I finally made it back from the ring!

[karl Rowntree]

Morning.

Well i finally got back from the ring friday night at 9.30pm, havnt been able to post since as i couldnt really remember what had happened lol. Was a 13 hour journey covering just under 700 miles all on my own and to say it was a test of sanerty was an understatement! The exhaust fell off and i lost all the dials on the dash but apart from that it got me home.

I had a major problem at the ring where as the engine lost most of its oil and was blowing blue under hard revs, but i kept my foot in until the end of the lap and then pushed it into the pits lol. After losing another 2 litres trying to find the problem it turned out to be a blocked breather!!! :evil: Spoilt my trip abit but managed to keep smilling.

Was very strange waving bye to you all on tuesday and staying at the ring myself. After saying bye to ben/chris etc i went back into the hotel for breakfast, edgar gretting me with the phrase 'you want egg?' :lol: To say i pissed myself is an understatement. (you will understand if you were there) Edgar, you are a legend!

Anyway i left the hotel and made my way down to kaiserslautern to meet up with my cousin, what a place! I have managed to secure a job on Ramstein American air base selling harleys etc, ive got an apartment sorted made many new friends and its give me the confidence to make the move over! I will be moving along with my nova lol over to Germany in January/Feb 2006 and making a new life for myself. It will consist of working my butt off in the week and going to the ring on weekends, heaven i believe lol. Its going to be hard work but will hopefully be for the best.

Just wanted to say a BIG thanks to everyone who made the trip what it was. It had its ups and downs and sorry if i raised my voice a few times, but i guess i am only human :wink: I look forward to doing it again soon, and there is space on my floor in Germany anytime for you guys (you know who you are)

Karl

[Ben]

Karl, said it on Mig but thanks for sorting it all, if it wasnt for you and Ed then we would have been drinking on our most nights as the rest were tucked up in bed :lol:

Really pleased to here you sorted everything you had planned even though you seemed dubious about the chances.

Take it easy :!:

[scott.parker]

Well sounds like you got the most out of this trip this time mate!
:o moving over there fairplay im glad you feel that its the right thing to go for,wish i had the balls to go try and change my life in sutch a way,sounds like the nova gave you some ballach though"The exhaust fell off and i lost all the dials on the dash" whats that all about? :lol:

Well as said to most looks as if you all ahd an amazing time and fairplay to you all.

Wish you all the best mate with the move,and and hope the future brings everything you want in life,all the best.

Scott

[Stuart]

kaiserslautern is a mental place, i spent a few days at the army base there sorting the hummers out prior to deployment.

Living in germany is a really weird thing to start with but once your sorted (few weeks) its jsut normal, and nicer than the uk lol.

I was living in Wurzburg (halfway between nurenburg and frankfurt) and ther were loads of car/bike sales people there along with us grease monkeys lol

going out that early in the year means that you will get to enjoy faschings weekend, 5 days of eating, drinking and partying with the locals. most pubs open on the thursday morning and dont shut till wednesday evening. Tis a fund weekend as its the "end of halloween" in feb.

[karl Rowntree]

Chris mentioned you had spent some time there stuart. Having spent only 3 days there i could still tell it is going to be the right thing to do moving over. The standard of life is way above what i have in England and the job will offer me a chance to really push myself in the future. Icant really tell you too much about what a good thing i am onto over there but if it all works out how i want i should be quite succesfull and my money will go so much further than in england.

The plan is to make some money in Germany, run the ring most weekends and then if i want to come home i will return in approx 3 years. If i dont like it, i will just pack up and come home its that simple.

Trust me Scott, i will be bricking it near the time! And as for the nova, ruff with the smooth lol.

Ben, it was a pleasure mate to meet you both and was a good laugh drinking till late. We are currently trying to source packs of sherbert for James pub lol, you are welcome anytime to come up and get drunk with mate. I dont know these crazy kids getting drunk and being questioned by the police, when will they learn to slow down!

Karl

[Ian]

Thats a big move Karl, good luck, how will you get on with the language or do you speak german or is it not needed?

Have you not got the evo anymore?

[Stuart]

in the kind of circles of people that karl will be dealing with, not being able to speak german wont hinder him in anyway. I know it never hindered me lol, although i can jsut about speak enough to get by.

[karl Rowntree]

As Stuart said, i dont really need to learn to speak German as the majority of people in K town are American! It really is quite strange being in the middle of Germany surrounded by american cars and people wearing camo gear in the supermarket! Ive got 4 months before i intend to move so i will be taking lessons in German just so i have a basic knowledge, will need that to get me by at the ring tbh.

Still got the evo Ian, but it will be up forsale next month :cry: Going to store the nova at the ring and probably buy some american muscle car for my run around out there. Really fancy something like a trans am, there is a car lot on ramstein base where the troops sell there cars when there time is up on the base, so very tasty cars on there :wink: Was going to buy something over here but decided to change my plans now so no cossie for me, well not yet anyway.

Karl

[Mel]

Jeese! Looks like you had a fantastic time.

Good luck for the move hope everything works out but..you better be keeping in contact with us lot, including coming to the odd show!

[karl Rowntree]

Thats the good thing about Germany Mel, its only down the road on the scale of things. I can be home door to door in approx 2 hours and then there is the net which means i can stay in contact with everyone.

Will make sure i try and get back for a few shows but will probably be in someone elses car as the nova will be staying out there.

Got ages yet anyway so lots to plan and sort out.

Karl

[Mel]

but will probably be in someone elses car as the nova will be staying out there.



:o Tell me you didn't just say that! As I've said to you before..your nova is mint! You can't not grace us with its presence :(


(No offence to you meant of course)

[benji]

good luck karl. are you still going to be modding the nova now, or are you driving it like it is and repairing as it's needed? i hope to see you at the ring in may

[karl Rowntree]

I am sure the old girl will make it over to England atleast once a year Mel to get mot'd etc maybe tie it in with a show. TBH it wont look as good for long as the ring will take it toll on the body work, but my show days are over and just want to use it now.

Ben, will be changing the car a little over the winter, making it abit safer on track with a proper cage etc also making it lighter as this really lets the car down at the mo. Will have to wait and see what happens with it, depends on how much money i have to put into it tbh.

Karl

[scott.parker]

Humm thats a point whats the difrence in the price of things over there compair to UK,can you buy cage's and diff cheeper over there? bulk buy i see coming up :lol:

Scott

[benji]

get a diff if it's gonna be a track car

[karl Rowntree]

I will be able to get alot of things cheaper, allready checked out the local opel speedshop lol. Also just out of intrest Opel is the largest employer in Kaiserslautern next to the military.

I will not tell you how cheap it is to live out there i.e food/drink etc as you maybe sick lol.

Karl

[Stuart]

its kinda depressing coming home lol.
I was paid in sterling semi tax free, so when i converted it to euros it was like a 20-30% increase in money and stuff was approx 50% cheaper in number terms. Much fun, i lived on about ?100 a week and that was mostly on booze and food as i had to eat out every nite. oh and ?10 a nite in a bed - no breakfast as i was gonna be ther a long time.

[karl Rowntree]

:wink:

I would be working on a basic wage, but make my money on every vehicle/bike i sold. The more hours and effort i put in the more i would get out. Did you have any dealings with Exchange car sales while you were out there stuart?

[Stuart]

i went drinking with a bunch of exchange sales blokes. V minted lot

[karl Rowntree]

Thats what i thought lol, they were all showing me there porsches! I think it could be a good move to go and work for them, its going to be very long hours but it seems to pay well if you put the effort in. I am very lucky to get an offer tbh because i went in via the back door, you normally have to apply via the uk then you have to do tests etc to get in.

Karl

[NovaBen]

Hey up Karl,

Glad to hear you are home safe and well. Very big thank you for organising the trip, was the best so far i think! Just hope they continue that way.

Very big congratulations on getting the job aswell. Bet you're rather chuffed?! Any space for me over there??!!

Ben 8)

[karl Rowntree]

Hi Ben

Glad you made it back in one piece mate after the stick you gave the car, getting faster every time :wink:

Aslong as when i move over my landlord will allow people to stay over you are all welcome to come and stop, not all at the same time though!. Its not far at all to the ring and its a really nice drive through the hills, aslong as your car isnt leaking oil that is lol.

Karl

[OllyHewitt]

All the best for the future Karl :)

Those in our "SmartGroups" group would have got our personal word of thanks to everyone who went on the trip!

Everyone keeps harassing me for pictures etc, but I've said I'm holding out from posting pictures on forums until www.fuckyeah.co.uk is up and running - and then we'll link everyone to there!

For my very brief words on the trip, see here: (ok, and a few pics)
http://www.migweb.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=224743

and somre more pics on page 4, see here
http://www.migweb.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=2362182#post2362182


Just a big big thanks to everyone who made the trip happen again!

[scott.parker]

Dam good photos olly mate,silly question but do you do amateur photography,as your pics are always very good,if not mate you ever though of going for a job as one for the mag's would be nice to see some good photos in the mags for a change,though i must say keiths turn out ok(makes a change for TV)

Well done all on the trip and cart wait to see the pics on the site andy is seting up,though im unsure how it will be linked to most boards as the fillter stops the fuck word :lol:

Scott

[MARTIN KELSON]

Hi Karl,
Glad to hear that gearbox made it over to ring and back mate!

Your a brave man packing up and moveing over to ring, wish i had the guts to do it.

Your engine blowing oil into breather catch tank. Mine did that at Trax. Spoke to SBD on the Monday and there is a mod on their web site which basically cuts most of the baffle plate in top or rocker cover away which alows the oil to drop back into the engine instaed of blowing into breathers. Done it to mine now but not done track day since to see how successful.

Glad it all went sort well for ya.

See ya soon mate.

[Jim]

Good luck with the move Karl. There are a fair number of people that I know that have made the move abroad. Not necessarily to Germany, but just out of the UK. I never hear a bad word from any of them after they get settled.

Shame I've never really met up with you as much as some of the others, but who knows, I may get dragged along to the ring at some point in which case I hope to bump into you (not literally of course)

Good luck

Jim

[Riggy]

glad that your home matey :lol:

and i also wish you good luck with the mpve matey and hope everythin works out for you :lol:

im sure well get another night out before you go lol (chris kartin) although you have to make the karting this time :lol:

[karl Rowntree]

Thanks for the kind words guys, but you havnt got rid of me yet! Still got a fair few months before i go, so keep your eyes open for a leaving do your all welcome.

The gearbox made a few rare noises Martin but it got me there and back lol. Ive allready done the breather mod on mine, the problem with mine spitting oil out was purely done to the engine not being able to breath at all. The tank breather filter was blocked solid so it was pushing oil out of any hole it could! Not good but all seems ok now :wink:

[NovaBen]

Glad you found the problem then Karl!!

Just to let you know, we do have pics and video of you pushing your car through the Nurburgring car park!! :lol:

Ben 8)

[karl Rowntree]

LOL It was a proud moment pushing my car into the car park, me Ed and some australian guy had pushed it from half way down the main straight! Was like a scene from james bond behind me as the cars and bikers disappeared in a cloud of blue smoke :lol:

That was THE best beer i have ever had when i left you guys to clean up the mess, thanks to all involved in the clean up operation :wink: