This wasn't in the plan for today.
Heading towards Stokesley for the start of the trail there was a slight bump and then no drive. My first though was that it had jumped out of gear but a quick check proved that wrong. It was obvious that we weren't going to make the start so I began the long process of getting the old girl home again and rang the RAC.
While we were waiting I decided to see if I could find out where the problem lay but without lying on the ground, which I didn't want to do in my good clothes, I couldn't see if the propshaft was turning. When the RAC man turned up he had no problem getting down on the ground and he said that the propshaft was turning so the problem wasn't clutch or gearbox but had to be back axle. I suspected a broken halfshaft but that would have to be confirmed when I got it apart at home.
Once it was confirmed that it wasn't fixable at the roadside (er...I told them that when I booked the call out) we now had yet another wait for the recovery truck.
We finally got Numbum home and back in the garage. Having missed the start we got the maps out and looked for somewhere to join up with the rest of the gang and decided on Riveaulx Abbey. Then came which car to take. I preferred the B GT but it didn't have much fuel in it and we were tight on time so as the ZS had over half a tank we decided to take that.
Parked up by the side of the road at the Abbey, I set up the video camera while we had a bit to eat. A few of our cars came past and were duly recorded. At this stage we had no idea if we were ahead of the pack or at the tail end, so we decided to follow the last 20 miles of the route book. 20 miles of great roads saw us at the finish at Mount Grace Priory where we found we were at the front of the pack and were able to get some video clips of the cars arriving.
While we were waiting I decided to see if I could find out where the problem lay but without lying on the ground, which I didn't want to do in my good clothes, I couldn't see if the propshaft was turning. When the RAC man turned up he had no problem getting down on the ground and he said that the propshaft was turning so the problem wasn't clutch or gearbox but had to be back axle. I suspected a broken halfshaft but that would have to be confirmed when I got it apart at home.
Once it was confirmed that it wasn't fixable at the roadside (er...I told them that when I booked the call out) we now had yet another wait for the recovery truck.
We finally got Numbum home and back in the garage. Having missed the start we got the maps out and looked for somewhere to join up with the rest of the gang and decided on Riveaulx Abbey. Then came which car to take. I preferred the B GT but it didn't have much fuel in it and we were tight on time so as the ZS had over half a tank we decided to take that.
Parked up by the side of the road at the Abbey, I set up the video camera while we had a bit to eat. A few of our cars came past and were duly recorded. At this stage we had no idea if we were ahead of the pack or at the tail end, so we decided to follow the last 20 miles of the route book. 20 miles of great roads saw us at the finish at Mount Grace Priory where we found we were at the front of the pack and were able to get some video clips of the cars arriving.
After wandering around this lovely old priory and chatting to other entrants, we watched the raffle being drawn before setting off for home.
Well, not the day we had planned, but still a very enjoyable one with old & new friends
Tomrrow brings the investigation into Nunbum's troubles.
Tomrrow brings the investigation into Nunbum's troubles.
RSS Feed
