ThePog

Ha, that was the first thing I did when I got home just to make sure it actually happened...

Yea I am not sure it was an intelligent thing to do, but fuck I enjoyed the process, and it is a pleasure to actually get to use it. Seeing people's reactions to it so far has been great too.

Once I sort the cooling to my satisfaction and have a general sense that it wont shit itself in the middle of nowhere I will do this. The dude who I use as a contractor has a big rig Safari and knows all the trails around Nelson and is keen to go out.

They seemed fine tbh. I did go in a while ago to ask them about the process and if I needed to do anything which probably got them on board. Plus my natural charm and winning smile probably helped.

Ha I have been practising my look of disdain that I will get to use when I pull up next to a 'tuff' ranger. Also I went to the servo to fill it up and a dude fist pumped me. This gave me joy.

Yea I'm meant to be working but mostly I'm thinking about drinking beer..

Also I really want to give out some thanks to you OS peeps, it would have been a shit ton harder without the community. In particular; @Mof - sorting the gearbox top plate and other helpful advice @KKtrips - pointing out failings in my knowledge from a position of greater knowledge. And probably making the cert plate for me @cletus - also helping point out my failings plus much specific and useful advice @sidewaysickness - for testing the limits of Audi wagons and treating factory tow ratings for the mere indication of minimum performance that they are. @yoeddynz - for clueing me in on where the local safari foamers lived so I could sneak in at night and steal parts @mjrstar for the most super solid turbo deals possible @Beaver for sorting a boost compensated pump that I will be fitting in the near future Its probably not everyone that helped but its all I can remember with my failing memory.

So, long time no update. I have been holding off as shit was so nearly there for fucking weeks but kept on dragging on... Early September it got shipped off to Wellington; Then early October it arrived back home with a very excited son of a truckie.. Then I got the list from the cert man and was pleased/kind of surprised how short it was; - Needs rear headrests - Extra size on the driveshaft hoop mounts - Front seatbelts needed to web clamp type not inertia - Change a vac hose for proper auto stuff - Wheel alignment That was it and apart from sourcing the seatbelts it was all done in that weekend with the help of some butty ramps I had made for this sort of thing; So if anyone needs a brand new set of vertical fit reels, hit me up. Then I waited for the cert man to approve all that and get the plate done - this was another couple of weeks... Then the compliance man was on holiday and couldn't do anything for another couple of weeks... Then I realised much to my disappointment that the head was probably cracked as it was using water and pressurising the system That will teach me to not get things checked by professionals and just trusting to the prime cause. So while I was waiting for the compliance man I dragged out the spare head out of the container and sent it to Mean Machine for crack testing. This came up sweet but the valves were dodgy and the surface was a bit banana. So I got it surfaced and the valves and seats recut, plus I got a spare set of injectors rebuilt as i didn't want to fuck up the newly sorted head. Getting it in and out was not too much of a drama with a bit of channel clamped to the forklift forks. I didn't really take any pics of all this as I was on a bit of a mission, just this one of the freshened head put back in place; New gaskets, head bolts, slightly thicker oil plus filters plus coolant and much money out of my account and the jobs a goodun. Then fast forward to today and we have this very very exciting situation early this morning... Resulting in this even more exciting situation this afternoon; Ah shit yes. Anyway there is still a bit to do, I am not happy with the radiator situation as it is pretty much relying on the fan even at road speed. I can fit a standard Safari rad in the same hole but with much bigger collection area, plus I have some cunning plans to duct more air toward it so at least on the open road it isnt cycling the fan. Still I'm pretty happy, it has been a long but satisfying road. Beer will be drunk tonight I imagine....

He does seem to have more of them than is reasonable.

You had better hurry, I am making plans.

Yea I'd be happy to try anything out, I've just been buying the shitty mitre 10 bits. I'd be super interested to try down cut bits if you have some.

Yea I had a bit of MDF skimmed both sides and the edges painted to seal it but my shop vac was struggling a bit. It also wouldn't sit flat so I got grumpy with it and made the effort. I also forgot to say I pulled all of that bed poos off and welded in a shitload more bracing into the frame, I hadn't realised just how much the unsupported MDF would move. It still has some movement, but it's a fraction of what it was.

I have actually been trying to make other stuff with it, hence the broken bits. So much time fucking around getting what I want to do and the machines capabilities into the same space, so nothing interesting to show yet. The signage is pretty straightforward really and makes me laugh. Actually I forgot to mention that I spent a day fucking with the acceleration parameters in the setup, which I only started thinking about cos I was getting overruns on some movements and the machine was shaking during vector transitions. When I got it all sorted I set it to home and had a full body shiver of engineering orgasm at how beautifully and smoothly it made the movements, the goodness was tangible.

Absolutely perfect

Been messing with this pretty intently, breaking off lots of mitre 10 cutters while trying to make shit. Probably time to spend some money on proper tooling. Made a fancy new bed for it cos the last one was a bit of a banana, the skimmed MDF bent fucking everywhere and didn't really let enough suck through. 1384 holes to let the vacuum through. It worked pretty well when I tested the concept on the old bed. My first cut on it was a test for a sign my daughter wanted made. It needs some denser material, pine is a bit soft for this sort of shit. She's got the right attitude;