Just for the Record
31AugI know I said there would be no more posts on the Mongolmania Blog. However as donations kept rolling in, and I had time to think in UB, I began to think about how the Mongolmania Suzuki never crossed the finish line. How could I admit defeat when I still had a roll of duct tape and some cable ties? The plan started to take shape when I met a fellow SJ driver at the pub who had a spare SJ410 radiator on the roof rack of his car.
On Saturday I managed to convince the Adventurists to return my keys and my registration document, and organize with Customs for the car to leave the import compound. They were all for the completely illogical plan of making the finish.
On Sunday I spent 5 hours furiously hammering, levering with the shovel, taping and cable tying. The radiator was completely the wrong size and shape, but 16 cable ties and 2 pieces of scrap wood turned out to be the optimum mounting arrangement.
The hard work done, at 6pm Dobson the horse and I drove the 8 miles to the finish line at Dave’s Bar. The screen on my camera is broken, but I did get a few b-grade pictures to record the finish.
It’s now or never, the hastily repaired Suzuki ready for the run to the finish line:
Just like a new one, the Mongolmania SJ arrives at the finish line under its own steam:
Dobson was happy to make the end, even if his stick was broken in the accident:
...and so the 8542 miles becomes 8558.
