So a fishing trip had been planned for Easter weekend ... leave on Friday, come back Sunday ... this was planned on the 23rd of March while we were on another fishing trip! ... and I wanted to drive MY buggy there ... The chap that is busy spraying 'Olive' was taking his sweet ass time, last week another buggy came up on gumtree without a motor for a bargain and it had the exact same shape body as Olive so i jumped at it and purchased what is now known as 'Dirty-Eddi' ... The next week was set aside for D-E and this is his story ...
Monday the 25th
The final top coat of NS8 was painted onto the suspension and pan that is being used from the Blue Lady. The seal between body and pan was put on. Dirty-Eddi's body was taken off his old pan (thank goodness the chap that built D-E used stainless floorpan bolts, he came off no problem). And D-E was put onto his new pan (which he wont be on for too long).
A few pics of the "partially restored" chassis That D-E went onto:
Tuesday the 26th
My
first-ever attempt at wiring ... Armed with a few wiring diagrams, a new ignition switch, a new 8-blade fuse box, a few fuses, my first crimper, a new roll of solder, a couple meters of different coloured wire, a tester light, new headlights, new indicators, new breaklight/indicator clusters, new flasher unit, an on/off toggle switch, an on/off/on toggle switch and last but not least ... a moerse load of DETERMINATION!!! I DID IT! ok, i ended at 1 the following morning, but i rewired my first beach buggy in 1 day flat! ... it does need a bit of tidying up, but nothing serious ... idiot lights work, driving lights work, indicators work (that took me the longest to figure out), Speedo lights work, fuel gauge comes on but unfortunately sits at one position the whole time. All joins were soldered then wrapped in insulation tape and all connectors were soldered then crimped onto copper terminals. I also put the drivers seat in. Anyway ... i now have a running buggy with no windows ... please excuse the lack of photos as that was the last thing my brain was thinking about.
Wednesday the 27th
Phoned around for a windscreen to be fitted ... PG wanted to charge R1500, I nearly died
phoned MyGlass ... R310 fitted with new rubber ... They can do it this afternoon ... and they are literally around the corner, 700m from where the buggy is! Sorted!
I also mounted the breakfluid resevoir and made sure the breaks are working. Centered the steering wheel. Put the plates on. and a few other odds and ends ... Wednesday night and im driving my buggy around the neighbourhood testing it out ... running like a dream but not idling so lekker. I think to myself... thats tomorrows job. So i had a couple beers and admired my work so far
Thursday the 28th
Set the Carb ... idling like a champ ... driving like a champ ... what a pleasure! I put the rollbar in with new U-bolts ... how that is suppose to help with anything i have no idea? ..Mounted to a fiberglass body its worth less than a 5c mainstreet hooker. Will be sorting a decent one out for Olive, thats for sure!
Now i need to pop-rivet all other windows in ... took a while but all sealed with silicone. I Put the roof rack on and mounted the spare wheel. I also riveted my aluminium rod holders on the roof rack which my grandfather had made for me
. its now 7 O'Clock and realise we are leaving at 10 tomorrow morning, better go get the Old Brown Sherry, Beer and Brandy! oh and food aswell
... i do my usuall fishing trip check .. rods are good, reels are good, got all other terminal tackle. Time to check the weather ... OH SHIT, its raining and windy until next week ... Dammit, but luckily i siliconed the windows! ...... Then it hits me, what a dumbass, i havent sorted any wipers out yet ...sorting these out took me longer that the indicators ... i ended at 2 in the morning as i had to make a running set of wipers from 2 wiper units that were both tired and in an unworking condition. But that DETERMINATION i had got me through the head-scratching moments!!!
Friday the 29th
D DAY!! ... was awake early besides going to bed so late ... the excitement was indescribable!! Will this buggy that i have put together in a week get me the 140km there and back safely in this wet and windy weather! ... What else had i forgotten?? ...it was reassuring that i would be travelling in convoy with 2 other buggies though, also technically minded chaps.
Load up all the supplies... snap a few quick pics before i leave and off we go!!
...YES!!! it made it there with NO PROBLEMS!! Drives like a dream off-road, and the few sand patches that we went over it handled without concern! Also went over some slippery mud slopes as it was raining ... not a problem!
On the way back it started mis firing and a quick stop to check revealed those huge tractor tires on the back were kicking up water onto the distributor...a good spray of WD40 sorted that out one-time! ... The canopy leaks where it is bolted to the windscreen and in a few other places ... but nothing serious. We had an awesome weekend! A few pics for you guys ...
First fish caught:
And braaid in a pan:
Some prawns we cooked that were netted in a river a few days back:
A small shark caught:
A nice size fire to keep the heat up:
