QLD Trip Part 2

Greetings All!!!!!

Happy New Year to all my fellow Ford Enthusiasts out there. I hope you are all safe and well.

I am happy to report that my family and I made it home safely late on Sunday Night (2nd Jan). With stops for fuel and food, and a number of delays due to traffic and road works, we did the 1033km trip from Maroochydoore Qld to Seven Hills NSW in a little under 15hrs. The Wagon performed admirably and with a full load of gear, the A/C on the whole way, still got approx 400ks per tank of LPG. This meant the trip down only cost around $100. Can't complain about that.

I thought I would share some photos from the trip. Most of these are not car related, but show a few of the highlights of the places we visited.

First up is a pic of the Wagon packed ready to depart from home.


With 4 adults and all the luggage it was rather full.

We stopped at the the Big Banana at Coffs Harbour for a break and a Banana Split.


We arrived later that night at Logan in South Brisbane where we stayed with friends for the next few nights while we went to the Theme Parks.

Seaworld

Day 1 was Seaworld. This year for my wifes Christmas present, I arranged for her to have a Dolphin Adventure where she got to swim with the Dolphins.

This went over really well, and I intend to make the most of the points I scored this year. HEHE.

Dolphin


Polar Bear


Shark Cove


Seal Show


Movie World



The best thing at Movie World is the Stunt Drive show. I really enjoyed this. The mods done to the EVOs were interesting. One car had the body put on backwards so it looked like it was driving in reverse.


Batman Vehicles



Old Cars + my Ladies




We left Movie World mid afternoon and went to Coolangatta for fish and chips on the beach.


Dream World

The third day we went to Dream World.

Some pics of my Family



The best attraction for us at Dream World was Tiger Island. The Tigers were wonderful to watch and admire.




We decided to head up to the Sunshine Coast that night, as heavy rain set in during the afternoon.

Sunshine Coast

We spent the rest of our time at my Parents house in Bli Bli. We had a great family Christmas Day with my Brother and his Wife and my two Nephews and my Parents. It has been approx 10 years since we have had a Family Christmas.

It rained most of the time we were in the 'Sunshine? Coast', but we did get out and see a few things. We finally got a clear day late last week and we were able to go to Australia Zoo for the day. I even got sunburnt!

I can't be that heavy?


Mooloolaba Esplanade


On the Beach


Australia Zoo









New Years Eve
We went out on a point opposite Mooloolaba to watch the fireworks. While waiting it rained lightly on us, but cleared up for the light show.


Then it was time to pack the car again for the trip home. I am pumping up the airbags.



I hope you enjoyed the holiday interlude.

Next post will be back to the Wagon.

Cheers
BenJ

QLD Trip - Car Stuff

The Wagon drove great with all the extra weight and handled well.

I kept a close eye on the temp and the water levels, considering I had only changed the reservoir bottle the day before. It rained heavily from Grafton up to Logan (South Brisbane) and I was pleased with the grip levels from the tires etc.

In fact it rained so hard on the 27th on my way back from taking my daughter to Brisbane airport, that some paint got stripped off the front bar.

The only real issue was my own fault.

While visiting Weppa Dam, not far from my parents house, I pulled nose first into a car park. There was a low plastic wheel stop bar that looked low enough for the front bar to clear. The car space was really short and I needed to be as far forward as I could to allow for other vehicles to pass behind me.

The car was on an angle, and I put the car into reverse so I could back out and straighten up. As I backed out, there was a loud BANG followed by a dragging sound. I stopped the car immediately and with my heart sinking got out to find the left front of the BA Bar pulled out 45 degrees from the front and twisted.

Not happy Jan!!!!!

I had brought a good selection of tools with me on the trip and I had wisely left them in the car, and not at my parents place. I was able to position the bar back into place and secure it well enough for the rest of the trip. It even made it home.

I didn't get any pics at the time, but I loosened it up today and took a few photos.




I am going to see SWC tomorrow to formulate a plan.

Here are a few pics I took of the Wagon.





Around the corner from my Parents house this NA Fairlane was for sale.




Not my cup of tea, but not a bad effort.

I went and visited Huggiebear and checked out his NA and DA. We had a good yarn and while there I acquired a few odds and ends.


