We bought the Brownchurch awning with sidedrops and front. This so we can stay warm and dry in the summer to come. It might be a bit overkill for Africa, but we plan on spending quite a few weekends away from home. So it is justified…

We also did extensive maintenance on George at British4×4. APK was looming again and george went for his anual checkup. While he was there his head came of due to leaking Valve Stem Oil Seals (yeah, I got it right). It caused oil to drip into the engine overnight and when starting George in the morning a huge blue cloud of smoke would fill the street. It’s also bad for the valves due to carbon ofset.

Anywho… while the engine lay apart we also changed the timing belt, a very critical part, especially on a 300TDi. The belt that came of was in good condition, but we had no idea when it went on so it had to be replaced.

For the APK a few “small” things had to be done as well. Among them, as it turned out, the front left stub axle. As you may, or may not, remember, a while back George had an encouter with the ANWB when the right front bearing failed. It was repaired, but extensive damage was done to the axle and the new bearing. As a consequence the bearing wore faster than it was supposed to and by the time the APK came along it was already at a point where it had to be replaced. After taking the hub of we couldn’t get it back on due to the damage to the stub axle. So everything was replaced, properly. It is something we never have to worry about again, at least not in the foreseable future…

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