Seats and all trim is removed and the car prepared for cleaning and respraying. The compression test on the motor was good. Reconditioning is not required! Drive shaft, motor and transmission are removed ready for checking and servicing. Engine mounts replaced and the carburettor will be rebuilt also
Car 2214 - The building of a Bash Car
© 2009 - All rights reserved.
Surprisingly after 18 months in storage, it started without too much effort and then drove up the ramps onto the trailer under it's own power! Yes, that is Ned Kelly on the bonnet and Yosemite Sam on the tailgate!!!
The car was bought on Ebay for $2150.
What was NOT known at the time was that the car would have another $15,500 spent on it to get it Bash Ready for the 2010 Bash and a further $9,000 after the 2010 Bash to have it ready for the arduous 2011 Bash!
It is common for these old cars to have tens of thousands spent on them to get them to the Bash and keep them running year after year!
The Valiant arrives in Sydney October 5th, 2009
Thanks to
Morris Powerlec
for use of their crane
to lift the motor out.
Bonnet is sanded back as is the rest of the car exterior (yes Ned and Yosemite are now gone). The small dents are hammered out and filled. Bonnet ready for priming.
Peter and Andrew posing for the camera and covered in paint dust!
Front and side (wagon) windscreens have been removed as well as all the window channels
Some of the Panels are sanded back to bare metal.
Bonnet has been sanded and primed ready for second coat. The rest of the sanding was completed today and any minor dents filled and sanded. The car was masked up ready for the respray. The primer coat will be applied next week. End photo on the right above shows the engine on a knock up stand that Peter welded up today.
The stand is on wheels so it is easily manouverable. We will be working on the engine and transmission while the car is being resprayed.
Car has been completely primed by Nathan. The roof has been painted white to reflect the outback sun and keep the car cooler. Nathan and Peter remove the tape masking the chrome trim around the roof. The Motor has been pulled down, the rocker cover and sump removed, degreased and washed. The head has also been removed and all parts will be checked, rings replaced etc. before being re-assembled.
Car has been remasked to protect the white roof and interior. The final body coat is applied by Nathan. Peter takes apart the head and removes the valves to check and reseat them. Andrew, Christopher and Kyle are kept busy spray painting the manifolds & rocker cover, sand back some other miscellaneous body parts and build the boot platform that covers the spare tyre well.
The final body coat has had time to dry and the masking is removed.
The spray painting is complete and the paint will be left to cure for the next two weeks.
In the meantime, we will continue to work on the motor and interior. The new carpet has arrived and the replacement door trim is on it's way! We have even found some re-upholstered Valinat seats that will fit straight into our car (see above)! All we need to do is bring them up from Melbourne in the next couple of weeks.
Today, we started to re-attach the chrome trim such as door handles, badges and door strips. The chrome roof guttering was polished today also.
The Bonnet is yet to be attached properly. This will happen once the motor and transmission are rebuilt and put back in the car.
The roof racks, flashing lights and car theme have now been attached and the lights tested.
Today, we made some great headway and managed to attach the front grill and headlights. We have attached the new "door belts" - which are the fury things that wipe the window as you wind it up and down. We inserted all the new rubber door window channels (they're called bailey channels - apparently) AND we attached the new rubber door seals.
Our "new" second hand door trim (Red in colour to match our seats) which came from Nuriootpa in SA, was fixed to all the doors and the red door handles that were sourced from Geelong as well as all the original chrome internal door handles and trim were also attached.
T
he Carpet underfelt/insulation was cut and made ready and w
e also started to work on the electrics and wiring today. The wiring will be a big job and will take a couple of Saturdays to complete.
A major win was that we managed to pick up a complete under dash airconditioner for the Valiant on ebay. It arrived just this week from Melbourne, and yes, it really works!!!
On a final note, we apologise for the lack of photos of the car's progress this week.... someone forgot to take the camera on the day!!!
Another huge day today with positive progress - although a little slow.
