Moving in to the garage.

Today was moving day! Again!

Once again the beast had to be transported. Weighing in at 2,97 tons it can't be towed behind a car unless the driver has a specific drivers license and the car pulling is strong enough. Another problem is that the vehicle does not have breaks and is registered as "stored", so towing it with four wheels touching the ground is illegal. I called the equivalence of "AAA" which cost about as much as renting a car, dolley and paying a friend to drive.

 So it's goodbye for now, summer house!..

 ... And Hello, awesome garage!

Here the beast is resting inside the garage. I was dumb not to take any pictures from the unloading but everything went perfectly. I mentioned in an earlier post that I thought I would have to remove the antenna mounts and remove air from the tyres to be able to get it inside. Well, the antenna mounts were too troublesome to remove out at the summer house because you'd have to remove the inner ceiling to be able to undscrew them from the outside. We did have to deflate the tyres though and the owner of the garage was kind to push the sow in with a tractor and a wooden beam.

 Well inside we refilled all four tyres and pushed it the rest of the way. It's hard as hell to steer right now even with freshly filled tyres so I'll have to start thinking about finding a servo later on. I spent the remainder of the evening oiling up bolts with "5-56" and removing all the extra interior from the backseat.

Above is the backseat. You can see the battery tray marked with an X, but sadly there weren't any treasures beneath it except not much rust. The rest of the floor however, was brown as shit and I could sweep up what used to be the carpet and what also must've been some layer of steel.

 A closer look on the floor in the backseat. I'm thinking that there is no way around this other than replacing the floor entirely.

 Ample leg space! As you can see this wall separates the driver's seat and front passenger seat with the backseats. There are wooden beams framing the gaps between the front and backseat. A radio table (pictured further below) is supposed to be fastened to this wall later on.

 Original tank.

 Radio table.

The trollop that my father gave me. It felt real comfortable.

Goodbye for now!

Tools, testosterone and bicycles.

My day began somewhat hectic today having found a garage to work in just yesterday.
I went out and bought some tools and four jack stands that can bear the weight of the car (12 tons together).

I figure that these will do for removing the wood gas furnace, remove the antenna stands and help me take care of surface rust in nooks and crannies.

I wish I could've been out working on the sow but months ago me and a couple of friends had bought tickets to see the annual MMA event here in town. It is usually pretty grand and the local club fighters from "Renyi" usually win over the opposition. I won't go into further detail though as this blog is about something else but here is a complimentary picture.

I went home about half-way into the event wanting to try my new tools out. I switched the original seat on my bike to a newer one that I bought earlier today. Its nowhere near as nice but two out of three bolts had fallen out from the original seat and as I'm bicycling downtown later to meet up with the friends who are still at the event, I did not feel like crashing and dying. The pictures below were taken with the original seat in place. I've added reflexes because of the strict laws here and mounted sturdy locks to keep it from getting stolen.

I lost a bike like this one two weeks ago but were lucky enough to find this one cheap 20 minutes after the previous owner had put the add up online. He had worked with the armed forces at materials management and saved this bike once the military started selling them. He had renovated everything, even the pump which still bears the three crowns. The original seat is made of pine and leather so unfortunately it broke when the bike fell over in a strong gust of wind a few days ago. The new one is much uglier and not as comfortable. I'm hoping to be able to fix the original seat this winter. I also think that this bike will look good in a bike rack behind the TP21!

Plans as of now.

Having found a garage I think I will first raise the car up on jack stands (after having doffed the antenna mounts, of course), remove the wood gas furnace and equipment (and store, hopefully renovate in a not too distant future), remove the tires and begin work with the engine. I'll also begin dealing with rust although that will get more focus later on when I know if I should spend money on renovating the original motor or invest in a new motor.

I mentioned earlier that I had perused project threads at Something Awful but that's only half-true. I've taken notes as well! Their subforum "Automotive Insanity" are in part also responsible for this project of mine but I am unsure if I should start my own project thread there seeing how this will most likely be a drawn out affair. My hypothesis for this project is currently "Study, Practice, Apply" but we'll see how long that is true.

As you can see I've made several posts on the same day. This is because I was unsure if everything with the title switch, ownership switch, transport and garage find would fall into place. Everything is seemingly okay right now so therefor I tried to post information and what happened in a chronological order.

Till the next post, here are some Raptgb 915 pictures that I have no idea where they come from!

Military bikes! I have one of these as well, will go perfect with the car!

Interior.

