Hey everyone I had to head into Talara today to get my brakes fixed on the car. Talara is the closest thing resembling a city located near Lobitos, Peru which is where I live. When I moved to Peru from Florida, which is located in The United States, I had very little faith in the mechanics here. However I learned quickly that mechanics in Peru may not be able to get the proper parts needed to repair your vehicle, but they are able to improvise and make what you need. I have never heard a mechanic in Peru say that a certain repair is impossible for them to do. Instead they all say "do not worry Gringo. I have this taken care of". The car in the photo above is not mine...it is my brake mechanics. I just think it's a cool car and wanted to share the picture with you. You cannot tell from this photo but he actually elongated the car and made a mini limousine out of it. I asked him why he would take a car which is possibly a collectors item and ruin it. His response was that he would rather have the room to take his entire family to the beach. I guess you can't argue with that logic.
Here in Peru my car is a Suzuki and this is the piece that went bad on my brake system. The part was old and corroded and the brake fluid would flow out of the holes like a river. Therefor my brakes no longer were working and they needed to be repaired as quickly as possible. Unfortunately no repairs are done quickly here in the north of Peru. Every time you head into town to get something repaired you must expect an adventure. Which is exactly what I experienced. Luckily I was able to find this part and another one in Ecuador to solve the problem.
When looking at the above photo there is no doubt that the problem with the brakes is the part in question. Luckily I was able to find the parts in Ecuador. Let's get this mess cleaned up and put the new parts on the brake system.
For those of you wondering if I only replaced the one side with new parts, well the answer is no. Of course we replaced the driver and passenger side with the new parts. We also put new brake pads on while we had the wheels off of the car.
I had thought that concluded my visit with the mechanic. I had no such luck. For five minutes I listened as he (my mechanic) told me all of the reasons why I should also replace the lines which carry my brake fluid. I was skeptical but I finally caved in and said, "what the hell. You might as well replace them as well". When I responded he looked at me sort of weird and I realized I had answered him in English, which he does not understand. So I gave him the universal thumbs up gesture and he got to work.
The adventure part of this story is that they do not sell these brake line parts here in northern Peru. Instead I had to head to a local shop and buy some brass line so my mechanic could fabricate the parts which were needed. Check it out.
Well alright! Looks like all the pieces are fitting and everything is going to work. It's time to put the brake system back together and bleed out the lines. Let's get this job finished guys. Come on.
Looks like everything worked out great. The car now stops which makes me happy and my mechanic got paid, which makes him happy.
Now I will be able to drive back to Lobitos with confidence and no fear of driving off of a cliff. I hope everyone is having a great Sunday and enjoy the rest of your day.