Ok, I'm finally back and have managed to trawl through the 1,002,604 photos of our trip in an attempt to reduce them down to a reasonable amount to have shown on here for you all to see.  Unfortunately, I've not done too well.........so, it is with great sadness that I again have to point out that I am very sorry if I make your computer crash, as this is a BIG ONE!!!!!!

Right, so I guess the question is where to begin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stupid question, I suppose the answer is at the beginning!!!

 

As some of you may (or may not) have noticed, while we were on the rally we still did a couple of phone links with Terry at Ten-17, as if you heard the first one, you may well remember me stating that the weather was a little on the poorer side at the start of the rally;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Luckily for Lil' Dave he had his 'wet gear' on!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once we set off all was better......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.....Another lie, it didn't get any better really at all:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the time we made a well earned stop for some lunch (in the car park of a French service station), the weather had cleared up a bit!:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(NOTE: The stereotypical 'Brit Abroad' - "It's my holiday, so I'll wear shorts whatever you say!!!!")

 

Day two was the first of the more challenging days, mostly due to being the first to contain mountains!  At least that was what we'd thought when we got up to set off in the morning (to more rain).  The great problem that some of you may have realised, is the higher up you get, the colder it gets.  The colder it gets, the more likely it is that rain will become......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's it........SNOW!!!!

 

A bit cold, and annoying, but not the greatest of our problems........

 

......The next mountain pass we were due to take on, so to speak, was the Furka Pass.  Sometime into our journey up this one we passed what we thought to be a 'rather over enthusiastic' German passing our car travelling down the mountain.  By this stage in the rally we were used to attracting attention and being waived and honked at frantically.  However this time it was supposed to be acting as a warning.  A little bit further up the mountian we had to perform what can only be described as a mountain side U-ey!  We were later to find out that this was due to the pass having been closed as a coach had had an accident near the top.  Oh, and one of the other teams finding a driver in his Previa with his hands 'welded' to the steering wheel, due to his front wheel being over the edge of the mountiain!

I've often said that although the rally is about you and your team, and trying to get more points than the other teams through the challenges in order to win, that there is a certain 'family' atmosphere within the teams, so shortly after our mountian side U-ey, we grouped up with a couple of other teams who were close to us (and therefore had the same problem), to formulate a plan;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The biggest problem we were facing at this time is that we were literally stuck between mountian passes with no option other than to cross one of them.  Now we didn't really fancy going back (and losing a lot of travelling time), so we had to make the decision to cross the third mountain range option available to us.

This one, however, turned out to be higher still, and the weather equally as 'fantastic';

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Starting out with 'water falls' which had broken over the walls and onto the road.........;

 

......and then......

 

......more snow;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(and us in a rear wheel drive!)

 

As part of day two's challenge (Top Trumps), we had to get various stats on certain cars, and extra points were awarded for pictures of the required vehicles.  One of which was a Ferrari F430, a little 'rule bending' (in which the official rule book had to be consulted, to check suitability) created this classic photo, not only of an F430, but of me in it, and a brand new one in the showroom none the less:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Ok, so by showroom, I mean toy shop)!

 

Eventually we arrived at the day's finish, which since last year has started some 'developing';

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that, a well deserved rest.

It was then to be another early start for the biggest day of them all, Day Three, which contained the now infamous Stelvio Pass.  It was part way up this that we had our first 'trauma' of the rally, whilst setting up the lovely 'professional quality' camera mount for the camcorder to film the ascent and descent.......;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check it out!  Fred decided, for about 10 or 15 minutes that the air was that little bit too lacking, and that he didn't fancy starting (or maybe just wanted to enjoy the view)!?!  Eventually we got going again, and as you can see in the above photo the weather was once more 'fantastic'!  After a while we hit the top, and more snow;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To give you an idea of the weather, the view from the top of Stelvio usually looks like this (or at least at the same time last year);

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year, I feel, was somewhat different;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both of those are taken from almost the same spot.  The rocky part of the mountain on the right is the same in both!

