Stereo Installation

Three weeks until the start of esCarpade 2017, so Damian thought that a stereo capable of playing MP3's was in order, so that the boys don't have to keep changing CD's all the time...

Old stereo, ready for removal...

Getting close...

Damian was hoping that the old stereo would have an adapter plug, so he could simply buy a new adapter for his new stereo...  alas, they were cut and rejoined rather than using an adapter plug... Of course!!

New stereo, all wires joined... powers up, says it's playing a CD, but no noise from the speakers... not even a crackle...

After literally hours of checking, double checking, fishing around under the dash, checking fuses, wiring, everything, Damian looked under the rear parcel shelf and found a speaker with a broken connection - the speaker wires were hitting the metal.  The stereo manual says that if this happens, no noise will emit from the stereo.  After putting a bit of tape over the wires, hey presto, the stereo started working!!  *sigh*

When going to put the surround back in, Damian noticed that the UHF coax had detached from the end...  yet another thing to fix!!

After fixing it, the stereo and surround were reinstalled...  Looking the goods!!

With the stereo now working, looks like Damian will need to replace the rear speakers to ensure it continues to do so!!

Heaps of time...  *rolleyes*

Read More

Sponsor Stickers and Front Windscreen Number

A big welcome back to Aussie Jumping Castles, who have come onboard as a major sponsor of Retro Rock-It, after previously sponsoring Booger Mobile.  If you are in the market to hire a jumping castle or other party device, give Steve a call, or visit them here:  http://www.aussiejumpingcastles.com/

Lots of white on this big, square sticker... maybe some trimming will make an interesting shape?

Not bad, not bad...

Damian forgot to take a photo of the trimmed phone number, but luckily he remembered to take a photo of the 64 before butchering it!!

There it is!!

Front windscreen was a little dirty, but after a clean, it would be ready for the number to be applied...

Perfect!!

And a nice, clean door, ready for the Aussie Jumping Castles sticker...

Impressive!!

And where to put the phone number?  Rather than over the bumpy panel below the main sticker, which would have made the number difficult to read, Damian decided (after consulting with his lovely wife) that under the door handle was the place to go!!

Another empty panel...  Damian probably needs to do something about that scratch at some point...

And on goes "The Mole, by Aus Minecraft" sticker.  Aus Minecraft produce a specialty mining vehicle - check it out here:  https://www.ausminecraft.com.au/ 

Fraser from Aus Minecraft also provides Damian with Safety Certificate services and safety checks for Retro Rock-It to meet esCarpade requirements.

With a couple of sizeable donations in the past day or so, the boys have now exceeded their minimum fundraising amount of $5000, and are now on their way towards their goal of raising over $10000!!

The current fundraising total (as at 10:30pm on Monday 25 September 2017) is...

 

$7186.25

A top effort considering the boys are yet to replace their major fundraising event (Soundwave) with another similar sized event...

Thanks to all the wonderful sponsors and individuals who have made donations!!

Read More

2017 Corvettes on the Coast

With Adam still away, it was up to Damian to take Retro Rock-It down to the annual Corvettes on the Coast car show at the Broadwater Parklands at Southport...

The day looked like it was going to be nice and sunny...

Fairly familiar looking shadow there!!

Plane coming in to land as Damian headed up the Gateway Bridge...

It's not every day you see Captain America on a motorcycle!!

Nearly there... the Gold Coast is in the distance...

Always time for a selfie!!

Past the athletes village for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games...  the road will be considerably busier when that's on!!

Upon arrival, Damian was greeted with a chorus of "Where's the green car??"  After explaining that Booger Mobile had been retired, and this year Damian would be taking Retro Rock-It on the esCarpade, people were still unconvinced...  Damian wondered whether he should have just persisted with the epic vehicle that is Booger Mobile, then he remembered the little luxuries like power steering and fuel economy, and was feeling marginally better again!

This year, Damian was parked on the opposite side of the path amongst the other hangers on...  Conveniently there was a tree that Damian could tie the Camp Quality banner to!!

Stare off between Retro Rock-It and a couple of Corvettes...

There was a live band this year... here they are doing a sound check...

As always, many trophies for a variety of categories, generally split into C1 to C7 (major versions of Corvettes), with each type split into original and modified...

There were some good under bonnet murals on display...

Not a bad turnout... there were 80 Corvettes, plus a variety of other vehicles...

Bob doing the MC duties as per usual...

Retro Rock-It looking cool...

A couple of drag cars on display... sadly the picture does not include the sound as they had a rev-off between themselves!!

Some of the non-Corvettes on display...

 

This spectacular vehicle is a pristine example of a 1956 C1 Corvette...  Much to the owner's disappointment, a seagull decided to use it for target practice during the day!!  Luckily it wasn't a pelican!!

Damian practicing his selfie skills, with Retro Rock-It in the background...

Relaxing and looking after the face-painter's table while she went for a short walk...

This was an interesting mix of older style Stingray, with a very large, new engine in it!!

Retro Rock-It stretching... Giggle peering through the driver's side window!!

The Gold Coast Meter Maids where walking around posing with the show cars, so why wouldn't they want to pose with Retro Rock-It!!

These Corvettes are in order from C1 to C7, for people to see the difference in a single line of cars!!

This car reminded Damian of Booger Mobile... the photo doesn't do it justice, but it was a very similar colour...

Damian had a good laugh at this number plate...  BOLOKS...

A rat rod Studebaker...

Honesty in a number plate?  A HOON...

The band playing beneath the American flag...

Of course, Damian and Retro Rock-It were guests of the Queensland Corvette Club Inc, who have been supporting Camp Quality for many, many years...

The band singing up a storm just before trophy presentations...

Elaine reading out the winners with the help of Bob...

Brad S picked up one of the trophies...

Heading home, Dmaian noticed that the numbers on the tripmeter had lined up...

Heading home...  there was some stop/start traffic earlier, but it cleared up to be a pretty good run back up the highway...

Heading up the Gateway Bridge on the way home...

A plane coming in to land... again!!

In the distance, something was on fire...  Damian would later learn that it was a large fire in a factory at Virginia...

After a successful day of fundraising at the Corvettes on the Coast event, Damian counted up the donations in his tin...  Bob's urging people in the Corvette Club to give generously obviously paid off, as at the end of the show, there was an impressive amount in the tin...

$153.25

An awesome day was had by all, with the weather remaining dry and hot...  Perfect conditions for a car show!!  Thanks again to the Queensland Corvette Club for inviting Damian to their annual concourse again... hopefully in time they will come to love Retro Rock-It as much as they loved Booger Mobile!!

Read More