Bearded Baldy

Proof of progress

All seats are out, console and half of the dashboard is out. Had a great discussion with myself about how 17year old me knew nothing about tactical hole drilling when it came to wiring stereos etc. Older slightly wiser me on the other hand, will be doing a much nicer job. In another 10 years when it goes back together lol. Pic of classic early 2000s stereo components to follow Fusion 4in crossover and tweeter combo driven by Alpine cd tuner, was the goods for a long time. Rear was 6x9s of course! Quantity over quality was par for the course back then.

Drivers A pillar is no good. Fixable though. Found a hole under the wiper panel too, will see how bad that really is when i pull the dash out. Not looking forward to it tbh.

Went out this morning to pull the front bumper off and check out how things look. Got carried away but at least i know most of the front end is in good shape now.

Today went pretty smoothly, managed to solo tow the old girl off the lawn and onto the driveway and waterblast 2 years worth of lichen off. Found lots of cancer had spread but not as bad as it could be. 15 yard test is still a pass. Also found lost of lifting bog from its life before me, will make for interesting times ahead. Had to use the quad with a bare tire on the front to push it into shed as the brakes were binding on, got wife to steer it and it went slowly rolling into the jack, axlestands and compressor. She hops out 'i tried using the brake but it didn't work, its not my fault!!' Calmed her down with 'if i told you it had no brakes would you have hopped in it?' Prolly no dinner for me tonight lol.

One of the multitude of reasons this car never gets any closer to be finished is my never ending flow of side projects and half arsed ideas filling up the carshed and not leaving enough room for the car! Rainy boring day so perfect for a shed tidying session. Got sidetracked making one of my kids a wand first up (see never ending projects comment above), but got a solid effort in this afternoon so far. Have been putting up with this behemoth being in the way everwhere for years now, never wanted the box anyway so today it got cut up for the burn pile. So much more space efficient now. Lots of things along those lines and now i can see a car sized open floored area again! Will cut open another burning drum tomorrow and get rid of all the scrap timber that has accumulated in the back shed. Then continue the relocation from hoardingsshed 1 to hoardings shed 2..... of 4. Then to tow/push/shunt the car out of its lawn divots!

Damn good deals those, just shits me as i was about to list my little arc welder with tig kit for $550. Might just hoard it in back shed instead, out of sight out of mind etc etc.

Wiper switch turned up today. All 5 points select solidly, they are pretty bulletproof so no further testing will be done until i fit it and it doesn't work. And that could be years away.

Aaaaaaannnnddd car is still in the weather outside. But i just found and paid for something i have been looking for since 2005ish..... AN INTERMITTENT WIPER SWITCH!! This may not seem like a big deal but only having a 2 speed wiper switch in rainy reporoa is a problem. And yes while i could have wired in an aftermarket timer that wouldn't have felt right. So long as david from gumtree doesn't let me down.....

Tldr. They are arse covering and i assume vtnz so won't look any further if you had asked them too. Not a fan of testing stations....

Sometimes it can also be they are not sure if the play is minor in the rack bush (less dangerhazard) or in the rack end/inner tie rod end (more likely to fail sooner. I have come across a few xtrails where this is the case. Easiest way solo to check is to slip the rack boot along the tie rod and off the rack, then have a look at the joint. Slide boot back over with a new tie and job done. Easiest way with help is to turn the wheels to extend the side of the rack with play, and pull down on the rack inside the boot while someone else checks to see if the play is still there. If it is, inner rack end. If play is gone, rack inner bush.

Took bike for a shakedown run up the road, surged and popped a bit. Shone a light inside the tank.... well that is coming off again. Removed and drained tank and carby. I really really really need to build a shelter for the bikes. Under the trees isn't waterproof enough apparently.

Just a bit of wear lol.

Tracked down a second hand hub/knuckle and i hope it turns up early in the week. Will put new bearings in it and throw it all back together for the trip. Everything else is in good shape.

Haven't taken the quad out for a for long long time and have pretty much just used it to move the trailer around. Decided i am going to take it away for my upcoming bday so gave it a once over. Lh front wheel has been on the piss for ages, i assumed wonky balljoint and put it on the oneday list..... Balljoint was fine, a combination of flogged out lower hub and a driveflage/wheel bearing combo that don't actually contact each other was the real problem.