We did, however at least make it!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And left our mark to prove it!!!!!;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, whilst at the top, a quick recreation of a 'famous' photo from last year;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exept for the cafe, there was only one shop open.......it did however stock some rather fetching headgear which matched Fred;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For some reason (which probably only makes sense in my mind) that reminds me that I need to show you our 'custom dash'!;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our speedo decided that for most of the rally (and the journey home) that it didn't fancy working, so we had to use the speed function on the Sat Nav to keep us 'in line with the law'.  This did cause one or two problems.

"Two, in fact."

One; Throughout the entire rally (and journey back to Blighty) we managed to notch up a grand total of 74.6 Miles!!!!

Two; At one point (as the Sat Nav was getting a bit confused and 'jumping' us between roads) it did record us a travelling speed of 175mph.  Not bad for a 1.4 engine which had 70bhp 24 years ago!

 

Having left the might of Stelvio behind us, the weather (as was starting to become the norm) cleared up in the afternoon, making our next mountain ascent a lot simpler;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See, PROOF!

 

The descent was however not quite so simple.  Mostly due to the fact we kept meeting Sheep wandering around the road.  And for some reason, always on the hairpins!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fourth, and final day, started of brilliantly, when I was to wake to realise I had managed to land on what could only be described as 'probably the best mobile network in the world';

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, if you look carefully, you'll notice that my mobile coverage really is being provided by I WIND!!!  How cool is that!?!?!

It was then time to start heading towards the finish line in Rimini, with the main 'detour' of the day involving heading to Venice, meeting the occasional Scally car on the way!;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eventually we made it, and to continue this year's theme of having the exact opposite weather from last year's rally, Venice was sunny as you like;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See Proof, me on a water bus!

There is also more proof, in the form of another photo of me on a water bus.  This one however is cunningly designed to make you yawn!!!!  And if you are usually not that observant, and wouldn't have fallen for it, I've now pointed it out, so it's chances of Evil Success are far greater!!!;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HA HA HA

 

And now for something completely different......

...some touristy shots of Venice!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again, for those more observant people among you ("There seems to be a high number of eye tests on here all of a sudden!") you may have noticed the flood water in and around St. Marks Square, and the raised gangways for people to get around on:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See!

This causes all kinds of problems, mostly due to the fact that Venice is a major tourist trap, and many of these tourists are rather slow at moving around, and we are in a bit of a hurry, as we have a finish line to make, and a deadline to meet.  So, despite the fact that all brits could compete highly competitively at an Olympic level in the national sport of queuing, this, for us, was not on the agenda........

 

....so in true Brit Abroad style, I was off;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A little while later, once the shoes went back on, with the slightly wet feet (and the memory that the water got suspiciously warmer near the drains), my best happy pose was caught on camera;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After Venice, it was off to Rimini.......with a quick stop in a petrol station to update our 'chav shopping list' of countries visited;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At this point I feel I should point out another 'problem' and true Scally solution.

Whilst we were in France we were unable to find any F's in any of their petrol stations etc, so we had to 'convert' a couple of Italian I's;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Job Done!

Next stop was the finish line!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few pics of some of the other competitors cars;

 

Tigger:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A fellow Volvo!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Range;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Camo Polo Coupe;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Possibly my favorite Scally car (after Fred of course);

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unique drive train;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cack-To-The-Future's Chelorean;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Day's Volvo Limo;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Astra Tank;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pugh, Pugh and Barney Magrew's Pug;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

....And Fred;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The spinners unfortunately didn't last too well;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quick shave, shower, and shite and it was time to eat.....and then Partayy!!!

 

Beer!!!!!!!!;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(The Legendry Spanners!)

 

As the night progressed, and the beer flowed more freely (if you look in the background), the start of some 'funky move busting';

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the many roads full of Scally Cars in the morning;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, there was a little time for a quick wander up some of the miles of beach (with each hotel, or group of hotels having their own private segment)......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out the umbrella stands mounted all the way along as far as the eye can see!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then a quick stop in San Marino (where you can really see the weather comming in from the right);

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was then time for one of the 'post rally' events that I'd really been looking forward to, the tour of the Ducati factory in Bologna.  For obvious reasons, they won't let you take any pictures in the factory itself (but needless to say, I'd highly recommend anyone goes), they do however also have a museum........so some gratuitous Ducati Museum photos to follow;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Starting (as is tradition) where it all began, with their first engine, designed to attach to a bicycle frame;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Not overly powerful, but a great idea none the less!)

