We spent the day pulling the car apart. We have had an oil leak from the rear seal of the T50 gearbox ever since it was assembled in the car, so it was time to try and fix it. I located the part number for the seal. Toyota part 90311-32010 . This cost about $20 from Motorama Toyota. While we had the gearbox out, we decided to replace the third gear synchro ring, as it is very difficult to change into third from second, and especially hard when changing down. This ring is a known problem with the T50, so we also bought the replacement part nr 33367-14010. This cost nearly $70!

We eventually got the gearbox apart, after it spilled oil everywhere. We thought it might be running low on oil so we have been filling it up regularly. Well there must have been nearly 4 litres of oil in the thing. It's only supposed to take 1.6 litres! I wonder if this has been behind our oil leak problem. The old synchro ring doesn't look worn at all. Everything looks ok inside the box. I hope we haven't changed the part unecessarily, or worse, introduced new problems. Unfortunately due to amateur hour striking at the end of a hot tiring day, I managed to damage the rear oil seal when trying to hammer it home, so we now have to get another one. I may take the parts to a specialist shop to have them fit the seal to avoid breaking another part.

I want to be driving this thing, not working over it in a hot oily garage!

Got everything back together again, and it's such a relief when the engine fires up. The test drive seems positive. I can select third gear easily, and the car seems to be quicker off the mark. If we really had too much oil in it, that could cause a lot of drag. We left it overnight and it seems the oil leak is also sorted. It's still a little noisy in third and fifth. Maybe next year.

The last day of my holidays, time for a long drive. For three years, I have been imagining doing this. Opening the garage door, and there's a little yellow clubbie. I check the coolant and oil levels, throw my bag into the passenger seat, and slide into the snug drivers seat. Key into the ignition, and the 4A-GE fires up to a noisy rumble. It's a warm sunny day, expected maximum 29C, so not too hot. Check the seat adjustment, harness on, hat, sunscreen and eye protection on. The sky is blue with fluffy clouds, the engine is warmed up and I'm ready to go. I ease out of the cramped garage onto the road and head for the hills.

Through the Western suburbs of Brisbane to the suburb of The Gap, and the foothills of Mt Nebo and Mt Glorious. This is a very popular drive with the Brisbane clubbie drivers and the bikers, so is policed heavily. I take it easy up the mountain, enjoying the sights, sounds and smells. Up at about 600M elevation I'm driving through lush rainforest, and the air is about 5C cooler than Brisbane. I leave the village of Mt Glorious behind and enjoy the twists and turns as the highway takes me up to the peak at Tenison Woods Mountain, named after Julian Edmund Tenison Woods. Then more or less down the steep descent to Northbrook, with several hairpin bends. They have special signs warning of frequent crashes in the area, but the signs show a symbol of a motorcycle crashing, so I should be OK :) Then back up again for a cuppa at the famous Maiala Teahouse.

While I was enjoying my cuppa and a quiet read, it started raining, and Reinhold from Whitepointer Fibreglass pulled up outside, looking like a drowned rat in his Bella. He sat down and we chatted for a while, and when the rain stopped, I set off again. Through Samford and onto Dayboro and Mount Mee. I passed many motorbikes, some classic cars, and several Morgans (passed on the other side of the road, not overtaken). As the fuel guage isn't connected, and as there weren't any service stations at Mt Mee, I was worrying as I drove through this beautiful countryside, that I might be low on fuel. I turned around and pottered slowly back to Dayboro, and found a petrol station. Only managed to squeeze less than 10l of fuel in, so I was worrying about nothing. Anyway, after lunch, I cruised back to Brisbane via Samford

Despite my worries, the car performed flawlessly. The wind deflector works up to about 70km/h, but after that there's a lot of buffeting. JB mentioned he has a new design, so I might check that out. As always, the car attracts a lot of attention wherever it goes. I arrive back home a bit more sunburned, and very satisfied.

Our 24th wedding anniversary. To celebrate, we drove up to Mt Glorious for lunch. A hot day in Brisbane, but quite cool up in the rainforest. Helen gets car-sick, so the drive down the mountain was very sedate. I actually enjoyed this calm drive. The car is very happy just tootling around, and has that lovely exhaust burble on overrun. I will probably fit the big windscreen and maybe sidescreens too. The only problem with the car at present is the wind buffeting at 100 km/h. I think I'm happy with a car that can perform happily at 100 - 150 km/h , and corner like a kart. After all, the highest speed limit in Australia is 110 km/h. The car still attracts heaps of attention, both positive and negative. Fun, fun, fun!

