Christchurch earthquake - a lucky escape for Brown Rover!

WarrenL

WarrenL

Active Member
I'm lucky to still be a member of the Rover fraternity.

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With no electricity to operate the hoists, a rescue mission was mounted, involving manpower, jacks and a forklift. The end result was as follows:

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A very lucky escape!
 
Can't get the old girl off the hoist until the power returns, and that could be days or even weeks. My fingers are crossed that there are no more big shocks in the meantime.

Take a look at picture No. 3 - when I saw what had happened to that arm of the hoist I realised just how close the poor old girl came to being toast. Of course, the welfare of a Rover is of no concern when compared to the mounting death toll and the great losses that everybody here has suffered. But from a purely personal perspective, I'm mightily relieved.

The owner of the little Mazda Esso V6 coupe won't be so happy though. I think it's a write-off. A lot of damage to the chassis.
 
the welfare of a Rover is of no concern when compared to the mounting death toll and the great losses that everybody here has suffered.
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Of course but small mercys should be quietly celebrated!
 
Hello Warren,

Glad to know that you are ok and Brown Rover too. Such a close call too, so hopefully for all concerned there are no more shocks until the power returns and of course no more after that either.

All the best,
Ron.
 
Small mercies are being celebrated all over the city, I'm sure.

I've been so looking forward to my new exhaust too - saving my pennies since Xmas. And after all the work getting the old girl back on the road over the last year or so. Imagine losing her now!

While I'm thinking about it, can anybody advise me what to do with my inhibitor switch? It's one of the minor jobs I asked John to look at while the car was on the hoist, since it starts only in neutral. He says the contacts for P are knackered. Can the switch be repaired, or should I get a new one. If so, where?
 
WarrenL said:
Would this one do it? Or should I source a new one?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motor ... 762570.htm
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That may be an Aussie/NZ spec BW35 inhibitor switch, but it's certainly not the right one for your car and won't fit.


WarrenL said:
He says the contacts for P are knackered.
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And starting in Park or Neutral uses exactly the same set of contacts, so if they were u/s it wouldn't start in either. It will be a linkage adjustment, or switch adjustment problem.

One lucky escape you had there. Terrible when things like that happen, and you're powerless to stop it.
 
Glad your car is ok Warren. Looks like a mighty close shave though! The linkage will need shortening on your BW box. Harvey is the expert. He will tell you exactly how to do it or the garage should be able to do it in no time at all.

Best of Luck

Tony Bunting
 
That's right - Harvey's signature can leave nobody in any doubt at all as to his expertise.

I'll start a thread over in the Transmissions section, since this thread is about earthquakes, not inhibitor switches.
 
Glad she was OK and my thoughts are with you and all other folks in Christchurch at the moment.
 
If getting the Rover off the hoist requires power, if you can source a big enough inverter you could jump the hoist motor off 12V or 24V DC
Army will have those & portable generators; tap them for assistance when they're a bit less busy
Great to hear the Rover ( and your good self ) have survived!

GW
 
The city is very short of generators - I wouldn't trouble one to come to the rescue of one old car. The hoist is quite safe and is very unlikely to give way in the aftershocks, so we stropped the arms to the car to prevent it bouncing up and down or moving around, and will wait until power is back on. Besides, John still needs to finish my exhaust, replace my sump gasket, adjust my handbrake and sort the inhibitor switch! No point lowering the car until he's done all that. :wink:
 
If you REALLY want it down off the lift you should be able to get to the top of it with a ladder and turn the motor with a ratchet or speedwrench to turn the mechanism.
It'll take a while, but will work unless the motor has a "power off brake" on it, then it will need a bit more thought, but all still doable.
 
Thanks John. We looked briefly at that, but decided to just leave the car where it was. There was a right mess underneath it - toppled tool cabinets, etc - and it was quite safe once it was stropped to the hoist arms. The hoist won't go anywhere.

In fact, I haven't contacted John since the night before last so it's entirely possible he's got the car down by now and carefully stowed in the storage area. It all depends on the electricity situation.
 
Crikey, that was close. It's a tragedy for all of you out there involved in this. As you say, in the scheme of things, getting a car off a hoist would be the least of many poeple's worries, but glad that the car looks to be intact. It's certainly thought provoking. Good luck.
 
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