A post of small things that make a big difference

My whole week was more or less spent counting down to when I could work on Tegan again. Now before we go any further, I know some of you aren't crash hot on the name, but to be honest that's not my problem :) Although for some reason, the numberplate 'TCP' has been given the acronym 'The Custard Pod'... for some reason that's sticking pretty well! Anywhoo I was only really able to drive her on Tuesday to get the rego swapped out and also to tennis, but practicality meant I had to use the X-Trail for the rest of the week... until I got to Friday :) Thankfully I had a pretty quiet day on so I decided to chuck just a couple of things into the boot and see what she was like in some stop-start driving on my way to the office in Brisbane.

While the boot isn't massive there is still a boot. This photo doesn't really do it justice - there's room for 2 sets of golf clubs in there. There's also enough room for my backpack, some tools and some test equipment so I'll call that a win!

Content is how I'd sum up the above picture :) Yes selfies while driving is a heaps bad idea, I know that... but the moment was too good to not share. Driving to work on a sunny Friday morning with the roof off, hells yeah!! I will say the drive home was stressful though, it's stressful at the best of times because people seem to be in too much of a rush to drive sensibly - let alone when you're in a tiny car with pretty average visibility. But... worth it.

Saturday rolled around, and before I could do anything my first stop was supplies. Car mats and a clay bar kit was on the shopping list...

... $450 later I also had some plasti-dip, wheel paint, a replacement light for the boot and new speakers (front and rear)... freaking whoops! It was not my intention to get any of that, but there was a sale on and I saw lots of things that were going to be fun projects and... yeah, no excuses. Naughty me. Kind of screwed myself financially for the rest of the month. Calm down Clinton, you've got time... 

All stupid-ness aside, the speakers I knew were going to happen at some point. The old ones sounded absolutely rubbish, and after having a track car that couldn't be streeted, I wanted a street car that I could occasionally take to the track. The car so far has felt pretty damn good mechanically, so I wanted to improve my personal driving enjoyment in another way, by starting off with the audio. Autobarn had an awesome sale on some banging speakers, and back from my days of being young and dumb playing with car audio, I knew it was going to be a case of quality gear or nothing at all. With a price drop from $400 to $270 on the front speakers alone, I couldn't let that go unnoticed.

Even though the MR2 is only a 2 seater, they still manage to fit in front and rear speakers. Admittedly the rears are only little 4" drivers, but they do a decent enough job of giving you a bit more fill.

At least Toyota were kind enough to give me front splits - makes getting quality audio that little bit easier, and in a manner that doesn't require cutting holes in things to get everything to fit!

I thought the terrible sound quality just came from cardboard cones. While I was kind of right, the problem stemmed from something a little bit more dramatic... the rubber surround that attaches the cone to the body of the speaker was no longer - you can see what's left of it on the ground next to the it. She ain't gonna be making any noise ever again! You can see the difference in quality here though... just a little upgrade ;)

The tweeters required a little bit of tweaking - the old one on the left and the new one on the right. While there was a bracket there I could use, they of course had completely different mounting solutions. Nothing a pair of engineers couldn't fix though, after about 30 minutes of experimenting we had a solution that meant we didn't have to change a thing.

Here's the whole door wired up - woofer, tweeter and crossover all put into factory mounting holes without fouling on anything, yew!!! The woofer did require a little bit of screwing around as the speaker basket ran too close to the edge of the speaker, so we had to space it out so it would actually fit in the door. Turns out there was a bit of wood we could salvage from the old speaker that did the job nicely! We even managed to mount it using the factory mounting holes... Most factory audio speakers mount using 3 bolts, yet most aftermarket speakers use 4. Joys of using good quality gear, we could make it work with 3 which meant no drilling into the door. WIN!

Someone was a little bit bored while we were doing this though... not looking at anyone (Casey).

Best bit is you'd never even notice there's some decent speakers behind that door card. I unfortunately didn't grab any photos of the rear speakers but they were most certainly an upgrade from the factory solution and fit with only a few small modifications, nothing a drill and a screwdriver can't handle. Overall result? Massive improvement :) Certainly need to look at adding an amplifier to get the most out of them but I can definitely live with it for a while.

