an appointment with the State roads authority to get them to “officially” agree that the engine and body numbers are the ones on the car and not something the inspector, mechanic and myself have made up (actually I am sure it is just something else they have thought up that they can effect a fee for) that this may be a wasted hope, but you never actually know and some people do say that miracles actually happen, don’t they?