Photoblog: Working Girl

I can see clearly now..

It's been a while since I updated Olivia's blog. Here's the latest.

Today, while the rest of the country was lazing around with Freedom Day, Favourite Man and I put in a bit of work on Olivia. We sorted out new engine mounts with a bit of difficulty - one needed some engineering as only Favourite Man can do, but turned out perfect with an excellent fit all round. We attacked the final electrics work, inserted the lights into her new wing, and added the light guard.

Everything's working perfectly. Yay!



Tomorrow she's off to get her radiator seen to. Then it's full steam ahead and hitting the road once more.

Yay again!

(Dreading dealing with her drinking habit... must get engine tuned properly...)

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I never did finish the tale of woe re the brakes blokes. We eventually got her back after nearly 2 weeks - only to find that brake fluid was streaming down behind the accelorator, eating away at the protective coating we'd applied in the footwell. Unfortunately she was required for work and we didn't have time to go back and beat people up over that - sometimes the effort to sort something out just seems too much, and not worth it. But she does have brakes that work well now. Which, on a Series Landy, is a very good thing.

Horn

Olivia has a new accessory! :-)

It will soon be supporting a couple of long bits of metal on a trip up to our high site. That front receiver is a very useful bit of kit indeed.

Slamming on Brakes

I'm really worried about Olivia.

In July last year Favourite Man took his Discovery II to Ferobrake around the corner from us in Strand to have the discs skimmed prior to fitting new shoes. When he arrived at the appointed day and time, he was told the mechanic was sick and he'd have to go to their branch in Cape Town. Which he did. Only to be turned away for some arb reason.

After Olivia's altercation with a lamp pole, we decided to have the brakes redone while we were killing time waiting for various other things to fall in place. Favourite Man contacted Ferobrake Strand and - you guessed it - was told the mechanic is sick, we can't bring the truck down.

Last week we called and made an appointment for Olivia to have her brakes done. Before we dropped her off, we popped in to make sure - and yup, we were booked in.

So we went the few metres down the road to where she was having a radiator redo, and fetched her.

When we arrived at Ferobrake - you guessed it - the mechanic had gone home sick and the rest of the "workers" were standing around twiddling their thumbs, picking their noses and scratching their gonads, waiting for (apparently) the only mechanic Ferrobrake possesses to turn up and tell them what to do.

Olivia has now been there for a week. Favourite Man has just phoned them to find out when our darling girl can be returned to the fold.

You guessed it - the mechanic is sick. ETA for finishing completely unknown. Should the mechanic die of his many illnesses, it's likely Olivia will stay there for the rest of her life...

Unless I take my largest wheelspanner and go knock someone over the head very very hard.

Step 1

Olivia's new / replacement fender has arrived. Complete with ex-army light bits. Nope, we're not going to leave it that colour - but work starts soon!

Love/Hate

Life with Land Rovers is very much a love/hate relationship.

When they're going well we love them to bits. When they're giving problems we want to kick their tyres and take a hammer to the offending parts.

Actually... the word "relationship" is kinda the root of the problem. We start to see these hunks of metal as "people".

Take Olivia for example. She's my girl, part of the family, and yup - the truck is a "she". When I slam my hand in the door it's "Olivia's way of reminding you she loves you". When something breaks "Olivia's being kak / moody / obstinate". She's taken on human characteristics for her mechanical quirks - and there's been an emotional investment from before she was officially mine.

But not all Landy drivers feel that way about their vehicles.

This morning on the way to work I passed another Series III. Usually us Series folk wave madly to each other, and we'll even wave at Discos - this bloke (and I've seen him often around town) just drives and ignores no matter what we're driving. I'm probably making snap judgements, but it seems his Land Rover is merely a tool, a vehicle to get from A to B that does what he wants it to do. There's no enthusiasm for the old beast, nor for other old beast drivers.

By contrast, I got a wave out of a fellow Discovery owner a few metres later...

And now I've gone off topic, but here's the thing. Lately I've been struggling with the love/hate balance vs Olivia. I'm really not lus for the hassles that await us as we fix her up post-lamppole-greeting experience. I know it's going to be a knock-on thing where we breadcrumb from one issue to the next - and we've been there, done that for many months last year as she was fixed up front to back. I've had some big anti-Landy moments in the last week or so.

But at the same time I still love my Landies. And Olivia particularly, which is why I'm going to be doing what it takes to get her not only back on the road but better than ever before. She's still my girl, part of the family, and in spite of the occasional love/hate battle it does lean a whole lot more toward love than hate.

Getting there

After Olivia's minor altercation with a lamppost thanks to horrific driving on the part of an old tannie who crossed her path (literally), the red-tape battle began. There was not a whole lot of real damage - not a single light broke in the accident - yet insurance wanted to write her off, stating that repair costs far exceeded the value of the vehicle. Well Favourite Man was able to cut that bill in half or more by speaking to the right people and getting the correct info on exactly how much it will cost to repair what needs it. And insurance has agreed not to write Olivia off.

Sjoe. After all the hard work we've put into that beast, it's a very big relief.

Now the repair work starts. Another learning curve, another little while off the road.

But we're getting there.