Scottie arrived early, and after a coffee, the boys got down to work. Today's agenda was to get the radiator mounts finished, and the BW35 t-bar auto installed.
Those of you who are regular blog followers might have noticed Damian getting rather woolly lately... well there's a reason for that! Some campers have suggested to Damian that he should grow his hair until the esCarpade - so not being one to back down from such shenanigans, Damian has made a vow not to cut his hair before esCarpade!
Here he is, looking woolly and a little sad after finding a lonely CQ balloon in the back of Booger Mobile while removing the seats ready to get to work!!
Scottie got to work finishing the driver's side top bracket for the VS Commodore (sacrilege!!) radiator that is now gracing the front of Booger Mobile's engine bay! It's rubber mounted, so the u-bolt is really to just hold the block of rubber still!
While Scottie was doing this, Damian finished clearing the inside of the car, then got the rear of Booger Mobile up on jack-stands ready for diff and suspension removal. Now that there are no further car shows or events to attend until February, Booger Mobile can be up on the stands and the serious mechanical work can be undertaken.
Wheels off, and diff out!!
Meanwhile, Scottie completed the passenger side radiator mount while Damian's dog Tonka had a snooze in front of Booger Mobile.
After removing some more bits and pieces, the diff from Booger Mobile was lined up with the 5-stud ute diff that is to be its replacement. If you look carefully, you can see how much bigger the 5-stud ute diff's drum brakes are compared to the original from Booger Mobile!
Scottie, having finished the radiator mounts, had embarked on the mounting plate for the t-bar auto gear shifter... it wasn't quite the right shape for the XM tunnel (hardly surprising since it came from an XD that was built 17 years later), so he notched it with the grinder... top notch job Scottie!! *groan*
At the other end of the car, Damian was continuing to remove the suspension - out came the leaf springs!!
While Scottie continued to beat some sense into the t-bar auto mounting plate...
Having spent the morning supervising the boys, Tonka decided sleeping under the front wheels of Booger Mobile was a good option!
Scottie was doing his level best to cut a large enough hole in the tunnel for the shifter to poke through... after several times up and down under the car, he drew out some more cutting to be done... would it be enough?
And then wearing the finest Japanese Safety Boots, the tunnel hole was made ever so much larger!!
The XD linkage for the gear shifter was found to be ridiculously long, so Scottie cut it in half so that each end could be joined to their respective points, to see where they met in the middle!
Meanwhile, the rest of the suspension disappeared, only to be replaced by Tonka who was wondering why Damian was taking pictures and decided to investigate!
Just in case you can't remember what colour Booger Mobile is really, Damian took a photo without the flash...
Then jacked up the front of Booger Mobile and put it on jack-stands, immediately providing Scottie with more room to swing a hammer!
Another stack of tyres and rims - these are the four original 13" 4-stud rims that are no longer required... Maybe they will make a special guest appearance on eBay!!
After some instructions from Scottie, Damian removed the front stub-axles and drum brakes.
Meanwhile, Scottie had cut, welded and tidied up the linkage arm, reducing it to a much more reasonable size!
And what blog post would be complete without a gratuitous shot of Booger Mobile showing the blog address, with Camp Quality giggle face in the background!! (Of course, the irony isn't lost on Damian that advertising the blog address on the blog is kind of pointless - after all, if people are reading the blog then they have already found the blog address... but anyway!!)
Scottie had some special goop to seal the gear-shifter mount into place - I'm sure Scottie could tell everyone what it is, but Damian can't remember to put it on the blog!!
And the t-bar auto shifter is complete! Of course, there are a few finishing touches to the surround, and carpet etc to be sorted out, but the shifter itself is complete and working!!
Late in the afternoon, Damian removed one of the coil springs from Booger Mobile to compare it to the coil springs removed from the XD... the XM coil spring is on the left... the XD coil spring is made of thicker (read that stronger/stiffer) metal, and is one coil higher. These things combined should give Booger Mobile the 2" of lift in the front end that the boys are after!!
Amongst all this, Damian's friends Elli and Steve arrived with some new sponsor stickers to attach to Booger Mobile... Jason Sheather Plumbing (sshhhhh still to be officially announced)...
And the eagerly awaited Special K from WA sticker!! My lord does it stand out!!!!!! Advice to future sponsors - look how effective simple block lettering can be!! ;-)
Of course, what day would be complete without actually starting Booger Mobile... a few pumps of the throttle (directly via the carby - accelerator linkages are next on the agenda) and the Booger Mobile's 250 pre-crossflow sprang to life!!
While Tricia, Elli and Steve eagerly watched on, the return of the dreaded fuel overflow occurred!! Damian will have to pull the carby apart again and check the needle and seat - it would appear to be sticking open...
As you can see, a massive day was had working on Booger Mobile... The boys really achieved a lot, and plenty of good preparation work for the next lot of mechanical work was performed.
With only eleven months to go, it seems that time is flying by ever more quickly!! The boys fundraising total stands at just over $1500, still $3000 short of the minimum donation amout to actually attend the 2010 esCarpade. Stay tuned for the official Booger Mobile fundraising launch, due in early 2010. In the mean time, why not share this blog with your friends and family, or have a morning tea at your work to collect money for Camp Quality.
Contact Damian via the information at the top right of this blog if you can help!!
Wow only eleven months to go till the 2010 CAMP QUALITY esCarpade.
ReplyDeleteYou really do need to get your skates on to get the "BOOGER MOBILE"finished on time, hopefully well before hand.I know that you both have always had the motivation there to get the "BOOGER MOBILE" ready on time.Its amazing that you ve gotten as far as you have with all your commitments its not as easy as it sounds to find the time.
Damian you are looking like a woolly sheep that needs to be shorn.What a sight you will be in eleven months, and will the highest bidder get to shave it off?(Ha ha now that I would love to see)
Sacrilege NO!! as long as it gets the job done it doesn t matter the B/M will still be a ford on the outside and looking as fantastic as ever.
Damian that was a lot of hard yakka for you,removing the diff and the suspension well done.
With the wheels off and the suspension and diff out the B/m looks like a shell again, but not for long with all the hard work you both are putting into her she will soon be looking fab once again.
Scottie really has the know how on getting all those tricky jobs done on the B/M,what a handy guy to have on the job "well done Scottie"
Congrats Damian on the great pitures once again, as well as getting all that work done on the B/M.
I don t think anyone could forget the real colour or the "BOOGER MOBILE" she is still a great stand out even up on the jacks.
Wow you really did manage to achieve a lot in one short day.
WOO HOO another sponser be it all still unoffical, and what a great one too "JASON SHEATHER PLUMBING" on board the "BOOGER MOBILE"
The Special K from WA sticker really does stand out in the black what an excellence colour to have it in (nice one).
What a way to end a long hard days work with the sweet sound of the "BOOGER MOBILES" engine roaring into life once again.
Something always has to go wrong when theres others watching,but Im sure that Damian will have the carby all sorted before the next time the B/m is ready to roar again.
A massive day for the boys working hard to get the B/M ready on time. So lets all get together and help them raise that $4500 and get them too the 2010 "CAMP QUALITY" esCarpade.
GO "TEAM BOOGER MOBILE"