Thanks to our friends at Repco Bankstown, we were able to pick up a nice steering wheel and centre horn button for the Valiant. The only drawback was that there is no "boss" commercially available for our model Valiant. For those of you who don't know (and for the record... I didn't!!!), the "boss" is the part that adapts a steering wheel onto the steering column and allows the wheel to actually turn the steel rod that runs down the centre of the steering column! Live and learn!!! Peter, of course, decided he would make a "boss" for the new steering wheel by cutting the one out of our old steering wheel and using the lathe at Morris Powerlec, to create a "boss" for our new mahogany steering wheel. Well, though it took most of today, he did it, and I must admit, it's a fantastic job!!! Looks just like a bought one!
While Peter was using his engineering brilliance to create the boss, my job was to make headway with the wiring under the dash. After spending the first 3-4 hours trying to understand the wiring diagram in the manual and comparing it to what I was seeing (or supposed to be seeing), I soon discovered that the job was going to be bigger than I thought! Progress was made however, and 12 strands of cable laid from the engine bay, through the firewall and into the car. Existing cables checked and repaired, where necessary. We wired in a new fuse box, master accessory power switch and "live" terminal box for quick connections for all accessories in the future. Kyle (Peter's youngest son, car enthusiast and workhorse), made a plate for the "switch bay" which houses all the illuminated switches for powering up the flashing lights, navigation gear, airhorns, smoke machine, ejector seats and .30 calibre machine gun..... (Okay, I'm kidding about the last 3 items - unless we can pick them up cheap on eBay!!!)
The car is starting to take shape as more is added each week.
The new door trim, black door surrounds (seals), steering wheel and
floor insulation can be seen in these two photos.
The new mahogany steering wheel You can see Peter's "boss" in black behind the wheel and some of the wiring in progress under the dash
As you can see, we've added some serious noise makers to the car!
Then and Now!
All themed up for Australia Day!!!
The electrical cabling was laid throughout the car with 13 new power cables run to the back of the car and 12 run up under the dash through the firewall. The main power source was wired up to a "master switch" which then powers an illuminated switch panel under the dash This panel controls power to the amber flashing lights, rear driving light, air horns, navigation system, electronic rally trip meter, and supply power to the rear cigarette lighter socket (which will be used to run the refrigerator).
The steering wheel "boss" was finished off today and the wheel was bolted onto the steering column.
The air horns were mounted under the bonnet and we found the make a heck of a lot of noise!
Our new carpet was laid over the underlay
Peter has been busy over the last couple of weeks and the motor has just about been rebuilt as you can see in the first photo! The Tailgate and rear tailgate window has been fitted as have the side mirrors. A new rear tailgate seal has been designed, made and rivetted on by Peter, and he is justifyably impressed with himself! Andrew has fitted the seat belts, the new Pioneer stereo in the dash and rear driving lights on the back roof bar. The horns have now been wired up and make one heck of a noise.
We have the engine mounts on order as well as the rear tailgate window seal and everything is coming up roses! Next will be the transmission before we bolt the engine back into the car in 2-3 weeks time!
The engine is just about ready, and this week we have had
BTA Motorsports
step in to support us by servicing our automatic transmission at no cost! This has been a huge help since neither Peter or Andrew have had any experience in transmissions!
The chrome trim has been put on the tailgate and the sound system fitted. The speakers have been mounted on the rear columns (you can see them circled in red).
It has been a great two Saturdays with some excellent progress. The torque converter has been mounted on the motor and the carburettor rebuilt. Peter's youngest son - Kyle has started building the roof mounted cage rack to sit on top of the roof racks.
Peter has bent, cut and welded together the steel pipework for the front bull bar which will be finished during the week and painted white. Kyle started cutting out the perspex headlight protectors. Andrew was kept busy under the car reinforcing and protecting the fuel and brake lines by covering them in reinforced plastic hose to ensure they do not get crushed or pierced by a stone.
Peter was able to source an external sun visor (Ebay of course!) which Kyle washed and spray painted. This will be mounted once we have fitted the front windscreen.
