Dennis The Menace's AW

Re: Dennis The Menace's AW (B24)

Fri, 25 Oct 2013 11:29:18 GMT

Yes, I saw this yesterday. It's why I don't do rally..The seat and steering wheel in my car came from a ex targa car. It was one of the few things left after the crash which destroyed the car (R34 2009) Good to see you are ok.

Re: Dennis The Menace's AW (dennis the menace)

Fri, 25 Oct 2013 10:16:35 GMT

Already using a HANS device - tested it recently in Adelaide, though thankfully not a ultra high speed impact . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1vYyPCaaGI

Re: Dennis The Menace's AW (B24)

Fri, 25 Oct 2013 10:08:22 GMT

Will be keeping an eye on the progress Dennis. Interested in seeing the pictures.
I think a cage is a wiser option than not. Don't forget the Hans device!

Re: Dennis The Menace's AW (Knightrous)

Tue, 22 Oct 2013 23:29:13 GMT

dennis the menace
(Refer the LEADER board in the Race/Rally section, and look at which car is currently at the top for that track)

Looking forward to taking that title away from you next month ;-)

About time you got a thread started!

Re: Dennis The Menace's AW (dennis the menace)

Tue, 22 Oct 2013 22:33:40 GMT

Another classic AW problem was also getting worse - the old "rust on the windscreen frame" problem. Eventually that got so bad as to crack the screen.

The problem I have is that my little workshop more often than not has other cars getting attention, so AW tends to drift backwards down the list. But now I've bitten the bullet, and it's moved up and in.

Which is where we are at in the story. The AW is "in hospital", the front loom is now out ready for repair (and as a consequence the dashboard, heater etc., have all been removed). The old cracked screen has been removed, sundry other trims have been excised to give all the little nooks and cranny's a good cleaning, and I've dealt to the rust in the screen frame.

I'll post a few piccies up over the next couple of days. Meanwhile I need to decide if it gets a rollcage now, or if I leave it for awhile. It won't be going to Targa for at least a year, maybe two (I'm booked up as a navigator for a couple of Targa's at least) so there is no urgency to cage it just yet. It will get a battery relocation ( to the front boot) and a master switch and other wiring mods, and I'll try and keep this thread updated as I go.

Re: Dennis The Menace's AW (dennis the menace)

Tue, 22 Oct 2013 22:24:38 GMT

Patience, grasshopper. Pictures will come in due course. For now, the story continues . . .

So, we had the little AW comfortably ensconced in Queensland. Over the course of its first year or so it enjoyed a sedate period of development : carpets removed, "proper" seats and harnesses fitted, a little tidying in the engine bay. Incidentally, the seat fitting was more than just bolt new ones onto the original mounts. No, this had to be done properly, so new seat mounts were fabricated to take the new seat rails.

The car was used on a number of Queensland Runs, and a year or so back it had a track day at Lakeside. (Refer the LEADER board in the Race/Rally section, and look at which car is currently at the top for that track)

But now a couple of little problems manifested themselves. On occasion one of the headlights would either not rise or not lower as required. Slightly annoying, but I could live with it. Until the symptoms got worse, that it. Eventually indicators wouldn't work, a headlight would drop and rise all by itself, all the classic symptoms of a ribbon cable connector fault. And so it was - as can be seen here . . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tgaerry2Dcw&feature=c4-overview&list=UUAIRiKINrrMGo-CqKXRmlbw

Re: Dennis The Menace's AW (stuka)

Tue, 22 Oct 2013 22:04:43 GMT

where is the evidence Dennis??

Dennis The Menace's AW (dennis the menace)

Tue, 22 Oct 2013 20:24:49 GMT

The time has come, the Walrus said, to talk of many things . . .

Well, only one actually. My AW SC. Given the time I've been on this forum my own car has only been seen in other peoples pictures, only been hinted at in other posts. So the time has come to give it its own thread - now that it's finally made it to the head of the workshop list . . .

Before I return to that thought, let me give a little of the background story. Back in the "Old Country" aka Godzone, Land of the Long White Cloud, Shibangabang etc., I was the proud owner of a 20v AW rally car. I moved to Australia (aka Western New Zealand) and started trying to get it over here. Eventually I realised that Queensland import requirements are an exercise in frustration and I made the decision to look for a suitable replacement here. It would have to be a) Supercharged, b) hard top, and c) white

Here's where the Universe stepped in. That very afternoon a White, Hard Top Supercharged was listed on this very forum. The weekend found my wife and I flying down to Sydney, a fair price was negotiated and we drove it home. That was almost 6 years ago, and for most of its life it's been a little gem. Pretty much as soon as I got it I decided that it too would be a rally car, with the ultimate aim being Targa Tasmania.

And so the story begins . . .