Greaseball Challenge

Mercedes Benz Club, San Jose 26th April

2007-05-03T04:12:00.001-07:00

Mercedes Club, San Jose
Originally uploaded by Greaseball 2007.

Dear Grease Car Rally Friends.
In the name of the Mercedes Benz Club of Costa Rica and mine, I want to congratulate you for embarking in such a challenging and demanding event. We are excite that we had the chance to meet such a wonderful group of people and we had a great time learning about you guys and your adventures.
Definitely your rally prove a lot of things and in Costa Rica in particular I has created a lot of buzz in the media and a lot of interested in the cars themselves. There are going to be in display at the Antique Car Club meeting this Wednesday. So far in the last week there has been at least 100 people that have come to see that car in storage and to learn about them. Also this week we are going to have one of the major newspaper is interested in doing an article on both vehicles
The MB Club Costa Rica is very excited and wants to "adopt" both cars and will do the best effort in taking care of them. This Saturday we are going to do a major revision of both vehicles and fix any problems that they may have.

Best Regards
Amedeo Gaggion, President
Mercedes Benz Club Costa Rica

Goodbye Team Zero

2007-05-01T08:39:00.001-07:00

Ane
Originally uploaded by kaffekrus.

After arriving really late at the hotel (Tuesday night) and finishing final interviews, Ane & Bjornar managed to have a few cocktails with the rest of the greasers, before heading off to bed.

Ane & Bjornar needed to be up at dawn to get their taxi to the airport.

It was really sad having to say goodbye - we'd finally reached the end of our journey.

Ane - Hope you had a wonderful birthday party on the Saturday :-)

Nicky

Saying goodbye

2007-05-01T08:23:00.001-07:00

Emily washing our car
Originally uploaded by Greaseball 2007.

The hardest part of the trip...Emily and Nicky having to say goodbye to Old Yeller.

We made it...

2007-05-01T08:20:00.001-07:00

Enjoying the hot tub
Originally uploaded by Greaseball 2007.

...although in true Greaseball style, the van broke down just outside San Jose and had to be towed away. Thank goodness for Byran (who met us and took us to our secure location) while Paul made sure the bar stayed open. (thanks guys).

The Greasers finally rolled into the hotel at midnight and made the most of the hot tub.

Baldi hot springs, Costa Rica

2007-05-01T08:16:00.001-07:00

Baldi hot springs, Costa Rica
Originally uploaded by Greaseball 2007.

Going for the overtake

2007-05-01T08:15:00.001-07:00

Going for the overtake
Originally uploaded by Greaseball 2007.

After a night in Canas, the Greasers got up early (probably the earliest yet) and headed for the hot springs.

We ended up at Baldi Hot Springs which was just what we needed. With the volcano as a back drop, It didn't take us long to settle into pools and sip cocktails around the bar. After a rather leisurely lunch, (that we eneded up giving the dogs), we all got into the cars and headed towards San Jose...this would be our last drive out on the open roads.

Border Crossing and Anders new toy

2007-05-01T07:59:00.001-07:00

Anders and his new toy
Originally uploaded by Greaseball 2007.

After spending the night at a eco-lodge (and being welcomed by Chris and Tina), the Greasers set off early in the morning to make the border crossing into Costa Rica.

Nearly 5 hours later (and a lot of hanging around), we finally got through and were on the road. Suzanne and Bing had left earlier then us, and had gone through a couple of hours ago. Bing needed to be in San Jose tonight so that he could get his flight home the next morning.

One good thing about the delay, was that Anders had plenty of time to mount the camera to the front of the white mercedes. (his new toy). He'd been waiting weeks to do this! The drive from the border heading towards Canas was definately lots of fun. Ben & Andy took it in turns in driving while Anders shouted what manoeuvres needed to be done over the walkie talkie.

Happy Birthday Bjornar

2007-04-29T13:09:00.001-07:00

Celebrating Bjornar's 40th birthday
Originally uploaded by Greaseball 2007.

Greasers celebrate Bjornar's 40th birthday.

A standard Greaseball manouevre

2007-04-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

Just another u -turn
Originally uploaded by kaffekrus.

Lost again in Nicaragua

Dusty roads in Nicaragua

2007-04-24T07:19:00.001-07:00

Dusty roads in Nicaragua
Originally uploaded by kaffekrus.

Donkeys, horses, cows and carts make for some interesting overtaking...

Bus drivers, Managua

2007-04-24T07:18:00.001-07:00

Bus drivers, Managua
Originally uploaded by kaffekrus.

Heading south through Nicaragua

2007-04-24T07:17:00.003-07:00

Heading south towards Costa Rica
Originally uploaded by kaffekrus.

Andy, Dan and Ellie, who joined us in Antigua, Guatemala

2007-04-24T07:16:00.001-07:00

Andy, Dan and Elly
Originally uploaded by kaffekrus.