Sunday we decided to finally get into the paint. It was faded, and although the previous owner looked after it very well we suspected he didn't use the best quality products to do it - something that can actually have a significant impact on the condition of the paint. Regardless, before starting anything, the car needed to be washed! I used dishwashing detergent, as most good quality car washes now add protection to the paint which we didn't want. I must say, not a bad car to wash! Nice and small :)

This is why I got wheel paint - in spite of putting a lot of elbow grease into the wheels some stains just wouldn't come out. I suppose 20 years of road dirt will do that.

We started off by claybar-ing the car. For those that don't know, this is a wonderful little invention that when rubbed against the paint (with some detailing spray for lubricant) it works at pulling all the surface dirt off the car. This was just off a quarter of one panel... yep we had a lot of work ahead of us. What's probably most amazing is that the car didn't look dirty at all, yet this still came out of the paint.

This is what we were dealing with - quite a significant colour difference between different panels. We knew the paint would be faded, but we also suspected that a fair bit of the discolouration was coming from hazing in the clear coat. We set about rectifying it as follows:

• Meguiar's Professional Grade Swirl Remover 2.0 (Cut)
• Meguiar's Professional Show Car Glaze (Polish)
• Meguiar's NXT Generation Tech Wax 

Needless to say we love Meguiar's products, although there are a few Turtle Wax products we use quite liberally, such as their tyre black and foam applicator pads. Anyways I digress!! 4 hours later we had ourselves one very nice feeling surface, which actually brought out a fair bit I must say! 

The photo doesn't really show it but you'll notice that the bonnet in this photo is nowhere near as dull as the photo above. Yes it's not the same yellow as the bumper, there's several other areas where the difference is just as obvious if not more, but overall the difference in colour is a lot less noticeable than it was before - more graduated if you will, so I'm going to call that a success :) I'd be inclined to say that that's something I can deal with for a couple of years at least.

The wheels got done in a Metallic Graphite colour, which actually has a really nice fleck to it in direct sunlight. I tried to mask off the rubber, but there was that much grime in the rubber that no amount of masking tape was going to stick. I ended up deciding to wing it and just attacked the hell out of it with paint thinners, which while it was a bit more involved I achieved the same result in the end.

The interior carpets are in awesome condition, and a very nice-feeling carpet at that being a cut plush pile. Unfortunately there's a hell of a lot of wear near the drivers feet, and this isn't something I can justify replacing all the carpet for, especially when the rest of it is almost like new. That and I also haven't had any luck finding any (just for curiosities sake).

Nothing some universal floor mats can't fix :) Not the best fit of course, but they'll do the job!

I also wanted to replace this pathetic excuse of a boot lamp. It sits up there in the left corner and would be lucky to throw out the same amount of light as a tealight candle.

LED strip to the rescue! FYI it is white, not blue like the photo shows. Due to the shape of the boot there weren't many places I'd be able to hide it, so I ended up going with at the back under a recess in the carpet. Sure you can see it in this photo but honestly how many times would you pull something out of the side of the boot? Certainly throws a lot more light, so I'm happy :)

I then turned my intention to the interior. I could tell the previous owner loved his Armourall products, simply by feeling how much grease was engrained into the various interior panels. I'm not going to say Armourall products are bad, I'm just saying that there is a hell of a lot better out there. Proof? This rag contains all of the product I was able to lift from the panels, which was then replaced with some quality stuff. Same look, but a much better finish. There was also twists in the seatbelts that had been bugging me ever since I got the car, so 30 minutes, some silicon spray and a hell of a lot of determination finally got the both of them sorted!

Yep. Much, much, much better. And to think all we've done is chuck some elbow grease into it both inside and out, and a fresh coat of paint onto the wheels - what a difference it has made :) I've still got to black out the front indicators to match the black stripe down the side of the car, but all things being equal this will be it for quite a while - spent too much money recently and now need to just recover and pay off some of that debt on the credit card!

Mind you, now we've actually had a chance to pull things properly apart we have a better idea of where everything stands. The next thing will most certainly be brakes. The pads don't have much meat on them, and the rotors are in dire need of being machined. But I did have the pleasant surprise of finding twin pot callipers up front and vented rotors front and rear, so that's a win :) Just needs a bit of work to stop the squeaking and squealing that goes on when it's cold.

Next update will probably be a while off, but stay tuned! I'm going to be busy enjoying :)

Everyone... meet Tegan :)

So here I am, starting the next chapter of my motor vehicle escapades :) Let me start of by giving you a bit of a prelude as to how this chapter began. 

