Preparing Aminah for our 2018-19 season of trips…

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) and Jason 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 a rub down so that Aminah is ready for her new coat of paint in a couple of months time. As always a huge thank you to George and Charlie at Dragoman Overland HQ for allowing us to rent some space in their workshop and for ordering us all of the parts we needed. Cheers G and Charlie!

Below you’ll find a selection of pictures of just some of the work that Hatter and Jason 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 rekitting 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

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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 reinstallation

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!

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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!

We wish you all a great summer 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!

David (Hatter) Oades, Al Goodridge, Jimmy Corrigan and Aminah