- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:High St,Heanor,United Kingdom
Motoscape Logo
The Car!!!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Gurty turns 201!
201000 miles and still going strong. Only another 3000 to go and you can have a good rest.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Cracks and Fires!.... well Fire Trap anyway
We we doing quite well on the decorating and the car seemed pretty reliable but then it decided to remind us that it is 17 years old and only cost £250.
While putting the sun strip on the windscreen I trimmed it to keep it along the same angle as the screen..... well it seems "trimming" it put a score along the screen and leaving it in the sun has turned a score into a massive crack.... A quick check of the insurance shows no windscreen cover ... oh joy!
Then on the drive home the bonnet flies up. Fortunately it was only at 35Mph not the 85 Mph I had just been doing. The bonnet is still catching but the arms are bent.... executive decision is to leave as is. It just looks like we've upgraded the engine and the bonnet is raised.... Good old fashioned bodge with gaffer tape again I guess if it comes up again :-)
So.....
The search for a new screen began.... Eventually we found a 2nd hand one in Nottingham together with a dude to fit it. Just as I was pulling off the M1 I had a call from Frank the fitting dude.... seems the 2nd had screen we found is no good... we need to reschedule with a new screen so a completely wasted trip.
But at least we gave the old girl a good run, well that was until I got back to Cov and pulled in to get some petrol. Large plumes of smoke billowing from the engine bay and lots of oil. Hmmm.
No loss of power, no smoke in the exhaust, just oil in the engine bay. Diagnosis suggests oil breather system is blocked......
So I coaxed her home and we set about googling the problem. We rekon its the PCV system in general, probably the fire trap, well hopefully the fire trap rather than the oil trap cause replacing the oil trap seems to expose a lot more of the engine than I was hoping 5 days before we leave.
Fortunately Rob's mate Brian is a real mechanic and can come and have a look. A bit of a cheat I know but we're tight on time....
The fire trap was massively clogged so a quick drive later and it seems we don't have any more oil in the engine bay.... not sure its completely fixed but I think we have a work around.
Now to call Frank and re-arrange that windscreen repair! The run up to Frank should prove the engine reliability.... lets hope she is ok.
Roll on the rally on Saturday!
While putting the sun strip on the windscreen I trimmed it to keep it along the same angle as the screen..... well it seems "trimming" it put a score along the screen and leaving it in the sun has turned a score into a massive crack.... A quick check of the insurance shows no windscreen cover ... oh joy!
Then on the drive home the bonnet flies up. Fortunately it was only at 35Mph not the 85 Mph I had just been doing. The bonnet is still catching but the arms are bent.... executive decision is to leave as is. It just looks like we've upgraded the engine and the bonnet is raised.... Good old fashioned bodge with gaffer tape again I guess if it comes up again :-)
So.....
The search for a new screen began.... Eventually we found a 2nd hand one in Nottingham together with a dude to fit it. Just as I was pulling off the M1 I had a call from Frank the fitting dude.... seems the 2nd had screen we found is no good... we need to reschedule with a new screen so a completely wasted trip.
But at least we gave the old girl a good run, well that was until I got back to Cov and pulled in to get some petrol. Large plumes of smoke billowing from the engine bay and lots of oil. Hmmm.
No loss of power, no smoke in the exhaust, just oil in the engine bay. Diagnosis suggests oil breather system is blocked......
So I coaxed her home and we set about googling the problem. We rekon its the PCV system in general, probably the fire trap, well hopefully the fire trap rather than the oil trap cause replacing the oil trap seems to expose a lot more of the engine than I was hoping 5 days before we leave.
Fortunately Rob's mate Brian is a real mechanic and can come and have a look. A bit of a cheat I know but we're tight on time....
The fire trap was massively clogged so a quick drive later and it seems we don't have any more oil in the engine bay.... not sure its completely fixed but I think we have a work around.
