Road Adventures - Wa Bashasha Log - Part 2
Yesterday – 16 th September – Wa Bashasha had her first overhaul, 15.000 km after we left Cape Town in the first week of June. The day after tomorrow, we will be on the road again daily, travelling up to Lake Turkana in Kenya and road conditions there will be among the toughest in Africa. Hence my desire to have a close look at the car.
Through our friends at TAMECO in Dar es Salaam, we contacted an experienced Land Rover Series III bush mechanic and his assistant and the two of them set out to work in the dust and without a bridge or oil pit. They used my equipment, including the jacks, and my spare parts.
In the yard at TAMECO
One of my windscreen wiper spindles had been broken and the rubber bushings of the front shocks had been smashed to pulp. Since I had no spares for these items, we cannibalised them from the wreck of another Series III.
Wa Bashasha's cannibalised sister
We removed the air filter, cleaned out the sludge from the Mozambique and Malawi dust, and put in new oil. The engine oil was changed, together with the engine oil filter. Spark plugs were exchanged and so were the distributor cap, the rotor and the contact points. When adjusting the timing, we discovered that the two V-belts were somewhat frayed and we exchanged them for new ones (keeping the old ones in case of an emergency). Checking on the oil levels of the gearboxes, differentials and wheel hubs, we did not find anything abnormal and decided to leave the oil in place until Nakuru in Kenya. The left wheel hub is loosing some oil through its seal, but that too has to wait until we are in Nakuru.
Next, we took the wheels off and checked all the brakes. The car was squeaking and pulling to the right and I was almost sure one or more brake linings had reached the end of their life. That, however, was not true. The linings and the brake cylinders were still in good shape and all that happened was that the drums were full with fine sand and dust. That is the penalty you pay when you are too lazy to clean your brakes regularly when driving dirt roads all the time! We cleaned everything up and sandpapered the linings and the drums. The squeak is (almost) gone and the car does not pull to the right anymore. We do not have, of course, the illusion that it will stay that way!
Cleaning the brakes
In Nakuru, in Kenya, there is a specialised Series III garage, and there we will have the engine checked (valve settings and tappets). So, by the end of October, we will let you know more of Wa Bashasha's adventures.
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