Sunday 27 September 2009

Engine In, Gearbox almost!!

Sunday morning rolled around, and eventually Scottie did too! Damian was up early expecting a 6am start, only to be greeted by Scottie online - he arrived around 7am and the boys got straight into it.

First on the agenda - removing the 250 crossflow from the XD Falcon so that the torque converter and flywheel could be removed for use on Booger Mobile.



Damian's boys were put to work helping to operate the engine crane, taking turns to jack it up!


The 250 crossflow is removed, the torque converter is that bulbous round thing to the left of picture...


This thing...


After the torque converter and flywheel were removed, the 250 crossflow was ready to be put on ebay. However, Scottie discovered the rear welsh plug (hidden by the flywheel) was in need of replacing... see the nice green coolant making a special guest appearance!! Doesn't diminish the value, just something to ensure prospective buyers are aware of!!


After gently placing the 250 crossflow over near the fence, the engine crane waited patiently near Booger Mobile to be put into action again!

Damian decided that it would be better for him and Scottie to muscle the 250 pre-crossflow out the shed door first, then position the crane and lift it, rather than to attempt to lift it then get the crane out the shed door! Once done, the engine was suspended for cleaning and to replace the sump gasket.


After cleaning, waiting to be painted.


After removing the sump, revealing some lovely engine innards!!



The sump, cleaned and with its first coat of paint. Note the creative dents in it - it's had a hard life the past 35 years or so!!


Scottie tightening up the bolts after the sump was reattached...


And the engine is now a delightful Ford Blue colour, to contrast with Booger Mobile's Barbados Green paintwork!!


While waiting for the engine to dry, Damian decided to continue his normal work of painting random objects - this time the air cleaner!


The boys removed Booger Mobile's bonnet to make craning the engine in so much easier!



It was placed gently against the wall of the shed...



The engine was muscled back into the shed, and the crane positioned...


The hoisting of the engine began...



Finally it was high enough to swing into position...



The lowering in was a tight squeeze... Damian suggested a blanket to keep the engine warm... or perhaps it was really to stop the engine from scratching the paintwork!


After changing strategy and angling the engine differently, it was finally lowered into position... Sadly, the 250 pre-crossflow is a taller engine than the original 200 engine, so the sway bar was dropped, and some creative adjustment was undertaken to gain some clearance of the cross-member!


While the excitement was going on, Kevin Spies arrived to collect his first prize from the Kedron All Ford Day raffle...


After a quick trip to Bunnings (who Damian reckons the boys have plugged so often they should become a sponsor!), the engine was finally in!!


While getting the engine in, Scottie threw a little tantrum, and his glasses came out worse for wear!


Once the engine was in, Booger Mobile had so much power it began to wheelstand in the shed!! Either that, or the boys jacked it up so that it could be put on jack-stands ready for the gearbox to be installed!


Once again, after some creative tunnel adjustment, the gearbox was in place and secured with a couple of bolts.



Finally, the gearbox and engine were in place... Sadly, the boys ran out of time to get any more done, as Scottie had to head home, and Damian had to return the borrowed engine crane.




Well, that's all there was time for today! The goal of getting the engine into Booger Mobile was achieved, although with a tinge of sadness that the boys didn't get the chance to fire it into life.

This will be the last post for a week, as Damian is off to camp tomorrow (Camp Quality Res Camp for 9-14 year olds!).

All going well, the engine and gearbox installation will be completed (and the engine started) in the not too distant future!

Sunday 20 September 2009

Kedron All Ford Day

Sunday morning rolled around and Scottie arrived bright and early. Booger Mobile was loaded onto the trailer as the sun rose, and the boys headed to the sports fields at Kedron ready for the Kedron All Ford Day. After some confusion at the gate (for some reason, they thought the boys were going there to put Booger Mobile up for swapping at the swap meet, rather than being entered in the show), Booger Mobile was positioned in a prime spot - first car on the right at the main entry gates!!


As you'll see in later photos, the field to the right of the picture above was completely full by mid-morning!!

The boys laid the raffle prizes out for display, and Damian got down to selling tickets!


A bit later in the day, Scottie's mother and brother turned up to see Booger Mobile. His brother donated a green frog, in keeping with donating items that are similar in colour to Booger Mobile!


This is the field to the right of Booger Mobile by mid-morning...


And looking down towards the back...


Swinging around to the left...


The rows across the entry and opposite Booger Mobile...


And finally, the rows along the front fence, with the swap meet in the background!


Apparently there were over 350 vehicles on display, some spectacular, some nicely turned out, some in original condition, and one Booger Mobile!!

At the end of the day, the raffle prizes were drawn. The second prize winner was very happy with his prize, and agreed to make a guest appearance on the blog!


At the end of the day, Damian disposed of the undrawn raffle tickets in a responsible fashion!!


Once again, many thanks to those who supported Booger Mobile by making a donation or purchasing raffle tickets, by providing helpful information, or to potential sponsors who were happy to have a sponsorship pack left with them for their consideration.

This was the last event scheduled for Booger Mobile for 2009 (at this stage). The boys had been invited to some other events, but unfortunately they clash with Camp Quality commitments that Damian has.

Hopefully this will mean that the boys will have some time to actually work on Booger Mobile, maybe even getting the engine and gearbox fitted!! They just need to find a 5 stud diff and they might even be able to put the mobile in Booger Mobile!!

