Final mechanical work - rear tyres and exhaust

There were two remaining mechanical/vehicle items to get ready for esCarpade - a pair of rear tyres and resolving the exhaust - making sure it's not going to fall off halfway through esCarpade!

Damian had been out on Saturday and got two new tyres - Yokohama Geolandar A/T GO15 - same as what's already on the car!

Out with the old... these will become two spare tyres as per event requirements...

In with the new!

Fancy new tyres installed, Damian noticed that some wiring hadn't been nicely wrapped... So he did!

Voila!  The dangers of living in the country - Bluey is so dusty it looks like Damian's already on esCarpade!!

While up on the roof, Damian thought it would be prudent to nip up the roof-rack bolts.

Once that was done, it was onto the exhaust...  Having a quick look under Bluey, it was quickly obvious where the exhaust leak was coming from!

And maybe here...

Plenty of room here though... wonder if the part on Retro Rock-It (with the fancy dual exhaust tip) would fit?

Well, the part looks similar...

You may be wondering... if Damian got the back half of the exhaust off Retro Rock-It without too much drama, why he then took the front half of the exhaust off also?

Because when he went to get the back half off Bluey, THIS happened!  Instead of the pipe coming out of the flange, instead the whole flange ripped off the rear of the exhaust...

Quick comparison to ensure they really are the same shape...  they are!  The dirty ones with dents are the "good" ones - they come ready made with esCarpade dust and dents... but importantly, no cracks or holes in the exhaust, joins or pipes!

Either the front half of the exhaust is inspecting Bluey, or Damian is using the creeper to slide the exhaust into place...

And the front half of the exhaust is attached!

And after getting Jordan to help hold the exhaust square, the rear half was also attached!

Look mum, no cracks!

And reconnected...

After a quick test drive up the driveway and back, tragedy struck!!

The clamp on the flange wasn't holding it tight enough... at this point, Damian realised he was using the clamp that came from Bluey on the exhaust from Retro Rock-It... after swapping to the correct clamp and another test drive, success!

And the test drive in question?  Behold!

And with around 2.5 weeks until the boys leave on esCarpade, all the mechanical/vehicle prep items that Damian wanted to cover off were completed!  Must be some kind of record for him to be ready so early!! 

While an esCarpade car is never truly finished (there's always something to tweak), Damian is pretty pleased that Bluey is as ready as it;s ever going to be for the 2024 Camp Quality esCarpade!