Road trip to Lake Garda and Front Number Plate repositioned
Discussion
Last week I returned from a rather eventful road trip to Lake Garda!! Thought I would share a few thoughts with you this wet, damp Tuesday morning!
There has been a lot of talk on this forum regarding front number plates on Tamora's. On the way back from Le Mans this year I took my front plate off and the car ran a lot, lot better. On the move it was sitting at just 69°C compared to 74°C with the plate on. In traffic when the fan kicked in, again it cooled far more efficiently. So I've had a sticky plate made and stuck it on the bonnet. Took a little while but I think it looks quite mean with it stuck up on the bonnet. Fellow Tamora owners, let me know what you think!
So we set off for Italy. The plan was to take a few days getting to Garda, stopping in Arras, Epernay and Lake Annecy on route. As has to be done, I took a small detour to the old Reims Grand Prix circuit. Very odd having these lovingly looked after pits and grandstands on the side of the road!!
From Lake Annecy we left for Garda and decided to go over the Alps, through La Rosiere (ski here in the winter, great resort and interesting to see it in the summer with no snow), La Thile and down into Italy. This is where it started to go wrong!!
Driving back down the Alps I would occasionally hear a strange sound coming from the centre of the car. Like a stone in the wheel arch, but from the transmission tunnel area! A bit odd I thought but pressed on!! The further we drove, the harder I noticed it was to engage 1st and 2nd gear. I thought he clutch might be getting hot and once off the twisting alpine roads and on the Italian motorway, thought things would cool and all would be well!! This however wasn't the case. When stopping at tolls, 1st and 2nd were nearly impossible. We stopped for an ice cream just north of Milan and when we got back in the car couldn't get any gear at all. Oh dear.
(Can I just say, Toobin if your reading this, my concerns about the clutch were correct!! I had it checked before we left and was told it seemed okay. I wouldn't have wanted to sell it to you or anyone if I knew it was on the way out, and I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to drive to Italy if I knew it was going to go. Girlfriend was not impressed and threatened to set a light to it!!)
The AA European cover is very good. Within 2-3 hrs, we were in a hire car on our way to Garda. They would have paid for us to fly home if the car wasn’t ready and flown me back out to collect it when it was ready. If the garage couldn’t repair it the AA would pay for it to be transported back home. All for £50.
I had however found out before hand about a garage near Monza that specialised in TVR's (UK Garages) and the recovery company took the car to them. They replaced the clutch while we relaxed by the pool in Garda. One word of warning with the garage though. They do not take cards! Service was great, Alexandro who spoke English was very helpful but I wasn’t made aware that they only took cash or travellers checks till the Friday morning we left to pick it up.
This resulted in panic. Car was ready; we had left Garda when I called Alexandro to let him know we were on route and would American Express or MasterCard be ok. NO! Eventually after several hours in Monza trying to get cash together (couldn’t), the garage eventually agreed to a money transfer. I was angry as we’d got this far, car was ready and I was now been told that I wouldn’t be able to take it unless I paid in full. It was half five on a Friday afternoon now in a hot, humid and very sweaty Monza and my good lady was again threatening torch it. In fairness I was half tempted myself!! They accepted the money transfer, let us go and we decided to head directly home. I believe I could have rung the bank and cancelled the transfer on Saturday morning so it was quite trusting of the garage to let us go! I do think however I was stung by them and they charged me way over the odds to repair the clutch. In hindsight, I should have had the car transported straight back to the UK and flown home. They’ve done the job, but I was over a barrel once they had the car. Lesson learnt.
The plan to go home via the Nurgburgring was quickly thrown out. I realise I was pushing my luck by this stage so on Saturday morning we left Splűgen in Switzerland around 9am, arriving home in Brum eleven o’clock that evening. Car ran beautifully.
However, I have now noticed that when turning left or right at slow speeds I can hear a creaking noise coming from the rear suspension area. Any ideas? Suspension, dampers warn, shocks anti roll bars? I really can’t afford to do anything with it at the moment and if girlfriend (still just!) finds out there’s something else wrong with it, you’ll see either the car or me up for sale!!