New wiper blades have been fitted to the wiper arms and the distributor completed and mounted on the engine.
We expect to take delivery of the reconditioned transmission from BTA Motorsport this coming week and hope to mount it onto the engine and then fit the engine and transmission back in the engine bay. The front grille has been attached as has the rest of the front end of the car including the bull bar that Peter built.
The rear "crash bar" has been built and fitted. The new front and rear indicator lights have now been mounted onto the bars.
Once we have mounted the engine and transmission, we can then give Hi-Torque (our drive-line specialists) the exact measurements for the driveshaft length and they will then be able to complete the reconditioning and balancing of our driveshaft which they have so generously helped us with.
Our big rear mud flaps which are a requirement for the Bash car to prevent stones from the country roads cracking the windscreens of cars that will be behind ours - were kindly donated by Hi-Torque. We have also attended to
the brake master cylinder which has now been overhauled.
Oh! Almost forgot! We finally sourced our mag wheels as you can see! They arrived this week from Queensland!
What do you think? New tires will be fitted this week.
What a huge couple of days!!!
The torque converter was put into the auto transmission and the transmission then bolted to the engine. The engine and transmission were then lifted and put back in the car onto brand new engine mounts. We also attached the new chrome airfilter.
The rear suspension was removed and we replaced the bushes, fitted brand new Monroe gas shocks and also fitted an extra leaf uplifter spring to each side.
We removed the rear diff and axle and replaced the diff seals after checking everything.
While we had the rear axle off the car, we replaced the slave cylinders and brake shoes on the rear brakes.
We then filled the diff and rear axle with oil, and blew out the rear brake lines before fitting them back onto the car.
During the week, Bridgestone was kind enough to fit and balance our new tyres onto our new wheels and we then fitted all the wheels onto the Valiant. The tailgate bailey channel was picked up during the week and fitted to the car and now the rear window actually seals!
Finally, we fitted the new Terratrip rally computer to the dashboard.
Next week we plan to connect up the engine wiring, insert the driveshaft if it is ready, and rebuild the front brakes. this leaves us the exhaust and windscreens prior to testing and then registration. With a bit of luck, we should be starting the engine in 2-3 weeks time!
Well, again a big couple of weeks. Lots of major "ups" and a couple of minor "downs"...!
UP's......
Hi-Torque completed the driveshaft and we installed it as planned. It was perfect! Peter built the driveshaft safety frame which is a requirement of bash cars and bolted it in place. The safety frame prevents the drive shaft from dropping onto the ground if one of the joints breaks during the rough journey. A broken driveshaft can quicly act as a "pole vault" and flip the car if travelling at any sort of speed.
The probe for the Terratrip rally computer was also mounted under the car at the drive shaft. We then filled the diff and rear axle with oil.
We have replaced the front brake slave cylinders and shoes. The front ball joints were also replaced. We have attached new mudflaps front and rear (in addition to the big ones supplied by Hi-Torque). We bolted on the old exhaust for now so we can 1. Start the car and test it 2. Drive the car to our exhaust system supplier in order to get the exhaust replaced with a 2 inch sports system. The totally re-cored and refurbished radiator was refitted to the car after we had made a bracket to mount it on as the radiator is an oversized one and NOT an original VC Valiant unit. Finally, we sourced and fitted a set of centre caps for our mag wheels - just to set the mags off nicely! We also wired up the car, connected the battery ready for the "official" engine start on our next session!
NEW POSTER launched and placed in the windows of many MILPERRA businesses and shops
DOWN's......
We found out "the complete rubber kit" that we purchased for the car has everything EXCEPT the side wagin window rubbers! After speaking to the supplier we found out that nobody has made the side window rubber seals in years. We were told that we may get lucky enough to get some second hand ones!!! The car is 43 years old. We don't fancy our chances. Now we have put off the winscreen replacement until we can solve this small issue.
More UP's..... After sending few emails a couple of days ago, we stumbled across Valiant Restoration company in SA that has informed us that the cargo bay windscreen rubbers can be sourced from a manufacturer in Adelaide and one in Brisbane. We will be on the phone to them on Monday!
We don't have any photos for this peiod as the changes were subtle ones and unfortunately, photos really do not do the work true justice. Due to prior committments, our next session on the Valiant will be May the 15th.
It has been a great Saturday. We have mounted the kick down cable, fitted the new steering linkages, blew out the brake lines and reconnected them all ready for "bleeding" next week.
The transmission cooler was also fitted and will be connected up next Saturday also.
We managed to source the new rubber window seals for the cargo bay and we are now looking for someone to fit the windscreens for us.
We finished off the day by starting the motor for the first time since the rebuild. Bar a bit of smoke from a small oil spillage on the exhaust manifold, the car now runs! Yes, Val is alive!
It has been another great Saturday. The brakes have been bled. The fuel tank removed and cleaned out. We fitted the rubber fuel tank protector under the car to avoid the tank being punctured by any loose stones.
We replaced the engine oil with the thicker oil as suggested by Castrol and the car ran much better. The transmission sump was removed as we had discovered a slow leak. The sump was then resealed and refitted.
The sump guard was made up and bolted in place. The electrics were checked and all lights including indicators, stop, tail, license plate and reversing lights all worked but we could not get the headlights to work at all - time to get an auto-electrician to visit!
The car was driven up and down the street for testing. Performance is rather wanting due to the timing (we hope). Unfortunately, our timing light was not working and we have to get a replacement so we can tune the car next Saturday.
The windscreens fitting was delayed but they are expected to be fitted during this coming week.
"Houston.... We have a problem!
A week of mixed emotions!
We have checked the timing and it is ok but we have no power under load and we are blowing a lot of smoke. On Saturday, Geoff Scott (a local Milperra mate) dropped by with a compression tester. That's when we found we had less compression than when we started! We removed the head, resealed the gasket and put it back on the motor but it made no difference. One of Andrew's close friends -Terry Marousis (one of the Spartans and an ex-mechanic), took a look on Tuesday night and said that the cylinders will need to be rebored. He suggested a complete reconditioning of the block including new pistons, rings, etc. He said the motor was just too old and the cylinders are probably ovalish by now rather than perfectly round. This is not the news we want to hear 10 weeks out from the Bash!!!
Wednesday we scrambled and spoke to Harris Engines at Revesby (they reconditioned the Spartan's V8 last year) and they promised a week and a half turn around to completely recondition the block. On Saturday the 12th (the long weekend), we removed the engine & transmission, pulled the head off the motor and loaded the engine block onto a ute ready for transport to Harris Engines on the Tuesday.
On a positive side, we have completed the roof rack and the windscreens were fitted by Jennings Windscreens in Wethrill Park. In fact, Jennings were even kind enough to give us a new front windscreen! The spare wheel rack was also mounted on the roof. The windscreen wipers were fitted and work well. The headlight dipper switch was replaced and now we have headlights. The extra amber lights are now wired up
We are still on track to have the car completed week 1 July leaving us 6 weeks for testing.
We took the car for it's first drive today! 3 short runs just to see how it sounded and performed. We will definitely have to check the timing and certainly get the wheels aligned but all signs were great. Castrol has suggested we replace the oil with GTX as it is better for older cars, so we will do this next week. The transmission cooler was also mounted this week.
The windscreens will be fitted during the week, so the next photos will show the exterior of the car complete.
It has been another great couple of weeks. I wont bore you with the details but in short, Milton from Harris Engine Services in Revesby completed the work on the motor on time as promised. We bolted the head back on, reattached the transmission and the manifolds. We dropped the motor back into the car and wired it back up on Saturday 19th. Milton from Harris Engines came by during the evening of Monday 20th June to help with tuning.
We have now completed the following:
- Fitted the new exhaust system - car now purrs like a kitten!
- We had Bridgestone adjust our steering and perform the wheel alignment
- We repaired the headlights and they now work perfectly!
- We fitted the new sump guard
- Checked all the window seals. All windows are OK but we found that the tailgate needs to be resealed.
- Built the Jerry Can cradles and mounted them on the roof. We will be carrying 4 Jerry Cans on the trip.
- Replaced the windscreen washer reservoir and motor with a new one.
We are now ready for registration!!!
The car is now registered and insured and just about ready to go! We still have a few minor tweaks to perform over the next couple of Saturdays but we will certainly be ready for the Virgin Bash at the end of this month.
Today the car was in Milperra for a photo session with tha local newspaper - the Canterbury Bankstown Torch who will be publishing a story on the MIB Bash Car in the next week or so.
We have attached the preliminary sponsor stickers to the car and we are pretty happy with how the Valiant has turned out.
This coming Sunday, Peter will take it for a trip down to Wollongong just to see how it runs. Personally, I'm interested in hearing how it handles coming up Mount Ousely!!!
The Wollongong trip was a success and the car performed faultlessly!
The Torch newspaper article appeared today as promised by the publisher!
Final touch ups completed. Harrison Engine Services tuned the carbie for us. While at Harrison's, Milton chained down our engine (a bash requirement) and did a quick check on it for us. Thanks Milton!!!
We moved the transmission cooler to improve airflow to the radiator in order to keep the engine cooler. Milton checked the temperature and it sits around 70°C which is excellent!
We have fitted the Cargo Barrier (a Bash requirement for station wagons). We have sealed the air vents to prevent dust entering the car. We now have ALL the electricals functioning and have added some neon lights to light up the dash at night. We have added auxilliary power outlets at the front of the car 3 x cigarette lighter power outlet points and 1 x USB power outlet to power the GPS, mobile phones etc. We resealed the exharst and inlet manifolds to elliminate a tiny exhaust leak we had. Peter "torqued up" the front torsion bar suspension to get a bit more height at the front end. the locks were changed along with the ignition barrel. The headlight protectors were fitted and we mounted the fire extingusher and loaded all the spares, the first aid kit and the Black Rat Recovery Kit in the car. The extra sponsor stickers were added and to finish, any paint chips were touched up.
All that is left is:
1/ To replace the alternator and increase the capacity from 35 to 85 amps - this will happen at Johno's Auto Electrics in Revesby on Monday 26th July.
2/ Calibrate the Terratrip Rally Computer.
3/ We will "beef up" the rear suspension by adding another two leaves in the leaf suspension on each side. This will raise the rear another 2 inches off the ground. However, number 3 will occur after the "Virgin Day Run" and we expect to fit these week 1 August as they are currently being manufactured.
CAR 2214 was "on show" at Milperra Shopping (Amiens Ave) centre on Friday 23rd July. It will also make an appearance at Milperra Shopping centre (Bullecourt Rd) in the next week or so. It will also be "on show' at the Network Building Supplies open day Friday 6th August.
The next update to this website will be after the Virgin Day Run and scrutineering day which occur on the 30th July and 1st August.
The update will include photos of the car tackling the dirt tracks on it's test run.
The car has been modified for some extra power.
It has had a new inlet manifold fitted along with extractors and a new 2 barrell Holley Carby. The exhaust system has been re-done to elliminate the low points that "bottomed out" on the 2010 Bash.
I have secured a dual master cylinder which will be fitted soon to create a dual braking system for extra safety.
The Valiant completes the 2010 B-Shed to Byron Variety Bash!
Yes, there were some minor incidents and breakdowns which were fixed along the way. These are all documented in the Bash Diary and can be seen by clicking
here
.
