Dramatic rescue

It was a Saturday afternoon and it was only the two of us: one in each G. This was the first mistake: never do something risky when driving in a small group: the bigger the group the bigger the chances that they will be able to help you out. We seemed to spend the whole of the day driving around in circles. We felt particularly frustrated because one of the trails that we enjoy most (that runs through military land) had been closed to the public (something entirely illegal, because the ROW is older than the state itself, but there you go...). As I said, it was about 5 in the afternoon and we were heading home taking the usual way. Only that day it had rained a lot, as in the previous days and when we reached that river it was a matter of pulling back or attempting to cross. It was blatantly stupid to wade the river (now it is easy to see) but as I said, it had been a frustrating day....

Amazingly, the engine continued running about ten minutes after the G got into the river, with water well over the bonnet. I don't think I ever bothered to switch the engine off... I was trying to get the G out of the river -the current was not as bad as it appears in the videos back then- with the help of my mate and his G so I never stopped the engine. The engine only stalled, I presume, due to the water contamination into the diesel tank, which had been by then submerged for a long time.

I had to abandon the G for the night and return the day after with reinforcements. By the time we reached the spot, the river was much more swollen than the previous night and the G had moved some 5 metres downstream. What you see in the videos is the result of 5 hours trying to secure the line to the G and five minutes actually pulling it to safety.

The G was taken to my trusted mechanic, who proceeded to dump the contents of the oil pan, pour new engine oil and remove the pre-glow heaters prior to cranking the engine, to prevent more damage to the engine than it already had. Amazingly, not a drop of water came out. He refitted the heaters and started the engine first time out, sounding as sweet as ever.

Then he proceeded to completely dismantle the interior to have access to all the electrics. Everything was dryied out, then refitted, tested and dismantled/cleaned/greased/refitted. The only dead stuff was the ABS unit (salvaged from a similar 463 that he is scrapping to build one of his specials, more below), starter motor (exchange), alternator (exchange), battery (new) and a few unimportant bits and bobs. Oh yes, and the driver's mirror that I bought from Tschiewagon in Austria (this is the third time that I have to replace that item ).

As to the vehicles used for the rescue, one is the custom-built special that Tomas Moreno used to finish second in last year's Rainforest:

http://discoveryteam.forumeiros.com/eventos-f3/rainforest-vimioso-murca-...

http://www.patrolaventura.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=20350&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=325

It was originally a 350 GD Turbodiesel Cabrio. It has had it chassis lengthened by 16 cms, and a OM606, 6 cilinder, 3 litre, 24 valve turbodiesel engine fitted, with it's electronically governed injection pump replaced with a mechanic one and tuned to a good 200 HP. It's got front and rear winches and the coling system relocated to the rear of the cab.

The second was Tomas' own G400 Turbodiesel which all things considered behaved quite well in the vicinity of a river (400's are famously allergic to water too. It is fitted with A/T tyres which were almost useless on that terrain.

The best thing is that Tomas refused to accept any money to have my G rescued and towed to his garage 100 miles away. That's another friend for you. The other heroes are the two friends who volunteered to get into the freezing waters to rescue the G.