0006 A slight delay

0006 A slight delay.
22nd October 2019
Giles has a heart attack !

So on Sunday the 19th October, I woke up and felt a little uncomfortable in my chest - Nothing major, just like a bit of indegestion.  As I had enjoyed a few beers and some yummy empanadas with good friends the night before, I put the discomfort down to that, and literally tried to "burp" the feeling out.
After a couple of hours, it was still there, so Janet suggested we go down to the local hospital to get it checked, and as this is literally only a couple of minutes away, we were quickly there.   I was taken almost straight through to a doctor, who gave me a couple of aspirin, while they took a blood sample away for analysis.  5 minutes later he returns and tells me I am having a heart attack !  You could have knocked me over with a feather !  Me ?  A heart attack ?  I don't HAVE heart attacks.  Surely they are wrong ?

Well they weren't. I was admitted into the hospital immediately, into the Cardiac Care Unit (like the ICU, but for cardiac patients), had needles stuck in my arms, more blood samples taken, and sticky pads put all over my body so they could attach wires for various monitors, ECG's and Echocardiograms.  I was scheduled for surgery first thing Monday morning !   But I still felt OK - Just that persistant indigestion-like feeling on the right hand side (not left !) of my chest.  Surely this wasn't happening to me ?

Pre stent

Well it was !  All night I was prodded, poked, ECG'd, blood pressure measured, and given pills and potions, and then at 5.30 a.m. they came in and I showered, then they shaved my lower arm, and I was readied for the angiogram.  They go in through your arm now instead of your groin, which is much less invasive, and you are fully awake throughout, if a little bit woozy.  X Ray machines zoom all over the place, but you feel nothing except maybe a light "something" inside your chest, but certainly not uncomfortable.  Then, about an hour later, it is all over !  They found two 80% blockages in my left anterior descending artery, but they were close together so were able to just insert one stent to cover the two of them.   I was wheeled back to the CCU, still not feeling very different - Although I was starving, as I had missed breakfast !  Luckily lunch soon came, and I scoffed that down, while nurses continued to prod and poke me !

Post stent

Next morning I feel great, my blood pressure is back to normal (or even a bit too low !), and the surgeon comes in for a chat and says "You can go home" !    Is that it ?  Is that a heart attack ?  What about the "elephant sitting on my chest" bit that I had read about ?  Long and short of it is that at my age apparently this is not unusual, and many people think it is indigestion and ignore this early symptom, and then they have a full blown attack with 100% blockage and that elephant coming to sit on your chest !   What can you do about it ?  Very little, because you can't go and have an angiogram every week.  So you need to eat healthily, keep your cholesterol low and good, and go and see your doctor regularly, and ALWAYS go and check out if you get indigestion that doesn't go away quickly.  Oh - And take a couple of aspirin straight away.  If it is indigestion, they won't hurt you, and if it is a heart attack, they may just save your life !

Another part of the fun of growing old !    Now, what was I doing before I was so rudely interrupted......................?  😂   Ah yes, the Volkswagen !

A new dragon comes to play

Dragon & 2 magpies !

After getting out of hospital, I really didn't feel bad at all, so after
taking it easy for one day, I was back in the garage.  But the local wildlife had missed me, and there was not only the regular mum and baby magpie, but also a new (3rd) water dragon in our garden.  These are great fun, and love sunning themselves in the warmth of the afternoon sun, and when they see me feeding the magpies, they come right up to me asking for their share !  I don't think the baby magpie really knew what to make of the dragon !

Troopie's rear awning

I then had to do some work on Troopie - The stitching the holds the zip in place on the cover for the rear awning was starting to degrade in the sun.  It is now 6 years since I had the awning made, and it has been used a lot more frequently than most awnings, so it is not surprising.  But it make it really awkward to

Rotting stitching on awning

open and close the cover, and I had stitched it up myself by hand previously.  But this is really hard on the fingers because the canvas cover is so tough, so I decided to get the manufacturer to make me a new owning cover - Then it will last another 6 years or more. So after taking all the measurements I sent the details off to the supplier, and I am still waiting for the new one to be sent to me so I can install it before we set of for Tasmania in mid December.

Treating rust on bumper

Back to the VW, the front bumper was pretty rusty on the inside, so I

Small ding in bumper

cleaned up all the mounting brackets and painted them black, and then de-rusted the inside, coated in with anti-rust primer, and a top coat of "chrome" paint, so it looks close to original.  There is a little surface rust on the chrome, and also a slight bend in the bumper, but I will not do anything about these until the car is back on the road.  I am only doing what is necessary to get the car running - Not trying to make it concours.

Untreated front wing

Treated front wing

I then tackled the inside of the front right hand fender.  It isn't too bad a single component high-solid content, rust preventive coating / rust paint / sealer. It is impervious to road salts and almost every chemical.  Like an underseal, this will ensure rust is kept at bay for many years. I am going to coat the inside of all guards, the doors, and also the flat floor under the car, and then I won't have to worry about it again. 
considering almost 50 years, and the rust is really only surface rust except for a couple of places which Andrew will cut out for me later.  For the rest of the inside, I sanded it back, cleaned it all up, and gave it a couple of coats of Rust-Seal.

A beautiful view out of the window

Old & new internal cladding

All the internal carpeting and underfloor and under seat padding was soaked wet and rotting - And also very smelly !  It had got wet because the rubber window seals had gone brittle in the sun, allowing rain to pour in. I am going to put soundproofing Dynamat on the floor, walls, and in the doors, but under the rear seat and on the rear parcel shelf, I am going to use the more traditional cotton cladding, so I bought a roll of this from Steve at SS Trimming in Biggera Waters.  Steve has helped me in the past, and is going to do the seats and the roof line in Clementine, and was able to get me a big roll of the cotton cladding from his supplier.  Once home, I used the old cladding as templates to ensure the new material would fit properly under the rear seat, and labelled each piece so I knew where they fitted, and then through the last of the smelly original material in the dustbin.  No more musty smells in the car !

Details of internal trim

Detail of C pillar lining

I then made sure I took lots of photos of the existing trim so that Steve would know how to fit the new trim when the time comes.  In addition to the regular trim, there are a number of small access holes in the internal metal walls that enable the bolts which hold the guards in place to be accessed.  This is one of the great things about the VW's - All these panels are bolted in place, not welded, and therefore can easily be removed in order to clean up and repair and rust proof the hidden areas inside the guards.  These are the areas where in time, rust tends to start in the hidden crevices, and it is important to clean them up and inhibit the rust if a car is to last.

Butcher bird comes for a feed

While feeding my magpies and dragons, I also  have some butcher birds that join me.  These little birds are similarly coloured to a Magpie, but are about half the size, and usually are much more timid.  Occasionally they will swoop in a grab some food, but there are a couple of braver ones who will come and sit beside me and eat out of my hand.  I get a lot of pleasure from the trust that these animals place in me, coming to sit beside me or on my knee while I share some food with them.  Very relaxing and therapeutic !

Grubby internal light needs work

At the end of the week, I started to put the brake master cylinder back in place, and took the interior light and tried to clean it up a little.  As I have said before, I am not trying to make Clementine concours, but am really trying to use as many of the original parts as I can, even if they don't clean up perfectly.  But she is a 50 year old car, and I want her to reflect that when she is back on the road.

Rest of the pics are here :-  
https://photos.app.goo.gl/2GVdpRkijKZxEUEo8