Now to call Frank and re-arrange that windscreen repair! The run up to Frank should prove the engine reliability.... lets hope she is ok.
Roll on the rally on Saturday!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
Sponsorship?
The critical aspect for any BTCC racing team is getting the right sponsors.
We are lucky enough to be proudly displaying decals (cause we cut them out, not cause we're actually sponsored or affiliated to any of these companies of course) for some of the top brands in the UK......
Stannah - The main stair lift manufacturer and supplier in the lucrative stair lifting market. Thora Hird would be proud.
Zimmer - Making some of the finest tubular frames in the industry. I'm personally loving their latest wheeled frame helping me get to the bingo and back.
Tena "For Men" - I need say no more, just avoids those awkward accidents we gentleman encounter at times. Particularly on such a long trip.
and of course the most important element for any aspiring BTCC car is the right engine. We are proud to announce the inclusion of Singer under the hood, should help the give the car a real bob and weave!
Watch out! We've got the goods under the hood!
We are lucky enough to be proudly displaying decals (cause we cut them out, not cause we're actually sponsored or affiliated to any of these companies of course) for some of the top brands in the UK......
Stannah - The main stair lift manufacturer and supplier in the lucrative stair lifting market. Thora Hird would be proud.
Zimmer - Making some of the finest tubular frames in the industry. I'm personally loving their latest wheeled frame helping me get to the bingo and back.
Tena "For Men" - I need say no more, just avoids those awkward accidents we gentleman encounter at times. Particularly on such a long trip.
and of course the most important element for any aspiring BTCC car is the right engine. We are proud to announce the inclusion of Singer under the hood, should help the give the car a real bob and weave!
Watch out! We've got the goods under the hood!
The Theme?
We had no real inspiration for the theme expecially considering the volvo was not a very inspiring car and in not a very inspiring colour.
With limited time we plumped for a Crash Test Dummies theme as a good looking car would surely be achievable.
After spending our only remaining Saturday doing the usual oil change and other minor mechanical fixes we sat down with a beer and decided we were pussing out on the theme.
We needed to make more effort .... we decided our metallic green goddess was going to be liveried up as the classic 1994 BTCC winning Volvo 850 in white and blue.
Without paint, or time but with plenty of Blue Peter sticky backed plastic we set to it.....
With limited time we plumped for a Crash Test Dummies theme as a good looking car would surely be achievable.
After spending our only remaining Saturday doing the usual oil change and other minor mechanical fixes we sat down with a beer and decided we were pussing out on the theme.
We needed to make more effort .... we decided our metallic green goddess was going to be liveried up as the classic 1994 BTCC winning Volvo 850 in white and blue.
Without paint, or time but with plenty of Blue Peter sticky backed plastic we set to it.....
The First Blog
So there is probably a lot to say in this first blog.....
Well we started planning the rally last year in September after a road trip back from a business trip in France.
So much googling later and we plumped for the motoscape rally as the route looked cool and the the guys certainly looked like they knew what they were doing.
After getting really excited about the rally work got in the way as it does and we suddenly realised we had only 6 weeks left.
We had no car, and due to busy life styles only 2 weekends to work on her before the rally.
We hastily bought oursleves our new pride and joy an M-reg Volvo 850 SE with the tasty 2.4l 20 valve engine on ebay. The only trouble was we were in Warwick and the car was in Eastbourne.
Well we started planning the rally last year in September after a road trip back from a business trip in France.
So much googling later and we plumped for the motoscape rally as the route looked cool and the the guys certainly looked like they knew what they were doing.
After getting really excited about the rally work got in the way as it does and we suddenly realised we had only 6 weeks left.
We had no car, and due to busy life styles only 2 weekends to work on her before the rally.
We hastily bought oursleves our new pride and joy an M-reg Volvo 850 SE with the tasty 2.4l 20 valve engine on ebay. The only trouble was we were in Warwick and the car was in Eastbourne.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)