If I started the first day, there wouldn’t be anything to tell, huh?
Up there, thats Silas. Anytime he sees me taking a picture, he’ll strike this pose. Well, but lets start at the beginning. We went to Oz, bought a 4×4 van and are now in the process of fixing it. Like, in other blogs you’d probably be presented with the picture of a smiling mechanic and a hefty repair bill, but this is not any other blog. Were gonna do it ourselves. Or at least watch what the mechanic is doing.
And in the meantime, get your hiking boots wet on the beach. Silly me.
Thats not what you imagine when hearing ‘Australia’, huh? Well, I quite liked the rain, because the temperature was nice and the car didn’t break down while it lasted.
Sun’s out, car’s busted. The V-Belts flew off, we only noticed when the coolant cooked off and sprayed all over the passenger side. They didn’t *tear*, they *flew off*. That really raised my eyebrows. The previous owner mentioned that the repair manuals state a belt length which is too long, so they fitted a shorter one. That raised my eyebrows a bit back in the day, but not enough to investigate it. Turns out that the belt tensioner was rusted stuck in a middle position, the last mechanic probably didnt know any better or couldnt be bothered. Just slapped a shorter one on it with help of the engine running. So it was strained and loose the minute it was fitted. Luckily, some backyard blackhand bloke stopped by, said he knew car and engine and towed us to his place, got us a new belt kit from his buddy within an hour and denied any payment for his help except from part cost. We ended up bringing him a pack of whiskey&cola and camped out in his back garden, surrounded by wreckages as you can see in the first photo. A first glimpse at aussie hospitality I guess. The only thing we had to promise was to send him a package or postcard someday. We got warned not to get our wallets drained by backyard mechanics, but it sure seems like it would have been a setback of two days and a hefty repair bill if we got the car into a regular shop. And they probably wouldn’t have bothered to get the tensioner unstuck…
Wednesday, we visited someone who has to have been the inspiration for Master & Blaster from Mad Max. Identified our worn timing chain by listening to the running engine, was quite sure that the clacking sound was originating from a electrical fuel pump aiding the broken original one and gave us a spare speedometer for 130$. First one I found on ebay was 149$…
Thats our old speedo, with a big black blob on the mileage display. meh.
New one. Sadly it turned out that the rpm needle wouldnt move, so, at 6am with Silas still sleeping in the back…
I pulled it apart. The rpm gauge and speed gauge are only connected by the front plastic, no wires or anything between them.
First I hoped that the display could be unplugged and exchanged easily, but it turns out its soldered in. Do I have a soldering iron in my mobile kit? Nope. Do I have a steady hand and a precision tip to not solder two contacts together? Double-Nope. So, what about exchanging the rpm gauge? Pull of the needle and risk pulling apart the flimsy motor beneath it? Or go the brutal way, just cut apart the front plastic and put in the parts seperately? This would probably scare off any potential buyer, if the car doesnt just burst into flames the next time the sun comes out… Luckily I called the guy who sold me the speedo before destroying anything, he’s willing to supply another one or refund me, so I’ve just put the old one back in its place and will wait for saturday.
Heh. Even the waves are fed up by your pose đ This evening we met a spaniard who owns the same type of 4×4 van and has been living in it for over a year now. He warned us to avoid getting fined for sleeping in our car at the seaside, as rangers usually come by every morning to fine any backpackers who are not accustomed to the rules yet. We’re gonna be more cautious from now on…