i dig it

Recap of the last 2-3 weeks
 
It was time for the preparation for my long trip over to SA for the annual RSOC SA small ford show.
 
Started off with the usual spanner check and fluid changes
Realised that my wiper motor was continually blowing fuses and disconnected it, was un able to sort that one before the tip.
Took the car off to the wheel aligners to do my aligment ( the guys there give me use of the machine ) and of course it rained the whole way to work
 

 
Wheel align was a bit of a compromise due to tie rod length again ( need to cut down the rod a little ) so much to the workshop owners dismay i set the camber to -3.5 degrees and sorted my castor and toes and was on my way.
 
Next on the list was a health check up on the dyno, all good there
.. But got a little excited on the way home and gave it a real big serve only to be greated by an unusual sound and the car stalling when coming to a stop, proper sh!ting myself i limped it home and park it up for diag in the morning (was 1am)
 
An entire morning on checking things only for them to be all in good shape left me with a sore head from head scratching. Gave the car a new set of plugs hoping that it may have fouled them when i was giving it some. 
 

 
Nope problem still there
gave it another 
 

 
Nope problem still there
 
This is when i got really sad and drove to the shop and bought a compression tester
But nothing was amiss there either.. i was at a loss
 

 
Gave myself a good half hour break, broke out the doritos and had a good hard think
 

 
all that was left was engine timing, begun to get the tools to turn the motor over and whip off the rocker cover when i looked down to see my adjustable exhaust cam had moved, and moved alot it did.
 

 
(black line is the correct position, as u can see by the scrap marks it moved alot, a good 10 dgrees)
 
lined up my existing marks and crossed all fingers and toes and hit the key, started and ran like a charm, thank god
 
 

Great stuff mate.  Gotta love an inexpensive and easy solution 

Nice work! The nikko marks always help. And a clear mind after some corn chips lol

Was just so glad the motor didnt have to come out, i had all the worse case options planned out in my head if worse came to worse. Also very lucky to get away with no valve damage, maybe that lack of piston height ive been complaining about robbing me some comp has saved my arse this time.

So after my little mechanical drama all i had left to do was give the car a good scrub up and a heavy going over with the polish and wax ( for easy bug removal )
 

 
the old girl came up good considering the age and cost of the paint job
 

Road Trip
 
Day 1 - Friday
 
5am - Alarm goes off, still dark outside. Neighbours are going to love this..
 
finish packing the car and proceed to wake the majority of my suburb up trying to start and idle the car through the streets.
 
Meet with a group of the local guys at our local BP servo at 6, top off our tanks and begin the drive, Then off to Rockbank BP servo to get a few more and then onto our first actual Meeting point, Ballan.
 
With our almsot full convoy (minus 1 sundowner) we set off for our destination of Murray Bridge, stopping along the way for fuel, food and the occasion mechanical mishap. 
 

 

 
We stopped along the way in Hamilton at the Campe's Motor Museum. Which displayed a impressive collection of old cars, farming equipment, small trucks and even a bus,  general motoring memorabilia and a collection of various old stuff you just dont see anymore. More impressive though is all the cars ect. on display were registered through the club permit system ( lucky that the car club was Campe's Motoring Club ) and are taken out both on the road and to various shows around the area.
 

 
 
onwards to Murray Bridge we stopped in Casterton bakery for lunch then continued on our way stopping only for fuel and toilet stops
 

Tailem Bends, kidneys couldnt make to the final 80km to Murray Bridge
 
We arrived in Murray Bridge a bit before 7 and proceeded to unpack the cars and make our way to the local pub for dinner.
 
 

Day 2 - Saturday
 
Unlike years before where we would be still making our way over to Adelaide on the Saturday, having down the full drive on Friday left us with a free day to explore the local area and drive some of the better roads the area had to offer.
 
We started our morning with the usual meet up at the local McDonalds once everyone had fueled up and sorted themselves for food.
 
Then off across the Wellington ferry which is always a bit of fun, the locals even seem to gather to see a flock of brightly coloured small fords packed on to the deck.
 

 

 
After the ferry we made our way around some of the local areas stopping off for lunch at a pub in Craffers which had excellent meals and was on the footstep of some amazing roads.
 
We arrived back at Murray Bridge early in the arvo to prepare for the show the next day. 
While the sun was still shinning a group of us made the most of the pool in the motel while the rest enjoyed some well earned bevridges.
 
Cars were washed, polished, buffed, shined, fixed
 
To cap the night off a BBQ dinner was cooked and the projector was rolled out to supply us with a bit of speghetti western styled viewing.
 
 
 

Day 3 - Sunday
 
Show Day
 
Another day another McDonald's carpark meet up.
Once we all were sorted we set off for a quick group photo down by the Murray along side the water.
 

 

 

 
 
Birdswood, roughly a 60km trip heading through some amazing roads twisting through rock formations opening out onto long flowing bends.
 

 
We got to the show at roughly 9:30am greated by the guys and girls of the RSOC SA, shown to our designated area and left to organise ourself how ever we saw fit.
 
ill let the pictures do the rest