Sailing

After a successful morning getting my vehicle back in order, we took the partners 37' yatch out to the sea. The pacific seacraft 37 is fully fitted with sophisticated marine electronics on a classic well built boat. The trimmings were made out of the best teak wood from burma with cleats and wondows made specially by factories in New zealand with top of othe line rigging equipments. Pangaea as she was fondly named can host up to 8 people comfortably with a spacious cabin that boasts the full amenity of a small studio apartment.

I reckon it was much more complicated than sailing my model boat on the lake but when I took the helm..I felt the tommy hilfiger moment with that distinctive stars and stripe in the background..haha.

The missing bolt

A partner in my firm offered to assist me in fixing mamba so I drove her to his place in Laguna beach. We took the wheel apart to inspect the calipers. While I was anticipating a complete brake system overhaul, within 5 mins it became obvious that one of the two bolts securing the calipers to the main body was missing.

This caused the calipers to have some play and binding the rotors when the wheels moved backwards. Easy to fix? Maybe...but it took us 2 hrs to find the right bolt. The Germans and their damn wierd metric bolts with abnormal threadings. Finally, I put some threadlock on the bolt and screwed it back and MAMBA is alive again!! I was so elated that I wanted to drive back home in reverse. I spent a couple of minutes talking / consoling her when I got back. Old age is catching up with her.

Temperamental Mambamobile

All good things must come to an end and likewise my holiday was over. I got back to the OC after being on the plane for an eternity as it seemed like. My plane landed and to beat the jet lag, I called my soccer kakis at USC and decided to drive down 40 miles to play soccer immediately. Mamba started like a charm on the first twist of the ignition key with a roar. After about 45 mins I got to USC and as I tried to parallel park the beast..I realised something was amiss.

As I engaged the reverse gear, the car refused to move. I felt the power transmitted to the rear axle but the car refused to bulge. I stepped on the gas heavily and the car dragged itself slowly backwards. I had no time to think about it as I had more pressing issues...to kick the football with my new pair of Adidas.

I returned back to the car after an exhausting session of soccer wondering if I would make it back home to the OC. I did have to get up at 5am the following day to catch the first flight to Puerto Rico, a 12-hr journey. The car started making thumping noises as I put it to forward gear. The noise seemed to disappear once I hit past 50mph. I drove non-stop at 80mph and reached home. I forced the car in the reverse gear and dragged to its parking lot.

When I got out, I noticed severe skid marks with thick traces of rubber from my brand new tires on the tarmac from the front left tire. As I thought about the problem and emailed Joule for some advice, it became apparent what the problem might be.

There are usually two brake calipers for each wheel for a disc brake system. I believe one works effectively for braking forward movements and the other for backward movements. The caliper must have been stuck into a engage position as I left the car in "parking" position for two weeks. Mamba must have felt neglected from my affections. I hope it is not a case of a faulty caliper pistion like Joule diagnosed. I intend to take the brake apart and clean it and hopefully mamba will be satisfied.

So...I emailed my colleagues for help and if someone could loan me their spare car. My fellow agents are seldom at home so the odds are pretty good. I have recived three offers so far... Old range rover, Toyota corolla, MG mini...I responded to the first good samaritan (haha..more like the car I liked the best). So..I might be driving my friend's mini for the weekend while I try to get mamba back to action.