I was very lucky to find an affordable car that had much of its original equipment. Below I will compose a list of neat things that were included, original unless specified.
* Four tyres + one extra, all of healthy quality.
* Back fender.
* Extra fuses.
* Three seats (Four seats are in the original version I believe).
* Radio table including gadgets that I can not recognize.
* Trunk (Not shown in any of the pictures so far).
* Mounts for a shovel and an axe.
* Three extra timing belts.
* Fuel tank. (The one currently equipped is a smaller version designed to fit the wood gas furnace).
* All dials and buttons.
* Antenna mounts.

The P.O didn't need to keep the car locked where it stood so one day a bird came inside and visited, showing it's delight by leaving a turd on the steering wheel. Pictures of the interior below.

 (The speedometer goes all the way to 150km/h, the original motor can only, should only, be driven at max 90km/h)

(Controls and doodads; A-OK, Sir!)

(Everything that had been loosened tossed into the backseat in preparation for transport)

The engine. Rusty, but it turns. I imagine it is quite sooty from having been used with a wood gas furnace.

 

Glam-Shots:

 Moss camouflage!

  Small trees camouflage!

Found a Garage!

Garages where the owner allow you to "meka" are few and expensive in my town. I am lucky to have found a man close to the city who rents out a part of his garage for a very affordable price. He also said that I don't have to rush with buying tools because I could borrow some of his as long as I returned them to their rightful place which I find to be totally nice and awesome. The floor is heated, he has a welding machine and even a beam in the ceiling that you can hang your motor from! He does keep his beautiful American car in the same carage however, and I'll be damn sure not to damage it. Perhaps I can even post a pic of it here later. I will be allowed inside from the 1st of October and there is ample space inside for me to work with. The big problem is that the car port is too low for my 2,15m vehicle height! I'll have to remove the antenna mounts and deflate the tires for it to fit but even then there's the problem of moving a close to 3ton deflated monster car. Me and the owner reasoned that with the thick plate of a '57 military vehicle, a tractor and a plank we could move it well enough.

Tomorrow I will visit the local Biltema to pick up my first real tools!

Christmas Eve in September!

Going to work yesterday night was hard as the sow had come home that very morning!
I wish I had a picture of the smile on my face as mr. Lilliehöök pulled up with my chariot.

I have not mentioned this in the blogg before, but the sow in its current state is equipped with a wood gas furnace. It does not run but the engine turns and from what the P.O said and others have suspected all I need to do is put on a new carburator, a fresh battery and tweak a few other things. However.. All I know about cars is how to switch an oil filter and change tyres but I've been following quite a few project threads over at SomethingAwful.com. I am also lucky to have two car-smart friends. This project will take a long time for me but learning is a big part of what I wanted when I planned for this purchase. I will save the wood gas furnace for a future project. Perhaps a Dnepr with a sidecart in which the furnace can ride.

                                                                                           (Caked paint and rust)

Youth revisited.

For this post I'd like to go back to the night that I first saw the sow.
Having attempted to conceal my giddiness (and probably failed) when me and my father visited the previous owner I had not taken a closer look on the car, I didn't even feel it was necessary as the real thing showed healthy steel where the photo's for the add had hinted of surface rust. Sure there's rust but not at the places I had first expected there to be.
It was dark outside and a bit chilly so I restrained myself from jumping into the driver's seat and play engine with my mouth. I am sure my eagerness to pay the P.O. gave me away though. The TP21 has, after all, been my favorite car ever since my father pointed it out at a regiment in my youth.

An add.

After having despaired for a long time of ever finding an affordable TP21, I came across an appealing add five weeks ago online. The seller had not tried to make the vehicle look glamorous and had not covered up any defects but the price was tagged as "bid". I had almost given up hope but I sent an e-mail and found that the price was very reasonable and therefor placed a bid.

                                                            (Photo taken by the previous owner for the add)

After some time had passed I had emerged as the victor! My father and I traveled down to the southern parts of Sweden, paid for the vehicle and switched ownership only to turn around and drive back north for the remainder of the night and early morning. The seller was a very polite young man but had trouble finding the time for this project. He is also one of the reasons I am attempting this blogg; In order to update him and others on my progress.

                                                            (Photo taken by the previous owner for the add)

The sow in its current state is not running so I had to find a way to transport it north and it just so happened that I found a car transporter named Johan Lilliehöök. He carried the sow the 500 miles up to me without delay, cheaper than the competition and with a smile on his face. He was very pleasant and someone I will hire again if I need to have something moved. Yesterday morning however, the Sugga appeared at my summer house's doorstep!