On Sunday the 11 of July I had the opportunity to attend the Buggy Bash Day at Helidon (close to Toowoomba).  Although not entering or competing in my car, spectators were still welcome.

David, Tim and myself left the Gold Coast early in the morning and met up with some of the other participants at Gatton.  From here we all travelled together to the property where the Buggy Bash we to be held.  This property is basically a paddock on a farm that is owned by an off-road VW enthusiast.  He also has access to earthmoving equipment, so he had taken the opportunity to clear a track from the bush, as well as create a few banks and holes, just to make it more interesting!

There was a good selection of vehicles in attendance, everything from road registered Baja and Buggies to paddock bashers to full-on race Bajas.  After the initial walk around the track to explain the direction of travel and to point out potential problem areas, it was on!

One vehicle at a time was allowed on the track and they were timed - not for fastest time, but for consistancy.  The track was quite tight and rather bumpy so I felt that slow and steady was the way to go (especially if you had to drive your car home again after the event!)  There were a number of driving styles on display throughout the day!  The track was also fitted with an irrigation system, which allowed water to be sprayed onto the track from the dam.  This created a rather slippery surface to say the least!

To make things even more interesting, there was a large hole filled with muddy water in the middle of the track.  Called the Bathtub it was not necessary to drive through it, but most competitors did - making for some great photos and more than a few tows being required to get the cars back to the pits!  Dave and Tim did quite well throughout the day, being some of the most reliable vehilces on the track.  It was only toward the end of the day, when Dave offered to take one of the spectators around the track for a ride in his "reliable" Baja that he ran into problems.  Having dived into the Bathtub and climbed out the other side the engine quit!  He managed to wind it off the track with the starter (thankfully he still had the two batteries fitted to run the fridge whilst on his trip to Frazer Island), where he managed to diagnose a faulty rotor button.

At the end of the afternoon, with everyone covered in mud and wearing big smiles, a couple of trohies were handed out.  One for most consistant lap times, won by the daughter of the property owner in her bush basher, and a trophy for biggest effort, given to a young fellow who towed his mud buggy to the track, dispite the fact that he couldn't get it to start, then spent almost all day working on it along with many of the other participants, eventually getting it going and managing to complete a lap (although slowly).  A huge effort and a well deserved trophy!

At this point many of the participants headed for home, whilst Dave and Tim cranked up the irrigation system again and continued to play.  Tim filled one of the dug out sections of the track with water and then attempted to run around the track backwards, when he came across this water filled dug-out things went a little awry.  Unable to make the climb out of the hole Tims car slid back into the bottom of the dug-out, then engine then stalled with a good percentage of it under water.  Once towed out, it was dark so they decided to head back to the coast, however during the time that the engine had been partly submerged, muddy water had made its way past the oil slinger (behind the crank pully) and into the crankcase.  Although Dave suggested that they perform an oil change at the track, the lack of light made it a little tricky so Tim decided to drive the car to a well lit service station and perform the oil change there. By the time they made it to the Servo, the damage was done.  Although the engine did manage to get the car home under its own power, the smoke screen that it produced and the loud knocking noises coming from inside inticated that it was not going to be much more use to anyone.  Tims car has now been fitted with a 2 litre Type IV engine with an upright cooling system and by all reports it 100% better than it has ever been!

Thanks to all the organisers for inviting us. I had a blast even though I didn't drive around the track. Check out the pics below. There are also a couple of videos of Dave and Tim crossing the Bathtub (sorry about the quality but they were taken with my digital still camera)

Dave Crossing The Bathtub (avi)

Tim Crossing the Bathtub (avi)

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