The Slug near Managua, Nicaragua

2007-04-24T07:13:00.001-07:00

The white merz outside Managua
Originally uploaded by kaffekrus.

Small town in Nicaragua

2007-04-24T07:12:00.001-07:00

Small town
Originally uploaded by kaffekrus.

Pan American Highway

2007-04-24T07:11:00.001-07:00

PANAM Highway
Originally uploaded by kaffekrus.

Nicky in the Elvis shades

2007-04-24T06:58:00.001-07:00

Nicky
Originally uploaded by kaffekrus.

Rebuilding the rear brakes, Lago de Yajoa, Honduras

2007-04-20T16:10:00.000-07:00

taking a break
Originally uploaded by kaffekrus.

Aquafinca Organic Fish Farm, Honduras

2007-04-20T15:50:00.000-07:00

Fish biodiesel
Originally uploaded by kaffekrus.

Where are the Burrito Brothers?

2007-04-20T14:59:00.000-07:00

Well, we're still here in Antigua! As you know, we ripped out the rear driveshafts,
cleaned them and repacked them with grease - all with the help of Fernando, a
friendly mechanic who was put in contact with us through Fernando the coffee shop
owner. Having done this, we were optimistic that the white Merc would have us up
with you guys in no time at all. Unfortunately, our optimism was short lived as we
suffered catastrophic brake failure on the outskirts of Guatemala city. We were
lucky not to crash - the traffic was horrendous and we were heading downhill. Ben
did a great job. In fact, he did such a good job that we stopped outside a spares
shack where we borrowed a jack to remove our front wheels, both of which were
emitting plumes of smoke! We let the wheels and brakes cool off and it was at this
point that we noticed a leak on one of our front brake calipers. With help from the
guys in the store, we blocked off the brake line to this caliper and tossed a coin
as to whom should drive back down the side of the mountain to Antigua. Guess who
lost! Anyway, we made it - despite the fear factor! We took the car straight back
to Fernando who confirmed our diagnosis and also pointed out that the master
cylinder was faulty. Bad news! Especially since there were no spares in Antigua.
And so a plan was hatched; the next morning we were to meet another friend of
Fernando's called Sergio. Sergio drove us to an auto spares place in Guatemala
city that stocks Mercedes parts. He was a very interesting guy and the drive flew
by with some interesting conversation. When we got back, we got straight to work
fixing the car with Fernando. We stripped off the master cylinder and replaced that
with ease. The two brake calipers proved a little more difficult as we needed to
remove the old pistons, O rings and seals and this was somewhat tricky. When we
finally managed to do this, we found that the nearside caliper is broken - the
casting for the piston is broken and a piece of the casting is actually missing!
God knows how the brakes ever worked?!*?! We rebuilt it twice and each time it
leaked. By now it was 19:00 and the stores were shut so we took the decision to
block off the brake line again and limp back into town. We're still going for
a 4am start tomorrow and we're hoping that Nicky's contact will be able
to find us a replacement caliper. Fingers crossed!! The ride to Honduras could be
a bit hairy!

Another positive from this was that we were able to spend another night with Teresa.
You should have seen the look on her face when we landed back at the hotel! It was
priceless!

Andy and Ben.

Honduras heat

2007-04-20T08:51:00.000-07:00

Quick update with more news of the last week's exploits later. But YES, we got Ole Yeller back on the road after a make or break few days, headed south to Oaxaca and down to the Pacific coast for a reunion with the other greasers. After a well deserved night camping on the beach and swimming in giant waves, the greasers headed for Guatemala where they visited several biofuel projects, ancient Antigua, and courted the press, energy companies, and government officials in Guatemala City. On to Honduras without the Slug which was delayed due to brake failure in Guatemala City, the greasers headed to Copan Ruinas for some rest and fresh air in the Honduran highlands. Yesterday we pushed on to Lago Yajoa in Central Honduras where we will be visiting a Tilapia fish biodiesel project this morning.

Waiting for news of Ben and Jacko and the Slug - fingers crossed they will limp our way on 3 brakes today so we can do more repairs.

Proper news later - thanks to all for your support!!

Emily

A cowboy in Honduras

2007-04-20T07:09:00.000-07:00

A Cowboy in Honduras
Originally uploaded by kaffekrus.

The Greasers swapped their cars for horses for a morning in Honduras riding to the Copan Ruins.

Bing works some magic on the Rabbit, Guatemala

2007-04-19T07:07:00.000-07:00

Fixing the rabbit
Originally uploaded by kaffekrus.

En route to Antigua in Guatemala, Bing gets to work welding the rabbit's sorry exhaust pipe. Roger Rabbit is sounding a bit gruff these days.

Small scale home biodiesel, Guatemala

2007-04-17T15:59:00.000-07:00

Biodiesel plant
Originally uploaded by kaffekrus.

Biodiesel sample, Toledo, Guatemala City

2007-04-17T15:54:00.001-07:00

Biodiesel sample
Originally uploaded by kaffekrus.