It's been over a month, but the car is finally [almost] finished, so we are leaving the farm!! I had no idea it would take so long to fit out, thought we'd only be here for a couple of days, a week tops.
But here it is in pictures. The longest transformation in history...
To create a false floor with storage space underneath we had to first construct supports to take our weight and hold the board in place. We anchored these to bolt holes already in the floor of the car, which meant we had to get the measurements exact to the mm as there was no room for error.
Then we cut a big sheet of plywood for the back, chopped out pockets for the back corners and drilled holes for dowels to hold it them in place..
We constructed a support board for the front which screwed into the bolt holes for the seats. That was one of the biggest challenges, bending 4 individual pieces of steel to exactly the right angle.
We fitted 4 central support bere fitted between the back board and the front support - held on with bunk bed brackets. Then 6 triangles of wood screwed to the front support gave us an extra 15cm of support for the front board. Sebastian is really tall, so though I could have easily slept just in the boot without any of these renovations, we had to make a long bed to fit him in!
The front plywood sheet is on a hinge, partly to be able to get it into the car, but also so we can easily fold it up and store it onto of the back board if we want to put the seats back up. We also have some storage space underneath.
We've had some engine issues too. We had to replace the gas seals [whatever they are] to stop leaks. Greg's friend Huen helped us to do that. Then the radiator blew a hole. The garage/mechanics said 'maybe $200', so we said 'no thanks' and did it ourselves. We picked up a radiator for $50 from a guy we found on Gumtree who rebuilds cars, and then we (and by that I mean Sebastian mostly) replaced it. Drained the radiator fluid, pulled a lot of hoses free and wrapped them in cling wrap, pulled out different pieces and boxes and things I had no idea what they did, eventually got the fan cover off and pulled the radiator out. Putting the new one back was a bit more difficult, but we did it.
Then the worst part; The Door Hinge.
The drivers door hinge was worn when Seb brought the car and it didn't close properly. We brought one from a car wreckers and attempted to replace it. It's only 2 bolts, but when we began we failed to realise that the bolts were at an awkward angle and the door was incredibly heavy, and the electric cable for the windows and the mirrors only had about 30cm play. We also didn't know that you usually have a hoist for the door so it can just hang while you refit it. We got the hinge out no problem but could not hold it in place for long enough to screw it back in. We tried different techniques for a couple of hours, getting hotter and hotter and more stressed with each failure. Eventually we had to walk away from it, starving and down hearted.
When Greg came home that afternoon he came up with such a simple box and wooden plank jack system that worked perfectly. For 3 of the bolts. One hole was cross threaded. So days of worrying, visiting engineer companies and wondering how much it was going to cost us. Just by chance talking to a guy in Bolt Barn he gave us a bolt to try screwing in. Incredibly it went in straight away, and must have cleaned up the hole because the original bolt went back in without a problem after that. We brought the saviour bolt, so the whole ordeal only cost 50cent in the end!
While Seb was getting his hands dirty I was busy doing this:
And this:
To make these:
We cut flyscreen and velcroed it on the the doors. Then sealed it with silicone sealant.
And then we needed furnishings. It was a bit like shopping for our first house, deciding on colour schemes, a duvet cover and plates and bowls.
We tested the 4 wheel drive function by running the car around Greg's neighbours paddock. It's incredibly steep, with lots of trees and hills to navigate. And lots of cows who all came to check us out.
This guy got really close. He put his head down and made to gore the car, but then turned and started fighting another cow, locking heads and bucking their back legs...
And then we finished everything. We packed everything in, put the mattress up and made the bed. We had a trial night in the paddock and it was so comfortable. We're definitely going to enjoy sleeping in the car.
So we're off to see Australia. First stop, Sunshine Coast with the Didgeridrews - my aunt and uncle, cousin and husband and second cousin. Then we will make our way south ready to meet Mom at Melbourne airport on the 8th December.
Unfortunately we will have to stop back in at the farm on the way back down. We need to construct a rig to hold the gas bottle outside the car. We didn't think about it until we started packing everything up and realised we really did not want to store it inside the car. And a roof basket will not work as we want to get a top box on one side and surfboards on the other. So we'll construct a little box that will weld onto the back of the car and screw in to the tow bar.
But for now we are off. And we'll return briefly to get that done. And see Gary again, our garden Kookaburra.