 

I'll keep quite now, and you can view a small selection, heading through the years;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After Ducati, is was time for a quick stop just up the road (as promised) to Maranello, and the Ferarri museum;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Possibly one of the most beautiful cars ever built, 250 GT California;

"Bueller, Bueller!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A modern day classic;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Possibly one of the best views known to man;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of you may remember that this visit was done for one real reason, and that was to finally take one of the 'great Ferarri nuts' to their 'home turf'.  This meant a lot to both Sam and I, and was (as I've already said) a great honour to be able to help in achieving this;

 

Outside;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And with his favorite;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day, we were off for a quick stop on Lake Magiore;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, on our way back to Thun, it was time to tackle the failed Furka pass;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You may have gathered by this point, that on this ocassion, we were a little more succesfull!!  We even caught sight of the roadworks to repair the route from the accident which stopped us the first time;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Naturally, this lead us back over Grimsell Pass, which is quite handy as there is a VERY GOOD restaurant at the top, which always deserves a stop.  They also have some 'interesting' sculptures in the car park round the corner;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again, snow;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, caught in a little lie, the remenants of snow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Round the corner from Thun, are the Reichenbach Falls, which are famous for being where Sherlock Holmes feel to his 'death'.  Last year they were a little unimpressive due to the unseasonably good weather, so we though with the weather being a lot worse on this year's rally, we'd swing by and check them out this year;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting to this stage is not a problem at all, as you can be incredible lazy and take a trip up on the funacular.  To get to the very top is, however, a much longer and damned sight steeper walk.............very strop inducing!

Once you get there though, if you fancy it (and I'd recommend everyone have a go), you can don a no doubt too small helmet;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

....and get yourself back down the hill a lot faster on a Monster;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basically a BMX scooter on ATV wheels with disc brakes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great fun, but did just kinda make me wish I'd taken the mountain board!  Don't think we could have fitted any more in poor old Fred though.

After that, there was time for a quick stop in Baden-Baden (Germany) in the black forest, and more waterfalls (and caves);

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fred looking down over the Black Forest;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those of you wondering by now, who this oversized head is that keeps popping up in photos, I should possibly provide an explaination.  As you may recall, we had a lot of help with regards publicity from Terry James (the breakfast show DJ on our local radio station Ten-17), they run a kind of 'contest' being how far would you go with their Drivetime DJ, Freddie Scherer, and this is him.  We took him rallying all over europe!

 

It is at this point I should also make another recommedation, in Baden-Baden there is a spa, just behind this statue;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just off to the left of the shot.  It is brilliant.......and cheap too!  I'd highly recommend a visit.  The town itself is very nice, and I wish we could have spent more time there (I'm in no doubt that we'll be returning soon), and would have to recommend to anyone that goes to 'pop' to the spa.

We ran out of time, sadly, as we wanted to get to Amsterdam..........and we did!

 

See, me on a canal bus (becoming a bit of a theme here?!?!);

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now for a few 'touristy' shots of Amsterdam. 

But first a spot of education.........you will notice if you look, that all of the canal side houses have hoisting beams at the top to make it easier to move in and out of the property.  If you look carefully, you'll also notice that the walls are built to lean forward towards the top, to support the weight of anything being lifted and to stop any damage to the house.  This can be seen in this shot of a house which is on the corner of two canals;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, plain 'tourist' shots now, no more education I promise!;

The common sight of Cyclist on bridge over canal;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clog boat!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Statue version of Rembrandt's Nightwatch;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bridge Lantern;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

National Monument;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Homo Monument;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, Sam finds some shoes which just about fit her Heffer Feet;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last stop was Antwerp.  It was suppsed to be Bruselles, but all of the hotels were fully booked, and we could get a hotel in Antwerp, so there it was.

Not much more now I promise!

You may recall a few years ago that there was a collection of 'painted' cows in cities all over the world, which were then sold off for charity.  Well, the same thing was going on in Antwerp........

 

.....but with Elephants;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that, sadly, we had to head back to Calais and finally home.

 

Not sure exactly how much was raised for the Teenage Cancer Trust, as I am still collecting.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

See you all soon

 

- Big Dave

 

 

 

I'm back, and this will no doubt be the last time I am here before the 'big off' on Thursday to get down to Dover to catch the ferry to Calais, and drive to St. Omer for the start of The Scally Rally : Road 2 Rimini 2008!

