Thread: Meet my 90, and share the adventure.

Last weekend, 19.08.2017, a few mates, my brother, and I went to the Watagan forest for some wheeling.

Even though I grew up just a 20-or-so kilometers from there, I've never had the chance to wheel it. I can now say I was impressed- there sure is some fun to be had up there.

It took some time to find something worth driving, but eventually came across some tracks which I now know are the wishing well track, and the 5-ways track, the latter which is near the start of greens break road. There are plenty of youtube videos on those tracks if you want to search them out.

Wishing Well Track
This track starts near the wishing well on the Martinsville road, and extends up past the hairpin bend to the wishing well picnic area.
It's a bit rutted, rocky in places, and a good (albeit short) technical drive.






Got a bit of air-time


60 series cruiser for scale:


Bob took a different line to me, as I was able to get to the high side and miss this big step and tree in the way.


The crew and I stopped for a bite for lunch at the top



5-Ways
This is down the hill from the wishing well area. It's a soft sandstone climb with many lines to choose from.
I always find it a bit unnerving when it's an open expanse of track without the 'comfort' of ruts, embankments and trees nearby.
Things got a bit interesting, but the mule handled it.








Here's a bit of an idea of the angles involved.



*****

After a bit of a play at the Wattos, we headed back down the mountain to some more familiar territory. We tackled a few obstacles at the Killy Loop near Killingsworth.
Anyone who's driven the M1 motorway near the Toronto / Freeman's Waterhole area (or as I like to call it- the F3 ), you'd have seen the tracks unde rhte HV transmission lines in the area. Under these, and in the surrounding bushes is the killy loop, accessible from The Boulevarde / Killingsworth Rd near the electrical substation.
We ended up following the power lines to the M1 underpass, then followed the lines south towards Cockle creek. From there, we passed into the bush towards the feature known as 'the waterfall', and then up and down a few more tracks for the rest of the afternoon.

Highlights below:







Had a bit of fun in the ruts:


Flashback! Late 2016, on my last group trip to the killy loop - a guy (can't remember his name) drove the waterfall in his 60 series. Epic climb.
This waterfall is a rock ledge approx 3m tall, with a narrow crevasse entry. Definitely not for the faint of heart!






So all in all, had a great weekend getting back to my roots as a Lake Macquarie Westie, wheeling in my old stomping ground.

Haha, cheers Billy. Our time together was special, but my own company beyond Broken hill left a bit to be desired. Both of me agree.

In other news, it's time for another

Intermission


Recently, I have been doing some work on the mighty 300zx. Tune out if you don't like Jap crap, but trust me, there is a point to the story.

I've got junk in the trunk, and a full 200,000km service kit to whack thru the dirty old girl...
This includes a new timing belt, auto tensioner, idlers, studs, water pump, Variable cam timing springs O rings etc, cam/crank seals and a crank sprocket. There's a bit of work there for a muppet like me.
I've also opted to put a new power steering pump and hoses thru it. The old pump was a bit grindy. Me no likey.
The Z is a whole other beast from the landy. For the uninitiated, the Nissan 300zx has a VG30DETT- a 3litre V6, DOHC Twin turbo intercooled engine. It was a great engine in its day, but its later years saw it in detuned states in a range of cars from the nissan maxima to the terrano. I've been playing with these engines in the N/A and Twin turbo guise for a while now, after I got my first Z in 2005.

So this is what it looked like part way thru disassembly. I'm aiming to get to the timing gear behind the black cover on the front of the engine.





After about 3 hours, I'd cracked into the engine room- where the magic happens. Crank pulley came off surprisingly easily. I'm not the first person to defile this beast... it had an engine 'rebuild' in the mid naughties. The previous owner sold it to me with a fat stack of receipts... but it was rebuilt to relatively standard specs sadly. These things can and do make a respectable 600HP with the right stuff inside, and a good turbo/cam/tune combo.


Anyway. Getting to the point. Tight quarters. Very little room. Intake/turbo hoses everywhere. Can't even see the engine mounts or turbos if you try under all that V6 craziness. The below pic shows a flex head ratchet spanner in the bowels of the beast attempting to get off a hose clamp on the airbox to turbo intake tube. 1 freaking 32nd of a turn at a time...


Anyhow, the point is that those that complain about working on a landy have another thing coming. I must be crazy with my choice of vehicles.



Because I can, I'll chuck in another...

TOOL REVIEW

Stud removers

Part of the job above, involved removing the studs which hold the timing belt idler pulleys. Apparently they can snap, and something to do with pistons touching valves or something can happen. I dunno... sounds like something to avoid.
Anyway, the blokes at Gasweld stitched me up with these nifty little stud removers. They operate on a roller bearing kind of deal, which cams onto, and grips a stud for removal.


Now caveat emptor- this is not a feel-good review. There is merit in the tool, but in the hands of a ham-fisted numpty like your humble narrator, they can and do cause more damage than you'd hope.

Ummm yeah... this happened while attempting to torque the stud up to 50nm.

Good idea, but poorly executed by yours truly.

Next time I'll stick to the double-nut method like a normal person. Lesson learned.

Anyhow, over the next few days and probably the weekend, I'll whack the cam seals thru the engine, replace the crank sprocket, fix the FUBAR'd stud (tap and die- need to get a M10x1.25, or thread file it), install the belt and time the engine up, all while trying to keep the auto tensioner in spec. Then it's a matter of reinstalling the radiator and all the other stuff that was removed.
Stat tuned for more trials and tribulations, with the (not-so)fairladyZ.


Here's a landy to keep it on-topic