The date was the 15th of January 2010. I was on my way back to Kent, in a Clio of all things. But why? If all went to plan, I wouldn’t be driving the Clio back, that was a job for the Girlfriend. I would be driving the car I always wanted since I was a little boy, back to her new home in Hampshire. A garage had been acquired and the G had reserved her place. However, I wouldn’t be happy taking her down as she was, work was required.
It was time to look at that charger. Not fully, I wanted to check the charger timing belt was in good condition. For anyone who doesn’t know G-laders, if this belt snaps, that’s game over for the charger and they aren’t cheap to replace. It would be too difficult to have the charger refurbed while the car was at my parents, I needed her down with me so I could do it properly. I acquired a suitable replacement belt but when it came to changing the belt, I had underestimated the job substantially. Baring in mind I hadn’t had a proper look at the charger for nearly two years, I imagined you could change the belt while it was on the car. 2 minutes after popping the bonnet, I realised this wasn’t going to happen. The charger needed to come off. As I had thought the job wasn’t too big, I hadn’t started too early, it was Sunday 17th January and it was the only day I would have my dad’s knowledge and knowhow and tooling to do the job. So we got stuck in, not knowing exactly what we were up to, but we are both mechanically minded so we worked on and after quite a little time, we’d managed to remove the charger.
I wasn’t going to have time to clean up the area that remained, we were working to a time limit. So here was the charger in all her dirty glory, the item which pretty much doubles the power of the potent polo!
As it turned out, there was a far easier way to get the charger off, with a slightly better tool we were able to remove the pulley (we’d tried on the car but failed) and then the casing hiding that all important belt. With this all done, the charger would have popped straight out. As it was, we’d undone the engine mounts and moved the engine over to get just a bit more room.
So onto that all important belt.
The old one looked in surprisingly good nick. But it would be silly to leave it on there after all that time, so it was swapped out for a new one, which seemed to fit the pulleys far better than the original one…..
The light was started to go now, but I had a target, to get to the Vagingit meet that evening, it was due to start at 6 so we had our work cut out. Now we understood the charger more, putting it back on was no problem at all, everything on the car was prept as best we could and the rebuild went very well, completing the job just a little bit before 7.
So only a little big late to the meet, but I felt more confident of driving the old girl a little harder. It felt good to be behind the wheel of her again after what seemed like so long.
A day or so later and it was time to carry out another job. One which had been on my mind for a long time, and which I believed was making my boot wet! That aerial base! So here is the old one;
Taking the aerial right off to do the job wasn’t going to happen just yet. I’d looked at the roof lining and it was stuck strong and I didn’t want to rip it, so the way forward was to strip what I could of the old one
Put a little silicone sealant round the base and after warming it up, slide over the new seal. Job done!
Wednesday 20th January 2010. This was “the” day. The day to take her down to her new home in Hampshire. To be completely honest, I never thought this day would come. After a final levels check, she was loaded up ready for the journey home. I was carrying a few bits and bobs including a full set of wheels and adaptors for the Vento.
The journey would be interesting, weather wise. I never thought I’d drive her in the snow again, but Mother Nature had other ideas.
But finally, we made it home, safe and sound.
The journey was so enjoyable. It was great to have some decent power under my right foot, and those seats are so comfortable. Lol
So after unloading everything at the flat, she was moved to her new dry location.
My hope for this year isn’t so much about the restoration, but to actually use the car, perhaps take her to a couple of shows, but just generally enjoy having the car once again. Its like having bought her all over again!
On 22nd January 2010, I had been the proud owner of J188 NEW for 5 whole years! And I hope you agree, its been interesting.
To be continued………