Right since this thread is not a project thread I'm doing a trip report
Guess i should start off with some history for those that don’t know me
I’ve been building other peoples toys for long enough and have tagged along in more than a few of my creations but its been a few years since I’d been out with a truck of my own... nothing that has ever concerned me as my buzz is building them more than playing but been a bit of sticking point for everyone else lol
So when the landy turned up as payment for a favour it was intended as a play toy not a project... just a slight problem that most of the trucks I’ve built for my mates are a bit more capable than a stock landy LOL but I can fix that (see its not a project...I'm just fixing problems
)
Anyway a mate booked Costa and the jokes started, it’ll never be ready well as you seen the last few days were pretty hard out... at one of these all hands on evenings the weather was mentioned... I had to mention that the best trips are the ones where things go wrong LOL
Well after a couple of humbling evenings where mates kept turning up to help throw the old girl back together we take her for a charge up and down the street at 1am sat morning and flex it out, 4wd lever is stuck in, the welded rear diff is making clicking noises like its ready to self destruct, but it runs so it gets loaded on, I grab a spare diff and some tools just in case and head home
Next morning (4hrs later lol) Brian turns up in Boris (Lada) and we set off to Clive’s before we head down to Otane to meet up with the rest... in convoy 5min south of Havelock we discover the fuel gauge on the borrowed car isn’t correct after a stop and a chat we head back to Havelock to fuel up... with it surging we make the servo (I did mention trips where things go wrong lol) interestingly my misses made the comment about a fuel smell some thing I really should have paid attention to....
Back in convoy all good.... hmmm till the Te Aute hill , a mate driving so I can stretch out on in the passengers seat he comments on the temp we’re half way up and its climbing I flick the cab heater and fan to full and it continues to climb as we slowly crest the top its tapping the bottom of the red... keep rolling don’t stop we need air flow with both of us watching we coast down the other side slowly the gauge comes back... that was us every small hill till Otane where we found everyone waiting
With a heap of mechanics, an engineer,an auto sparky and an oil technician all in there we solve the problem a sticky thermostat cracking off the rad cap with it hot seems to have released it, the cab heater is working well now... after a bit of discussion call is made to keep going problem looks to be sorted (I did mention trips where things go wrong)
With us watching the gauge we set off again.... and a bigger convoy
No movement on the gauge by the time we made Waipuk problem solved LOL (did I mention trips where things go wrong).... another stop to cool her off just before Norsewood another at Danniverke and just before the last climb up to Goldie’s only 6hrs to get there LOL
We unload in the rain, the track into the hut we had the lada slide off the track and park up in a gorse bush, Nobber’s hilux slid into a ditch and stayed there till Buzz showed us that a lexus screaming can move anything... the landy drove in... Admittedly I was in third gear foot flat LOL got told later they could hear me at the car park
After we unloaded, with everyone standing round trying to make their minds up I headed to the truck I wanted to explore (been a few yrs since I was last there)
Told the lovely lady to hold on and stood on it in second the old girl bouncing we headed off up a track above the hut, get to the top and see a bit of a bog hole hmmm reminds me I didn’t get around to the snorkel... or adding an air filter lol think I’ll check the depth first after a bit of poke I decide its better if a few trucks empty it out first and back off to the side just as Buzz turns up.... soon he is turning round,LOL no one wants to be first so we all turn around and decide to go look for another track
We head out the back from the hut and up along the ridge to the intersection where you turn off to eastern end or up to papa corner with all the rain it’s a fun it’s a fun challenge for the smaller trucks
Till BigT’s little Suzuki starts to have fuel issues, while thats happening I went for a wee explore and bellied the landy on a stump
(mental note near top of list is working wipers and a demister)
Once we were all going again we headed east for a play
With my back ping'ing a spent a bit of time watching the others (nicer to stand than sit
) heres BigT lining up on a hill climb
Position truck, clutch in rev motor till valve bounce limiters stop revs... drop clutch.... wheel spin, wheel spin... no wheel spin, stop... back up to flatter/more greasy spot...repeat
Then there was Hamish
He would slowly roll into something technical, line up his wheels a squrt of power and either roll out or back out and try another line
Buzz and Wingnut that was just the hard on approch, V8 screaming truck bouncing you either rocket out the top or you dig yourself to a stand still
And Nobber he drove round trying to find ruts he could flex out in
At around half 4 decided to head home to the hut we had one hill to climb that was a bit of a challenge for some of the trucks
hooked the lada up the back of the lexus but the strop was a bit long and on an inside corner he got dragged across the corner getting hung up on the kanuka after a bit of clearing work we cleared him
Now its the verge of dark and misty to boot I was in pain, didn’t have any lights so I made the call to head back to the hut by myself.... remember about that comment things going wrong en all.... well it wasn’t me this time LOL I got to the hut with out an issue don’t think the young lad who jumped in with me was too impressed with my head out the window hold the door shut style of driving but we were all good, got the fire going cracked a woody life isn’t too bad .....
