S***tbox 2016 – Streaky Bay to Broken Hill

Another town, another friendly mechanic more than happy to help out for a good cause – the S***box Rally and Cancer Council.

Pete and Paul are in Broken Hill tonight and first stop was McClure’s Vehicle Maintenance to see a guy named Lachie. Fellow S***tbox Rally entrant Corey McAllister had given Pete Lachie’s phone number and address through that very annoying and just as useful social medium Facebook, and he’s just as nice and helpful a bloke as Corey promised he would be.

Yesterday afternoon, while fixing the fuel leak at Streaky Bay, the boys noticed an oil leak from the left hang rear axle seal, which needed to be fixed before the rally. Henry also had a slight weep from the diff oil filler- a dodgy soft plastic grommet that had gone hard and shrunk, and would likely fall to pieces if anyone went near it to try and refill the diff.



On the approach to Port Augusta Paul got on the phone and tracked down a new axle bearing kit for Henry for Henry at the local Autopro shop. At the pub last night Pete tried the Internet to find a Ford dealer in Port Augusta, and the only search result was a Ford dealer, which was permanently closed.

Once at Port Augusta Paul’s knowledge of all things cars kicked in and he remembered that a VN Commodore with a live rear axle has the same diff, hence the same filler plug! There was a Holden dealer next door to the Autopro shop so Pail went in and came out with a brand new filler plug.

After a fuel top up Paul took over driving and Pete got on the phone to Lachie. Lachie said he would wait at the workshop until the boys arrived, and once the car was in the workshop and up on the hoist the actual job took just a half hour.



Anyone travelling through Broken Hill call in and see Lachie at McClures Vehicle Maintenance, very helpful and super friendly. He's at 423 Blende Street and the number is (08) 8088 7666. Country towns are great and the people that run the local businesses are just awesome.

Click here for more information on the S***box Rally and here to see Pete and Kris’s rally preparation. To help in the fight against cancer click here and then click on the Give Now button. It all helps.