The transmission is rebuilt and ready to install. Renzzo is organizing a tow truck to come by Monday morning to pick up GANNET2 to take us to the shop where a pick up with a tow rope will haul us into his yard. Rusty and I will live aboard there until the installation is complete.
There is a slight up hill from the street where we have to unload because the entrance off the street has a low arch over the entrance to the courtyard. In here we take a sharp right past the black car into his shop so this should be interesting going uphill taking a sharp right with no transmission.
GANNET2 won’t fit under here on top of a tow truck so we unload in the street and figure how to move five tons of van without an engine:
I went over there on Saturday as I had been panicking myself by reading about how you need new bolts to install the transmission and I had visions of the gearbox falling out of the van as we drive merrily along.
Naturally my panic was over nothing as Renzzo bought original equipment replacement parts from Mopar which includes brand new bolts…However Layne and I have made ourselves a promise to keep control of any process involving GANNET2 whether it’s when we get stuck or if something breaks, so I was determined to make sure we take no chances if I can help it. I think Renzzo is amused by my fussing.
Then there were the Brazilians. They came in a couple of days ago and blocked me in front with their huge motorhome.
They were parked exactly where the tow truck will park to load GANNET2, but happily they moved yesterday to a spot with a stronger WiFi signal in the campground. Rusty wasn’t impressed by their maneuvering.
Brazil has a vibrant RV building industry and in summer half the country takes off exploring especially across Patagonia where the cold is a break from their tropical climate. Brazilians are like Americans in that they come from a huge self contained country and feel no need to learn any other languages. Portuguese is extremely difficult to understand and they make no concessions; they just shout louder if you don’t understand and no it’s nothing like Spanish or Italian when spoken rapidly.
I’m hoping we will be roadworthy sometime Tuesday when Rusty and I will be able to test our home on the road. If all is well, that is if we get good shifting and no engine overheating, I will be ready for Layne to return from California Friday morning. Our plan is to go on a long test drive after she gets back and take a couple of days to drive the mountains to Cusco where my new passport is waiting for me at the Consulate.
After that we are probably not going directly to Brazil. I read the comment where someone said the road across the Amazon looks iffy and I agree. I fear we may have problems taking an untested transmission first on hundreds of miles on dirt through the Amazon and where there isn’t much help. Then we’d take thousands more miles to and from the Guyanas which is our ultimate goal in the north. With an occasional city of dubious size every three or five hundred miles it could mean massive tow bills…and a lot of stress while driving alone in the jungle.
So our revised plan, the sensible one if you can believe that, is to approach Brazil from the south which would give us a long run first across civilized parts with lots of facilities to get to the country of Uruguay which borders Brazil on the Atlantic coast. Distances are vast:
We have to drive south to Santiago to get to an all weather safe crossing point through the Andes. It’s been snowing heavily over the northern passes this winter. Paso de Jama (15,900 feet) with strong winds three days ago:
June 21st in the northern hemisphere is the longest day which always seemed too early in the year to me, but down here it is the shortest day and the official start of winter which might sound confusing. That means we need to pick a lower pass across the mountains and Paso Libertador near Santiago goes through a tunnel and is kept snow free for heavy truck traffic.
In Uruguay we want to spend some money to improve and modernize our electrical system at a German run RV shop outside Montevideo. The idea is to install a low profile 12 volt air conditioner to replace our 110 volt system that eats electricity and also to install a proper cabin heater for our return to southern latitudes and finally to put some new solar panels on the roof charging new batteries to replace our elderly first generation lithium ones. They were state of the art in 2020 but they have been well used and don’t hold a full charge anymore.
That’s the plan but first we need to be sure the transmission is good and that we didn’t damage the engine when it briefly overheated. Then we will be ready for the winter roads and I can’t wait to get moving again. Fingers crossed.
