Continued Work

Today was another early start for the team so as to give us the most amount of time to fix the car. We thought that with a bit of luck we should be able to finish the repair jobs today, so at 8.30 we were already at Pro-mecanika rearing to go.

There were bits and pieces to fix on the car, more wear and tear than anything to do with the crash, and this occupied us until around 11.30am. During this time we also came up with a plan as to how to fix the crash box, but given the lack of machinery available to us and the time we needed on other aspects of the car, we gave the metal cutting job to a local contractor. He promised to have the job completed by 4pm. After this we were summoned to Victor’s fibreglass workshop to collect our repaired bodywork and splitter, something we had eagerly been anticipating!

The results were more than astonishing; somehow he had been able to take this completely smashed up bodywork and repair it to a standard that any car owner would be proud of! The left sides of the splitter and nose were completely reconstructed, and there were no indications of the myriad cracks and tears that were seen before.

After Victor’s we made a quick stop at the hardware store for more supplies followed by a lunch in the local shopping mall which was, incidentally, where we were due to display the car on that fateful Friday. After the food we headed back to the workshop to finish off the bodywork; it had to be sanded down and painted. However, the incredible helpful staff took it from us and insisted they did all the work. And so, with the car waiting to receive the crash box and bodywork, we had literally nothing to do until the crash box arrived; a very rare occurrence for RGE.

So we made use of the time to answer emails, clean out the van which had somehow morphed into an absolute pigsty after the last few days, and generally potter around the car tightening and inspecting little things. However, 4pm soon passed us by, and we had a call that it would be ready at 6pm; another 2 hours of waiting.

Then, at 6pm, we got a call saying it wouldn’t be ready until 10am tomorrow…damn frustrating! With the bodywork still being painted, we had no choice but to call it a day. This was rather disappointing, but quite out of our hands at this stage. So, we left the workshop and organised with Alfonso what time to meet up later because very kindly, Alfonso’s dad had invited the team out for dinner that night.

A few hours later we reconvened at a well known pizza joint in town, and had a delightful meal with Alfonso and his wife Michelle, Fernando and Maria, as well as Alfonso’s parents. The conversation and company was great, and we have them to thank for helping us out so much with getting the car fixed. Thanks a lot guys!

We now look forward to tomorrow where hopefully we have more luck. As always, the old adage sticks; everything always takes longer than expected!

3 Responses to “Continued Work”

  • Charles H Schulmann says:

    Dear RGET ,
    an addition to the old adage is , “ Expect the unexpected ”
    which test you how , to exploit adversity .
    Perhaps–maybe one of the team members who speaks some
    Spanish could offer to assist the crash box repairing
    Workshop , even if it means cleaning their floor so that
    you may keep an eye on their progress while applying a
    leettle bit of pressure to expedite the work .
    Would it not be possible to use a polyurethane block with the
    appropriate density as a shock absorbing crash box – we find
    polyurethane at a free rise density of 300 grams per centimeter
    cubed , appropriate for a number of impact absorbing functions .
    Wishing you all the best from Ladysmith ( Kwazulu Natal )
    in a slight wet corner of South Africa ( we finally have had
    some rain ), Charles and friends

  • kyle says:

    You will have to add a section to your documentary… Top 10 pizza joints along the Pan-Am highway….

  • Brian Cole says:

    Darn, I just missed a movie screening, Q&A and Cynthia Paniagua dance performance at the school where I come to browse the web. The film, “Soy Andina” revolves around 2 dancers from different backgrounds, and their adventures in exploration of dance & culture in Peru. Thought knowing something of this film might be interesting background info as you drive through Peru.
    -brian

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