Althea gets another new engine and much more

It's very hot and humid outside. Hurricane Gustav is beating up the Cayman Islands, Hanna is still keeping us guessing. I'm not far enough away from them to not worry if this flimsy wooden house I'm staying in is safe.

That's right folks this report comes to you from Atlantic Beach in North Eastern Florida. A long long way from rainy South Wales where I spent last weekend.

So now Althea has yet another new engine. The last one was fine but the gearbox was a mess so Kevin "Mucker" found a Ford Transit diesel engine and gearbox and installed them. I took a trip down there to lend a hand and see how things were going. I got to meet Mucker, Chris and Jake the horse. II fixed the hole in the roof and a couple of the lights.I also fabricated and repainted a couple of wing mirrors and gave her a bit of a clean to see just how dirty she was. Luckily the mold comes off easily and the green paint sands down nicely too. She needs a new floor in the cab but that's pretty well all. I'm quite hopeful she'll be on the road very soon.

Apart from that I had a great time meeting some of the locals in the pubs we visited in the evenings and seeing Mucker's house/workshop.

See below for some piccys

Introducing Mucker and Chris

Chris and Mucker cut a hole for the alternator

Chris--------------------Mucker

Althea gets hungry and bites Mucker's head off.

Jake loves Althea

He's such a lovely old cart horse. Very affectionate and gentle and he seemed quite fond of Althea too.

Fixing the hole where the rain gets in

I made a bit of a bodge of fibreglassing this hole where the chimney used to be. But nothing that can't be made good with filler and paint before the respray. Apart from learning how to work with fibreglass on the job I also learned that sticking your shirt to your hairy chest with resin is quite a painful experience.

Rain Rain Rain Rain Rain

It turned out that Althea's gearbox was no good so Kevin has sourced an engine and gearbox from a Ford Transit and stuck them in her. He's made all the bits he needs and all we are waiting for now is a few days of good weather so he can fit all the parts and then I'll go down there and we'll put her in for her MOT and see what she fails on.

Donna is still resting in John's yard in Norfolk enjoying the company of cows and sheep. Sharon says she'll pay for the electrical work to be done once she's sold some land in Second Life