I inspected a car on the same Saturday that my last chapter ended, and while it was the first one I'd physically seen in person or driven, I knew I wanted one. I had to have it. Although I wanted to put an offer in straight away, I knew I had to wait until the shenanigans with Stacey were finalised. With the news that old mate had gotten home safely and in one piece, I decided to contact the seller and see what I could do.

What ensued was one of the easiest negotiations I have ever been involved in. Based on what I saw, and what I gathered from just talking to him, I knew he wasn't going to budge much on price. I put forward an offer, he came back $200 higher (which is what I was shooting for anyways) so my exact words were 'You sir, have a deal'. His reply? 'Glad to hear it - it's yours. I hate negotiating'. Love it :) Thanks to the issues with Stacey upon selling her, I was not in a position to purchase it straight away - I would have to wait 2 weeks until my next pay check came in. I explained my situation, which he was more than OK with, so I put a deposit on it to secure it.

Move forward 2 weeks and I'm trying to fit in a time to put the rest of the money down and pick it up. I normally get paid on the 15th of every month - however in this case the 15th fell on a Sunday. Due to the fact that most companies run Mon-Fri, payroll has to compensate accordingly. This means I had nothing in concrete as to whether or not I'd have the money on Friday or Saturday (I've had both, banks are weird). The other thing to keep in mind was I had a wedding that I was very heavily involved in that also fell on the same weekend. I checked with the bride and groom as to if I could shoot off Saturday morning, and with that confirmed I confirmed a Saturday morning pick-up with the seller.

Cue Saturday morning, and I went down to pick up this :) a 1994 SW20 Toyota MR2 Bathurst Edition. 180,000 k's on the clock, manual (of course) with a 2.0 litre normally aspirated 3SGE engine (read: non-turbo engine of awesomeness). It has a targa top, which means the roof consists of 2 removable panels, providing a convertable-esque feel without losing structural rigidity in the car. It's also a 2-seater, meaning it's not going to win any practicality awards, but that's the point of owning 2 cars - flexibility. The 'Bathurst Edition' badge gives me the added benefit that both power steering and ABS had been deleted, which for those that know and enjoy cars know that this is a good thing. 

Anyways, back to the story. Due to my prior commitments with the wedding, it was literally a case of driving it back home, getting back into my other car and heading back to the bridal house to get ready for the wedding - I effectively had all of 20 minutes with it and that was it. Not the end of the world by any means, as the wedding was certainly something I was looking forward to :) but difficult none-the-less.

Fast forward to lunch time Sunday (after an absolutely awesome ceremony, reception and chill-out session) and I come home to...

... this. Not a bad sight if I don't say so myself! Kim had decided to clean up the garage and get both cars in. Can I just say, I don't actually remember the last time we had 2 cars in the garage - so strange! Alas, it was finally time to go sink my teeth in and have a proper look at what I purchased.

For those that don't know, an MR2 is a mid-engined, rear wheel drive sports car made back when Toyota knew how to make a decent car. It was often called the cheap man's Ferrari as it was designed to make good quality performance and handling accessible to the masses. Long story short, they succeeded and produced a fantastic little pocket-rocket that eats up corners like nothing else. (Note: the ding just above the tail light is one of the things that helped drop the price).

Can I just say, I'm getting rather fond of pop-up headlights. Something about lights turning on with an accompanying mechanical movement just appeals to me - a bit of fanfare if you will, making a mundane task that little bit special :) 

Now in most cars you open up the bonnet and you find an engine... not with this car. Instead you get a spare tyre and not much else. Consequently, the bonnet gets renamed to 'frunk' or front-trunk. 

The engine is actually back here, behind the driver. Mid-engined means the engine sits between the front and rear axles. Given the placement of it, it does mean it's going to be a tad challenging to work on, but there are numerous benefits that make it worth it. The main one is a better weight distribution (meaning the car is more balanced). This improves the handling, as well as stability, traction and ride quality. Effectively you end up with a car that provides one of the most rewarding driving experiences around.

Here's the heart of the car just in case you're wondering. It's not a massive engine, nor an overly powerful one, but this cars strength lies in its ability to handle corners, not go quickly in a straight line.

