The fourth day of the Hardass 1000 was the second major drive day, Harry Haig and
Ryan Ford taking us on another killer pub run as we skirted the border of NSW and
VIC.

Leaving Yarrawonga, the first stop was the quaint Chrystie’s Museum, just out of
Mulwala. Filled with plenty of unique cars and automotive antiques, it was a great
place to start the day.

It wasn’t long until we hit the first watering hole, all 130+ entrants piling outside the
Blighty Pub on the Riverina Highway. One of the coolest aspects of the Hardass is all
the entrants travel within an hour or so of each other, so each checkpoint is packed
with wicked metal.

The last round of stops took us through Tocumwal to The Depot Automotive Museum
in Deniliquin. If you’re ever in the area, we highly recommend checking it out. A
stunning collection of cars and trinkets, placed in ripper building.

Harry jigged the route to detour through Echuca for those who need E85, before
heading south to Heathcote Park Raceway. Check out the gallery below for more pix!

Johnny K to the rescue!

Being the fourth day, it wasn’t without its casualties. Bruce Howie limped the
wounded gearbox in his ute to the stop at Blighty, but threw in the towel there. They
loaded it up on John Kerr’s epic toy hauler, but he reckons he’ll be back at Heathcote on
Friday to send it till it pops.

Troubled Lola

Brodie Villis’ little KE55 Corolla debuted a refreshed Nissan CA18 turbo combo this
week, but sadly he found big trouble with it at Wilby. After misfiring problems, a
borrowed borescope revealed a split bore in one of the cylinders.

To top that off, his turbo also gave it up on the road today. He shoved an air filter onthe front of the Plazmaman intake to get it down to Heathcote.

Don’t tempt fate

AJ John was musing about how he was amazed the Ford 8.8 diff in his ’51 Chevy
gasser was still alive earlier in the week, but today it finally decided to submit to his
pessimism. Luckily the community rallied to find him a spare, so we expect to see
him rowing gears at Heathcote.

Florence is a machine

Corty Haig is using Harry’s LS-swapped HG wagon affectionately dubbed Florence
this week, which has had it’s fair share of dramas. A cracked rim on the way to Wilby
required some new front runners, and then a brand new fuel pump gave it up in
Deni.

Oh, the Payne!

Darryl Payne’s XE Falcon was absent at Wilby, with a suspect gearbox issue. Once
up on the hoist he found it was just a broken selector shaft, and has fixed it and
plans to return for a crack at Heathcote on Friday.

With the drive days now done, we’re racing for sheep stations at Heathcote on
Friday and Saturday. If you’re in the area, make sure you swing past and check it
out! In the meantime, check out the vid here: