Grant Hodgson to L/A

Post by **Gordon Hayes** » Mon May 24, 2004 2:51 am

Hi All.

Our budget replica now in Los Angeles has developed an engine issue we believe this issue is a result of its years the engine spent dormant in Australia.

To correct this issue we plan to fly Grant Hodgson across to Los Angeles for 2 weeks to enable him to correct the fault.

The correction work will take Grant 2-3 days.

We would be looking to send Grant in about 2-3 weeks from now.

In order to keep our costs down we are asking if anyone can help with super cheap accommodation, and also if anyone can help in loaning us a workshop for 2-3 days.

So if you are in the Los Angeles area and you have a workshop that would not mind an interceptor living in for about 3 days.

OR you can help with accommodation please contact us.

[email protected][/font]

Post by **torinoscj** » Mon May 24, 2004 4:24 pm

If I lived closer to L.A. I would be happy to help out,then he could see the one that started it all off for you guys.If he feels like taking a hop up to Portland,I will bring it to get him at the airport.Cheers,Bill

Post by **gskullcar** » Mon May 24, 2004 7:01 pm

Damn! I wish that I lived closer to Los Angeles, it's about a three hour drive to the south of me, way to far for a car with "old engine" problems. Just outta couriosity,,, what's the problem anyway?

Gerald in central California

Post by **Gornzilla** » Mon May 24, 2004 7:14 pm

That's what I was going to say, Gerald. I'm in Sacramento, LA is about 6 hours from here at legal speeds.

--Dave

Post by **Dave D** » Mon May 24, 2004 10:55 pm

Gordon,

It's great to see your standing by your product.... That's such a rare thing these days. I've had issues in the past with work carried out on my cars where it was clearly the fault of the company & wanted nothing to do with me... let alone fly to another country to fix it.

Well done guys!!

Dave

Post by **XAMan** » Tue May 25, 2004 4:05 am

Hi Gordon

Can't help Grant in LA ... obviously ... but if he needs to stop over in Sydney either on the way or way back he's welcome.

Post by **Gordon Hayes** » Wed May 26, 2004 12:52 am

Hi All.

Thank you to all of you keen to assist.

The sad story is...

The engine was rebuilt by a reasonable workshop for the previous owner only a few hundred kilometers before it was pulled out of the car to enable the replica construction. I think that the issue arrived because the car sat (after the engine re-build) for a few years tucked in a farm shed (but still out of the weather and dry).

After we purchased the base car we started the engine and it ran just fine. The engine then sat on a bench for a few years, seems that this sitting around has not helped it's lifespan much.

We think that the engine has cracked piston rings in perhaps 3-4 pots.

It runs OK but smokes like the Marlboro man at a camp fire.

The car did run OK over here (no smoke) but due to the Police action any MAD MAX Replica car attracts it was not possible to test drive more than perhaps 100 Km or so.

It seems that the problem has shown up now in the USA.

From our perspective this is the worst possible situation for us, not only has a replica suffered this indignity, but this one was built at a cut to the bone profit margin, so no matter what we decide this is going to hurt.

The Australian term for this is a single word.. "Bugger".

Post by **gskullcar** » Wed May 26, 2004 4:08 am

Hey Gordon, I am quite familiar with the word "bugger", more so than most Americans (my Mom is from the Sherwood Forest area of England).

If the rings are indeed broken, hopefully you can just put in new rings after re-honing the cylinder,,, hopefully the wall are not scored.

Gerald in central California

Post by **cobra** » Sat May 29, 2004 10:54 am

thanks for your support guys, Gerald, your 3 hours away are you?and you have room for a car?

Bill we should meet up some where, Iand in La on the 14th of june, catch a conecting flight to Chicago and then slowley make my way across the usa on route 66 back to La.

regards Grant

Post by **gskullcar** » Sat May 29, 2004 5:39 pm

Hey Grant, Yes I'm about 3 hours or so, depending on traffic, from LAX, but there is a mountain range between Los Angeles and the area where I live that is not a good idea for a mechanically challenged car. The pass through the mountains is not really that exceptionally high at 4100 feet, but the road, commonly refered to as "The Grapevine", is kinda steep in places. Going up boils radiators and coming down burns up brakes. If you shift to neutral (mexican overdrive) you can easily exceed 70mph for about a 5 mile stretch. It's just to much of a strain for a vehicle that has problems or to tow anything if you're not really good at it. You have posted messages on Mad Max Replica Cars 2 on Yahoo, haven't you? There must be somebody in the LA area who can be your base of operations. Where is the ailing BoB at anyway? Gerald