Thankfully the engineers at Toyota were kind enough to factor in a boot, which is big enough to fit 2 sets of golf clubs if required! So not all practicality is lost :)

I had originally intended to go over it with a fine toothed comb once I got back from my responsibilities and completed some others that had been missed due to being away the whole weekend (i.e. laundry), but the day was too good to not consider just taking it for a drive with the roof off for the first time and seeing what it's all about.

Regardless, I wanted to be able to enjoy some decent tunes (and super cheap auto had a sale on), so I decided to tackle just a couple of small things to start making it mine. I grabbed some stuff to install my old head unit - wiring harnesses and a pocket specifically designed for this car, which meant it would be all plug and play vs. identifying each and every wire and soldering them individually. I also took the opportunity to grab some new windscreen wipers, and some spare oil in case of emergencies.

You can see why I thought new windscreen wipers were a necessity... the old ones were haggard and in dire need of replacement! The uni-blades are something I've done to every car, and although its about $25 more expensive than a standard wiper refill (normally only $5), it's most certainly worth it.

Being made in 1994, the factory audio solution was a tad... shall we say, dated. Rocking a cassette player and an (optioned) CD player, I wasn't going to get my iPod integrated anytime soon. Also, who even uses CDs anymore these days?

Surprisingly there was still a tape in it! I hit play, and lo-and-behold, some old-school rap/hip-hop. Not bad.

The panelling was pretty damn easy to remove, using more clips than screws. There was a fair bit of dirt and gunk behind it so we took the opportunity to vaccuum it out and get a start on the essential cleaning process. Thanks to the wiring harnesses, installation was a breeze - neither Kim nor myself could believe how quickly we were able to install it all!

Here we have the finished product. Can I just say, Toyota knew how to make the driving position a pleasant place to be. The way the centre control panel is angled towards the driver, and how the centre console sits so high... I also like that it doesn't look dated - just classic :) 

The rear lights had a bit of hazing on them, so we decided to attack them with some Plast-X - a fantastic product offered by Meguiars which is great at improving the look of plastic. The light on the right shows what we were working with, the one on the left shows the difference we were able to make. It really is the little things that make a big difference :)

In the spirit of little things that wouldn't take much time I also attacked the exhaust pipes with some metal polish. Have a work in progress shot to see what I'm talking about.

Can I just say, I rather like the look of this tail end :)

It became that time to go take her for a drive. You'll notice 2 things in this photo - what a targa top is, and there's a massive grin on my face =D Kim and I were off to see first hand what I'd just bought.

An hour and a half later I felt we'd appropriately broken it in... and can I just say, what a car. It truly is a car to be enjoyed and driven. The way it feels on the road, the way it handles, the noise that it makes and the fact that noise comes from behind you... what's not to love :) We also decided the car was a female, and henceforth shall be known as Tegan!

So now I've had some time to go over it? Let's have a look at what I've gotten myself into...

The good:

• The car handles well, and has excellent road-handling capabilities
• Driving without a roof is an absolutely amazing sensation
• She's been very well looked after by her previous owner(s)
• Plenty of tread on the tires, and all fluids are in great condition
• There are hardly any of them on the road, which is important to me
• I honestly believe I've got a car that I can enjoy and take pride in, something I've missed since owning Edna

The bad:

• Major service due in 20,000 kms (including timing belt)
• Paint will need some work as it's a bit faded
• Engine blows a bit of smoke under hard acceleration, but can be sorted while the major service is done
• Driver's seat needs re-bolstering

All in all? I look forward to the path that lies ahead :) This is going to be a great car and a fantastic project. What I want out of it is a clean car, one that is tidy and commands respect. Nothing ridiculous, nothing outrageous, just something sensible. Game on :)

I'll leave you with this parting shot - not a bad way to spend my first day with Tegan :)

A True Adventure from Start to Finish

So this is it. The last hurrah. The fat lady hitting the final note in her encore performance. 

She has been sold, and she is no longer in my possession. Can I just say this has been one of THE most stressful weekends I have had, full stop. I learnt a lot about myself - perceptions I've maintained for a long time got blown out the window, and I haven't coped. I've always thought that one of my best qualities has been the ability to be completely objective; to shut off all emotions and take things for what they were. Yet this weekend I've found myself being completely overwhelmed by my emotions to the extent where I've struggled to function as a human being. This is something I've never ever experienced before.

