Sponsorship trawl

Went out on Saturday to try and sell some advertising space on the car. The main finding was that you need to speak to "the man" - the person in the organisation that makes the decisions. Too many times we heard about "company policy" and "you'll have to phone customer relations". Anyway we ended the day with a cash injection (details on the web site in due course), a pair of mozzie nets, and a nice new battery from MINI-MAX of Stockport (see the SPONSORS page).

There then followed a board meeting over the Theakstons pump at the "Jolly Sailor".

October 22nd saw us and our wives (Gillian & Susan) at the Group 2 "party-in-a-field" held at the Holt Farm campsite near Leamington Spa. Good fun. It transpired that we had (by chance) gone on the weekend of the farmers' birthday party and there was a really good firework display "thrown in". Team "Grease Monkeys" (Jeff & Paul and friends) came in their van which is equipped with a full sized fridge AND a karaoke system, which got good use during the evening. (See the pictures!!) Gill & I decided to try the 2-man Tesco tent I had bought for the rally ---- BIG mistake!!! It is NOT a 2-man tent. One is fine -- two makes it far too cramped. Worst nights sleep of my life!! Richard & Sue slept in their Transit camper ---- the kitchen of which provided a wonderful breakfast on Sunday.

The party provided a great opportunity to meet up with those we had already met in Devon, and to put faces to the names we knew from the Yahoo groups.

Where are all the other teams???? WHO are all the other teams????

It's October already!!!

So !! To bring the tale up-to-date – with just 78 days left to go………. The car is now totally LHD. We have driven it round the neighbourhood and have had small boys pointing at it!! That could be something to do with all the stickers now adorning the outside and the “whooping” coming from the inside. The dashboard has mostly gone (apart from “anchor” points) – soon to be replaced by plywood. The instrument panel, including the speedo, has been moved to the left. LHD Transit pedals have replaced the original RHD ones. Certain controls, such as the heater, will now be centrally located. The EXternal plastic fuel pipes have been relocated through the INside of the car. New heavy duty rubber bushes have been fitted to the track rods. The passenger-operated siren and furry dice are fully functional. An extra (large) fuel filter has been fitted. A new cam-belt has been fitted --- turns out that the engine is a modified 2 litre --- even though it is a 1600!! This means that there are 122 teeth on the required belt, and not the normal 119!!! We have decided that a roof rack will NOT be needed – we are cutting down on underwear to facilitate this! Didn’t like the idea of obstructions on the game viewing platform anyway. Some EXTRA blue lights are now planned. The wheels are (of course) gold. The hazard flasher control has now gone completely – it was found that this turns on the ignition lights!! (Extra fire extinguisher needed???) The main concern now is protection for the radiator. There are some security fences down the road, made of a very strong, tight mesh ………….

Plymouth - Banjul 2006

AUGUST

The conversion to LHD is progressing. The "new" steering box from Belgium went in very easily and Richard made fairly light work of cutting holes in the bulkhead for the steering column's new location. A newly fashioned retaining bracket/support was then welded into place.

While all that was going on, I took on the task of "stretching" the wiring loom by adding half a metre of new cable to each connection. About 50 cables in total. This was to enable all connections to reach the new steering wheel location.

We had just one nervous interlude when the indicators would not work -- RTichard tracked this down to a malfunctioning bulb in tyhe hazard warning circuit. That has now been soldered to prevent a reccurrance!!

Transit pedals have been added to the left hand side -- the throttle works fine -- the clutch is now operated using a long Cosworth (!) cable, which loops around the engine -- the brakes are not yet complete though. The are working to a fashion but now Richard has decided to add a new master cylinder and pipework. What a man!! Worth every penny!!

Devon launch party - July 2nd 2005

An interesting event!! The return trip was 470 miles - we took the Sierra - it did 42 mpg!! In a field near Cullompton --- it was a good initiation back into camping for me, not having slept in a tent for about 30 years --- since Rhodesia!! Bob and Luc from Belgium brought the steering rack, so the conversion can now go ahead. Group 2 seems like a good crowd --- I had been fretting a bit about who we might end up travelling with, but it should be one long laugh. The entertainment, food and booze was good enough --- we were not sure about the cabaret though, especially the car burning.

Turns out that the twerp that installed the radio in the car had wired it up wrong! With a smart new Range Rover Discovery radio correctly wired up, our cup runneth over, AND the battery does not go flat now!!!

Noo motor !!!

We bought the car at auction in Manchester this morning. Could not believe the price we paid! It had been billed as having no paperwork at all, but this was a mistake. When we went to pay, there was the V5 and MOT to end July 2005!

Three "features" .......... 1) front wiper blades missing (rear OK) 2) radio will not go louder than 25db 3) there was only vapour in the fuel tank! (Very nervous drive to the petrol station!)

We drove it back to Stockport --- there is no road tax --- we are deciding when to tax it from. July 1st would be good as that would take it through until the end of the year. It's now parked on my driveway.

For a "banger" it runs very well. Despite all our efforts we could not find any faults other than the three above. Richard followed in his car and could not spot any faults/features on the outside. There is a hint of smoke but nowt to worry us intrepids!