0027 Working around the house

0027  Working around the house

 23rd October - 5th November 2020

The house really needs some TLC !!

 

Between driving round the world between 2014 - 2016, rebuilding the Healey and doing the Peking to Paris between 2017 - 2019, and rebuilding the VW since late 2019, I must admit I haven't done a lot of work around the house for a while !    And I am not talking about the washing up or other day to day chores - I am talking about painting, repairing, mending etc !   The Big Things !   In the past we have never lived for long in any house, so we have never really had to repaint or recarpet or do major repairs before.  But we have now been here some 14 years, and suddenly I look around to see that some things are starting to look a bit tired.   Must be time to do some work !

0026 Wandering during the virus

 0026 Wandering during the Virus

 27th September 2020

Now I don't have to work on the VW ........

 

With most of the work on Clementine now finished, I am trying to drive her as much as possible in order to get some miles on her.  1000 kms will be enough, and then I will take it back down to Steve at CCC and we will do a full "first" service, and check all the suspension and steering for tightness.  We also have a few other items to fix, like the reversing lights etc.  Until then, I am using her almost every day, and checking out things as necessary as I go. 

0025 On the road at last !

0025 On the road at last.
13th August 2020
Everything finally comes together !

Clementine on the road

First thing required to get Clementine on the road was to get Third Party Insurance and a Safety Certificate.  So on Monday I went down to RACQ and arranged the insurance.   Then, instead of getting a temporary permit to drive the car to an inspection station, I found someone through Steve at Classic Car Clinic who does on-site inspections, and at 11 am on Tuesday 11th, Matt arrived to inspect the car. We went through the car, and he checked everything underneath, and half an hour later I had my Safety Certificate.
 

0024 The electrics get sorted

0024 The Electrics get sorted

23rd July 2020

And I go for a ride in a sidecar !

Sorting out electrics

Things  continue to move slowly, which I am finding very frustrating.  The carbs are still under repair, but last Monday one major advancement occurred - Phil Palmer from Shed 13 Kustom Electrics came round and helped me sort out the electics.  He still left me plenty to do, but atleast he found why the fuses kept blowing.  It took Phil a while to go through the mess of wiring that is currently in place, and after chasing a few red herrings, he said "There is a short in the front right hand indicator".   I couldn't believe this - I had taken great care with the wiring down in the lights, and if the LH unit was working, why wasn't the RH one ?  Anyway, I took the indicator apart - And guess what ?  I had
mixed up the two wires and put them on the wrong pins !!  Whoopsadaisy !  I just swapped over the

two wires, and bingo, indicators work, 4-way flashers work, and no fuse blown !!  After making a few more changes that I need for wiring in a tacho instead of a clock, and a couple of other items, Phil left me to tidy up my mess !!

0023 The smaller things take even longer

15th July 2020
The smaller the things, the longer they take !

Safely back home !

I needed to get Clementine out of Classic Car Clinic as they were due to get very busy, and I am still waiting on the carburettors as well as some new hot air piping for the exhaust.  In addition, Steve and I spent a while on the wiring, but kept blowing a fuse (the car, not us !) - there seems to be a short somewhere.  We had headlights, sidelights front and rear. but there seemed to be a problem in the indicator switch.  We also decided we need a new headlight dimmer relay as well as a new indicator relay, and as these would take a couple of days to arrive, it was expedient to take Clementine home and out of their way. So Cheaper Towing came and picked her up and brought her home.

0022 The engine gets fitted

0022  The engine gets fitted
26th June 2020
It is still a long way to the end !

Lifting the engine off the stand

This was the week that the engine was to be fitted, so over the

And in the trailer

weekend I borrowed a trailer from my neighbour and used it to pick up the big engine hoist from CCC.  Over the weekend I manipulated the engine off Winno's engine stand (where it has been for a couple of months) and into the trailer.  I then loaded the gearbox, and fitted the folded up engine hoist in the trailer as well, and tied them all down firmly.  I also ensured I had all the nuts and bolts and hoses and clutch and everything else I would need down at Classic Car Clinic as we put the engine in, and did the several other things we needed to do in order to get Clementine running.

0021 Small things take forever

0021 Small things take forever
10th June 2020
Not sure if we will ever finish !

Puzzling out heater pipes

Most of the big things seem to be finished, but it is the small things that are now taking up to much time.  The list  of things to do just seems endless !  Winter is now here - But Queensland style !   Temps at the moment are still about 14 deg C at night, and 23 or so during the day, usually with clear blue skies - This is without doubt the best time of the year in Queensland, and our new camelia bush is blooming beautifully !   But I am still trying to puzzle many things out on the car as well as finish
off many of the things which I have been "leaving for later" !!  One of these is the exhaust.  The modern exhausts do not enable part of the hot air piping, so it is necessary to adapt as best as one can.  I now have my Scat 9 flex pipe (purchased on the internet) which is aircraft quality, wire re-inforced, very flexible hose that is also heat resistant.  So I am try to work out the best way to fit the hose without losing the use of the smaller heat exchangers that were part of the flat engine used on the Type 3 VW (The Beetle, a Type 1, did not use them.)  The Type 3 still has the large heat exchangers for the heater, so I don't lose my heater !  I am leaning towards getting a short steel pipe made up - Just not sure if it is possible, so will need to speak to some people before finalising.

0020 Things come together - Slowly

31st May 2020
She is starting to look like a car again !

Looking like a car again

Today is the 31st May - Last day of Autumn already !  Coronavirus still around, and America burning up in the riots - What a difference 3 months makes !
And its true too for Clementine - Although it seems that all these small things that still need to be done take much much longer than expected - I am starting to wonder if I will ever get her back on the road !  But at least she is starting to look like a car again - From the outside, anyway.

