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I Almost Killed ChrisjawaproFri 07/12/2012 07:25 PM
This is the story of how I almost killed Chris...
Chris lived with me for a year or so and sometimes I felt like killing him - but this was the only time I actually went close!
Chris decided to try the challenging route through the mud-hole, and got bogged. Nothing too unusual there.
So I turned around and Chris tried to winch from me - but it was just dragging me towards the hole - so we gave up on going forward, and decided we needed to snatch him out backwards.
Now - almost everyone knows you don’t snatch from a towball - because towballs are known to snap and go flying through windows and killing people.
So we were using the tongue where the tow-ball attaches. That should be nice and strong.
Well - if you look closely in the photo above, you might notice that the snatch strap is attached to the back of Chris’s car - and then leads THROUGH his back windown into his car.
My entire tow hitch broke off the back of my car and hurtled through Chris’s car. It destroyed both back doors, the passenger seat, and the front windscreen!
If it had been on the other side of the car, or if Chris had had a passenger - the outcome could have been aweful.
The entire tow-hitch came off!
It’s not small either - and tore through Chris’s car so fast neither of us really knew what happened. Chris only heard and saw the flying glass - he hadn’t realised what had happened either until we traced the snatch-strap back to work out what had gone wrong.
Goes to show - that even when you think you are doing it all correctly, every recovery is dangerous and needs to be taken seriously and carefully.
It’s as close to killing someone as I want to come.
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Back to the CapejawaproMon 03/12/2012 10:52 PM
Another weekend - another camping trip. I could get used to this!
It’s the Devonport Show weekend again - so it’s time for the 4wd club to head down to Sandy Cape on the rugged West Coast.
Unlike last year when I was stuck in Melbourne, I managed to get the long weekend off - and even extended it by a day!
Chris in the mighty Maverick and myself in Oscar the Pajero packed up and joined the convoy down on Thursday.
Oscar was pretty well packed!
The weather was pretty awesome for the most part. Drizzled a couple of times and the wind changed direction which changed the challenges of beach driving etc - but it was an absolutely awesome weekend.
We met up with some Parks and Wildlife fellas who lead a trip down the Interview River (you aren’t allowed down there without special permits anymore) to do a rubbish collection. I was very glad to get Oscar down there - might be the last time if Parks close it entirely.
We had a great run down and back - and picked up quite a bit of the flotsam that had washed up onto the beach.
The Interview river. You can cross this river and continue down to the top of the Pieman Heads (well you could, but you’re not allowed to anymore). The way the sea was rolling up the river today, there was no chance of getting across even if you wanted to.
Oscar at the end of the trip. He’s been beach-combing a bit, picking up rubbish on the way home.
He stood up pretty well - the hand brake has given up entirely, he stalled a couple of times in puddles (still diagnosing that), got bogged once when I diffed up, and lost his rear tow-hitch.
Oh yeah - and I almost killed Chris (literally) on the way back out - but that story’s worthy of its own post.
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Bay of FiresjawaproWed 28/11/2012 11:09 PM
My mate Alister is getting married.
Instead of the usual sort of bucks night, Alister decided to get a group of his mates together and go camping at the Bay of Fires.
It was an awesome weekend - and gave me a good chance to give Oscar a run after all the work we’d done to him lately.
The wedding is going to be on the beach here too - if it’s anything like the camping trip - it’ll be awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct3tTXLUS1M - video of camping...
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Oscar gets a facelift...jawaproTue 20/11/2012 11:47 AM
It's been a while since I posted. Things have been jolly hectic, but in between everthing else, I've finally found time to give Oscar some attention.
He's been living under Chris's house (the closest I've got to a shed still) for a few weeks and we've been working on him when we can.
Chris has replaced another leaky exhaust gasket - and suddenly Oscar has found his legs again! He's back to having power - instead of being wimpier than the Subaru. Such a great feeling.
The power steering gave up, but we fixed it (again, mostly Chris). It doesnt leak anymore!
Chris also broke my aircon in half - which did at least shut up all the belt noise. In fact, you can hardly hear the engine now when you're driving.
All that silence did allow us to hear the stuffed wheel bearing though - so that got pulled out and replaced last night.
I also installed some new shock absorbers. They are only cheap ones - but the difference they make is very noticable. You don't feel like you're going to fall over when you go around a corner now!
And to finish it all - I sourced a second-hand bullbar. The dorky looking one that Oscar came with has always annoyed me - doubly so since part of it fell off and we had to macgyver something up to hold the spot lights.
The new one came from Dodgey Brothers in Wilmot and was delivered by a couple of ruffians in a ute because they can't officially sell anything from the yard in Wilmont. It's not perfect, but it's not too bad either.
So Oscar's got a new facelift (we'll straighten up the lights shortly) and is feeling 10 times better than he has recently. Now, if I can just fix the aircon....
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Dacey the G60jawaproWed 07/11/2012 09:45 AM
I introduced you to Dacey a few posts back when we went to pick her up - but here's her proper introduction - video and all!
Dacey is a 1977 (If I remember right) Short-wheelbase G60 Patrol. She has a very rare Marks 5speed gearbox which is why I was originally interested - but she's grown on me and now she's at the top of the list to be restored. She looks pretty awesome with the after-market soft-top too.
She also proves just how poorly the engine in Rothgar is working at the moment. Dacey sounds far more impressive and has far more poke (even thought her engine isn't running quite right either). She's a lot more fun to drive.
Dacey is named after a small character in the Game of Thrones series of books. The character and car really have nothing to do with each other - but that's fine with me. The North Remembers!
Some of the video was filmed when we picked Dacey and the yellow ute up - but most was filmed on Monday of the long weekend. It was an annoyingly warm day - but heaps of fun hooning around the paddock messing with G60s and my GoPro.
I'll let you in on a little secret - I was hamming it up for the camera leaning out the window when I ended up in a slide. Hadn't realised she'd do that! My subesquent slides didn't work on camera - so the ones in the video are Dad driving Dacey, while I'm driving the Subaru camera car. He's far better at it than I am. Thanks Dad!
While I'm at it - thanks to Dad (UncleTom3), Mum, Jason, and Turkey for their help in collecting the vehicles and filming the video clip.
Anyway - without further rambling - the video.....
Dacey the 1977 G60 - 'Rambling Girl'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOX_bH88DYQ
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