No News is Good News, or Is It?
There has not been much news from Heidi lately. She is still in Cape Town, South Africa. (FYI – Mongo’s Dad is visiting Pretoria, South Africa. Poor Mongo is home with brother Drewbie.) Hudo is undergoing major automotive surgery. Well meaning, but ill-advised technicians at his last overhaul installed mismatched pistons, and failed to properly install the connecting rod bushings, and crank shaft bearings.
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- Hudo’s Troubles
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- Mis-matched Pistons
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- In Surgery
The mistakes were not fatal, and to give the technicians a break, these things are not always as straight forward on older vehicles as we might expect. And the documentation and manuals for vintage vehicles (if they exist at all) is scant at best. Dad has spent many years restoring vintage aircraft, and much of the knowledge about rebuilding old airplane engines is passed down from teacher to student, because it is not in the manuals. In fact, if one pin in a connecting rod is installed backwards (and only an expert can tell) the engine will fail. These things are very sensitive.
“ZA” Team
So it looks like Hudo is in good hands. The South Africans are known for their ability to keep machines running, even with no parts. And they have accepted the challenge. Still Hudo will be going nowhere for quite some time.
That is not as bad as it seems, since Heidi’s visas have expired, and she has applied for new ones. In the mean time, she cannot leave. (Dad needs to check his too while he is thinking about it.) So Hudo is not holding her up.
Heidi’s Troubles
With all these trials and tribulations, we can only hope that Hudo and Heidi can coordinate their efforts and return to high road of adventure soon.
2 responses to “No News is Good News, or Is It?”
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Mongo’s gallery
Mongolope 
My grandfather had 2 ‘ooga cars’ (us kids called them that cuz of the horn sound) a 1933 model T & 1931 model A. He belonged to a club of antique car owners and they could pick each other’s brains if repairs were needed.
My father was also an aircraft mechanic. I learned a lot about engines. It sure helps when a dishonest mechanic tells me my ‘blinker fluid’ is low. Their eyes get big when I let them know they have been made. 😡
LOL, Id like to see their eyes when you light up those mechanics. Modern engines are designed to be more maintainable, and to require less “secret knowledge”. The old ones are each like a work of art. That’s what makes them so challenging.