Tues Sept 20th
Rigged up A-bar of sledge as gantry & covered complete rear half of Keg & gantry with large tarpaulin. Had engine out by 20.00 hrs & located big-end trouble
by 22.00. Quite reasonable working under tarp with heater on & Tilley lamp. Far easier than I had thought.
No.4 Keg’s big-ends all showed signs of overheating a little with No.1 hammered out. Fortunately No.1 journal only slightly scored,
& max wear after smoothing with fine emery paper was .003"th with .002"th overall. I replaced all big-end shells & checked two centre mains up to the present.
Wed Sept 21st
The amount of oil in sump when filled to the full mark on dip stick seems inadequate to me & I intend to put more in.
When Stu drove me back from base with the spares he commented on drop in oil pressure when hot. I thought perhaps if the bonnet
was removed more air could cool the sump oil. We did this & the pressure increased by 15lbs/sq"! This could possibly be the cause of No.4 big end failure.
Tony & myself now sleep in a tent. Far more room & more comfortable. I fell out of the top bunk in the Keg! The tents are jolly cosy.
Only my face gets cold about 4.00 in the morning but my feet and body remain warm.
Thurs Sept 22nd
A good blizzard blew all night & all day, about 40 knots I would say, causing 2 to 3 ft drifts with large wind scoops.
The engine, part dismantled under the tarpaulin! Everything in fact was covered with 1 ft of snow with snow drift up to Keg platform.
I took all morning closing the larger holes around tarp with snow & more rope in an attempt to stop snow blowing in
& then cleared snow off engine & tools & engine parts, being careful not to sweep away vital parts & tools.
Of course I had cab heater on & Tilley & Primus & 2 blow lamps-going. We sleep & live in 2 man tent its much cosier & more room
but it creaks & flaps about & I’m not quite sure when it will blow away, but Tony assures me it's as safe as houses. He should know.
I checked No.1 Main; it was sound. Boxed all up & refitted engine into place & connected mountings.
Fri Sept 23rd
Brilliant calm day. Almost an Antarctic summer's day.
Started Keg after Rad & winch, replaced tarp & A-bar removed. Stu, Tony & Speedy all busy digging out sledges & Keg No.5 & loading boxes,
all ready for moving when No.4 is run in a bit. Oil pressure 25lbs/sq". Had thought it would be higher. Changed relief spring & also packed spring out
but still only 25lbs/sq" on electric gauge which I think little of.
Sat Sept 24th Flag 29
Early start this morning, but had to wait until 12.00 hrs before actually moving. A lot of time spent on retying loads.
The going was rather slow as I was nursing No.4. Stu broke open a large hole by the dunnage stake at Flag 23.
A very slow haul up Bob-Pi slope. After Bob-Pi, progress was rather slow & enormous crevasses were encountered.
Stu seemed rather worried but arrived at Flag 29.
Sun Sept 25th Flag ARO716
Left 29 at 08.20 & reached Depot 36 at 11.30 thence dumped all items for Theron trip. Six drums of fuel were dropped off No.4.
Dick fixed speedo & No.4 left at 12.30 with Bob & Bill leaving a little tidying up for Stu & Speedy.
No.4 made good progress until 15.30 when big end went again. In short time everything was arranged for removal of engine.
No.5 arrived & after setting up tarpaulin, Speedy, Bob & Bill & Tony set out for Depot 80 to take Bob & Bill to their
area of work obbing & manhauling glacier stakes.
I soon had engine out. Weather was not too bad.
Mon Sept 26th
Ready to remove crank-shaft.
Heater in Keg 4 dismantled.
Tues Sept 27th
Fitted new crank-shaft
New No.1 con-rod
All new main bearings but for No.1 con-rod which had the best old original big-end shells fitted as no more spares here.
All other con-rods retained their bearings which had only had a few hours' running & were in Very Good condition.
Tony & Speedy returned after taking Bob & Bill around and taking advantage of breakdown stayed longer to help Bob & Bill reduce their manhauling trips by laying a few dumps more than intended. Worked Keg engine till 1AM.
Wed Sept 28th
Had to attend to Keg 5 dynamo which stopped charging. This I thought to be priority as it must be kept going at all cost. Stu & Speedy found great difficulty in removing dynamo which I must admit is rather difficult. There was oil on brushes which were sticking & cut out was sluggish to close.
I worked on till 11pm.
Thurs Sept 29th Flag ARO714
Started work at 9 AM. Tony cooked bacon & with rolls, was jolly good.
Sat Oct 1st Flag ARO744
Start in mank; viz very poor.