After the 2010 Bash, it was decided that the car needed some modifications in order to increase safety and survive future Bashes. These modifications are listed below:
The proposed fixes prior the next Bash:
(i) The car is having extractors fitted along with a new inlet manifold and a 2 barrel Holley Carburettor to overcome the lack of power issues
(ii) The exhaust system will be rerouted at the low point to minimise the "bottoming out" on the tracks and creek crossings
(iii) A dual circuit braking system will be fitted to prevent complete brake failure similar to the incident experienced on the 2010 Bash
(iv) Driving lights will be mounted on the roof keeping them safe from stone chips and elliminating the poor lighting issues
(v) We will replace the ENTIRE suspension including front torsion bars and rear leaf springs and raise the car to minimise bottoming out
(vi) A brand new cable has been made up and fitted and has fixed the issue of not being able to change gears
(vii) Though it is not a priority for the 2011 Bash, Bucket seats will be fitted sometime within the next 18 months
(viii) Steel transmission cooling lines will be fitted to elliminate the possibility of transmission fluid loss due to line failure
Sadly, due to personal reasons, Peter Bonselaar has regretfully decided to pull out of the Bash car and not continue doing the Variety Bash . His ingenuity and engineering skills will be sorely missed. As a result, Andrew Georgiadis will be buying Peter's half of the car.
I have taht the Men in Black theme had a small problem of trying to carry out repairs on the road while dressed in a suit!!! And, let's face it, the 2011 Bash through outback Australia to Broome will be a very uncomfortable ride in a non airconditioned car while dressed that way! As such, I have decided to retheme the car as TROJANS.
The new transmission selector cable has been fitted to the car and it can now change gears and be moved!!!
The steel transmission cooler lines have been fitted and one of the leaking transmission cables that has
had a slow leak since day 1 has now been repaired and fitted. John from Re-Nu Automatic Transmissions
has performed all the mechanical work on the vehicle since the 2010 Bash.
While tightening the wheel nuts on the front driver's side, one of the wheel studs sheared right off! (Glad it happened at home and not on the Bash!!!)
It was decided to replace ALL the wheel studs with new ones to ensure that we don't lose a wheel while driving along any time soon!!!
The dual master cylinder has been fitted and dual circuit brake lines to separate the brakes into a front circuit and a rear
circuit - for safety.
During December, George Gioulis from Car 800 and I visited several suspension specialists to discuss options to "beef up" our suspensions for the next Bash. Car 2214 is booked into "The Ultimate Suspension" in Ingleburn as they have made "an offer too good to refuse" and will be partly sponsoring the vehicle to ensure that it can complete the 2011 Baulkham Hills to Broome Bash. The car is booked in for the week of the 17th of January 2011.
The car has returned from The Ultimate Suspension. All I can say is WOW! Thank you to Ken at The Ultimate Suspension for all the help and support.
The car now has heavy duty front torsion bars, new leaf suspension, new heavy duty shocks, rebound bar and all new bushes. They straightened the upper control arm and raised the car around 5 inches! Now we have some real clearance. They also performed a wheel alignment and the car looks and handles absolutely brilliant!
We also had to replace two of the mags which were damaged on the last Bash. You will notice that the rear wheels are now different.
Due to the new height of the car, I have decided to redesign the roof storage. The Jerry cans will now face 90 degrees to the original configuration and can be easily pulled out from the sides. They will sit midway on the roof rack over the back pillar.
A working bee was set up for one Saturday morning to do this. geoff Cook came over and with the help of Christopher Georgiadis and Geoff, we had the job done in no time!
Did you notice the new number plate?
The front bench seat - though original and pretty, is really impractical for the Bash for three reasons: 1) they are vinyl and one tends to perspire when sitting on them - especially in the warm outback. 2) When taking a curve at speed, one tends to slide from side to side, and 3) There was no room for a centre console for storage.
I managed to secure 2 Commodore bucket seats on ebay for a total of $25 for the pair and we had a little working bee (again) to fit them.
With the help of the crew for Car 800 "Spartans" and Geoff, we managed to knock it over in a day.
The seats are even colour coordinated! Now we have to design and build the console.
The centre console has now been built and the new switch panel with all the electrical switches has been moved from under the dash in front of the navigator and is now mounted on the console for easy access by both the driver and navigator.
Rear seat belts have been installed and the new HID driving lamps have been mounted on the roof and wired up wired up by Christopher Georgiadis - these babies turn night into day!
Christopher has also built a new speaker system for the car. 2 x 150W boom boxes to replace the smaller ones fitted last year - which distorted and had trouble staying mounted on the pillars due to the constant corrugations of the road. Christopher mounted these and wired them up - Thanks mate!
A new storage box has been built to fit across the cargo bay which will make access to all the spares a lot easier and maximise storage space.
There are no new photos to show at the moment because I forgot to take them. Rest assured, the photos will be updated soon!
I am currently organising a new Limited Slip Diff which will be fitted to the car sometime in May. I have been told by those in the know, that it will be more "fun" around corners on the dirt.
Once the diff is mounted, then all that is left to have the vehicle "Bash ready" will be a couple of minor things which I wish to address. These include:
1/ sealing the distributor to make sure we do not stall when going through creek crossings (feel free to email any suggestions - they would be appreciated).
2/ mounting the Trojan Horse Head to the roof - in such a way that it will stay on in 120kph plus winds!
3/ Geoff is woring on a "backfire exhaust system" - just for some fun.
4/ My wife Stephanie is working on the costumes.
5/ I have been keen to put water jets on the roof - again for some fun. However, the last thing I want is to run more wires through the car! I am "over" the
electrical wiring bit! Let's see how things go closer to the Bash.
The car is off to Trundle for a mini Bash on April 16th which has been organised by the NSW Fire Brigade Bash Team. I will ensure that pictures are posted on this site from that event.
I have mounted the new HID Driving lights on the roof.
The car completed the Trundle Trek somewhat successfully. The run did expose a couple of weaknesses which will be addressed immediately.
1/ One of the gear selector cables that run to the transmission had fused due the the excessive heat from the extractors. Even though the cable is about
an inch and a half from the pipes. The cable has now been replaced and heat shielded.
2/ The rear passenger leaf support bracket bent slightly. This has now been corrected by bending back and reinforcing the bracket by bolting it to the chasis
and welding it as well.
Some pictures of the Trek appear below. The crew were Andrew, Stephanie, Sue and Jenny.
The car has had some of the new sponsor stickers placed on it and the Trojan Horse Head is almost ready and has been mounted on the car in time for the big fundraising night.
Surefire Signs
have generously donated a bonnet wrap for the car. rather than explaining what that is, it's easier just to show you a picture............!
At this point, I need to now further protect the gear cables by adding more insulation and finally, the car needs to go to a brake specialist in order to get the drums machined and the brakes radius ground to stop the slight pull to the left under brakes. After that, the car will be ready to run in the 2011 Bash. The only possible change is to replace the entire transmission to a linkage system rather than the current cable unit. The issue with that idea is that it is hard to find the correct transmission that will bolt to the engine. If we find one, then great, if not, then the car will run with what it has!
The brakes have been machined and radius ground at Brabond Brakes in Peakhurst. New slave cylinders and retaining springs.
Stopping power is improved and are now excellent (for drums) and the car runs true under brakes.
A second-hand VC model diff was purchased from Riverston Spares (they have parts for so many old cars it's unbelievable!).
The second hand diff has now been reconditioned and has replaced the original diff and axles on the car that was from an earlier model valiant. The work was done by Re-Nu Automotive Transmissions. The diff ratio has gone from a 323 to a 308 which should be a little slower on a standing start but more economical at the top end.
It has been decided to change the transmission to a more reliable later model slip-yolk type. This means the driveshaft needs to be replaced. This now has the concertina effect of making the rally trip meter probe (which was located on the drive shaft) ineffective.
The car has now had the standard probe replaced by a speedo probe which actually monitors the turning of the speedo cable.
The fresh air intake system has been modified in order to allow access to the rear driverside door. During the last bash, the airintake design made the door unusable. A more flexible system has been made and now all four doors are useable.
Re-Nu auto transmissions have located a replacement transmission and driveshaft.
The original transmission was a cable driven one from an earlier AP6 valiant.
