... but I don't think I need a cobbler.
It hardly ever rains in southern Queensland.
I don't really get to drive the Triumph that much.
So how come we have two solid downpours in the space of two months and I happen to be driving at the time?
1st time was on the way up to Bundaberg the other weekend. 2nd time was on the Mount Nebo Road (twisty roads!) yesterday.
The upside of the rain yesterday was that all the bikers (and most of the sunday drivers) stayed at home, and we had lots of road to ourselves - I love driving twisty roads in the rain, it's a buzz trying to maintain a good speed and traction. Gave the car a good lively thrashing.
The downside is that the boot filled up with water again. All the boards and spare wheel (which was nearly floating) came out when I got home, and took the bungs out to drain her and set about trying to trace a leak. It certainly wasn't the lights, nor the drain pipes ... in fact I couldn't find any sign of water coming downwards into the boot, and it seems like to much to be coming up through holes in the floor (not that I could find any). I tried pouring water all over the rear of the car, and just couldn't find any leaks at all - it all ran off just as it should!
Does this happen to anybody else's Saloon?
Anybody else out there got any ideas??????
Monday, June 19, 2006
Friday, June 16, 2006
Stripping
... spares from the spares car that is!
The time has come to free up some space in the in-laws shed, so we took advantage of the long weekend (to celebrate the Queen's birthday - yes bizarrely enough we do that every year in Australia!) and went up to Bundaberg to set about dismantling. We were both happy to get out of the city, and to give BOB a decent drive, as it's been a while.
I checked the car out the night before we set off ... basic stuff just in case, and annoyingly found there was a leak on the exhaust where the fitters had used an old rusty clamp to connect the back box to the rest of the system - now that is cheap!!!! I also couldn't check the gearbox oil because my cheapo ratchet packed up (there's a 5/8 nut welded onto the level plug, and it's a pain to try and get a spanner on). This reminded me I ought to get my decent tools shipped over from England.
It rained all the way up to Bundy, which is actually a good thing, as it had been at least 6 weeks since there had been a drop of rain round here! The rain on the dirt roads made for fun ... going some way to colour code our wheels and bumpers with the rest of the car:
Problem is the rear light cluster let a fair amount of water into the boot ... grrrrr!(now all sealed up)
Drivers side rear carpet got a soaking, too ... haven't looked for the leak yet.
It took a fair bit of time pulling the dash, gauges, and various "might be useful/eBay-able" bits off the car, I was annoyed to find out the brake discs have little life left on them, but there are good driveshafts, calipers, etc, etc.
My father-in-law was a great help, using the forklift to pull the engine and autobox (late BW35) out:
He's suggested that we might make some panel moulds before we get rid of the bodyshell - he used to own a composite plastics business so knows how to do these things. Wise Triumph people have intimated to me that it's only worth doing bonnet and boot ... we'll see if there's time.
The drive home on Monday was superb fun. Ella drove BOB (she rarely gets the chance, although she loves doing so) whilst I drove the in-laws Subaru Forester XT as it's been sold to someone in Melbourne and needed delivering to Brisbane for shipping. We took the looooooong route down all the windy "country" roads. Driving the Subaru was great fun (even though it's an auto), it goes like rocketship. Our route included going through the beautiful Mary Valley (see photo), this areas in the news a lot at the moment because the State Government wish to dam the river to provide more water ... I can't see how it will make it rain any more though:
The latest plan is to get a new set of wheels ... probably something minilite style. The 28 year old alloys are a tad 'wobbly', and I'm sure that's what makes the steering wheel shake at any decent speed. They are notorious for this, and difficult to balance. 15 inch wheels will enable bigger contact with the road, too, which it's worth having as I've had some occasional 'traction issues'.
The time has come to free up some space in the in-laws shed, so we took advantage of the long weekend (to celebrate the Queen's birthday - yes bizarrely enough we do that every year in Australia!) and went up to Bundaberg to set about dismantling. We were both happy to get out of the city, and to give BOB a decent drive, as it's been a while.
I checked the car out the night before we set off ... basic stuff just in case, and annoyingly found there was a leak on the exhaust where the fitters had used an old rusty clamp to connect the back box to the rest of the system - now that is cheap!!!! I also couldn't check the gearbox oil because my cheapo ratchet packed up (there's a 5/8 nut welded onto the level plug, and it's a pain to try and get a spanner on). This reminded me I ought to get my decent tools shipped over from England.
It rained all the way up to Bundy, which is actually a good thing, as it had been at least 6 weeks since there had been a drop of rain round here! The rain on the dirt roads made for fun ... going some way to colour code our wheels and bumpers with the rest of the car:
Problem is the rear light cluster let a fair amount of water into the boot ... grrrrr!(now all sealed up)
Drivers side rear carpet got a soaking, too ... haven't looked for the leak yet.
It took a fair bit of time pulling the dash, gauges, and various "might be useful/eBay-able" bits off the car, I was annoyed to find out the brake discs have little life left on them, but there are good driveshafts, calipers, etc, etc.
My father-in-law was a great help, using the forklift to pull the engine and autobox (late BW35) out:
He's suggested that we might make some panel moulds before we get rid of the bodyshell - he used to own a composite plastics business so knows how to do these things. Wise Triumph people have intimated to me that it's only worth doing bonnet and boot ... we'll see if there's time.
The drive home on Monday was superb fun. Ella drove BOB (she rarely gets the chance, although she loves doing so) whilst I drove the in-laws Subaru Forester XT as it's been sold to someone in Melbourne and needed delivering to Brisbane for shipping. We took the looooooong route down all the windy "country" roads. Driving the Subaru was great fun (even though it's an auto), it goes like rocketship. Our route included going through the beautiful Mary Valley (see photo), this areas in the news a lot at the moment because the State Government wish to dam the river to provide more water ... I can't see how it will make it rain any more though:
The latest plan is to get a new set of wheels ... probably something minilite style. The 28 year old alloys are a tad 'wobbly', and I'm sure that's what makes the steering wheel shake at any decent speed. They are notorious for this, and difficult to balance. 15 inch wheels will enable bigger contact with the road, too, which it's worth having as I've had some occasional 'traction issues'.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