I first have to show a couple of new additions to the car (although one didn't make it in the end, you'll soon see).  Firstly is our lovely new exhaust (kindly donated, of course!);

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See, BEAUTIFUL!!!!

So, I might have lied a little bit;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In reality, it's a Pound Bucket bargain extension trim.  "Mmmmmm, nice!" I hear you crying out?!?

The second addition, which sadly won't making it to the final car, was my delicately hand crafted roll cage (but it only lasted about a day before problems started);

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crafted carefully from these;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awsome, hey?!

 

I have to start heading towards a more serious note, please continue, as this is what all of this is about at the end of the day.  A while back I made contact with our local radio station (Ten-17), asking if they would be able to help us out with some publicity etc, and from that came a couple of Monday mornings (bright and early - not my favorite words when combined I can tell you) of 'cruising' around the area with their Black Thunder Crew.

Obviously, they INSTANTLY fell in love with Fred;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ocasionally, just having to step back a bit and take it all in;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A bit of 'waiting around' in Harlow;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, interview with Terry James (Breakfast Show host);

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We now have a link on their webpage, and if you've not been there (or you weren't up in time to hear them), the interviews can also be found here;

http://www.ten17.co.uk/Article.asp?id=866371

 

Now what I'm getting to, slowly, is that after the first Monday we spent with the Black Thunder, I received a call from Steve about his son asking if we'd do the rally in his memory.  To say I was honored to do this for him would be an understatement.

At this point, it's probably best if I paraphrase what Steve sent to me in an email after our call, to give a bit of background information on his son, Darren:

 

Darren Roger Clarke was born 16/02/85, and died of Ewing's Sarcoma (a rare form of bone cancer) in the Teenage Cancer Trust unit at University College Hospital London, on 29/09/04.

Darren was diagnosed in February 2003 (two days before his 18th birthday).  Over the next year he went through numerous chemotherapy sessions, including one high dose chemo, followed by major surgery to remove two of his ribs on the right side of his chest where the cancer originated.  He was put into remission on 05/01/04, but the cancer returned in June 2004.  He died, in his dad's arms, on 29/09/04.

Darren had a passion for Ferrari (as you'll soon see from some of the photos which Steve sent me), and loved going to track days, where he got numerous rides in a number of his favorite cars.  This included a very rare F40, which also lead the procession at his funeral.

He was a lover of football, and a supporter of Manchester United, and listed favorite drinks to include Kronenbourg 1664, and Jack Daniels Single Barel, Silver Select and Gold Medal.

"He was the best son, friend, person in the whole world, and still is", his sister, Marika says.

For a moment, I will be silent, and show let you see a few of the pictures, which inspire me for the rally to come;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ferrari's;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The procession leader for Darren's funeral;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, Fred's little tribute;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve told me that despite his obvious love for all things Ferrari, Darren never made it to Maranello......hopefully we can (in our way) do something about that!

 

Hopefully by doing the rally, we can raise some awareness, as well as money, for this worthy charity in Darren's memory, and help make a difference to teenagers with cancer all over the country.

 

If you have sponsored us already, Thankyou.

If not, what are you waiting for, please, please, please....dig deep.  Every penny counts;

www.justgiving.com/soypm

 

Thanks for reading, see you after the rally.

 

- Big Dave

 

Ok, I'm back (at last).  Thought I'd better get my arse in gear (so to speak) and get an update on here to show you all the couple of changes Fred has undergone in recent times!

No doubt, as often happens, this will turn into a bit of a picture fest with not too many words attached, but hey; it's got to be better than listening to me ramble on!?!?

Anyway, there will be another update before we go, and that one will no doubt be more word orientated.........but you'll have to wait and see for that!

There have been one or two minor changes to the beloved Fred since I was last here, and in order for these to occur, I was let loose with the tools again.  "Hurrah!"

The D stands for David, and nothing else......honest;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On with the job at hand.........

......Late one night, our hero, Dave, arrived home to find parcels left caringly by the back door (even though they were supposed to require a signature on delivery!).  So he made his way hurredly to the comfy pile of clothes in the bedroom to open the goods;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Ooh exiting" said Dave.  But it can be improved;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And with a little wave of Samwitch's magic wand;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ta-Dah (Catalogue pose to the extreme!)