The "new" transmission is from a VC model and the driveshaft is a heavy duty unit from a V8 Ford. They have now been fitted.
There is better kickdown through the gears.
The driveshaft safety support has now been modified to prevent the driveshaft from going through the floor of the car or into the ground in case of breakage. A ring has been welded to the original set up which has secured the shaft from any dangerous movement.
The exhaust pipe has been re-routed from pointing to the rear of the car (and slowly melting the passenger mud flap) to now pointing to the side of the car between the wheel and the rear bumper.
The bottom radiator mounts have been altered in order to make more room between the fan and the bottom of the radiator as it was a bit too close.
The oil has been changed and the car is just about ready.
The air intake on the carbie has been replaced from a paper filter to an oil impregnated foam UniFilter system that George was able to source.
Next week, it will go in for a final quick modofication to the fuel filter in order to move it further away from the extractors (we don't want a meltdown!)
and a temperature gauge fitted that actually gives accurate information and temperature in degrees!
It will also go back to Brabond brakes for a final adjustment and then The Ultimate Suspension for a final check.
Tomorrow is Scrutineering Day, so today Geoff and I will be preparing the car, loading it up, ready for tomorrow.
24/07/11 - The car has again passed scrutineering. The scrutineers did suggest that we restrain the motor from forward movement to protect the radiator from the fan in case of any forward engine movement.
The Terratrip rally trip meter has been recalibrated.
25/07/11 - The frayed accelerator cable has now been replaced and the engine has been retrained. The sump guard has had a rubber baffle fitted to prevent rattling and a new temperature gauge sending unit fitted. Finally, the plastic fuel filter has been replaced by a glass one.
26/07/11 - The car has been back to The Ultimate Suspension for a check and tighten of all suspension components. The car was then taken back to Brabond Brakes for a final adjustment.
27/07/11 - The tailgate lock needed to be fixed so it was taken to the local locksmith for this quick job.
The car was dyno tuned today. It cruises on the highway easily at 110kph.
The Ultimate Suspension also did the final checks today.
The car is ready.
Friday we will mount the Trojan Horse head and the spears. We will pack the pallecon and wash the car and then take it to The Ultimate Suspension for a quick photo shoot.
The new door trim has arrived and will be attached in the next week or two. We expect to have the seats up from Melbourne mid December.
The new mahogany steering wheel You can see Peter's "boss" in black behind the wheel and some of the wiring in progress under the dash
Car 2214 - Raising money for special needs children
through the 2012 Variety NSW B to B
Bash
We have arrived back from Broome and the car performed without any issues whatsoever.
For the full story on the 2011 Bash and what the car went through, visit our
2011 Bash Diary & Gallery page.
The car has finally arrived back in Sydney and was picked up from the Chullora Depot.
It was transported using a car carrier from Broome to Perth and then placed in a container and shipped via rail to Sydney.
Thank you to Joe from the Sherrif Bash Team for organising the transport back of over 80 vehicles.
We hit the car with a high pressure water cleaner and removed most of the dust and dirt. As you can imagine, our driveway was red and muddy by the time we finished.
The car was immediately delivered to ReNu Automotive where it was checked out completely.
All the fuidics were changed, brakes readjusted, and the rear wheel bearings replaced as one was worn and noisy.
John and James at ReNu noticed that the welds on the top of the front shock mounts had cracked and broken. Another day or two of pounding corrugations would have
At the end of November, the car was sent to The Ultimate Suspension in Ingleburn where they removed the suspension, replaced all the bushes and checked the entire car. The guys then reinforced the shock towers and made sure everything was OK and ready for next year's Bash to Cape York.
Thanks to the guys at The Ultimate Suspension for all their work and care in preparing and maintaining the car.
Also a big thanks to Tyrepower in Ingleburn for doing the wheel alignment on the car once again.
The car is scheduled to have a new air conditioner fitted around the end on March. This year we plan to do the Bash in a little bit of comfort.
Currently, with the exception of some wiring work on the roof, the car is just about ready to go on the next Bash.