Cheers
BenJ

Good to see you and the family had a good time and arrived home safely. I was in Mooloolaba from xmas eve to new years eve. what dismal weather we had. Rained constantly for 6 days. Was good to catch up with family tho. good to hear the wagon performed its duties without a hitch.

the front bar will be repairable?-

good to see ben. im going to be heading up to the sunshine coast myself april'ish so i will come past and visit on my way.

airbags mak a big diferance dont thay

3000ks in 3 weeks - week after



Yep, the Wagon got a free ride on a flatbed tonight.

I will say up front that I am VERY thankful that we got to QLD and back with no mechanical issues.

Water Pump

On Wednesday my wife said there was a bit of water under the front of the car. It had been raining so I attributed it to some runoff.

On Thursday, I noticed the same thing, but no rain. A closer inspection identified a steady drip coming from the water pump. Bugger. Topped up the water and purchased a new water pump with pulley for $77. Ripped out the fans, belt cover and serp belt. Grabbed a handful of 10mm spanners (ya got to love ratchet spanners for this sort of job) and found this.



What sort of IDIOT does that? Yes, the bolts can be tricky to get into position past the pulley, but that is just plain stupid. Needless to say, it took a bit of stuffing around to remove the bolts. Luckily I have set of Metric/Imperial crossover spanners that did the trick. I then removed the water pump bolts from the engine in White EF to and installed the new pump.

All Fixed!!!

Thermo Fans for A/C

While I was at it I re-jigged the thermo fans so they both turn on with the A/C pump. I originally had set it up so only one turned on, but when I had it regassed they recommended they both should be on as it will be more efficient.

No Spark

On Wednesday while driving down the motor way, the engine cut out for approx 10 seconds, then fired back up and kept on driving for the day. Odd I thought, then promptly forgot.

Yesterday while visiting SWC about the front bar (who for some reason doesn't do warranty for breakages caused by stupidity LOL) the engine died again. On this occasion we had to pull over. I tried starting the car on both fuels but got nothing. Then she fired up and I drove around for the rest of the day. SWC lent me a spare coil in case that was the issue.

Today, I dropped my good lady over to her girl friends this morning, and got home fine. When I went out to start the car to go and pick her up, the car started, then stalled, I cranked it for a bit and it fired up again. I headed over to my destination, and it stalled twice more before finally giving up completely. I parked the wagon on the side of the road, called the NRMA and swapped in the spare coil. Still no go.

NRMA chap confirmed the no spark and called for the tow home.

SIGH.

I guess I will be pulling distributors out of the ED Ghia donk and the Wagon tomorrow.

Just really happy it happened after I got home from QLD.

Not so Cheery
BenJ

Last edited by BenJ on Sat Jan 08, 2011 11:04 pm, edited 2 times in total.

bugger!!!
probably the dreaded tfi module??...

I got a near new tfi if you need......

Bloody cars.......

Update - Not Broken Anymore

I pulled the distributors out of both cars.

A quick inspection found that the dizzy out of the wagon has a ton of shaft play. The wagon rotor button was in poor shape, due I think to the excessive shaft play.

I swapped the dizzy gear from the wagon to the ED dizzy, and installed it in the wagon. Cranked it over and it fired straight up. Purrs like a kitten.

I will reco the dizzy from the wagon as it is genuine Bosch item and the one from the ED appears to be an aftermarket replacement.

Cheers
BenJ

Just remember the problem people have had with aftermarket dizzys and aux shafts.....

Very fortunate that you had no problems on your trip though.

Exactly the reason I used the original drive gear on the ED dizzy. The replacement dizzy must be at least 6 years old and installed prior to when I acquired the ED Ghia, so I hope it is of better quality than some of the crap being sold now.

Cheers
BenJ

hey benj

how you been nice car

what ever happen to the old red car?

allso hows the amp and sub i gave you been going

Shows how well I read that

lets not talk about s**t dizzys and aux shafts lol

It was your misfortune that reminded me.

You single-handedly raised awareness of the issue.

Well done.

In the process of building TFi testers so when you stop on the side of the road you can just plug it in an identify in minute whether its the TFI, PIP or coil that's failed... So much easier than taking a stab at changing the coil on the side of the road anyway... Esp with the log manifold... Small hand make that job easy...

But once its DOHC you'll be TFI trouble and coil trouble free Ben...

Nice looking car parked in the hols photos... That bonnet really suits the car... and the AJR's don't look at all bad either...

Keep up the good work mate and hopefully you'll be trouble free for a while with the pump fixed and now a good dizzy (better still once the Bosch one goes back in)...

Cheers,
Tim