After 3 days of sitting at the bottom of the driveway and bringing down the neighbourhood, the dead rust-bucket Tredia is in the garage!
While the car sat at the bottom of the drive, I spent those three days taking out as much weight as possible. Soon after, another friend of mine came over with his 4x4 and gently pushed it up the drive using the nudge-bar.
Now the fun begins!
I hadn't done anything like this before and my mechanical knowledge limits me to changing motor oil - that's about as advanced as I get under the bonnet (hood), so removing all the old gas equipment was quite an experience.
We started with the engine. I don't have a hoist and I'm not buying one for one day's use (and I'm too tight to hire one!) so we ended up taking the engine out from the top down, piece by piece.
Over the weekend I enlisted my mate Rob (who you'll see plenty of) to help remove the "Planet Killer" (engine). It was very interesting seeing how all the parts slotted into each other and not as daunting as I thought.
While Rob tackled the engine, I began removing the exhaust, fuel lines and petrol tank. The petrol tank put up a real fight. It hadn't been touched for two decades and trying to undo the bolts underneath it was a challenge in itself. Still, I got through it after trial and error and the car is getting lighter every day.
My advice to anyone scared off by the thought of all those complex things under the bonnet? Relax! It's actually pretty easy, and if I can do it, anyone can!
