AKL - Waikato - BOP run Sunday 4th February

[mickeyduck]

Looks like it might be just Michael and myself again like our last trip to Tauranga...

Ah well.

I'm not going to get to BP until about 9:30am.

Won't be in a rush on this trip either as it looks like the roads might be somewhat damp...

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... d=11987676

Screen Shot 2018-02-04 at 8.42.03 am.png (616.07 KiB) Viewed 1690 times

[mknz]

Was the longest run to a parts store I've ever done Thanks for otherwise good time guys and obviously to Steven for letting me ride shotgun. The roads are still fun and it looks like they've improved the bit of the road that just used to not exist.

[mickeyduck]

...it looks like they've improved the bit of the road that just used to not exist.

Until you get to Brookby Rd / Alfriston Rd near Ardmore on the way home, at which point it seems they have done the exact opposite!

[mknz]

I realised we didn't say what happened

Mike P brought his MR-S, Charlie his T-top AW with Isaac (hope I spelt that right) , Steven his gen 4 swapped SW, and I brought my AW.

We headed out but not too far in a huge truck went barreling past us and a bright yellow hard hat wacked, nothing broken but it must have gone flying because Charlie couldn't see it when he took a photo of a tree?

Had a blast with no traffic and then we hit a little highway just 10 minutes below Matamata and about 30 minutes from Tauranga.

I looked behind me to find steam coming out the back. We tried to get it back on the road, we got the belts and coolant but we needed Charlie's special tool. Luckily the people I broke down outside of let me keep it there for a couple of days. By the time this all happened we were way too late to catch up with Ross and co. Sorry, we tried.

Mike had to be back so he took the fast way. The rest of us headed back up.

Started bucketing down and we did the fast T-top installs ever with both cars doing it like a pit crew only for the weather to clear out.

[mickeyduck]

Thanks for posting Michael.

Yep we had a nice blat there and back. Well, almost there and back... Never did quite get there did we? No BBQ or visit to MegaSquirt for us lot, no siree...

But you know what? I for one had a bit of fun on the day regardless. Still got to enjoy some great company and some great roads behind the wheel of a great car. And for that much I am grateful.

Enjoyed the blat down as the weather was fining up and by the time we were half way there we were getting fried. As Michael described he and I had a bit of fun with a yellow hard hat that flew off a truck going the other way through the twisties. I'm just glad it wasn't the load that the driver had forgotten to secure! Just the hard hat. Phew.

And just near where that happened we went past a tree that had been smashed about a metre above ground level. I'm picking some twat had gone through there at pace in the dark (and wet?) and mis-read the reflectorised markers, gone straight ahead and airborne instead of going to the left. Judging by the state of the tree I don't even want to think about the state of the car or driver...

Anyway we had a decent blat, until just shy of the Kaimais Michael's AW shredded its supercharger belt. Which also happens to drive the water pump...

As he said we went back to the nearest town and scored some new belts and some anti-freeze, but in the end we found we had no way to loosen the nut that locks the tensioner pulley. I made a special tool just for that once but sadly it was at home in my toolbox.

So we missed the BBQ, never caught up with the BOP crew and never got to MegaSquirt.

In the end we were fortunate to have the farmer let us park Michael's car in their place for safe-keeping, so we trundled back home. As I had predicted earlier by way of the met service's online forecast, it totally poured down just after 4pm when we were on our way home. You can see that epic pit-stop effort of Michael and Steve's putting on the lids in the middle of the first wee video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTWxG2pihHA



So much for Sunday. But thanks for coming everyone. Good to see you guys as always!
A very special "thanks" to MikeP, Wardy and Isaac for their help and patience while we tried to get the old girl going again (to no avail). Hats off to yas, fellas.

Tuesday (Waitangi Day) I picked up Michael and we set off back down yonder to go get his AW. This time with the necessary tool... We had a brilliant drive there and back as the weather and the roads were AWesome. This time, after fixing Michael's AW we managed to get over the Kaimai ranges to Jim and Danusia's place just out of Tauranga where we were treated to a lovely lunch and once again some of the best company you can muster. Lovely place and a mint view from their deck where we had lunch!

Here's another vid, this time from Tuesday's mission. You can get a good idea of the back roads I take. Not a lot of traffic, but a LOT of fun. Turn down the volume if you don't like the music. Or just chuckle at the lyrics like I do...

https://youtu.be/0spk0Q5EdGs



I'm happy to say that Michael's AW got a hiding the whole way home without so much as a burble or a cough, thereby proving it had survived its ordeal without head gasket damage. Good stuff!

And I still haven't actually made it to Tauranga in about 30 years. Might have to pay some fine friends a visit some time after Isaac's AW is operational.