0031 Electrician, Mechanic, or Trimmer ?

21st - 28th November 2017
Or am I supposed to be a Navigator ?

The wiring loom again

Rebuilding a car really is something rather special - You truly do have to be a Jack of All Trades, and  hopefully instead of a Jack I am becoming a Master of at least a couple of them !!  The last week has seen me doing a lot of work on the wiring loom in preparation for a visit to a (real) autoelectrician with a long list of questions.  The plan is to get him to point me in the right direction, but for me to do the work, because I need to know this stuff in case the lights fuse in the middle of the night in the Gobi !  Today (Monday) was supposed to be the day I visited the electrican, but unfortunately he didn't answer his phone today - Maybe tomorrow !  The joys of rebuilding a car and relying on other people .......

0030 The rebuild begins.....

15th - 17th November 2017
We finally start putting pieces back on the car !!

First front damper is in place

Today was a momentous occasion - I finally sat down and bolted some pieces back ON to Gidget !!  It has been a long time coming, and a lot longer than we initially anticipated, but if any of you have ever been involved in the total rebuild of an old and damaged car, you will know that it usually takes a lot longer than planned or expected !  But it felt very special to finally be tightening some nuts on there, knowing that (hopefully) they won't have to be undone again for a very long time !!  First parts to be bolted on were the two front (larger MGB) dampers sourced from Peter Caldwell at World Wide Auto Parts in Madison Wisconsin. These have bearings instead of just seals, hopefully preventing the slow fluid leak of standard units.  Additionally, these are the slightly larger volume MGB units so they should remain slightly cooler, but with Austin Healey arms fitted so the suspension geometry is not changed.  And having tightened them all up, I then had to remove them again so I could fit the small rubber bump stop underneath the front corner !   I am sure that will happen a few times over the next few weeks !

0029 We go rallying while Gidget gets painted

8th - 14th November 2017
In which I get a week off car renovations !

Ashton's Lotus in the High Country

Some weeks ago Ashton thought it would be a good idea for us to do a car rally (or two) just to make sure that we could actually sit in a car together for a few days, and also so that we could work out how to use the Monit Rally Meter which we will need on the P2P.  So he chose the Targa High Country event based around Mt Buller down in the Victoria High Country / ski fields - Truly one of the most spectacular areas in Australia in my opinion, especially when the sun is shining.  And for all 5 days we were there, the sun was shining !   Perfect conditions for a great trial.

0028 Moving on to things electrical....

4th Nov 2017
Time to see if the wiring is OK !!

The wiring loom on my table

I have always disliked electricity - Perhaps because as a small boy I still very clearly remember  sticking my finger into a home light socket to see what those two brass pins were........!  Only ever did it once !   I have done quite a lot of wiring for various cars over the years - spotlights, radios, and even fitting voltmeters etc in Troopie - When it is straightforward I don't have a problem.  But when wiring systems get complicated with wires seemingly going all over the place, or when I need to track a wiring problem, then I tend to defer to an expert.  As far as Gidget is concerned, it was time to delve deeper into the mass of wiring that were sitting in a box in the corner of my garage, and work out if everything (anything ?) was serviceable.