Ginas' Break Down Broken Down

yes, you've guessed it ... Le Mans 2005


As you can see, it was awfully difficult not to get too stressed while waiting for the breakdown truck.
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breakdown truck arrived within half an hour
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"not funny"
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said goodbye to the lads just before Rouen, on the sunday afternoon. I stayed overnight in Honfleur, as I was due to collect Gina the following afternoon. Nice Spot.
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Returned the hire car (10 seater) aprox one hour early ... they said the breakdown man would call and collect me and the luggage ... i did not need a taxi.
We loaded gina and as we were early, we called at the truck mans' home for tea and sandwiches (very nice man) ... his two boys wanted their pic taken with gina.
Met a nice girl on the motorway and arrived in good time at calais.
The AA had arranged everything ... tow truck, hire car, return trip, ferry reschedule, truck from dover port ... they were fantastic - credit due.
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took the water pump off next morning ... ordered new one via mike @ superformance (top man) .... arrived next morning, fitted, tested and away home the same evening ... arrived IOM thurs evening.
Took siezed pump to bits @ weekend and discovered that just one bearing had busted (£3:50).
All's well that ends well.
DON'T FORGET YOUR EUROPEAN BREAKDOWN INSURANCE !!!!!
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Nightmare but glad things worked out for you!

 

Great write up Dave - glad to see she's back up and running correctly.

Rick

 

Dave thx for the pics and good read m8, sorry that Gina didnt make the whole trip. However its good to see that the AA can do a proper European recovery......I was not so lucky on a few occasions m8

 

Glad to see you have her all back in working order

Mine lasted the Le Mans trip and I was extatic with how well she drove there and back. I had LOADS of fun. Unfortunately though, the next weekend en route to Ferrari days in Spa, the fun caught up with me and on the way, near Bruges, 2 of my manifolds sheered. I do suspect chasing down a DB9 with Izza and Charlie the week before might have had some contribution. I was maxed into the red line in 5th and she could still pull some more ! We suspect the DB9 must have been well into th 190s !!!

Anyway, I Ttied to fix them in Gent but as they were the ones between the engine and the cabin we did not have time. Car is being shipped back now and ETA is 12th July. My girlfirend and I carried on in a Smart for a fantastic weekend though.

 

Agree totally, must have been a bit of a nightmare but you obviously coped really well! We stopped off at Berke sur plage on sunday night, great place and fantastic beach. Also took out AA 5 star, just in case, £65 well worth it!

 

Far from a nightmare Ad:
i) i didn't allow Gina to overheat, therefore no major damage.
ii) i arrived at the campsite only 45 mins after the boys, who had kindly seen to my erection by the time i landed.
iii) we thereafter had a communal minibus/shopping trolley.
iv) i was blessed with a ride around the course in both a red 348 and an orange murcielago.(thanks again, dave and simon)
v) the girls all thought i was one of those great french lovers.
vi) we were able to take short cuts along great lengths of footpath without getting booked.
vii) not one speeding/parking ticket.
viii) had air con.
ix) had a great evening/morning in Honfleur.
x) fell in love with "Karen" in Honfleur.
xi) fell in love with the girl in the car hire spot.

I remember Marky355 and i in the queue at the supermarket ... one little laddie was telling his daddy that we both had a "dancing horse" on our (fchat) t shirts ... we corrected him by saying it was a "prancing horse" ... this opened the gates for quite a few ferrari related comments as we endured the check out queue.
We thought we had escaped outside, until we heard this young voice, whilst we were loading up the renault .... "That's not a bl**dy ferrari, dad !"

On reflection, quite an adventure really ... hopefully Gina will make it next year.
cheers, d

Ps ….always remember - “When you’re chewin on lifes’ gristle, don’t worry, give a whistle ….. “

 

glad to see all's ok with the car now dave,lucky for you m8 your water pump's not cam belt driven,and a lot of ferrari's are,the engine damage would have been horrific if cam belt drive to pump was the case,i'll change my pump on belt service regardless of cost but thats just because its timing belt driven and cheaper than a engine,nice post dave and i think it's gona rain here and want to get the car out :-(

 

hey dale you got to use the car to wear things out between you and fergy that car will want painting soon with all the times it has been dusted and polished the paint will wear out it will be a grey primer colour soon

 

Hi steve wonder'd why it had changed colour,im down to the primer

 

Probably just bearings and seals would do the job, dale.
The new pump is not so well made as the original, and has a plastic impeller.
I shall refurb the original pump and return her i think.
I will then keep the "new" one as a spare.
Hope you're enjoying the new baby.
cheers, d

 

Cheer's Dave lovin the 348 m8 its great,its harder work watching the weather than cleaning it

 

Dave glad its all sorted without too much trauma but don't talk to me about 'Lifes Gristle' cos thats all Ive had to eat this week

 

Top post , D

 

Glad you still managed to have a good time.

I liked the pics, except the first, which could be NWS...lol

 

Speaking of truck and waiting, last month the truck hire that I had paid really peed me off because of a very slow service...

 

Wow, this is a blast from the past. I was on this trip to Le Mans with Dave and the boys. Reminds me of the good old days where web forums were enjoyable !

Anyone heard from Dave recently, top guy !