Uh oh!

This morning i was driving to work, when the coming to a stop Monty conked out - then wouldnt restart!

He wouldnt even turn over which had me pretty worried!


Had to call RAC (2nd time being towed) who came in about an hour, in the mean time had numerous idiots sitting behind me tooting (despite there being another entry to/from the road being available. Also had a little run in with an ass of a bus driver who had a hissy fit at me as if i was parked there for fun - idiot.



Got him to the car doctors


There Jason fixed him up for me and did the service that was due too (woo!). Turns out his starter motor was old and tired so hes got a new second hand one in which runs nicely!

Glad to have him back on the road after a nerve racking morning!

Charles & Monty

Unintended Sunroof..

I realised that half the problem with my indoor swimming pool was the fact that one of the corners was broken on the exterior hatch, so decided to buy a replacement.

In doing so I managed to do more damage.

Heres what happened!

I purchased a new roof hatch from a caravan shop near by, but the salesman didnt have the entire unit. SO! we removed the mechanism (missing part on new hatch) and put it together.

After leaving when i got out the car i noticed when i closed my door the pressure caused the roof hatch to open and close a little bit - didnt think anything of it.

I got home and decided to set off taking the old one off - despite not knowing how to put the new one on or take the old one off properly. Que screw driver! As you can see i was dressed appropriately too after just getting back from horse riding getting straight on the roof. Spot the logic

The inside screw in cover that fell off a long time ago


After prying all the sides up as pictured i realised i couldnt get it off and it was going to be really leaky now - winner! Rain was forecast for the next few days so out came the duct tape.

The next day i was standing in reception at work looking out the window momentarily, saw something on the road and said to one of my coworkers 'that looks alot like my roof hatch.... hang on.. that IS my roof hatch' just as a car drove over it. smashed.

Silly me hadnt parked into the wind so when it picked up and blown the old lid right off!

Yet again, out came the duct tape

From the inside


Then the replacement process started the following weekend when i was able to rope Dad in!

Out came the old metal fitting

Quite the sun roof


All the wood was rotten so had to be taken out and replaced
Wood Removed

New wood screwed in!

We then used silicon to seal the roof on and screwed it in!

From inside


Much more water tight and looks a great deal better too!

Thanks DAD!! :D

Charles & Monty

Wheels

The plan is to have whitewall tyres on soon enough but for the time being this is the progress!

Before

Sanded

Primed!

Painted

Paper off




New Hubcaps on



All in all pretty please how they turned out! Have had mixed responses but think they'll look better with the whitewall added on!

Charles & Monty

Indoor Swimming Pool

It appears i have a significant leak.

I put half of it down to one of the corners of my roof hatch missing, and also the fact there is no rubber seal on my sliding window..



Here was my bright spark idea;

Tissues tissues and more tissues.. sadly it made the problem even worse - OOPS


Ive since sourced some rubber for the window (which I got for free BOOM!) so now it leaks a lot less!

Charles & Monty

Bits and Pieces

I found a great dashboard cover on ebay unfortunately it doesnt agree with my Fugu fish! DISASTER!!!

Will have to sort something out as im rather fond of my pink fish..

Looks okay for the mean time though just a bit dodgy.



I finally fitted the new indicator covers, and in doing so realised that the whole unit could do with replacing - another job onto the list!

Before

Insides

New and shiney with new rubbers included which you cant actually see!


Charles & Monty

Goodies Arriving!

Ive found the most brilliant website that I've managed to spend a few pay checks on and have had so much stuff to keep the improvements going!

Very exciting!

The arrival!


Old Rubber steps

New rubber steps


Pre Eyebrows

Post Eyebrows


Pre Glovebox Cover



New Hubcap


Kickboard Before


After i got frustrated

Empty!

Need to take a photo of the new one thats been installed


More to come!

Charles & Monty

Charles & Monty

Roof Rack

I tracked down an old roof rack in need of some love



Will be getting rid of the PVC pipe and the canoe holder thing as its highly unlikely ill ever use either of them! (might sort something out for tent poles etc but not urgent at the moment!)

Going to have to sand it right back then prime and paint! Will be going white with this one to match the bumber & roo bar etc - picture of finished product still coming!

Charles & Monty

Seat Wobbliness

Big Fat Oops.

Turns out I hadn't done the nylon bolts and threads up tight enough - wobbliness fixed.

Winner winner chicken dinner

Charles & Monty

Second Storey Bed

Another project I've got on the go that seems to be stuck at the moment is remaking the second bed slats.

I bought an old set years ago out of excitement and without really looking at them properly, but after trying them out, safe to say no one will be sleeping on them!

I put them in last weekend to have a look at how they go in etc and what ill need to remake them.

Thought it would be interesting to lay on them, never again. The whole time I thought the boards were going to snap! The ply thats been used before is only about 1cm thick so theres alot of give when you put a person on them, and getting on is very difficult because you dont want to put all your weight on the last board for fear of falling through!

Mission; to get thicker wood (or stronger ply etc) and then to recover in new material probably a plastic vinyl similar to what was previously used as that seems to have worn quite well.

Bed in! (would hate to have to go to the toilet during the night if i was sleeping up there!)


Laying on it, please note how close I am to the edge as it feels slightly safer there. (ha!)


Charles & Monty

Seats Back In & Wobblier Than Ever!

Figured seeing as the flooring may take a while to get going I should put the seat back in so that I can have more than just one passenger!

Slight issue, its very wobbly.

Im not sure if this is because I got the wrong sized bolts to hold the metal arms in place (highly likely) or if it was that wobbly before and I just didn't think anything of it.

I figure the cabinets that used to run along the stretch of the van used to stabilise it when its as a bed, Im sure when I have cabinets back in it will sort out a lot of the problem, in the mean time, no funny business will be taking place in the bed (ha!) and I'm going to get the correct size bolts.

It works great as a seat though so theres a sigh of relief! Also a lot more comfortable as the foam means you're more upright compares to practically laying down because the foam had disintegrated!



Charles & Monty

Sun Visors

I cant believe I hadnt cleaned these sooner...



Revolting to say the least.

I decided to give them a splash of colour to bring the red/burnt orange through to the front!

Finished product;


Charles & Monty

Feeling A Bit Simple

So recently I thought I'd do a good thing and clean all my windows and dashboard etc, and whilst cleaning was pleasantly suprised to find that....

MY CAR HAS AN ASHTRAY!

Its not like I smoke but holy moly it was exciting to find a hidey hole that I never even knew about even after having Monty for nearly 3 years!



Would youuu have found it?

Charles & Monty

Flooring Preview

So ive decided on 50's style kitchen flooring just because i think it will look good with the colours going etc!

Ive bought Ply wood to fix to the floor and then to stick lino tiles to, only hassle now is getting the shape of the ply right as the base isnt even (boo)!

So have to wait for Dad to help me jigsaw the shape right as theres no way in hell dads going to let me use a jigsaw machine by myself.. I thought it would have been fun!

Had to figure out how many tiles id need so took a snap as a sneak preview, will update as the ply goes it etc.

Roo Bar

Ive come to the sensible conclusion that if im going to drive around Australia Im going to need a roo bar. Just incase!

I managed to find one off Gumtree for $50.00 was so chuffed cos its in great condition


Ive sent it off for sand blasting and repainting, and all the guys doing it asked for for payment was a carton of coronas! SOLD! Gotta love tradies.

Will post a pic of the results when i get it back.

Charles & Monty