Camp Quality South Qld Volunteer Recognition Event

Damian had been invited to the Camp Quality South Qld volunteer recognition event... he figured it was a good reason to take Retro Rock-It out for a spin...

Always a good time for a selfie!

Parked up at the venue...

Lined up with the gutter on one side... apparently the line isn't parallel to the gutter!!

Giggle having a turn wearing Damian's hat...

Close up...

The venue - the Carina Leagues Club.

A Camp Quality banner... must be the right place!

Rock and roll!!

Upstairs at the event... Weaver was there...

As was Michael...

Brooksy presented Damian with his plaque for 15 years of service to Camp Quality...  Also told a few stories about Damo - all true!

Damian remaining in character... 

Star!  With lots of grubby fingerprints, but still a star!

Kylie the new recreation coordinator for Camp Quality South Qld...

Miguel the boss...

Bec wanted to make a special guest appearance on the Retro Rock-It blog...  wish granted!!

It was dark by the time Damian got home...  Retro Rock-It drove beautifully, and looked pretty!

Stay tuned for more progress - esCarpade is now less than four months away... Damian probably needs to put in a little more effort right about now!

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Freshen Up - Test Painting

Some of the custom paint has started to flake off, so Damian thought a test removal of some of it was in order, so that a freshen up of the paintwork could be done...

The spoiler had very flaky clear paint that was sprayed over, and a lot was now unreadable...

Through the magic of the interwebs, sanding and undercoating was done...

And the next day, a top coat was thrown on.

Not perfect, but perfectly acceptable to freshen up the base ready for some more theming!

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Cruising the Coast - 31st Corvette Nationals Qld 2019

The first fundraiser for 2019 had rolled around, so it was time for Damian to grab Retro Rock-It and head down the Gold Coast for the Cruising the Coast - 31st Corvette Nationals. 

One of these things looks fresh and ready... the other is Damian.

At least the sun was coming up...

Looking good from the back...

And from the front...

These clouds didn't look as though they were a good thing... Damian noted that usually heading down to the Corvettes on the Coast concourse (September/October each year), he would see several Corvettes on the way down there...  He saw none today.  Would everyone be scared off by the weather?

Arriving at the event, Damian was already feeling welcome!

Set up, with the sun shining on the Camp Quality banner and Retro Rock-It...

Corvettes starting to line up...

This entrant had driven across from Western Australia to attend...  638 HP... yep, that's the power of this beast!!  Reportedly, 0 to 100 km/hr in 3.7 seconds!!

Damian's wife Tricia put in an order for this one...  Sadly (or luckily for Damian) it was not for sale!

This fine specimen was roofless...  hopefully the rain would stay away!

The ladies were having a high tea... the tables were all set.

Bonnets up, it was time for judging to begin!

And then the heavens opened up... 

Damian liked the colour of this car - it looks black in the photo, but it was a very nice deep burgundy type colour.

High tea...

Some of the Queensland Corvette Club ladies with the rural firies mascot...

The band Chevy Express played a mix of old-school hits...

And the rain set in again, when Elvis (impersonator, clearly) took the stage... and it didn't let up this time!

The event was called off an hour early, and everyone filed out... most entrants were staying on the Gold Coast and had a gala event to go to... Damian was going home.

Retro Rock-It looked very happy to be safely back in the shed...  The rain teemed down for most of the trip home, with the most interesting part just before Damian arrived home - a large puddle of water across the road to splash through.  Of course, that's the one thing that the dashcam neglected to record... <sigh>

Damian wandered around the event shaking the donation tin, and at the end of the day, had amassed the awesome amount of $143.55.  Thanks to the entrants who dug deep...  Fundraising is officially underway!!

Edit...  donation amount adjusted as Damian can't add up, and one of the "5c pieces" was a US dime.

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Headlights - not just an optional extra!!

With the first fundraising event for 2019 rapidly approaching, Damian suddenly remembered that he had driven home from the 2018 esCarpade with headlights that weren't playing as nicely as they could, and since then, had decided that low beam was completely out of the question!

In case the fundraising event (the 2019 Corvettes on the Coast National Concourse) ran into the evening, Damian thought that investigating the headlights was probably a good option... you know, in case it was dark on the way home!

But first... a quick jumpstart from the D-max!

Hmmmm… this plug looks a little munted… Damian's pretty sure they aren't meant to be a melted mess like this!  The bulb attached to this was somewhat worse for wear, so whether the bulb had shorted causing the melting or whether the plug had melted overheating the bulb, either way it was all bad!

Of course, with no way to get to the plug successfully without removing the headlights, it was time to embark on that journey, with a little help from Google...  People said removing the front bumper would help - that wasn't an option here, so Damian figured he'd just give it a crack and see how it went...

Came out pretty easily, actually!  The general process was to remove the indicator (held in by a single screw then slid out), then undo the bolts to the headlight and faff about with it until it came out forwards, with a bit of sideways, downward, upward twisting action to get past the bumper!

Damian decided that rather than putting the slightly yellowed original headlights back in, he would take the opportunity to swap to the shiny new headlights that came as spares when he bought the car...  One problem - they are a different shape, and because the bonnet hugs the edge of the headlight glass, the new ones couldn't be used!!  (Damian suspects they are from an EF Falcon rather than an EF Fairmont)…

Option 2... replacing the plug in the back of the headlight...  Easy peasy when it's sitting on the floor!

Next stop, the passenger headlight... even though its plug wasn't as bad, Damian figured why replace one when you can replace both at the same time!

And back together again ready to test...

Voila!!  Even the light bar was working again (now that the headlight plug wasn't shorting out, which Damian suspects was why the light bar would switch on with high beam then stay on - good thing it's wired in correctly with an isolator button to switch it off regardless)!

First job out of the way, and with the starting line (and finishing line) so far away this year, headlights are definitely going to be required at some point!

Stay tuned for all the pics from the first fundraising event for 2019 - Corvettes on the Coast National Concourse, Saturday 20 April 2019 at the Southport Broadwater Parklands... drop by and say g'day!

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