0019 Clementine changes colour

0019 She changes colour
4th May 2020
Paint on the top and the bottom.

4 litres of Clementine

I bought the Clementine-coloured 2 pack paint from Harts myself in order to make sure I got the right colour, and also to keep the costs down so I am not paying a 3rd party.  It took them about 20 minutes to mix it all up to the correct VW colour code - 4 litres of paint and two litres of hardner - The paint shop will then mix the two as they need it because once mixed it can go off (hard) quite quickly.   Once home with the paint, I checked with GC  Restoration to confirm a time for delivering the car - But unfortunately they have a few hiccups during the current virus and asked to delay everything for a couple of weeks.  Oh.   Well I guess that means I have two weeks to do some stuff that I was really not planning on doing - At least not currently.

 

0018 The list seems to get longer !

0018  The list seems to get longer !
11th April 2020.
There seems to be more to do with every day that passes !

Why isn't the list of things to do getting shorter ?  I don't understand - I keep getting things done each day, but by the end of the day, there are another bunch of new things to do !

0017 Corona Virus strikes !!!

0017 Corona Virus strikes !!!
31st March 2020
Self isolation is easy when you have lots to do !

In my last post, I had prepared all Clementine's panels for painting - Primed, rubbed down with 600 wet & dry, and ready to go for painting.  So this Monday I went over to check that the paint was ready - "Sorry, the tints haven't arrived yet, and not sure when they will get here".   Grrrrr.  So I then go over to the painters, and it turns out they are having a bit of upheaval at the moment, and it will be 6th April before they will be able to take the car for painting !!  Bugger.   Well, at least the paint should be here by then !! (If not, I checked with another local paint supplier, and he has the tints in stock. )  So I guess I have the time to do some or all of those jobs that I was either putting off, or not planning on doing at all ?!!  Always a silver lining in every black cloud, I guess !!

0016 Lots of painting and sanding

0016 Lots of painting and sanding
21st March 2020
Trying to get everything ready for painting

Almost ready for the paint shop !

It has been a really busy couple of weeks as I am trying hard to get everything ready for painting.  In order to save money and time, I am trying to have everything primed and rubbed down with 600 wet & dry and masked off so that when I move it to the spray painters they spend less time (and money !) having to do the preparation work, and can just get on with the spraying.  But I see how the costs of spray painting quickly mount - The painting itself is the easy bit - It is the preparation of the car that takes so long.  And there are so many nooks and crannies, as well as the body shell, plus the 8 panels that all need rubbing down - It sometimes seems like an endless task.  But I think I am making  
                                                         good progress !

0015 Is anything ever easy ?

0015 Is anything ever easy ?
Sunday 1st March 2020
When nothing seems to go right !

The wiring is a problem !

The last 2 weeks have been extremely frustrating.  As I have mentioned before, I believe, I am only
pretending to be a mechanic - Underneath I am still just someone with an inquisitive mind who is willing to have a go.  As a result, when some of the more "difficult" mechanical skills are required, I am often left floundering.  With the Healey it was somewhat easier because the car was mostly located in Classic Car Clinic with their expert mechanics, so when an issue came up that stretched my knowledge, I had them to fall back on, and often they were able to even help me do the job.  Another issue is age !!   My strength is not what it was, so often difficult bolts are hard to undo, and additionally, as I do not have a hoist, my car is at floor level, and much of my day is spent getting down on the floor and then up again repeatedly (often to get a spanner I forgot !), so at the end of the day I am exhausted.  As a result of this, I decided to have a few days sitting inside the car doing the wiring - It may have been less physically exhausting, but since I am even less proficient as an auto electrician than I am as a mechanic, it would prove to be mentally exhausting instead !

0014 Back to Qld and work on the VW

0014 Back to Qld to work on VW
20th January 2019
Time to head home.

Janet & sister Sally in Mt Eliza

Had a lovely 3 days with Sally and Mike in Mt Eliza, which included lots of games of cards as well as an excellent lunch in The Grand Hotel in Mornington.  Quite cool in Melbourne, and it rained a bit which was good, but it was time to head north after a very enjoyable time with them both.  Due to the fires to the east, we drove via the (somewhat boring) Hume Highway to our

With Jos & Tony and family in Yak

friends Jos and Tony in Yackandandah, just in from Albury.  Normally I would drive through the beautiful Snowy Mountains to get to Yack, but the fires have made this impossible at the moment.  As always, great to catch up with Jos and Tony and kids and grandkids.  We had a lunch in Albury where Tony had a doctor's appointment, but the rest of the time was spent at the farm, either playing cards or drinking red wine !!   Very pleasant couple of days.

0013 Heading back to the Mainland

0013 Heading back to the Mainland
17th January 2020
Sightseeing in Tasmania

Evie & Olie inspecting Troopie !

We left Benn & Sarah & the girls in Hobart on the 14th January after a wonderful month with them.  Lots of fun exploring the area, getting to know the girls, reading lots of stories and having lots of adventures, and also learning a lot about Benn & Sarah's Fox Friday brewery, which I am most impressed with.  Impressed with their vision for the future, and also impressed with their beer !!  After saying farewell, we headed NW out of Hobart, on the road to Queenstown and Strahan.  We had 3 days to get to Devonport to catch our ferry, so we were just planning a wander up through the NW corner of the State.

0012 New Year in Tasmania

0012 New Year in Tasmania
6th - 15th January 2020
We have some adventures around Hobart !

Our Christmas table !

Apart from one day up around 40 deg C, the weather in Hobart has been very similar to an English summer - except no rain !  But most days have been around 26 deg C in the day, then it cools off at night so you need to put a jumper on, which makes the evenings and sleeping very comfortable compared to Queensland at this time of year.  So we started off the week with Christmas Day itself, and the temperatures were just perfect, which is why we came to Tasmania.