Tuesday 17 September 2013

Part three: in which Rachel joins the mech team

Remember last post, when I said the next post would be from the outback? That was a lie. In fact, we're still in Adelaide.

Our workspace at Solitaire VW is a warehouse with all of the comforts of home: running water, a roof to keep off the rain, and a machine inside the main building that makes seven different kinds of coffee. Anna tried all of them in a single day.

(Pic: Anna crashing, about a day later.)

On our first day here Ian asked if I like power tools, then gave me a drill and told me to fasten down the roof on our trailer.

(Pics: Our trailer!)

On the second day my weapon of choice was a paintbrush, and we made the trailer spiffy. The trailer has a main bay for the car and an attic for team and personal gear. All of the panels that enclose the attic have hinges so we have easy access. The attic is just tall enough that you think you can crawl through it, and just short enough that you can't. Guess who gets to go up there when we need to move stuff around?

(Pic: The attic.)

Some of those hinges had wood screws sticking out, and I got a few nice cuts on them. So on the third day Ian handed me an angle grinder and told me to take my revenge. Angle grinders are awesome.

While we've been working on the trailer, car tie-downs, and array stand, Darren and Greg have been disassembling the suspension and installing the new "black edition" motors that NHS and Sam Lenius finished right before we headed out.

(Pics: Darren and Greg working on the car; motor and upright partly installed.)

In a futile attempt to stay on race time all the way until the race starts, we've been rolling out of our hostel earlier every morning. Today was 7:30 am. The result is a lot of progress and a very tired team.

(Pic: Darren, not actually working on the car.)

Meanwhile, Nathan has been hard at work on our tents.

(Pic: Hax.)

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