On the road (briefly)

So this week has seen the MOT passed for the Golf. It now needs a new immobiliser fitted, to be insured and then finally taxed so that we are road legal.

In order to get it from the garage to the immobiliser fitting firm I had to drive it just under 5 miles in to town. It was a real surprise how the clutch was much heavier that my current car. The steering is not power-assisted so that was hard work until the car got moving. I had also forgotten how different a petrol engine is from a diesel, the power curve and rev limit are so different! Really looking forward to getting the car on the road by the end of the month. The immobiliser should be fitted in the next 10 days so then its just paperwork (and writing cheques!) to do.

A few more parts

So, we purchased some suspension parts a while back and had to discover what the brake disc sizes were before we could get the new ones. Turns out they are 239mm. They are kept on the shelf in Launceston branch of Kevin Cooper so I have a pair of discs and a new set of pads to take over to the garage in the next day or two.

Still no real  idea of when the car might be ready for its MOT or back on the road but its still possible that we might get some miles done this Summer, hopefully!

Shopping list continues to grow

I have today ordered a pair of front coil springs, a pair of front shock absorbers, a pair of front brake discs and pads. With a following wind the suspension parts will be in by the end of tomorrow and I can get them to the garage to be fitted.

The brakes are however going to take a little longer to organise as there seems to be an option on the diameter of the discs. I got offered 9 1/2" or 10" discs, we need to measure whats on there and then get the replacement parts ordered so that will happen when the suspension is done.

Looking forward to the refurbishment part of the project I have been recommended to a company in Wadebridge, Cornwall for reconditioning the wheels, apparently  www.thepolishedwheelcompany.com are very good. Once we are on the road I'll be making a trip to Wadebridge to get them to take a look and tell me what can be done for me.

Another week, another problem

Well, its to be expected. The car has its dashboard back in now and it appears that the suspension is in dire need of attention, one of the coil springs is making noises that would mean its cracked or there is a problem with the mounting. Still should be up on the ramp in the next few days so we will be able to tell then.

Mechanically sound

Well, to my relief the garage are saying that the engine is in good order, they have started it and on the whole all went well. We are however building a shopping list of things we need. So far a new battery, new cam belt, new immobiliser, fuel and oil filter are required.

The requirement for a new immobiliser is a pain, the old one seems to have given up after all the time in storage. This means I need to locate a supplier/fitter and get that sorted before I can get the car insured.

The new cam belt has been installed and the car is starting with no problem now, this week it will be up on the ramp so that the underneath can be assessed for work required to pass an MOT. We are hoping that work can be done, or at least started, next week.

It's gone!

Yup, The garage came this evening and took the car away. The plan is they will be assessing the engine and all parts required to get it on the road with an MOT. Providing that's not a huge job then it's all systems go to get it on the road ASAP.

The move from the barn to the garage

So, we get the weather for a few days that means the ground outside the barn starts to dry out so we head up there with the truck, a strong rope and a bunch of bailer twine.

The plan is, drag the Golf out of the barn (backwards) and then ... well, that was pretty much the extent of the plan. I had no idea whether it would tow that far let alone what we would do next. We only had the truck and some rope so pushing was not an option - I could only pull.

We started by putting a loop of twine through the tow loop on the Golf so that we could get the rope through it, tied the other end of the rope to the truck tow hitch and drove off. The rope snapped after maybe 10'. The Golf had reached a pile of hay and rather than go up and over it stopped. We rolled the car forwards and clear some of the hay away. I tied the ends of the rope together and we set off again. Another car length and the rope snapped again. This time it was as the front wheels met the pile of hay. With some stearing lock applied as well as the rise in height was too much for the rope. This time we didnt clear any hay as that wasnt an option so we rolled forwards and took a run up at the pile. We rolled up and over quite neatly.

We now had to get around the tree outside the barn. This was causing me to have to tow from a slight angle and I was also having to steer to avoid other obstacles and try to find grip through some 6" of mud. After a few yards it became too close to keep going and we had to stop towing. It was now a case of manually pushing the car forwards to that we could get the steering lock on enough to avoid the tree. We managed maybe 2'-3' at best. The car was bogging down and we were slipping badly in the mud. I towed it forwards the 2'-3' and we 'reversed' it again. This time we got it clear enough to tow past the tree but it was still going over some of the roots and we managed to snap the rope, again. After this was retied we got all the way past the tree and were venturing into uncharted territory.

It was now necessary to get the truck on the other end of the Golf to head back towards the road, and the 1:8 hill that we had to descend. This was mostly a concrete section so was pretty easy going. I drove the truck and my wife was in charge of steering the Golf. Simples.

Going down the hill was the next hurdle, we had no idea if the brakes would work so I tied the tow–rope to the back of the Golf again and lowered it down the hill with the truck behind it. Piece of cake as it turned out – we didn't meet any traffic and coasted gently to the foot of the hill where I swapped the truck back to the front to tow it to the house and then into the garage.

-- NOTE-- This happened in March 2009 and I have only now (June 2010) re-started the project and found this update un-posted. Oops, must try harder.