5 minutes before I walked out the door on Sunday, I gave Mark (longing4alandy) a call and asked if he was up for a roadtrip. Luckily, he was bored too so I swung by his place and we headed west.
We didn't get up there until nightfall unfortunately, so after a breif night-bushbash around the farm in the Patrol we turned in for dinner (thanks mum).
Monday morning we got stuck into it with a vengeance, after breakfast (thanks again mum).
Before breakfast, I had already dismantled the wall of the shed and attacked the one remaining wing. I was already sick of fighting with flailing no-longer-captive bolts in the tiny available space, so I just dragged the front of the wing around 90 degrees to the truck. I then got the two bolts in the slotted holes free by wrenching the guard up so the bolts pulled out of the slots, and I then attacked the remaining bolt with the drill and a chisel. After first trying to get the wing off 6 years ago, it is finally off! :D
The damage? It's a bit bent, but it's no worse than the rest of the truck. :angel:
The main task for the day was to be the firewall, and the Holden 186 if we had time.
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...9/DSCF3140.jpg
With some help from the manual (using mainly as a checklist before the final heave-ho) we set to work disconnecting the various things which are built onto the firewall.
Predictably, the steering linkages gave us the most trouble, and after a half-arsed effort at splitting ball joints without a splitter, we ended up wrestling the long arm off the splined shaft on the relay box.
We couldn't get the last bolt out of the floor (the drill had run out of electrical juice) and it was too big an ask to lie in the dirt to pull the sills so the whole lot came out as one.
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...9/DSCF3152.jpg
Gus is now completely devoid of bodywork, and is now ready to have the motor plucked and get taken down to Sydney for final welding repairs, painting and fitment of parabolics before the new engine, firewall and body is put back on. He looks very nude!
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...9/DSCF3156.jpg
In the end we ran out of time to pull the motor, so we left it for next time. The firewall was loaded onto the ute for mum to bring into Sydney next weekend and we headed off for a bit of a jaunt down to the old Glen Davis mines.
Glen Davis Road (unsealed) was the worst I have ever seen it and the tracks into the mines were not doing so well either. The vibrations and potholes were so bad it rubbed through the ropes holding the firewall! :o
Mum will have to retie it when she comes down. :)
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...9/DSCF3153.jpg
