Got the New Tyres

Picked up the two new tyres today and put them on the front. The Falkens are thinner than the Colways so might cut the mud a bit better but will have a smaller footprint.

Vern had a listen to my wheel bearings and declared them serviceable for much longer yet, so the MOT man may just have been touting for some business. He didn't know what he was taking on though as the rears are really difficult to do and according to Vern, sometimes impossible. Couple of chaps on the international skoda forum seem to have mastered the technique though. I have decided to work on the 'if it aint broke don't fix it' principle and leave them for now. Sorted out all the split pins etc so the front looks a whole lot healthier and safer now.

Need to start sorting out for the Lands End soon, should get the route and final instructions in the next week or so.

Passed the MOT!!!!

The MOT on Saffie was due to run out on the Friday night of the Lands End Trial, 21st March. I could have left it until the week after next to get it MOTd and it would then have had a full year running from that date. But I decided that if I did that and had major work to do it would be cutting it fine for the Lands End, so I got it done this week.

The tester says the wheel bearings are a bit noisey and that one front tyre has a slight lump in the tread, other than that it passed. I also noticed that a few split pins and locking washers were looking a bit past their best so I will do those asap. Only got advisories for the tyre and bearings so it passed. I will get a couple of new tyres this week, think I will go for the Falkens from Brackley Tyre Warehouse. If I put those on the front I can keep the Colways as spares and keep the Colways on the back.

I have done a bit of research and the rear wheel bearings look to be a real pig requiring specialist tools, so I am going to ring Vern Baldwin this week and get a quote for him to do them, may be less hassle for him to do them than for me to get the tools.

Lauren and I went to BMIH Museum at Gaydon yesterday and met up with my sister's family. Elliot, who is 3 had nearly as good a time as I did. I sent him a card on his Birthday with a picture of Saffie on it. As Lauren and I drove down into the car park flashing our lights and beeping the horn Elliot said "That cars on my card". Not bad for a 3 year old.

Lauren had a quick drive of the Skoda round the car park when we came out, she did really well once we got it in first instead of third.

Provisonal results have been published

Well we got the provisional results for the Exeter in the post last week and unfortunately we haven't got a tin award. we are very hapyp with our finisher's certificates though. Lauren has framed hers and we put it up on the wall yesterday, leaving space for a Land's End and an Edinburgh one too.

I have aquired a couple of Recaro seats from a Subaru Impreza and have been looking at fitting them in the Skoda to make it a little more comfortable. they are also recliners so it will make sleeping at a rest stop easier. Some issues at the moment over how to mount them, but it is possible.

Exeter Trial

Well I would have been happy to come home with a finisher's certificate. I would have been ecstatic to come home with a finisher's certificate having cleared a couple of sections, but we came home with a finishers certificate and only failed one of the 12 sections, so I am chuffed to bits. Lauren says she now wants finisher certificates for the Lands End and The Edinburgh so she has got a set.

We took some in car video along the way, it isn't every section. The night bits are a bit dark, but that's how dark it was.

Just over 24 hours to go

The Exeter trial starts tomorrow, first car leaves SParkford at midnight Friday. Our start time is 1:51 am (Saturday) from Sparkford in Sommerset. Spent yesterday and today doing those last few little jobs and packing stuff up safely. I have put the trolley jack in behind the seats and bolted it to the bulkhead to keep it safe. I also tried to add some water ballast using a camping water carrier I had. Unfortunately when I lifted it out this morning it split and emptied about 30 litres of water all over the back of the car. Luckily there are enough holes in the floor to let it all out fairly quickly.

I've also fitted a three socket cigar lighter so we can run a mini compressor to re-inflate the tyres and bought a foot pump. The gas bottle that was behind the seats ran out of gas earlier in the week and I had no way of re-charging it so I cut the welds out with the grinder and have removed it. I was never really happy with it, it is a hell of a big bit of metal to have in the back of a car. But it is out now and we have a compressor and foot pump.

Thought about taking a trip to the scrap yard and getting a spare engine cover to mount the spares on, but decided thats a job for after the Exeter. For now they can stayratchett strapped in the back seat. I am not sure how much extra grip there is to be had by moving the spares back over the engine, everyone else swears by it.

Found the video file

Right I have found what the camera software did with the video file, and decided to go back to using Windows Movie Maker, It's better and doesn't hide the files in some obscure folder.

Anyway here is the first ever in car Estelle video from the new Toshiba Camileo and the home made camera mount.

Well the running problems seem to be cured. I made up some new gaskets, sealed the inlet manifold really well and did it all up as tight as I could while it was hot. No induction leaks and she is running well.

I have been preparing for the Exeter for the last couple of days, sorting out spares, making a video camera mount, checking wiring, fluids and things. I have also put the name stickers on the back windows, Lauren says they look ggod and she likes having her name on a car. I have taken some video today with the new solid state camcorder mounted on the in car mount I made up and it works well. Once I have worked out where the editing software put the file I will post it up here.
I am getting excited now.