Hi everybody,
It's been some time since our last update so here we go with all that's been happening at OWA over the past few months!
Firstly, we're pleased to say that we've sold nearly all of the places available on our trips in 2018-19, which is of course great news for us - and we hope an indication of the growing interest there is for travel in this less known part of the African continent.
We do still have a few spots available on all of our trips, mostly on our Accra to Ouagadougou and Dakar to Marrakech departures, so if you are interested and able to get the time off work, please get in touch as soon as possible to avoid missing out.
We're also pleased to say that Zoe will once again be leading the 2018-19 season for us, this time accompanied by Adam Blay, who used to own a similar overland company called 'South America Overland'. We're sure they'll run another great season for us and we're looking forward to receiving all of their updates from the road starting this November!
In the meantime, David (Hatter), Jason and Al have been burning the midnight oil in the UK workshop getting Aminah ready for the big journey ahead. We managed to get all of the major work out of the way, including fitting a recon engine, a new clutch assembly, new front springs, replacing wheel bearings, rekitting torsion bars, replacing various seals and gaskets, new carrier bearing, new camping stools made, new leisure and cranking batteries fitted, a respray of the cab and locker level and a successful MOT pass, and much much more....we certainly have put in the hours!
A big thank you to G and Charlie at Dragoman (as always) for allowing us to work on Aminah in their workshop, and to G for putting the new paint on Aminah for us! Thanks also to Darren, Pettsy, Nick, Amber and Jordan for helping us for a couple of hours taping Aminah up for the spray job!
Below you’ll find a selection of pictures of just some of the work that Hatter, Jason and Al completed over the past few weeks. Enjoy!
Changing the front springs and rebushing the rear springs:
The new front springs arrive - the last 2 sets in all of Europe (apparently...!)
Raising the chassis on an Indian jack to remove the old front springs
The offending rivet which caused issues last time around
Springs removed and ready for a clean up
Adding the old blocks to the new leaves to give Aminah a bit more ground clearance
New springs on and ready for tightening
Removing the old brass bush from the swinging shackle
Inserting a new brass bush into the swinging shackle, drawing it in with a length of threaded rod
Cleaning up the threads on one of the rear U bolts
Jet spraying the old leaves ready to put together spare packs in case they're needed
Jason by the press as we removed a brass bush
Replacing the carrier bearing and re-kitting the front torsion bar
Marking the splines to make sure it goes back in the same position
The new carrier bearing
Removing the front torsion bar bushes and circlips
Engine Work
Replacing the leaking steering box top seal
A crank inspection whilst we replaced the weeping sump gasket
Cleaning up the engine sump in the kerosene bath
New sump gasket ready to be fitted
Colin lends a hand for a cylinder compression test and replaces the valve stem seals
Adjusting the tappets after replacing the valve seals
Axle Work
Removing the front hubs to inspect the bearings
Hatter about to remove the rear hub to inspect the bearings
Rear hub removed to replace a pitted wheel bearing and hub seals
A new rear wheel bearing about to be fitted
Nice fresh bearing grease for the front axle hubs!
Jason tightening the front bearings after re-installation
And the rest...
Replacing the stereo voltage dropper (again...)
Tidying up the wiring
New voltage dropper fitted
Replacing the charging unit in the passenger area
Painting the roof
Sorting out the headlights for the MOT
Making a new stool locker panel
Et voila!
Removing another damaged panel
A lick of anti rust paint to the frame
Et voila!
The big rub down for the respray begins!
Hatter sanding away the truck body
Aminah's cab after the rub down
Jason replacing one of the broken seat backs
Hatter and Jason still smiling after many late nights working on Aminah!
Fitting the new leisure batteries
The recon engine in Germany
The recon engine in Germany
The recon engine arrives in the UK
Getting ready to lift out the old engine
Swapping over the old oil filter housing
Swapping over the double fuel filter housing
Out comes the old engine with gearbox attached
Al steadying the engine on its way out
Tidying up the cables and wiring along the chassis before putting in the recon engine
Preparing the old engine for storage
Preparing the old engine for storage
Cleaning up the gearbox before fitting the new clutch assembly
In comes the recon engine
Mating the gearbox with the recon engine
The recon engine is in!
The recon engine is in!
Stripping the cab for the spray job
Pettsy lends a hand taping up the cab!
G after the spray job
Post spray job
Post spray job
Post spray job
Post spray job
Post spray job
Steve puts the new stickers on for us!
Post spray job
The new flag collage on the cab doors
We wish you all a great autumn, and remember, if you can join us on either our Accra to Ouagadougou or Dakar to Marrakech trips, please contact us via our Enquiry Form and we'll send you over all of the relevant booking information.
Cheers!
