Trusty

Keep that sticker on there. 4RR might ring and you could win a prize.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wally

Keep that sticker on there. 4RR might ring and you could win a prize.

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Trouble is, I've been answering the phone for thirty-one years with "4TO's my station" in the hope of winning a different prize. I'm stuffed either way.

Actually, yeah, bugger it......surely 4RR owes me something for promoting them in Africa for well over a decade. I don't see anybody else here putting in any effort for them. Half the people in South Sudan haven't even heard of Aitkenvale.

Here are few more photos of how Trusty's looking at the moment.

Basically, this week I have just checked her over a bit and started to get a list of spares which I need to collect.

I installed an Engine Watchdog a few days ago to keep tabs on the engine and transmission temps and oil pressure.

John

Righto....

A handful of weeks ago, I took Trusty up to Kenya. But before I left, I fitted her with new drive members. When I took off the old ones, they were actually not that bad - but I replaced them anyway, with nice new ones with screw-on hubcaps. I don't know if they are anything like the quality which I have seen in similar items sold in Australia, as these ones are kind of no-name brand.....but I will give them a go, I guess.

Whilst changing the drive members, I found that the splines on the inner end of the rear left halfshaft were pretty badly worn. So that got replaced too.

The run up to Nairobi was really only a short highway trip, but it was good to get her out on the road again. The old girl trundled along happily and it was nice to have a bit of a drive after so long.

Once I got to Nairobi, I took advantage of the greater ease in procuring bits and bobs for motor cars and set about doing a few little jobs.

First thing was to get some plywood and build storage areas combined with a flat deck for use as a sleeping platform whilst travelling. It was good fun to get stuck into the job: years ago, I used to travel extensively in Trusty and it was always a pain in the arse to move various cardboard boxes, milk crates and the like around each day and make room for my swag if I needed to sleep in the vehicle.

The result is hardly the standard of finish of some camper conversions, but the bare plywood, a few hinges and a lot of wood screws do their job.

Basically, now I have a flat floor with one of the spare tyres and any recovery gear stored underneath, as well as plenty of space for spares and, as I currently have it set up, my tuckerbox (accessible through a hinged panel). At one side, I have a large plywood box for storing oils, fluids and any other yucky stuff.

Here are some photos of the building process.

A photo of the finished deck/floor and the cargo box. The hinged lids sit nice and tight in their fastening bolts and don't clatter or move when I hit bumps.

While she was in Nairobi, Trusty enjoyed hanging out with some old friends.

I had a look at the safari hatches and the edges were badly rusted..... Years of water lying between the pinchweld seals and the steel. The framework in the roof had also suffered from a lot of water ingress going unchecked. None of it ever used to leak when it was all new - but rust kind of changed that.

P.S. I have no idea why these photos keep turning on their sides when I attach them.

So I set about doing something about the hatches. I didn't have time to organise completely replacing them, which would be the preferred option, in the time before heading off on a Christmas safari, so I decided to clean up the rusted bits, hit them with red oxide and then cover them with aluminium angle to give the hatches new edges which would resembled tiger shark teeth slightly less.

Trouble was, I couldn't find the angle I needed in the time availavble and opted to use the only thing I could find: strips of plastic. All I needed them to do was to provide a new, less lethal, edge and not necessarily any structural strength. So, using approximately forty imperial gallons of silicone sealant and about seventy-five thousand rivets, I made new edges for the hatches then reattached the pinchweld seals. I also cleaned up around the openings in the roof and sealed any cracks as well.

It seems to all be holding together alright, though of course that rust will come back. Hopefully, I get myself organised to just completely replace those hatches one day.

Here are some more 90-degrees-skewed photos. Possibly this keeps happening because they were taken close to the equator.

So, Trusty headed off to Tsavo for Christmas. Time for a bit of time in the bush. Tsavo West (and for that matter, a hell of a lot of Kenya) was looking very lush after the rains (which were still lurking) and grass, shrubs and thick growth abounded. The first part of the drive didn't afford much in the way of views, but once the thick Commiphora scrub gave way to more open country and the topography got a little more bumpy, the vistas were wonderful.

Rhino Valley (which these days is more valley than rhino, sadly) looked gorgeous.....