Meanwhile the rest of the party split up some decided to follow me and got lost another group were still working on getting up the hill
The second group who were the first ones back they came in with a wonderfull story of BigT going off the edge where the lada got hung up... but since the kanuka had been cut away instead of getting hung up he rolled! And how they winched off kanuka bushes to pull it back up...
By now its fully dark and still no sign of 3 trucks but we have had a text to say all good and on the way back
They arrived in with tales of a lada that can’t stay on the track and when it was would plow into the deepest holes sounds like he might have been as blind as me lol
Here's some of the pic's of the lost group
With the fire going everyone home a few beverages and food cooking there was a real good buzz to the place... three different stews steaming away and a bbq outside
Having had a short sleep the night before I was in bed trying to sleep but kept laughing at the strange topics that popped up or flowed too
Later that night woke to the rattle and bang of a possum on the roof
Next morning up with the sun I heated up the last of the best pot of stew I wont say who’s it was she would just think I’m greasing lol the rest of the group slowly roused till it was just the young lad’s
Had Hamish and Nobber convinced that possums had taken their sausages, since they had bought that so easily I convinced them, the possums had taken their cans of baked beans as well LOL some people are just so gullible
After every one was fed the call was made to head down the play area near the road and then up the ridgeline and round papa corner
Brian decided to sit it out because he didn’t want to damage Boris and Big T’s zuk was down with fuel issues so 4 hilux’s and a landy
Down at the play area I think everyone got stuck
I slowly run out of rev’s the fuel filter was blocked,
a bit of work and its cleaned out rev’ing hard again
The climb up to the ridgeline proved to be a challenge, tramline ruts and not quite enough diff clearance ment the old landy was struggling, a couple of tries to confirm I wasn’t going to get far and brute force and ignorince kicked in 3rd gear starts with the LD screaming... diff clunking we'd get a wee bit further each time... on one of these runs sliding back down... alright foot flat in reverse the drivers door popped open and folded back had enough of it so I gently removed it and stowed it safely in the back of Nobbers truck then we attacked it again with everybody laughing the landy bounced her way up round the corner (hoping someone has some vid of this)
Oh I didnt quite make it to the top I needed a snatch for the last bit... just not quite enough tyres size
Next was Wingnut "flying" up with a Nobber on a strop
The ridge top was nice running
We got to papa corner without any issues Hamish decided to have a try at driving down....
While Wingnut was hauling him out the mist cleared-ish
but with it getting near to lunch was time to push on
Note the rest of them were all hiding behind there trucks waiting for someone tough to be the first to slide down hissyfit... being the only man in the group and driving the most cappable offroad weapon I went first
scary ha
That bit of fun over I stepped into the landy (this no door thing isn't bad)
and we made tracks to the hut
Where we loaded up and this time made short work of the access track
and delt with the fun of loading up the toys...
interestingly two things of note for me "don't listen to tall people they don't seem to know as much about driving cars as they think" and "if there is a rainbow patern on the road under a truck there is a reason...."
With Nobber running low on desiel we drain the landy to give him all we can so he can make the servo, still with the overheating Koon we leave to get a head start
A bit later we meet up at the Woodvale servo all good discovered the reason why Nobber is so low on fuel is return line had been nocked off
We drop $100 in the koon its only a 100km's to home and set off with a fresh charge of water as well, another stop in Danivagus for more water and cool her down again, seriously considered leaving the truck somewhere... but we keep going not far out of Dani we get a text Nobbers run out of fuel 100m from the Mobil in Waipuk
as we hit Norsewood the temp spiked again but since I'm driving and my head was in the draft from the cab vents I noticed no heat.... blastard thermostate
15min's later with the guts gone from it the car is away and racing
hmmm hind sight
no more cooling issues (notice I stated cooling issues
)
We catch up to Nobber and get him going again charge to Otane back on the main road the Koon runs out of fuel again!! its about now we start to link that smell of fuel the rainbow patern at costa
$300 worth of fuel!! a small top up and gental driving we make the pump at havelock again and home
I did mention its the ones that things go wrong that are the most fun
,
hopefully get it emailed in tomorrow night
, I've got an old Kirby vacuum cleaner you could put in the suction line 
, free to you if you want it. 
what am I saying ----- you're in the mud ---