Alaskossie's Big Adventure

[scannon]

Tom got on his way Tuesday morning headed for Los Angeles. I've not heard from him since he left. Anyone who does, please post progress reports on this thread.

 

He agreed to phone in from time to time with updates which I will post here.

 

Here are a couple of pre-departure pictures.

 

1. Tom loading the car.

2. Ready to roll

3. Mother Duck & some of her offspring had to take a test drive before letting him leave.

Edited August 12, 2010 by scannon

[Mondo]

Nice set up! Should be fun

[snookwheel]

That will be a great trip. Some day......

[11Budlite]

What a great adventure, good luck Tom!

 

That's quite a setup for holding luggage around the spare tire. It'd be nice to see some more detailed photo's at some point.

[GBOLT]

Have a safe trip. Anyone know how long it might take him?

[supersportsp]

Now we know why this thing weighs soo much.

[Dave W]

Love the DUCK, When he is driving are you straped to the rear rack?

Dave W

[solder_guy]

It's been three days .. I hope he's having a great time ..

 

Rob

[scannon]

It's been three days .. I hope he's having a great time ..

 

Rob

He is scheduled to be in Monterrey by now but I've heard nothing from him. Has anyone in California seen or heard from him?

[BMW RACER]

I wonder where and when he's going to be in Los Angeles?

[slomove]

No, have not heard from Tom. I suspect he may have skipped LA since he was a bit late anyway.

 

I arrived at the Motel in Hollister meanwhile but nobody else here yet. I suspect they still hang out in Monterey or Carmel somewhere.

 

 

Gert

 

Update: Tom is here and so are John and Ed.

Edited August 14, 2010 by slomove

[JohnCh]

Tom made it to Hollister without incident. Car is working and looking great and is ready to head out to the races in the morning.

 

Here are a few photos to show you what you are missing. I'll try to post some se7en content tomorrow.

 

 

http://john15.web.officelive.com/Documents/bug.jpg

 

http://john15.web.officelive.com/Documents/f40s.jpg

 

http://john15.web.officelive.com/Documents/elite.jpg

 

 

http://john15.web.officelive.com/Documents/xj13.jpg

 

-John

[rnr]

Unfortunately Toms car developed a bad wheel bearing this morning rendering it undriveable. Caterham USA is overnighting the parts to him and Rob Dietsch at Dietschwerks should be be able to do the replacement on Monday.

[slomove]

I just called Tom to see how things are going. He said he should be back on the road within an hour to catch up with John and Ed who are already on their way up north. Apparently and for unknown reasons, the rear bearings ground themselves up completely within the short 3000 miles. Maybe bad bearings or incorrectly tightened? I hope he has extended warranty :toetap05:

 

After all, I guess he is quadruple lucky.

- He did not lose a wheel at high speed on the freeway or next to a cliff on some curvy mountain road.

- The problem was detected with lots of help around and good racing infrastructure and not in the middle of the desert.

- He got a hold of the spare parts on a Saturday and got it shipped to arrive Monday morning.

- He found a specialty shop to install all that the same day.

 

That should account for smooth sailing for the rest of the trip.

 

 

Gert

[Alaskossie]

Saturday morning in Hollister, heading foer a Golden Gate Lotus Club breakfast in Salinas before the Laguna Seca Races, my Executive Superlight began lurching from side to side, like from ruts in the road, but only at the rear. At the Ihop restaurant, we jacked up the rear of the cart and found that the right rear wheel moved from top to bottom or from side to side about 3/4 inch -- not good, and undriveable. Lucky I didn't lose a wheel on the way to the restaurant on the freeway at 75 mph -- only the brake caliper and pads were holding it on.

 

We left the car at Ihop and went to the races -- first priority, of course. Leaving the restaurant, we all pulled out, unaware that Gert's starter suddenly didn't work, and we unwittingly left him behind; he got a push from a pancake patron, and re-joined us.

 

With good advice from Rahul and the California Lotus folks, I arranged to have my car flatbedded Saturday evening 65 miles to Rob Dietsch's Lotus Shop in Santa Clara. Rob met me there and put the car safely in his garage. I ordered repalcement rear bearings and housings (both sides) and right brake disk and pads for both sides from Ben at RMSC (I luckily reached him

Saturday morning), and he overnighted the parts by UPS, and they arrived in Hollister by 10 am this morning, and I drove them in a rental car to Rob in Santa Clara, and he dropped what he was doing and got right to work, finishing up at about 4:30 this afternoon.

 

I hope to re-join Ed and John late tonight up the CA coast, on the Pacific Coast Hwy, at our planned first night's stop on the Seven Tour.

 

While I regret not being able to park the ESL in the Lotus Corral at Laguna Seca, at least the car is healthy and on the road once more. This would not have been possible without Rahul's good advice, and the willingness of Rob Dietch to tackle the repairs right away. Rob is a genuine good guy -- explained in part by the fact that he is a Boulder, CO native.

 

Anyway, all's well that ends well (or at least continues well, at this point).

 

More later.....

 

Alaskossie

[solder_guy]

Good to hear from you and that the shake down cruise is working out ..

 

Were these bad bearings new parts???

 

Rob

[yellowss7]

Tom, might be time for more carbon to get the weight down on that "executive Superlight" :rofl::rofl::rofl:

 

 

Hope the trip North is a smooth and issue free one. Just be sure to go under any Moose that are in the road.

 

Tom

[rnr]

Glad you were able to leave without losing too much time. I did get this shot of both our cars in DietschWerks on Sunday

 

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4075/4901010167_e49849994c.jpg

[slomove]

Hello Tom, I sent you a PM

[scannon]

I talked to Tom this evening, he is in Washington state but I cannot remember the city. One more day to go on the tour before he sets off solo for Alaska.

 

The car is running fine now that the wheel bearing issue has been fixed. Apparently there was a batch of bad wheel bearings and he has replaced both of them. He had good things to say about Rob Dietch and his willingness to go out of his way to get Tom's car repaired and on it's way again.

 

He did have another problem, he got severely dehydrated from the California heat and passed out twice. EMTs were called and took him to an emergency room where they gave him 3 bags of IV fluids and released him after 5 hours. He felt unwell for half of the next day but said he perked up in the afternoon.

 

He had a lot of good things to say about the roads they have been driving, very twisty with minimal traffic, smooth pavement and almost no law enforcement.