Further improvement to my baby.
 
There had been timing belt & water pump renewal in September too.  I had been hoping to wait for this to get Craig to do it too, but the water pump failed & those in the know said it was a good idea to do the timing belt at the same time considering it was not too far from needing to be done anyway.
 
I headed north last month to see Mr Scope for a gearbox swap & to visit some friends.  I had purchased the gearbox from Aaron mid last year & finally got it transported to QLD in December when Johnny had visited Sydney with room & time to take it back for me.
 
First stop in the northern state was with Ben & Danny.  We went for a visit to Dave's a few blocks away & the crazy Johnny was there too.  Well............. what an interesting evening.  
Then did the touristy thing on Saturday & went into the city & up on the Wheel.
Sunday was the club run up to O'Reilly's.  A challenging drive, but the view at the top was spectacular & the company was great. There wasn't a proper plan for the return journey & I lost everyone...... aahhh well, nothing unusual, lol.
Danny changed the door belt moulding for me later that afternoon & then I was off to Lowood so I wasn't battling the Monday morning traffic.  Unpacked the car & Craig got in the drivers seat to get an idea of how she drives.  hhmmm took her a little quicker than I would have, lol.  Never been a passenger in my own car & felt like hanging on, lol.   
Early (but not too early), we were out in the workshop & she went up on the hoist.  Discovered a few lazy short cuts that my mechanic had done.  Nothing major, but I will be having a chat to him.
I watched what Craig was doing, taking things off, etc for a while, learnt quite a bit.  but didn't want to get in his way,  So once the gearbox & a few other bits & pieces were out, Kaylene took me for a touristy drive around.  Found a road at Esk, that was like a big dipper, there was a sign for a lookout, but we never found it.  Went to Wivenhoe Dam & up Mount Glorious.
Tuesday morning another not too early start.  While waiting for parts to arrive he was giving her another good going over.  Found the driving lights were only held on by a couple of screws so he got to & made some brackets & now they are held in nice & tight.  The wipers didn't have the right rubbers, so they got changed later too.  When he took her for a drive later that afternoon as the sun was starting to go down, he also noticed the headlights weren't pointing correctly, so has fixed those too.
After looking inside & noticing a bit of carbon build up, he explained why I should be revving out a bit higher & changing gears later, so I have now changed my driving style a bit.
Gearbox in, some belts changed, other bits fixed & I was only my way on Wednesday morning.  Gotta love when having repairs done also includes accommodation & meals.  
My baby feels like she's got a new lease on life.
Thank you so much Craig.  It's a pity I don't live closer & would get you to do all my servicing.  
Thank you Kaylene for keeping me company too & feeding me.
 
I then headed to the Sunshine Coast to see friends for a few days, then back down to Binna Burra in the Lamington National Park & then Surfers (my least favourite destination).  then a relaxed trip back home.
 
All up:
16 nights away
10 beds (1 for only a few hours due to bed bugs, aarrggg, moving at 1am, then 2 that weren't on the original plan)
Gearbox swap, plus other minor repairs
2677km
and I stayed just under budget