CatchUp - 5 Weeks To Go!

Live is crazy mad at the moment, and blogging numerous times during the week is impossible.  I think I'm just going to try and do weekly updates until we touch down in Welly - we'll see how that goes.

The Gathering is two weeks away, and our flights to NZ are in a just over five weeks.  I think the phrase is burning the candle at both ends.

So what have we been up to?

Well we've accepted an offer on the house, so have been sorting details with estate agents and instructing solicitors.  I've been trying to get our shipping quote down, which is near as damn it seven grand, and the giant headache has been dealing with Harry.  Turns out he needs a rabies jab before he flies which he hadn't had.  And then he can't fly for 6 months after then!  He had the jab as soon as I found out, and so we need to find a home for our pooch for 4 1/2 months.  We are hopeful we might have a willing foster parent for him though.  And so I've been sorting quotes for flying a dog, and then quarantine, and the nightmare that is the order and schedule of his required jabs.  It seems it will cost more to take the dog to NZ than its cost for all of our flights!

Away from organising the worlds most awesome car show and our emigration we've even got out the house once!  A lovely trip to Rowney Warren with Helen, Clauds and Amy.

 

 

And yesterday Bill came to visit to lend a hand with getting El Nino ready for the container.  NZ are so strict with biosecurity that everything has to go super clean (from dirt not grease) and then pass various safety tests.  I have had it confirmed that, being a racecar, Nino just needs to get through the bio examination.  

We got loads done, and its a rolling chassis again, ready to go in a container now.  My automotive 'to do' list is still ridiculous though.  I am waiting for new front springs to arrive from America for the Benz so that I can sell it, Nana needs going over if she is going to make the crate, and the Ducati needs a thorough going over.  I just dunno how its all going to get done, and in truth something might have to give.

Thanks to Tasha's parents I had managed to get the chassis rubbed back and two coats of chassis black painted and dry before the weekend arrived.  In a day Bill and I managed to get the gearbox and rear end together, front suspension and steering reassembled and the shell in place.  I have also learnt that, when landscaping your garden, it is wise to make sure you can get your racecar shell out again!

 

Montag Nacht = Nino Nacht

17/09/12 

I'm aiming to spend every Monday (where possible) out in the barn/shack working on Nino. Hopefully that, plus available weekends, will see the racecar out on the strip next year. Only money can hold us back ...

Monday's a good night for this kinda thing.  If I've had a good weekend spannering then everything is still fresh, and there's always footy on the radio to keep me entertained. And so on Monday it began, and whilst Newcastle and Everton played out a 2-2 draw I inspected and cleaned up the old windows.

 

I had it in my head that they were all knackered and would need replacing, but they cleaned up nicely and as it turns out only one or two have serious cracks in them.  You can see what I mean!

 

I'm hoping to get the chassis blasted real soon and then my Mondays can be spent in the shack building the car back up.

El Nino Undercover

After weeks away from the house (largely due to the Gathering, which I still need to blog about!) we had set aside this weekend (01/02 Sept) to catch up with things around FTC.

I had had 4 roof sheet leant up against the racecar shack for a number of weeks now, and I was especially keen to get them in place so I could start to think about actually rebuilding El Nino.

Knowing I needed to leave some room for the fig tree I only intended to stick 3 of the 4 in place.  They went up nice and quickly, which for the first time presented me with a usable space that offered protection from the elements for the racecar.

With the shacks roof in place it was time to raise the bus roof off the top of the chassis.  A combination of ratchet straps and blue poly rope soon had the roof nestled into the joists of the car port.

This uncovered the collection of logs, hardcore and general tat that had gathered under and around the chassis.

That was how it looked yesterday.  We had Fred and Lyd visiting today and so I wanted to get an early start.  I visited Bryn last week who kindly donated a huge banner to me.  Its a real fine mesh that keeps wind and rain (and prying eyes) out, but lets a nice amount of light through.  I am really pleased with how it works, I'm even kinda looking forward to it raining to see how much extra protection it offers.

With that sorted I set about cleaning up the general area.  The remainder of last years wood supply was taken to the log store, kindling was chopped and sorted, and then I set about clearing the area nearest the path.  Not bad for a few hours work.

 

I have enquired about a price for having the chassis blasted and primered.  If I get a good price and it goes away for blasting I am VERY tempted to have a concrete base laid whilst I have the space free!  Have to wait and see on that one though, in the meantime I need to finish clearing the area around it.

Dragstalgia 2012

Dragstalgia is a festival of historic Drag Racing which takes place at Santa Pod and has a mouthwatering lineup of traditional racing.  It includes Fuel Altered, Wild Bunch, Outlaw Anglia as well as numerous vintage Nitro cars.

The first one was last year and somehow I missed it ... and so I was determined not to this year!

We booked weekend tickets with the plan to make a weekend of it but as the weekend got closer the forecast looked typically suspect.  We'd already been to the pod three times this year and each one had been disrupted by the awful summer we're having.

A call to the Pod on the Friday morning confirmed we wouldn't be camping - they actually recommended NOT to camp with children!  In truth Santa Pod hasn't recovered since Big Bang and with every shower the place floods again.

Still, we were prepared this time and with it being only 30ish miles from home we could easily make it as two day trips.  Saturday had a poor forecast, but it was expected to clear in the afternoon.  Perhaps we might even get some racing?

We arrived in rain.  The dragstrip was being cleared but there were huge bow waves coming out the front of the tractor!

The next few hours were taken up with wandering about the pits and Alfie jumping in puddles. 

But he was having fun so it was all good!

By early afternoon our friends Claire and Jody had arrived and so at least the downtime on the track gave us time to introduce and catch up.  There was also Santa Pod's first ever beer festival! ... with FOUR beers.  Rubbish! 

By late afternoon the rain had passed and the track was dry.  We found some seats in the grandstand and spent some time watching the racing.  Alfie loved it, especially when the cars were being guided back to the startline after their burnout.  He was mostly seen stood up with his hands in the air moving from 12 o clock to 3 or 9 o clock depending on where the Back Up Girl was indicating.

A shower late on in the day put an end to the action and it threatened the end of day Jet Car and Cacklefest.  Thankfully things still went (roughly) to plan and we were treated to the sound of 15 drag cars all simultaneously fired up on the strip.  It was immense!

Sunday was just perfect.  The sun shone, we were in great company, and we had roaring V8's to watch all day! ... oh, and the little bar at the top of the bank opened.  Newcastle Brown never tasted so good!

And Alfie got back onto Back Up duty!

Lunchtime came and we had a wander around the pits.

Before Alfie dragged Claire onto the trampolines!

The afternoon was spent just chilling on the bank watching the racing.  Do Sundays get better? I think not!

Alfie couldn't get enough of it!

Here's a few other shots from the weekend, and the full album (of nearly 100 photos) is here.  I took a load of video over the weekend which hopefully I might find 5 minute to edit and upload.

The quality of the cars and the racing was first class and one things for sure now - we won't be missing Dragstalgia 2013!