So I did a bit more work on my car on Friday afternoon through to the night, finishing up around 4am on Saturday morning.
Radiator was filled, ACC trigger to the relay added, fuel hoses in engine bay replaced, fuel hoses under chassis rail were replaced, and finished fabricating a small front bumper.
This is the bumper before painting :
Slept into midday on Saturday, then off to a mates house for leftover roast suckling pig.
After that we went off to an A/C specialist for them to add the right amount of oil in the compressor, check they are happy with all the fittings and to fill the A/C gas. They also unplugged the blockage in the tube where the water around the evaporator collects. It used to run onto my toes every time I went around a corner.
The specialist agreed with Clive that the condenser is not getting enough airflow, so they sold me a SPAL pusher fan that I will mount another time. I will use the same ACC line to trigger a relay to run this as well as the radiator fan.
I then went to the next Emirate to Dubai, which is called Sharjah. Traffic is normally bad but tyre prices are better.
I went for a set of Cooper STT Pros in 285/75/R16 which is close enough to 33". The Pro is a slightly updated model to the older STTs I had previously on my LC ute (called pickup here in English, Bu Shanab in Arabic). I had previously had both 35" and 33" and decided the 33" are the best for local conditions.
This is out the front of the tyre shop :
So since I bought this 73, it had always sat lower in the back. Since Sharjah is the home of all dodgy suspension shops I just wanted to try and find some second hand springs to lift the back up until I can sort out a full set of suspension.
So I worked out I currently had King Springs for a GQ Patrol fitted, a KDFS-40 R/H in the left and a KDFS-40 L/H in the right. I don't know if that's correct to have GQ springs opposite hand, but that's how it was.
Anyway they found some springs to give me a lift, and then the mechanic complained the Tough Dog shocks in the rear were way too short. So they found shocks too, and went to go about fitting everything. I knew the previous owner had just chucked on whatever he had on hand, didn't know the shocks were limiting travel.
Turns out the bolt hole in the new shocks is too small, so they use a hammer, socket extension and large rattle gun socket as a make shift press to get the centre pin out.
You would think they would have a press in a full time suspension shop, but we are bordering on 3rd world conditions here. In these type of shops they also 'set' springs with an oxy acetylene, so I keep and eye on them to make sure at least they don't try that on me.
Eventually they got everything fitted, and I check the rear was now about 20mm above front, rather than 40-50mm low. It will do for now and the guy was saying it will settle. Not sure how much on second hand springs though. I made the point of keeping my previous set, just in case I want to go back or use the King Springs with spacers or something.
So tonight on the way home from work tried to get a few pics of how she looks now.
I am sure my short bumper is not to everyone's liking, and I wouldn't have one in Australia. But here the only real animal strike you will have is a camel, and there you need to worry about your windscreen and not your radiator or front end :
Think the Coopers look better than the Yokohama Geolander All Terrains they replace, and will definitely fix the lack of traction in the sand.
So now to move onwards with the remaining 1000 jobs to do, at least now she is back on the road and movable for working on different parts.
I have a worker coming this week to drop some concrete, I am filling a gap of sand between the road and my car parking area. This should hopefully keep sand out of the area, as I do all my repairs in the open out the front. Here no one has cement mixers, they do it by hand and with temps above 40C I cannot be bothered. Sweating enough just working on the car.