Hurry Home Wayward Son

After midnight we returned to the garage for final cleanup and the drive home. When backing the car out, we also measured the exhaust gases. It seemed that the engine was running a bit rich but that should be OK for now. Again my friend drove the Corvette and I followed in the "support vehicle".

This time things did not go as well as before. After driving about 10 km, my friend pulled over and told me that the engine temperature was rising above normal again. He didn't dare to let it go above the red limit so we waited a bit. Oh, and we couldn't get the hood open again! Most likely the hood lock was now in the wrong position as we had tuned it at the garage...

After some cooling we continued but had to stop again soon. My friend said that if driving over 50km/h or driving up a steep hill the temperature started rising. We suspected that the missing valance panel and spoiler meant that not enough air was going through the radiator. So, we continues slowly and got to my friends place at 3 am.

I had been thinking that I would drive the car home in the next day but now it seemed that I would have to drive really slowly. Me and my wife had to be home quite soon so I decided not to drive the car while it was still overheating. It was really disappointing to leave the Corvette behind once more.

But then I got some good news in the following morning. As the temporary plates were good for the whole day, my friend had took the car for a test drive in the evening. He had drove around for an hour and a half without any problems! Maybe there had been an air bubble in the cooling system and it was gone now. Anyhow now I could fetch the car any day! Only I would need to buy a new alternator because the old one was making weird noises, getting really hot and not charging any more. Luckily it had not broken the new battery I had just bought.

Then on 3. of June, 2011 I got myself another set of temporary plates, got on a train and went to get my car home. We connected the new alternator, packed as much stuff in the car as we could and I jumped behind the wheel.

After driving for about 20 kilometers, I again noticed that the temperature was rising above normal. Luckily this was just because I was had been driving on first gear the whole time! Yes, this was the first car with automatic transmission that I had drove for any length...

Along the way I quickly noticed that if I kept the engine RPM below 2000, everything was fine. Above that the temperature started climbing slowly. This meant a maximum speed of about 75km/h. The car really needed new radiator seals and front spoiler! At first I only used smaller roads but after a while went on the highway. Everything went fine and the 'Vette arrived home for the first time!

Finally I could start putting the car together myself and hopefully get it registered as soon as possible!