Kedron All Ford Day Raffle Winners

Thanks to everyone who supported Team Booger Mobile's first raffle at the Kedron All Ford Day! Quite a few tickets were sold, and the prizes drawn by a representative of the Qld GT Club.

Winners were:

1st Prize - Orange E 40 - Kevin Spies (400 Piece Tool Kit)
2nd Prize - Purple D 4 - Todd Utteridge (Limited edition Ford number plates)
3rd Prize - Green F 35 - G Truin (XXXX Merchandise Pack)
4th Prize - Green F 17 - Mark Wek (Jack Daniel's Merchandise Pack - Mark generously donated his prize back to Team Booger Mobile for use in a future raffle. Thanks Mark!)

Stay tuned for the full write-up of the Kedron All Ford Day, with pictures.

Thanks again to everyone who bought tickets, and congratulations to the winners!!

Saturday 19 September 2009

Kedron All Ford Day Preparation

After spending the day up at Imbil doing some 4wding, Damian returned home to do a bit of preparation for the Kedron All Ford Day on Sunday. First job, affixing the ACTUM Consulting stickers that had arrived in the mail on Friday.



He also grabbed the trusty black spray paint to fix up some of the overspray in the wheel arches that had been annoying him and Scottie for some time...



The rest of the prep work involved ensuring that the raffle tickets were all ready, that there were enough items ready to be put on display, and that the car was packed...

Oh, he also dropped Booger Mobile off the jack stands and back onto solid concrete!! (Well, he lowered it gently using a trolley jack, but whatever!!)

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Kedron All Ford day on Sunday 20 September 2009, at the sporting fields on Sixth Avenue Kedron. Spectators from 8:30am!

Wednesday 16 September 2009

Raffle Prizes for Kedron All Ford Day Raffle!

Team Booger Mobile are running their first raffle. Tickets are available at the Kedron All Ford Day on Sunday 20 September 2009, and the raffle will be drawn on that day.

Tickets are $2 each or three for $5.

Prizes are as follows:

First Prize: Motorpro 400 piece tool kit in metal chest with 10 drawers.


Second prize: Complete set of six (6) Ford limited-edition commemorative number plates (fake plates obviously).


Third prize: Choice of Jack Daniel's merchandise pack or XXXX Merchandise pack.


Fourth prize: Whichever merchandise pack wasn't chosen by the third prize winner.

Prizes will be on display at the Kedron All Ford Day on Sunday 20 September 2009, and tickets will be on sale. Prizes will be drawn on the day, with winners notified by phone and details posted to the blog.

Come along and buy a few tickets... good luck!!

Silver Sponsor - Complete Treatment Plant Services

Team Booger Mobile would like to thank Ray from Complete Treatment Plant Services for his sponsorship! He's a bit shy and would like to remain somewhat anonymous, so here's a picture of his sponsorship sticker!



Thanks to CTPS for their support!


Sunday 13 September 2009

Ignitions, BW35's and blackjack!

Sunday morning rolled around, and Scottie arrived ready for another day of working on Booger Mobile. Damian had already been out shopping collecting bits and pieces needed for the engine (gaskets, welsh plugs etc), so that was all ready for Scottie when he arrived!

First things first, Booger Mobile was placed up on a set of jack-stands ready for a safe working platform...



Scottie got down to the dirty task of removing the Borg-Warner Series 35 (BW35) gearbox from the XD Falcon, while Damian started to reassemble the dash (connecting all the wires, lights and gauges etc).

Gee I hope Scottie knows where this part goes!!


Leaving Scottie to continue on the BW35 extraction, Damian had some official Camp Quality duties to attend to at the local Birch, Carroll and Coyle cinema where there was a charity screening of G-Force, a new kids movie. Once those duties were finished (including a gratuitous plug for Booger Mobile!!), he returned home to find the BW35 removed from the XD!

Scottie decided that Damian should have some dirty fun of his own, so Damian was tasked with black-jacking the underside of Booger Mobile to provide some sound deadening/underbody protection from rocks etc.

After Damian got out from under Booger Mobile looking like a black and white minstrel, Scottie cleaned the BW35, discovering that the dipstick casing was actually green!! Was it fate?

There were a few other goals kicked today by the boys. Damian managed to install the new ignition ready to fire the engine into life when the engine is finally installed.

The boys also managed to partially install some windscreen washer/sprayer nozzles (Damian says he's going to buy some little rubber noses to house the nozzle in), completed the sealing/installation of the fuel tank and filler pipe, painted the extractors using heat-proof paint and discussed how the roof lining might actually be installed!

All in all a great day was had, with plenty of progress being made!

The next showing for Booger Mobile is at the Kedron All Ford Day on Sunday September 20, 2009, so stay tuned for that one! Team Booger Mobile will be running a raffle that day, full details to come in the next couple of days.

Last but not least, there are some new sponsors coming on board shortly, so look out for that also!!! The momentum is building, and the boys are excited!!

Tuesday 1 September 2009

Silver Sponsor - ACTUM Consulting

Team Booger Mobile welcome their first Silver Sponsor - ACTUM Consulting Pty Ltd.


ACTUM Consulting provide project management expertise across a wide variety of business sectors. If your project needs managing, why not contact Malcolm O'Leary by sending him an email, or visiting the ACTUM Consulting website at http://www.actum.com.au/