I'm sorry if this is all a bit too serious or full on, but I want to use this blog entry as an opportunity to try and make sense of what's gone on. Getting thoughts out in writing has always worked well in slowing my head down - doing so in such a public manner is a risk I'm prepared to take. Look, I know that a lot of you as readers have shared my pains and triumphs with this - consider this my way of concluding this journey for both myself and you, the reader.

Let's rewind a little bit to where this all started.

-------------------

A bloke approached me with an offer on Stacey. He was the first person to actually give me an offer - everyone else was more interested in trying to get me to swap - motor bikes, low lux's, a motor bike with a car, etc. While the offer was a fair bit lower than what I was originally asking for, realistically I knew it was a decent enough starting point for some negotiations as I knew I was asking too much. Problem was the guy lived in Miriam Vale (near Gladstone, ~600 km's away), so all of this was done over text message. His brother lived locally, and was able to inspect the car on his behalf. He liked what he heard over the phone and so began the negotiations.

Questions were asked, answers were given, and a price was eventually settled on. A date was put in the calendar as to when he'd be down to pick it up, and I began to get her ready to be sold. I should note here that the conditions of her being sold weren't exactly kosher, so I had a lot of vested interest in him getting home in a) one piece and b) with as little attention from the boys in blue as possible.

While there were a lot of little things that needed addressing, my biggest concern was her being driven such a distance in such a poor cosmetic state. Cops aren't forgiving on imports at the best of times, let alone one like this that makes a dogs breakfast inviting. I raised my concerns in the negotiation stage and said I would do a rattle can paint job if he bought the car. He said nothing on this, yet the next day confirmed he was purchasing it, so I assumed he agreed with this idea.

I was only really interested in the mismatched panels, as the rest of the car was already black. My experiences with a gloss black rattle-can not coming out glossy led to a decision to go with a satin black instead, as it's non-reflective nature would work in our favour. $30 later I had 8 cans of the stuff and plenty of drop sheets and masking tape to get started.

With one side completely finished, I was actually amazed at how good it came up for such a care-free job. Unfortunately it left quite a stark contrast between the already black panels... couldn't leave it like that!

I proceeded to do the rest of the car in the satin black. With prep work being minimal (quick sand with a scotch-brite and a rub down with wax and grease remover), this wasn't an overly time consuming or difficult procedure.

With the whole car done, I showed this exact picture to old mate expressing my elation at how much more subtle she was. I'm sure you can imagine my surprise when he came back saying he wanted to drop the purchase price by a grand - I'm not meaning to bad mouth the guy so I won't go into specifics, all I'll say is that took me a good 2 days to convince him that I wasn't hiding anything by doing this, and that the value in her was due to the parts that were in her, not her appearance. He did request that I leave the wing off...

... but I had to see her as I knew her COMPLETELY one colour. Wing, eyelids, everything the one colour and one finish. While I always knew she would look great as the one colour and finish, but actually seeing it come to fruition (even as a cheap and care-free job), I was stunned as just how much of a difference it made. I found myself commenting on several occasions that she actually looked good for the first time since owning her.

I proceeded to work my way around, finishing up small outstanding jobs that needed to be done before she left my possession. Since I had replaced the front pipe, I no longer had a mounting solution to support the exhaust (the previous front pipe had a bracket that lined up beautifully with the gearbox mount). Nothing a little bit of ingenuity can't fix!

After I finished getting her ready, I moved her out to the road so she was ready to go. I couldn't resist the opportunity to grab a final couple of snaps as this was the last time I'd see her in daylight.

What really blew me away was seeing this effectively 'done'. Sure, it's nothing like what I would've done had I gone to the effort of seeing her the whole way through, but for all intents and purposes this was a complete car. From the outside she looked good, and when you popped the bonnet she looked amazing.

I was also very impressed with the difference that the guards made vs. the old bolt-on fenders. I know I've said this before, but I think seeing it like this really did validate the point. 

By this stage we were edging pretty close to the time frame we were given as to when they'd be arriving (the drive home was being shared and required a 3rd to actually drop them off), so Kim and myself sat on the driveway, killing time until they rocked up. Once they did, I greeted them and went to unlock the car so he could look it over for the first time in person...

... then this happened. Yes, unlocking the car for a guy who's just travelled 600 km's to look at the car and I snapped the bloody key. SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! This car has never life made easy for me ever since she's been in my possession, and even right up to the bitter end she decides to keep this going. Little did I know this was only the start of things to come... (apologies for the lack of pictures from this point, kind of the last thing on my mind with everything that went down).

Being 6pm on a Saturday night, we knew our options were extremely limited, so we began the ring around to who could do the cheapest call out to cut a new key. Once we had confirmed a bloke and a time frame, I told the guys to go grab some dinner while we waited, as we knew it wasn't going to be a 2 minute job. After what seemed like an eternity, the locksmith rocked up and was thankfully able to cut a new key from the snapped specimen. It took some tweaking to get it to work, but the bloke was good enough to talk us through what he was doing, so that was a bonus. Due to the cut though, it actually puts the thinnest point on the key right next to the twist point. Planned obsolescence much? Apparently this is pretty common with a lot of keys. 

We finally got into the car, and I proceeded to show the buyer around, showing the features and characteristics, explaining how she worked and the random 'quirks' she had and how to get around them. Once again questions were asked and answered, and it all climaxed in him taking her for a test drive - it was all systems go. 

I counted the cash, double counted it, but was 100% certain it came up short. I got him to double check it and he agreed, which then proceeded to send him into a bit of a frenzy as it would have appeared he had lost a good couple of hundred dollars. Half an hour later it was sorted, but it was just another stress to add to an already unstable Clinton (I should mention here this is the first time I've formally sold a car to a stranger!).

With all of that sorted, they drove off... once she rounded the corner and she was out of sight there was a massive sigh of relief and a hi5, finally seeing this chapter of my life and nightmare of an evening come to an end. I needed to decompress and I knew it. To say I was peaking (read: highly strung) was an understatement. I would have been lucky to have done 600 km's in the year and a half I've owned her, and here he was about to do more than that in one evening. The major overhaul that had recently happened also meant there was a lot of uncertainty as to whether or not things would work. Sure I'd taken her for a couple of drives but I had nothing that was really conclusive prove she was fine. Being a long weekend down here, I also knew cop presence would be higher than normal, which just compounded the issue. 

A couple of beers and some cranked favourite songs helped a lot - but half an hour later I got a message saying there was something seriously wrong with the diff... my heart sank quicker than a block of concrete in water, and my stress levels hit a new high. It got even worse when he mentioned it now wouldn't go into gear - they had to push it to get it started. Understandably they were on their way back so I could see for myself and either fix it or give them a refund.

They said they'd be there 'soon' but an hour and a half later we were still waiting. By this stage my brain had pretty much given up the ghost - I blatantly didn't know what to do. After everything that had happened leading up to this it was the last thing I needed. Thankfully Kim was on hand to come up with a solution or 2, the most likely thing we could think of was air in the clutch lines. This was further backed up when we heard that the clutch had started working again. To explain the methodology here, this thing has a pretty aggressive 2-way diff in it. The fact it wouldn't go into gear could only mean the clutch was having issues. If the clutch was having issues the diff wouldn't know what to make of the sporadic power coming from the engine, and would be carrying on like a toddler who just had their toy taken away from them (which it was). My brain gave me enough brainpower to come to the conclusion that both the diff and clutch/gearbox had felt fine right up until they drove off - and neither of them just give up the ghost in an instant. Combined with the fact we had so many dramas bleeding the clutch when we re-filled all the fluids, it become the logical choice that there was air in the lines.

After what seemed like yet another eternity, they finally rocked up and we took the car for a quick spin. Our theory was instantly verified when we heard the throw-out bearing whirring while the car was in gear (it's not meant to do that). We got the car into the garage and began bleeding the clutch once again... I should note by this stage it was about 11:30 pm.

The good news was we straight away got air out of the master cylinder. We continued to bleed it until no more came out and I took it for a drive around the block. It still wasn't perfect, so we pulled it back into the garage to bleed the slave as well - same story, got air out of it straight away. We thought it wise to check the diff oil just for peace of mind, so the car went up on all 4 corners so we could get a level reading. Lo and behold, we couldn't get the filler plug open, and with the time now pushing 12:30 am it was certainly going to piss neighbours off if we started using power tools/mallets.

The buyer was supposed to be home by 4 am as he lived on a farm and had work to do, so we were well beyond getting him home in time. That said, they still wanted to get on the road just to get the drive out of the way. Given the success we had bleeding the clutch, they decided to chance driving once again with the hope it was all sorted. I was that out of it that it took me 3 goes to successfully drop one corner of the car, but we eventually got the car down and I took it for a (quiet) test drive around the block to see if we had indeed fixed the problem. I went around every single roundabout in our estate to be sure, and while I felt like we had fixed it, I was conscious of the fact that the car was working fine when he first drove it off and couldn't be 100% certain it wouldn't happen again. Alas we were out of time and options, so we took the chance and handed the keys back. I also gave them a handful of cable ties just in case, with the parting words 'if you can't fix this car with cable ties, you don't deserve it'. Way to go brain, seems you had enough left to give me that little gem!

Editors note: To their credit, they were really good about all of this. If I had just bought a car that was having clutch and diff issues, I would be asking questions and asking for my money back, or at least some of it back for pain-in-the-ass tax. When we suggested we thought we knew what the problem was, they were more than happy to give us the opportunity to try and fix it, so to them, a massive thank you for their patience and understanding.

Given how wound up, stressed and delirious I was, I knew there was no chance of getting to sleep any time soon, so I had a beer to try and calm my nerves. It didn't really work though as I kept looking at my phone dreading another text message or phone call saying the problem was still persisting... Fantastic =\ By the time 2 am had rolled around though I still hadn't heard anything, and my eyes really were fed up with looking at things. I decided to chance some sleep... It kind of worked, although my brain decided it wasn't done yet and was still freaking out - waking me up almost every hour, each time checking my phone just in case.

Morning eventually rolled around and still nothing. I could only assume no news was good news, but so much of me still ached to know what had happened. I sent a message at 10 am Sunday morning just asking how things went... 'Yeah got home at 9, all sweet' was the reply.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Was I relieved? Yes. Could I switch all this emotion and anxiety off? No. I'm still working on that as I write this. It wasn't helped by a number of texts during the day from the buyer wanting to clarify things, each time me fearing something's gone wrong. I'll get there, I know that for a fact. And another fact, she's finally been sold and moved on to someone else.

I'll be honest, I'm not sad to see her go. I won't miss her. If anything I'm glad this chapter of my life is over. I haven't been for a drive in MY sports car for over 2 years, and I really do miss it. I've been too scared to drive Stacey around simply because she is what she is. I'm now free to get something I want instead of something that got me out of a sticky situation. Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly appreciative that I got given such an out, but I'm yearning for another car that I can properly take pride in. All things being equal, that could be happening in a matter of weeks :)

What does suck out of all this though, is that this car represents a freaking impressive amount of time and effort on my behalf. I've put so much blood, sweat, tears and effort into this car - and I honestly believe she is going to her grave. Surprisingly, that's not an easy thing to accept for a car I haven't really cared about.

---------------------

With this chapter of my life over, I think it's fitting to reflect on the last year and a half. To look back on what exactly has gone on. There's already more than enough words in this entry, so I'm going to keep this short and sweet.

To start off with something as hap-hazard as this...

... and end up with something that's half respectable. 

Looking back I can't believe that this is the state of the engine bay when I first got her...

... especially given that this is where it's at now. I'm damn chuffed with that effort!

She's been ever-evolving...

... inching closer and closer to that dream of being able to drive her on the street.

This 3-month headache was the first time I properly got to know her, pulling her apart further than any car I had before.

Working under fluoro lights became an all-too-familiar feeling...

... as did attacking her with power tools. Grinders, drills, sanders, buffers, jigsaws, welders, rattle-guns... she's seen them all.

I think she probably spent more time off the ground than actually on it.

When I tried to do what she was designed for, I failed epically. I gained a lot of respect for the guys who do it and do it well, and will always be something I wish I could do just to have as a skill.

I have learnt so much from this car it's not funny. There is so much I would not have dared attempt on Edna because I gave a damn about her. I'm truly thankful I haven't cared so much about Stacey, simply because I would not know what I do now, nor have the confidence to attempt bigger things.

I spent that much time on this car, it was hard to not get comfortable and enjoy it for what it was. And as much heartache as she has caused...

... this made it all worth it.

Being able to drive her flat out on a track surrounded by some of my best mates: priceless. That memory is something I will cherish for a damn long time. 

So long Stacey, it's certainly been an adventure.