Rugby and the Art of Motor Mechanics

Friday, Saturday and Sunday

On Friday I am feeling much better, so much so I decided to fix the surf mobile!
After many a google for "ignition switch" and "golf mk3" I hit a fix-it web page. Good times. So a plan was set for the weekend. Rugby was watched Friday night with Dad and friends and I tried to have a beer but ended up having to dilute it! Yes and only the one beer was eeeked through the entire game - great game though it was.

Saturday. Feeling even more charged up, (mainly I believe thanks to my breakfast regime of 3 poached eggs on toast for the last few days!), so set off to VW with Miche and bought a wee critter, a small elec box caller a started switch, for which the challenge was now to jam in behind the key slot, wahey no probs eh?!...
Later that day I finally stopped chatting to all my neighbours and got round to it. With the guide printed and carefully followed, the steering column yanked out as expected, and soon enough the wee piece fitted jammed into place behind the starter key. Now what next: "Reassembly is the opposite of assembly" was the only guide note......Hm, not so helpful. Physics teaches me this is rarely the case! A short while later a problem was identified: there is a compression spring between the steering column and universal which has to mate up spline perfect. This is an exacting and fiddly job, but which needs the strength of Arnie to compress the spring while a feeble mortal lines it up! Was this left out of the guide on purpose, leaving VWs around the world without steering columns?! Hmmmph.. its totally impossible to reassemble, so I give up and go to my day clinic at the hospital and then get back in time to watch the England vs Ireland Rugby game. All is not lost though, (although it soon was for England), as the engine now starts and there's loads more room on the drives side than before, I just have no steering anymore!! My good buddy cooks up a huge pot of chili which we consume completely by the end of the match. I retire shortly after as my batteries were suddenly failing. This leaves me in a weird state, which I have now experienced a few times, where I can not control my body temp: when cold try a bath but then too hot, then cool off and become too cold again! This cycle continues, (not the baths though!). I have learnt it means I am worn out and need sleep. Anyway the evenings chili eating has temporarily pushed my weight back up to 10 stone 1.6 which is well cool, plus 3 or 4 pounds in one sitting ha ha ha, cheers my good buddy!

Sunday. I decide to take it easier today as last night hurt, or was at least was unpleasant, just due to tiredness. Later on though I have a revelation on how to solve the car compression spring: take it out, compress it in a clamp, and then hold it compressed by wrapping Sellotape - sorry stick backed plastic - around it. After a few attempts, with my dad watching on suspiciously, the tape holds. I whack it back in place and a few skin scrapes and cussing later the steering column is reassembled. Perhaps I was too laid back about the day as its dark now,so am holding a torch to put reassemble the body panels. (I had to visit the hospital halfway through the task, they either didn't notice or maybe were too polite to point out the grease on my trousers and hands!) Once complete I turn the key, wahey the ex-jamie surf wagon is propelled into action once more, so I take it for a spin!!

During supper Dad helpfully asks me how the tape split after I had reassembled the column. The plan was to cut it with a knife at this point, but eeerrr oops forgot! So OK there is one job still to do! Again after a body building stuffing session, today of baked ham, (thanks Mum and Miche!), I am shattered and need bed. I try resting and watching a film, but fall asleep 20 mins in! I now, as before, have to dig deep to complete the evening drugs list and do tasks like flushing IV Hickman lines. With these done I head to bed and wait for sleep in between the hot cold flushes.