29 May 2014

Nearly ready to go, just two days left.

We're just about ready...

23 May 2014

Right well time is certainly ticking along and now there is only 9 days left before departure, it sure has been a long and expensive lead up to this trip, but hopefully that will mean that there is not much left that could give any problems so all will be good along the way.

Mind that said all of the brakes have been replaced and now we seem to have developed a "rubbing" of the brakes on the left front drum. Just as you start off you can hear them, though I probably would never have heard it if I hadn't been pushing the car out of the garage before starting it. Not pushing it out of the garage because there is any problem mind, it is just that given the nature of unleaded fuel to burn with a filthy black residue starting it in the garage results in anything behind the car being covered in wet black grime, spraying from the exhaust until it warms up and evaporates the moisture in there. Anyway the brakes, ignorance is bliss, as well i know from driving down from Queensland with cracks in the chassis rails (as per previous posts), but as I have heard this now I need to whip the wheel and drum off and see what is happening. The guys that rep[laced the chassis rails and king pins mentioned that the brakes would need to "bed in" but it seems odd that they are doing this when they were perfectly fine after I installed them before driving down to Melbourne in the first place. Maybe something has just moved about since they refitted them at the workshop. Time will tell I guess.

Other than that I think the only other thing left to really do is drop the oil and the sump and to replace the sump gaskets to try and stem the steady flow of oil dripping from the back of the engine. It was fine to start with though it has been getting steadily worse over the last few weeks. I guess the cork sealing gasket at the back has degraded and to be honest I have no idea when it was last changed and when I got the engine I only changed the head gasket and installed the unit, so it's probably about time for an inspection and change. The good part is that the engine still pulls like a train and doesn't burn any oil at all.

So a couple of things to do on the last full weekend before the trip commences, guess I also need to start sorting through a few spare hoses and such and start stacking them carefully into the boot so I can ensure there is enough room to put the tent and all the associated stuff into the boot too.

Not long now....

12 May 2014

Howdy there all

Well it turns out that both the battery and the alternator were less then satisfactory, guess sitting about for 12 odd years isn't necessarily a good thing for car parts, so a new battery is in and just awaiting a new alternator, which should hopefully arrive this week, and more hopefully it will fit and plug straight in and work with no problems, hopefully...

Oh and here is a week vid from the go pro from the drive from Gympie to Melbourne just from bits of footage captured at intervals during the drive. Not very exciting, but gee it was running well.

Not long now till the off, only 20 days and I'm away, guess I will need to start thinking about what I need to be taking along, though plenty of time for that I am sure...

May 2014

Well here we are only 29 days left until departure. Not panic stations time yet, but still doing some things here and there to the car, mostly just small jobs that should make the car somewhat more comfortable for the trip. We've drained the radiator again and and turned the heater tap 180 degrees so that the heater pipe no longer rubs against the engine steady brace, which is due to having to relocate all the pipes to accommodate the new heater tap and the new radiator (new rad doesn't have a lower outlet or tap or anything which is a bit tiresome), the good part is that the coolant is no longer a delightful shade of mud, despite only being in there for about a month, and seems to be maintaining a much more respectable bright green colour. We've also made some new plywood trays for the lower parcel tray, they are in two pieces as the Mini heater that I installed some time ago would preclude the single piece board item it is supposed to have. The two half panels fit well and securely and no doubt will come in quite handy.

The only real concern I still have is if the alternator is working correctly, it seems to be able to keep the battery charged as long as the headlights are not turned on, turning the headlights on seems to then start draining the battery. It is weird the alternator can charge the battery while the lights are off but can't produce enough charge to do so when the headlights are on, anyway I think just to make sure that I don't end up on the roadside somewhere in the middle of nowhere it would be best if the Count drops by a auto electrician for a wee visit, just to make sure there is enough power to keep everything ticking along.

Oh and of all things the air cleaner element on the pancake air filter I fitted many years ago is really quite tired and dirty so we've been to all the usual suspects and trawled the internet looking for a replacement element and, you guessed it, no one has anything that will come close to the size of the element. Given that it has been so difficult to source a filter element I decided that it was time to replace the whole thing and have bought a RAMFLO air cleaner for a Mini, noting I have a 1.5" Mini SU and inlet manifold fitted to the car,and while I am definitely going to get a lot of induction noise though probably not much more than I already do with the pancake one currently fitted, the RAMFLO has the advantage of having a foam element that I am easily able to clean and if the going gets dusty I can always oil it as well for extra filtering power. Well that and the fact that they have been making them exactly the same for a very long time now, so there should be no problem getting parts for it if necessary.

29 and counting....