finally I get to post.

It looks like we have a 3 pipe problem….

These are not the words you want to hear at the end of the day, F would always pull in with a shopping list of problems to fix, fortunately we have had humor and some very bad German and Mexican accents, and of course The Gents pipe pointing skills to keep us going, its amazing how having a few pipes around can solve any problem.

To get her to the finish line, we replaced:

1x Ignition coil, 2x Distributors (thank you to David Hinton at team Predator for the loan of a new dizzy), fuel pump, fuel filter, alternator, fan belt, battery, 7x spark plugs, 1x ht lead, 1 distributor cap, cam cover gaskets, timing chain cover gasket, earth lead, steering column top bush, steering wheel, window nets, 2x tyres, heater control valve, 1 carb re build, 3 sets of brake pads, 2 front 1 rear,11 liters of engine oil (most of which is now on the roads of Mexico), 9 liters of coolant and a fair bit of my blood.

The Jag has held up remarkably well,(well done Derek and the Watjag team) as has the service team, Top Shelf Tony, El Guapo, Jim the Gent, and of course myself, the man in the white overalls, unfortunately, the same cannot be said for our hired support car, the first Surburban had to be replaced after 16 hours of driving, with lots of problems including brake failure, the second car looks like it spent the first few years of its life on the streets of Baghdad, but the nice people at Chevrolet Guanajuato, fixed us up and didn’t charge us either… Spirit of La Carrera. The car problem hasn’t been helped by the remarkable driving skills of El Guapo, now knows as smasher Novak, hitting 6 curb stones, then backing into a taxi in one afternoon.

ODD555 is now slowly wearing away; the old girl has worn bushes and joints, and oil seeping from the engine and rear diff. She is in constant need of gentle fettling and attention, but every morning we spend a few hours together and share a bottle of water as the sun comes up, I check her over, nip up her nuts, and she fires up and runs like a dream, living to fight another day.

I had never imagined this would be so tough, and in the first few days thought that we were never going to make it through, battling with constant breakdowns and rough running problems, then I look to other teams running huge support teams, and they are virtually re building their cars every night, with transmitions, brake calipers and even engines, then I look to our old girl, and she is still looking good and driving fairly well, all be it with a few 'modifications' we have made along the way, this really has been a journey laced with blood sweat and tears.