Took a drive out to Lota this evening for the Westfield Club fish and chip run, or mullet and mossie night. It was very pleasant driving weather and I was enjoying it until the rear mounting bracket for the muffler gave way. The muffler was holding on OK, but rattling and buzzing so much I slowed right down in case it felt like letting go. We got to the venue alright and had a nice chat with the dozen or so club members that had turned up, with about five cars (two Locosts and three Westies). We took the scenic route home, and managed to avoid any further problems. I will have to weld the flange back together, and will mount it to the chassis using the rubber shockproof mount to avoid any repeats.

I gave up trying to fix the muffler myself, and booked it into A1 Exhausts at Seventeen Mile Rocks, down the road from me. It took them less than thirty minutes to fix it using the rubber 'cotton reel' mount that I should have used. Let's hope it holds on for a bit longer now. It's great to be able to rev the thing out once more without the attendant rattling from the broken mount. Afterwards, I took the car up to Mount Glorious to try it out. It was 35C in Brisbane, but raining up in the hills, and cool. Got a bit wet, but a fantastic drive. I can't get over how much fun this car is. Have I mentioned the exhaust note is brilliant?

The car spent most of the weekend in the garage, since it failed to start after work on Thursday. It had to be push started by my workmates. Not a good way to make an impression. Anyway, I still haven't figured out what the problem is. Some say it's the battery, some say the starter motor, others say it's the alignment of the starter, or the solenoid. I'm looking at money whoever is right. Anyway, I decided to take it out tonight to pick up some groceries, via Mt Coot-Tha. A long winding road for a loaf of bread , but it started :) I'm still amazed at the attention this car gets. The negative attention is getting boring. Many drivers see the car as a challenge, and have to tailgate me or pass me etc. I can understand this behaviour from Porsches or hot V8's. But what do Mazda 3 owners and Camry drivers have to prove? Maybe I answered my own question there!

Decided to take advantage of the glorious weather and have lunch at the Maiala Teahouse at Mt Glorious. A leisurely drive up the mountain with Richard as my passenger and then a quicker drive back down with Julie as navigator. For both of them, this was their first time in a clubbie, and I was enjoying their reactions. I am used to the way the car goes around corners like a go-kart, but they are not. They quickly got over the shock, and started enjoying the ride. Unfortunately, I ran out of fuel on the return trip near the bottom of the mountain. Luckily Richard was close behind, and was able to fetch fuel from Mobil at The Gap. Thirty minutes later we were off again. All in all, a great day's driving.

I drove up to Jolly's Lookout at Mount Nebo for the ANZAC day dawn service. It was less than 10 degrees, and I was dressed in jeans and two T-shirts, so I shivered all the way! John O'Reilly, president of the Qld Westfield club met me up there. He'd driven up in his Locost, The Orange Mongrel. At least John had the sense to rug up. ANZAC day is becoming a national obsession for Australians. I don't think people suddenly feel something for all the old diggers, it's more a search for identity. Anyway, there was a big turnout of all ages, and , as usual, a brilliant drive.

It has been a long time since the last update. Not much has happened, the car has been off the road much of the time. This is really frustrating as it is Winter here, and perfect for driving. Brilliant blue skies, and cool dry weather. The main problem has been the starter. I bought a replacement unit a over a month ago, but it didn't change anything. Now I find the car will not start at all in neutral, but only in 2nd, 4th and reverse with the clutch in. Still trying to nut this one out. I have also had a fuel leakage problem, and a leaking brake master cylinder. Why me ?!

Another freezing drive. This time up to Leyburn near Toowoomba for the annual Leyburn Sprints. I met up with four other clubbie drivers outside Ipswich, and we drove in convoy up to Leyburn. I was not prepared for the cold, and luckily was able to borrow a pair of gloves from another driver. Thanks Norm. The Leyburn sprints are a lot of fun and nobody takes it too seriously. There is a wide variety of cars from the 1920's to the latest 21C stuff. The winner was Ray Vandersee's Skelta followed closely by Guy Bedington's turbo Westfield, then the insane V8 powered Suzuki Mighty Boy. A great day, but I am reminded forcefully that my westie is not designed for extended high-speed motoring!

Fathers Day. Seems like a good idea to have a picnic, and drive the car. As always, people stare and point. I took my nieces for a drive, and I think they enjoyed it. They didn't really say much! Kids always smile when they see this car. Makes me glad I've got it. The starter motor still plays up from time to time. It wouldn't start this morning, so I clipped a jumper lead from the starter motor body to the battery earth terminal. It started. This confirms our theory that the problem is a bad earth connection. I'll fix a permanent earth strap to the starter this week. Hopefully that'll fix it.

Had the day off work, so took the car up to the Sunshine Coast Hinterland about one hour North of Brisbane. I dropped in at Australia Zoo, to pay my respects to Steve Irwin. There were thousands of people there, and the floral tributes, are building up. We'll miss you Steve. I guess you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone. From there I drove up to Montville, and wandered around the shops. Then onto Maleny, and back to Mapleton via Kenilworth. A beautiful day, and a great drive.