Our Touring Past

Hi Phill

A contingence plan has been put in place. Working in conjunction with the park owners i have paid a small nominal fee to ensure all the security cameras and close circuit TV monitors are trained on our Caspers site 3 days in advance of his arrival....every cockroach.. every bug.. that scurrys across Caspers site will be caught on camera from 26 different angles.
So you see..
We dont have to be there to witness the arrival and "Undo and push procedure " described in his previuos message.
But wait there is more... the local cinema has agreed to run the footage as a "short flick" on the big screen saturday evening..

They are saying the whole town is abuzz with excitement.....I would imagine that the footage would be like a David Attenborough doc, where the rare and endangered species is caught on camera .. timidly coming into view in the dead of night.. sniffing the camera lense and fogging it up.. then going about the as yet unseen act of ..".backing up" .. it would be about now that the camera gets run over about 4 or 5 times while attempting to ... back up.. crunch ... oooo bugga.. crunch ... oooo bugga... crunch oooo bugga
But HEY,,, by then we will have our footage .. maybe run it at the Nats. ..

On another subject.... I will be bringing along some excess to needs old bits n pieces for sale.
White plastic sink
Genuine 1940s/ 50s car roof rack ( if it doesnt sell at Cessnock swap tomorrow)
Campbells lamps / lenses
Assorted other odds and sods from the shed of invention.

We ave done this sorta thing before at different parks and has been a hit.. sorta like going to saturday morning garage sales without leaving the park.
So.. if ya have anything ya wanna "unload" bring it along.

Reddo

Yo..
Bumped into Wayne .. "Sugarshack" at Cessnock swap on the weekend.
Told him about the Huskisson weekend coming up.
He seemed keen, and was going to chase up the info here on the OTP site and discuss with Sharon. Might be attending with big blue Ford and Purdon van..
Hope so... nice people.

Reddo

Just had change of plans..
Coledale is cancelled. Due to Strugglebrooks fur child "Ratty" not being allowed there .
I think that rule has always been in place but old Norm never bothered police-ing it when he had 30 to 50 vintage vans on site . every morning the place would be over run with dogs out with their owners for morning walkies..

So.. The new thursday destination is Kendalls beach van park at Kiama.
Reddo

Rattcliffe says , thankyou Uncle Reddo.
He will have less chance of being blown off his chain at Kendalls .
Promises to wash your wheels when we arrive.

One more sleep

Hi All

Had an eventfull trip down to Kendalls on the Thursday..
It included a 4 hour breakdown on the M7 with NRMA in attendance. Engine in the panno made a hell of a clatter and it rattled to a stop.
NRMA patrolman turned up....We fiddled with the car for an hour and the rattle went away .. but i was left with a 5 cylinder motor.. one dud pot.
Was looking at a tow bill of $445 to get the car home on a tilt tray.. another $445 to tow the van...
All that after being a member for over 25 years.

Rang MRFJ55 .. Maurie after i told the NRMA i wouldnt be needing their services and set off to limp the whole show home. ..
I didnt have a plug spanner in the toolbox... thought i did... but didnt.
Maurie turned up with plug spanner.. we removed the plug from No:2 .. the electrode had been hammered shut by whatever had come loose in the cylinder head or, off the top of the piston.. we bent the plug back to shape and set the gap.. replaced it and.... bingo.. motor was running sweet again....????

Turned south again and headed off to Kendalls.. no more issues.

Caught up with the Strugglebrooks and The Phillmacs. Had an enjoyable evening in the camp kitchen protected from the howling southerly.
Off to Huskisson the next morning... very nice park. Friday was a beaut day . had a good look around town . The park managers had kindly allowed us to use one of the cabins to congregate in and watch the footy.. how good is that.

Weather once again closed in on us ..but no rain.. just very cold of a morning .. then the wind would pick up. we sheltered against the side of the ensuites and had afternoon drinksand nibblies....then ajourned to the cabin after dark.

The car show was held on the lawns out the front of the van park on saturday arvo... about 25 cars.. all very nice..it wasnt advertised anywhere and ,, and as it turned out there was no mention of us being set up in the park... but word got out and people found their way down into the park to check out our vans.

Sunday was still very windy and we got a shower or 2 around lunch time... sunday evening back in the camp kitchen watching footy again. Up early Monday.. said our goodbyes.... all agreed it was a nice venue.. will get back there again someday...

Just on 4.5 hours home. Car ran like a charm with a strong southerly behind it and the van.... but the issue of what the clatter on the way down was bothered me.
Took the carby off and checked under it for missing screws?? all good there. Removed the head.. no marks on piston, no bent or broken valves .
But i replaced the head while i had it off. Will borrow valve spring compresser and check cast iron valve guide castings in the head for any missing chunks?? as John Daniels suggested .

Next on the V V events list is Shellharbour in October.. lets hope this flukey weather has sorted itself out by then...
In closing a BIG,,,, Thank You to Maurie Cole for coming to the rescue with a plug spanner on the Thursday.. it was a game changer.. i was looking at either a $1000 Sydney to Newcastle tow job for car and van.. or limping the whole show home on 5 cylinders.. all for the sake of what turned out to be a damaged spark plug..... cause still unknown

Cheers
Reddo

Doesn't look like anyone took photos, apart from me, some of which seem to have been misplaces in the electronic ether somehow, but here's a few, mostly cars from the display. And for something completely different - My take home from the day, a Canadian built rod that started life as a '37 Ford A mate for Rattcliffe??? A old van for sale at St George's Basin and another in use at Greenwell Point And a couple of cars seen in our travels, this Pontiac wagon could double as a camp kitchen! Finally a nice Holden out for a Sunday drive Cheers
George