Overall, despite everything had a fantastic trip. The drive down was great, talking French A and B roads instead of the auto routes was great and I will do it again, although probably not with the girlfriend!! She’ll be flying!
There has been a lot of talk on this forum regarding front number plates on Tamora's. On the way back from Le Mans this year I took my front plate off and the car ran a lot, lot better. On the move it was sitting at just 69°C compared to 74°C with the plate on. In traffic when the fan kicked in, again it cooled far more efficiently. So I've had a sticky plate made and stuck it on the bonnet. Took a little while but I think it looks quite mean with it stuck up on the bonnet. Fellow Tamora owners, let me know what you think!
So we set off for Italy. The plan was to take a few days getting to Garda, stopping in Arras, Epernay and Lake Annecy on route. As has to be done, I took a small detour to the old Reims Grand Prix circuit. Very odd having these lovingly looked after pits and grandstands on the side of the road!!
From Lake Annecy we left for Garda and decided to go over the Alps, through La Rosiere (ski here in the winter, great resort and interesting to see it in the summer with no snow), La Thile and down into Italy. This is where it started to go wrong!!
Driving back down the Alps I would occasionally hear a strange sound coming from the centre of the car. Like a stone in the wheel arch, but from the transmission tunnel area! A bit odd I thought but pressed on!! The further we drove, the harder I noticed it was to engage 1st and 2nd gear. I thought he clutch might be getting hot and once off the twisting alpine roads and on the Italian motorway, thought things would cool and all would be well!! This however wasn't the case. When stopping at tolls, 1st and 2nd were nearly impossible. We stopped for an ice cream just north of Milan and when we got back in the car couldn't get any gear at all. Oh dear.
(Can I just say, Toobin if your reading this, my concerns about the clutch were correct!! I had it checked before we left and was told it seemed okay. I wouldn't have wanted to sell it to you or anyone if I knew it was on the way out, and I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to drive to Italy if I knew it was going to go. Girlfriend was not impressed and threatened to set a light to it!!)
The AA European cover is very good. Within 2-3 hrs, we were in a hire car on our way to Garda. They would have paid for us to fly home if the car wasn’t ready and flown me back out to collect it when it was ready. If the garage couldn’t repair it the AA would pay for it to be transported back home. All for £50.
I had however found out before hand about a garage near Monza that specialised in TVR's (UK Garages) and the recovery company took the car to them. They replaced the clutch while we relaxed by the pool in Garda. One word of warning with the garage though. They do not take cards! Service was great, Alexandro who spoke English was very helpful but I wasn’t made aware that they only took cash or travellers checks till the Friday morning we left to pick it up.
This resulted in panic. Car was ready; we had left Garda when I called Alexandro to let him know we were on route and would American Express or MasterCard be ok. NO! Eventually after several hours in Monza trying to get cash together (couldn’t), the garage eventually agreed to a money transfer. I was angry as we’d got this far, car was ready and I was now been told that I wouldn’t be able to take it unless I paid in full. It was half five on a Friday afternoon now in a hot, humid and very sweaty Monza and my good lady was again threatening torch it. In fairness I was half tempted myself!! They accepted the money transfer, let us go and we decided to head directly home. I believe I could have rung the bank and cancelled the transfer on Saturday morning so it was quite trusting of the garage to let us go! I do think however I was stung by them and they charged me way over the odds to repair the clutch. In hindsight, I should have had the car transported straight back to the UK and flown home. They’ve done the job, but I was over a barrel once they had the car. Lesson learnt.
The plan to go home via the Nurgburgring was quickly thrown out. I realise I was pushing my luck by this stage so on Saturday morning we left Splűgen in Switzerland around 9am, arriving home in Brum eleven o’clock that evening. Car ran beautifully.
However, I have now noticed that when turning left or right at slow speeds I can hear a creaking noise coming from the rear suspension area. Any ideas? Suspension, dampers warn, shocks anti roll bars? I really can’t afford to do anything with it at the moment and if girlfriend (still just!) finds out there’s something else wrong with it, you’ll see either the car or me up for sale!!
Overall, despite everything had a fantastic trip. The drive down was great, talking French A and B roads instead of the auto routes was great and I will do it again, although probably not with the girlfriend!! She’ll be flying!
