We started Wa Bashasha’s renovation, knowing she only had to be shipped to Africa in May 2006, without really having a plan. The event sequence from May 2005 onwards was as follows:
- Renovation of headlamp housings. Fitting of halogen lamp units and replacement of lamp wiring systems.
- Removal of the worn military seat cushions and fitting of standard black vinyl seats. Many overland travellers, according to their web sites, find vinyl seats “uncomfortable”, a “health risk” and “unsafe”. We spent years of our life on “plastic” Land-rover seats and did not suffer any serious harm. They are relatively cheap, easy to clean and do not get soaked when water gets into the cabin. When your backside gets too hot, put a towel under it!
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Fitting of black vinyl door lining and noise killing material. The standard door lining from Paddock (UK) was easy to fit and gave us the comfort of an armrest and ample space to store our road maps and papers. For noise killing we decided on the re-enforced polyester material used by parquet layers. It is light, easy to fit and, most important, waterproof. The door lining presented us with an unpleasant surprise: on the first hot summer day the vinyl fell off the metal moulds! It took us half a day to glue it on again. This time with a proper heat resistant glue.
- Replacement of the exhaust system. When trying to find out which of many possible systems had been fitted, we discovered that someone had bolted a 88” exhaust under our 109”. This was rectified, but during the process the
bolts of the exhaust manifold broke off. Fortunately our part supplier had both the manifold and the bolts in stock.
- Fitting of five new tyres. After due consideration we compromised regarding price and quality and bought all terrain General tyres. They are made in South Africa and are readily available in most of Southern, East and Central Africa. So far we have driven 4000 km with them and have no reason to complain. On tarmac they are comfortable but squeal spectacularly in the hairpin curves of the mountain roads in Austria when the roads are wet. On gravel roads and in the mud they do their job too. How they hold in the sand we will only find out too late: in the Sudan.
- Changing the soft top for a hardtop. When we bought the car she was a pick-up but when the seller offered to fit a hardtop (safari roof) for a reasonable price we agreed. Back home, after a first close inspection, Paul found that they had fitted the hardtop without any rubber seals (very cleverly they had used black painted wooden strips!) and without using the proper securing rods and bolts. In addition, the water soaked original isolation material had seriously corroded the inner roof and air vents. Paul’s first reaction was to drive back and feed the seller to the dogs. Two dash hounds, however, hardly constitute a threat and thus we dismantled everything and set to work. After pulling the sodden isolation material off and removing the rock-hard black glue with a grinder, we carefully extracted the four air vents from their sockets. To our surprise we managed to get them in working order again. The original vinyl ceiling contraption was scrapped and instead we lined the ceiling and sides with high quality black carpet. It looks sophisticated and noticeably reduces the noise!
- Once we were at it, we also changed all the window seals, eight in total, because the old ones were hard and cracked. It was a job we never hope to do again.
- There was, for the time being, one more surprise: under the filler and paint we found a backdoor of which the iron frame had completely succumbed to corrosion. We fitted a new door, riveted new door seals, and struggled for two days to get it anywhere near properly mounted and closing.
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