The Dolomites - 2015, reports and pictures

[Wingco]

Great post ups Tony and Chris, Looks like a lot of fun was had.

[SteveRST]

Great trip - MEGA in fact!

Chris - did you get a replacement alternator or did they fix it? Seemed to be working when we tested it at the roadside... but then so did mine for a while too. Great pics - liked the shots you got of us in our cars driving past.

My report....
Day 1...

All arrived bright and early at the Channel Tunnel check-in, well all except for Mattijas who was meeting us there and Lawrence who had slept in. So 5 of us on the tunnel.



First nights accom had been pre-booked at an F1 Hotel which meant quite a lot of motorway miles to be consumed to get there. It was blo0dy hot! 38 degrees C I think we saw. We were all feeling the heat and seeking shade whereever we could find it - sun-block was applied liberally. The F1 Hotel was pretty good, free Sangria cocktail on arrival.
Laurence had obviously been putting pedal to the metal, as he made up quite a bit of time and got to the hotel only about 45 mins or so after us.


We enjoyed a Fine steak dinner, washed down with plenty of cold 1664 (for the men, - shandy for the ladies )

Day 2...
Passing through wine country...


Kenton proving just how tractor his car really is. (as if proof was even necessary )


Set up at the camp site in the afternoon of day 2.


... a camp site with a pool! What better way to relax after a hot day of driving.




Day 3...
4 mountain passes today (including Stelvio) - should have been 5 passes, but more about that later...







Lawrence had some issues where the car suddenly stumbled and wouldn't make any power. Sounded like 'fuel starvation' issues. Were were not really sure what the problem was at this stage.








Later in the afternoon on the way down Stelvio my alternator light came on and we pushed on to the coffee stop to have a look. The electronics inside the alternator seemed to have come loose and were shorting out and some of the diodes? had actually move around and were not where they were supposed to be. Couldn't be fixed there so we decided to push on to find a more local camp site. I went on with all electric items off but the car broke down after about 20 minutes.
Got a town by Kenton to a camp site about 5km away.
We all tried to fix the alternator but to no avail. Tried to get Kenton's spare 'denso' type alternator to fit but we were unable to. Luckily the camp site had a battery charger so left the battery on charge overnight.
Delegation is the hardest job in the world



Day 4...
Up early and headed towards Bormio which meant climbing up the Stelvio pass and then down the Bormio pass (3000m altitude) to Bormio town. I set out with Lawrence with only the essential electrical items having power; ecu, coil pack, injectors, 2 x fuel pumps.
No traffic on the Stelvio or Bormio passes. It was about 6:30 - 7:00 a.m.
Parked up at a garage and waited for it to open...


The garage didn't open for an hour or so. Tony used that time to seduce old ladies and entice them in to his lair.


When it did open, the owner was very helpful and went off on his scooter to get a 2nd hand alternator. After a bit of messing with machining the pulley down a bit it was eventually fitted and I was 150 Euro lighter, but we were on our way again!














Day 5....









Arghh.. my alternator warning light is starting to come on again. At first it is on at lower revs only, then up to around 3000 rpm it is still on, then eventually it's on all the time. Multimeter confirm that alternator is not producing any significant voltage. Bugger. That 2nd hand alternator only lasted about 24 hrs then.
We found a local garage and they confirmed that they would be able to get an alternator in, but it would not be delivered until 4:30 pm the next day! The others decided to bash on with the route, and it was agreed that I'd leave the car at the garage, stay at a local hotel, then catch up with them the following evening.

Day 6...
I had practically a whole day to kill in a very small town. I went for a walk. Got soaked in a rain storm so sought shelter back in town. The garage owner then drove past me and asked if I'd had lunch. I ended up going back to his house to meet his wife and kid and he opened a bottle of Prosciutto and his wife prepared a meal of bread & cheese, pasta then melon for desert followed by a black coffee with some grape liqueur in in. He spoke reasonable English and we shared pics of our previous cars. He had a 4-door Sierra Cosworth, classic Fiat 500 (see pic), Mini Cooper, BMW etc etc..





Smoking at Italian petrol pumps seems totally fine. Ashtrays provided.


New alternator arrived at 4:45 pm. My 3 alternators!!! 2 dead in 2 days, bad karma! The new one cost me 200 Euros but no labour charge.


Me and my new Italian garage owner buddy.


Finally got alternator fitted, with my pulley and properly spaced etc. Set off to catch up with the others at about 5:30 pm, a bit of rain now. I met up with them at 8:00 pm. 2.5 hrs of solo motoring on some great twisty roads in the wet. Wet, twisty roads with pretty much no traffic - I love this! I think I had to overtake like 7 or 8 cars in all this time!


Day 7...
Set up early, up one of the local passes and then back down again... just for fun. Quiet roads.
Beginning of day on the twistys, then hardcore motorway miles heading back towards Calais.
Tony had a breakdown in a tunnel and I towed him out. No idea what was wrong. It was OK once he was out of the tunnel. He also had a leaking brake caliper seal on the rear.

Video - little bit of doughnut hoonage in the early morning.























Chris has alternator/battery troubles. Managed to pull in to a motorway rest area. Luckily, there was a massive parts supply warehouse nearby where we bought him a new battery. Sadly, shortly after this he broke down again with more electrical alternator issues and was not able to re-join us.



Day 8...
Just hitting the motorway. 540 km to Calais.
Rob getting towed around the Channel Tunnel terminal as he had 'starting' issues.



So, all in all it was a great success. Amazing roads, scenery, weather (too hot!), banter and memories. Cars did all suffer at some stage. The heat was immense. I know my car sounded like a bag of nails at times, it was just running so hot. Hate to think what the oil temperature was, hydraulic tappets were incredibly noisy at times. Very tough on the cars, but with great support we made it through. Thanks to all u guys for waiting around while I was having my alternator issues.

[b33fy]

Great report Steve, shame about all the electrical issues. You'll have to change your name.. Steve Sideways

[BIOMAN]

Gr8 report Steve (y) now the video's .

[Rob E]

That was a set up, that's not me in the car CLEARLY think I'm the only one that didn't breakdown
And Steve, TEXT man TEXT

[DJ.]

Good write ups and great photos, surely some for the calendar there!

Shame about the mechanical issues, but you all seemed to have had some good mileage

[Wingco]

Great write up Steve, and some great photos. Shame about the alternator troubles but looks like you had a good team there all willing to lend a hand. Also glad you all came back safe.

[locost220]

Some levely scenes there Steve, looks loads of fun, shame about the car / heat issues.
Rich.

[Phil N]

Great write up Steve and unlucky with the breakdowns but goes to show there are still some decent people out there will to help out. Looks amazin9 scenery and roads, already see some shots worthy of the calendar. Looking forward to the video.

[steve m]

Im at work, so will read and view the pics tomorrow, but nice to hear that you lot were charging (see what id did there ) around europe,
also confirms to me, im not brave enough to do a long run in my 7

steve