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Greetings from the Canada!


oprn
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Just for chuckles I took a shot of Franklin in the wand wash bay. My shop pickup takes up most of that bay past the end of the curtain and sticks out into the isle and making it awkward to get around. Look at the room here! Sorry about the fog, it was pretty damp in there.

 

I see we got our first road rash. Sad but part of the game I suppose, if you drive them...

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Edited by oprn
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Some big rock! The best paint is PPG 2k base then 2k clearcoat over the top. Being an American paint, you'll have no problem getting the stuff. When you run the clear over it, do the headlights at the same time with any spare lacquer (rub the old stuff off first though). They'll come up like new.

is that how you canadians wash your cars? Interesting. But i guess the temp is already subzero, so the minute you drive out, it sets solid!

did you ever get a block heater sorted?

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It was a mild day today at -6 so it didn't freeze up too bad. We had an hour's drive home too so all was good. We do have the automatic car washes, that episode was chronicled earlier! 🙄

Yes I do want to repaint the bonnet anyway at some point as it is sun bleached badly. You will have noticed that parts of the front and the passenger's door are different shades of green already so it will get interesting to see how close the color comes out this time. If I can get access to the tints I can make it right myself.

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  • 1 month later...

Well we had a little fly in the ointment yesterday. It's been between -30 and -40 in the mornings for two weeks now and the Missus called me up - no heat in the cabin and the temp gauge is in the red. Oh crap! Didn't we have the antifreeze drained and refilled with stronger stuff 3 months ago?

Yes we did! 

Not pleased! Why do these mechanics think I have STUPID written across my forehead?

So - drain it out and refill again with stronger stuff and no harm done... I hope!

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I cannot imagine -40. That is seriously cold. It must affect things like synthetic rubbers (seals, belts o rings). Even plastic wire insulation will crack if it flexes when that cold. What about things like wiper motors and other stuff that has grease as a lube? Doesn't it set hard like concrete?

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Oh look! we have warmed up to -25 this morning! Heat wave! Just kidding!

Oh yes! Everything is stiff. Even the tyres are out of round and go bump, bump for a few miles. If you have any weak seals this is the time it will show up. Sometime the fuses will blow when you turn the wipers on. Starter Bendix tends to stick and belts can squeal. Not usually though. I don't mind the low temperatures so much as long as the air is calm but it does not take much wind to make it bloody miserable!

We would normally have had our annual ice race here this weekend but with the forecast being for more of the same we put it off for 2 weeks. The cars would be fine but those officiating would have has a miserable time of it out there with pens and stop watches in hand in the wind. So we will have to wait a bit to see how Franklin stacks up against the others on the ice!

Here is a couple photos of last year.

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dd 4.jpg

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I'm freezing looking at YOUR picture! Get a shirt on girl! 😄

Last year wasn't as bad, only -16 but the wind chill made it feel like -23. There were a few braver souls there too...

 

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8 hours ago, mk2 said:

You have white stuff everywhere. Looks cold. Even the wellies you guys wear look like they have an extra layer of insulation!

Yes, layers is the secret!

The snow can get deep here too. That would be a train stuck in snow drifts.

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Wow! I mean seriously, who drives a beach buggy in the snow....?! How do you keep an air cooled engine warm?The snow drifts look just like sand dunes in the desert. But my guess is that you can't really walk on the stuff. Train stuck in the snow? How? Just push it out of the way.... Shows that I have no experience at all of this type of weather. :)

 

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VW very thoughtfully put a thermostat and flaps below the cooling fan to regulate the temperature of the engine. They did that somewhere back near the initial conception of the design and it was refined over the years until it became pretty effective! In all the years we have driven the air cooled ones we have never had the coolant freeze up like just happened to Franklin!

Yes we take the Buggy for a spin on occasion in the snow but it is not a regular thing. I thought you would be more impressed with the motorcycles, they were FAST by the way and took home the fastest time trophy by a good margin. Screws in the treads helped a lot mind you...

Yes you can walk on the snow here, the wind bows it across the country breaking it up into ice crystals. It then packs just about as hard as sand. The horse in the above picture was standing on the snow on the other side of the fence. Cows will walk right over fences to freedom on top the snow and sometimes the farmers have to drive new posts into the snowdrifts and build a new fence over top of the buried one to keep them in. 

Here is a before picture of our old Jetta. Then one of it after a big blow. I show this one and tell people that after a snow storm out here you need a good dog to find your car!

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And yes it gets hard!

Here is another for your amusement taken at a local park. Think about the relevance of that bottom sign and the irony that it was hit by the plow! 🤣

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Franklin has pulled another cold weather trick on us! The left rear tyre is locked up. I suspect there is a crack in the E brake cable, moisture got in there and it froze in the on position over night. My Rabbit used to do that too until I took the cables off, slipped a length of garden hose over them and put a screw clamp at each end. 

Need to get Franklin inside over night and thaw it out.

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This thread is a real learning experience for me. Things are happening to your car @oprn that would have never ever even popped into my tiny head. Water in your handbrake cable freezing solid and locking it on.... Mind you, I have noticed another very similar design fault where the central pipe spindle on the rear wash wipe pipe can freeze. Then when you activate the rear wiper on a frosty morning, it snaps it clean in half. Then it spews water into the back of the car. Keep the news coming... makes interesting reading for us here in balmy britain! :)

 

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Ha, ha! No oranges grown here for sure!

Yes I am reminded every winter how balmy it must be in your country as I have a David Brown tractor and it is a BEAR to start in any weather below freezing. No glow plugs so ether in the intake is the only way to get it running.

New the brake cables do not do that in the winter but the plastic coating on them is thin and easily damaged, cracks with age too so lets moisture in. Well I cleaned out enough room in the garage to get it in with the thought to put an electric heater under the back corner over night. Went to drive it in and... POP! The brake let go! Now just need to remember to not use the E brake until it warms up. Maybe pull them both off later, lube them up and put a hose over them to keep the water out.

Edited by oprn
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Then silly me, I got a little too impatient trying to move a snow drift out of the way, hit too hard and fast and old David Brown mounted it like he was in love. Yup high centered with the snow holding the tractor up and not enough weight on the wheels. So out comes the shovel and time to clean the snow out from under it to get it back down on solid ground. 

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Edited by oprn
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