That sounds like a real road trip adventure! I can't believe the garage who repaired your clutch would'nt take cards. How many people carry over £1000 in cash? (I assume the bill must have been the wrong side of a grand).
When the clutch went on my Sag it was a very quick process of going from fine to struggling to get into gear to near impossible to get any gear. All happened within 1000 miles so it is a warning to anyone heading out for a road trip in an SP6 with the possibility of a clutch replacement on the cards.
Great pics.
When the clutch went on my Sag it was a very quick process of going from fine to struggling to get into gear to near impossible to get any gear. All happened within 1000 miles so it is a warning to anyone heading out for a road trip in an SP6 with the possibility of a clutch replacement on the cards.
Great pics.
W111AAM said:
Milan and when we got back in the car couldn't get any gear at all. Oh dear.
(Can I just say, Toobin if your reading this, my concerns about the clutch were correct!! I had it checked before we left and was told it seemed okay. I wouldn't have wanted to sell it to you or anyone if I knew it was on the way out, and I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to drive to Italy if I knew it was going to go. Girlfriend was not impressed and threatened to set a light to it!!)
Appreciate the thought William (Can I just say, Toobin if your reading this, my concerns about the clutch were correct!! I had it checked before we left and was told it seemed okay. I wouldn't have wanted to sell it to you or anyone if I knew it was on the way out, and I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to drive to Italy if I knew it was going to go. Girlfriend was not impressed and threatened to set a light to it!!)
...sounds like a great holiday all the same...well one to talk about...ps I like the sticky number plate idea too...
I can vouch for the smaller or even lack of no. plate
improves air flow, to the cabin vents and engine temp.
Dunno whether to put a mesh grill in though to protect
the RAD from larger stones !
Only thing is, it dont help the cabin temp. when in
traffic. Was in a jam the other day when on route
to the Rizla races in Assen and did get a bit sticky !
Or is it maybe my airbox is not configured properly !
Comments ? When still just seems to pull the air in
from the engine bay which is 'cooking'......
improves air flow, to the cabin vents and engine temp.
Dunno whether to put a mesh grill in though to protect
the RAD from larger stones !
Only thing is, it dont help the cabin temp. when in
traffic. Was in a jam the other day when on route
to the Rizla races in Assen and did get a bit sticky !
Or is it maybe my airbox is not configured properly !
Comments ? When still just seems to pull the air in
from the engine bay which is 'cooking'......
TVR_owner said:
You chaps with super cool running Tams - beware. The engine has an optimal running temperature, too cold is not good.
Agreed. In theory the thermostat should take care of this by opening/closing to keep the temp between 84 and 92 (or whatever). Coolant temp on most cars seems to settle around the 90deg mark. 60-70 is too cool. Of course this is coolant and not engine temp...I realise that the plate is possibly illegal, but compared to some of the illegal plates I see out and about everyday, I'll take the risk. My dad's had a similar plate on the bonnet of his E type for the best part of 15 yrs now and never had a problem.
On the temperature issue, the engine runs at 69/70 degree only when sat on the motorway. Driving around town and general pottering it is a lot warming. The main benefit I found is that when sat in traffic and it gets up to around 95 degrees, once moving again, the increased airflow from not having a huge barrier in the way helps quickly bring the engine temperature down to circa 80degress.
And I think the plate looks pretty good up there!!!!
On the temperature issue, the engine runs at 69/70 degree only when sat on the motorway. Driving around town and general pottering it is a lot warming. The main benefit I found is that when sat in traffic and it gets up to around 95 degrees, once moving again, the increased airflow from not having a huge barrier in the way helps quickly bring the engine temperature down to circa 80degress.
And I think the plate looks pretty good up there!!!!
W111AAM so very jelous of your trip. obviously not the clutch issues though (sorry to hear about that) Nothing worse than a dry fisting on the wallet whilst away! I was planning a similar trip for this year, but work commitments made me have to put this on hold for this summer gutted! I was in garda 2 years ago and the thought of being round there in the trev would be very special! Like the reg position, really suits the motor up there.
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