 

After the initial shock you've all just had with the 'gormo gimp' look photo above, we'll save you and show the finished article;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To help 'complete' the look, the result of another favor being called in to help with the car which wasn't owed at all (becomming quite a common theme here!).....a lovely kind Kwik-Fit Fitter who when in public goes by the name of Alan, got Fred treated to a lovely new set of Ditch Finder Tyres (at cost).  They then just had to be slightly modified to suit;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since Fred was now looking much more 'Scally' like, and how he should be looking for the rally, it was time to get to work on the 'luxuries'.

For this section, I feel it appropriate to work in a Gordon Ramsey cooking styleeeee......

 

Remove old stereo from car, and pull wires through:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fit modern wiring harness:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doesn't work.....Read instructions:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check them CAREFULLY:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Play with wires again:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Call in favor (again not owed), from ex-electrician friend:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fit new Kenwood stereo to car......

 

 

.....DONE!!!

 

For now that is all!

As previously mentioned, I will be back soon with a final update before the off.

 

If you wish to donate to our chosen charity Teenage Cancer Trust, please do at the website;

www.justgiving.com/sopypm

 

For now, thanks for reading, see you soon.

- Big Dave

 

 

Ok, I'm back, and now Fred is starting to look a bit more like the finished article (not that he'll ever be complete, there's always more stuff that can be put on)!!!!!

For this update I shall take you through the process of fitting a NEW ROOF! Sounds a lot more impressive than it is though.

To begin with I had to give the existing roof a bit of a trim, as some of last years 'islands' remained (damned No More Nails - it's seriously good stuff);

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just check out the skill and concentration. 

Then it was time to start on the new roof fitting;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, I'll admit it, it's not so much as fitting a new roof, as covering an old one..........told you it was no where near as impressive as I first made it sound.  However, hopefully with my cunning 'sales pitch' I've made you read on at least this far!!! - Please continue a bit further.......PLEASE!!

You may also at this point have noticed the stylings of the new roof.  The basic story behind it goes a bit like this;

As poor old Fred is only a 1.4, and therefore had 70 odd BHP when new 23 years ago, he is getting on a bit now, and starting to suffer from 'automotive artheritis', which, being such a cruel disease, by now leaves him with approximately 12 working BHP's!?!  Me, being the highly intelectual (editor - "Ehh hem!" - supposed to be a sarcastic cough like noise!) and fox like cunning person that I am, thought we could help out a little bit by trying to save abit of weight.  Less horse powers will be less of a problem if Fred can shift a little bit of unneccesary weight.  Therefore I thought I'd treat him to a nice CARBON FIBRE ROOF.  Unfortunately, once I started looking into this, I found it to be rather expensive.......therefore I went with the next best thing......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

........SMARTIES!!!!!!!!

 

Now I know at this point what you are thinking........"GENIUS!!!"

....Or at least something similar - no?

Well here goes the 'carefull and delicate' process of laying the new roof on;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, the fnished article:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now how good is that!!!!!!

 

Once this was done, it was time to get this years mission statement written on;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As well as the stickers for our chosen charity (TEENAGE CANCER TRUST), and the relevant web address stickers for donations (editor - "hint hint!! www.justgiving.com/soypm") etc;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was finally time to stand back and again enjoy the results of a bit of hard graft;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, a little later the same day;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, so again I've possibly been caught up in a little fib, as the more observant amongst you may have noticed the change of parking space (new neighbours have taken the old one back), and the change of T-Shirt from HM Plant Racing to RS Owners Club.

So, after all that......a couple of days later, I thought I'd measure up for the spots (and customise the front and rear windows - you may have noticed above!), but someone came out with the camera having spotted me trying to hide!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once spotted, the spots were fitted, carefully and accurately of course.  When have you ever known me to take a shortcut, or make a bodge here and there?!?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out the 'nice' sweaty head (managed to pick one of the hottest days of late to have a go at this)!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, once all was complete......someone (who shall remain nameless for her own safety), managed to catch the moment of all of the pain of being hunched over at bumper height screwing in and bolting up spotlight for half an hour or so, falling out of me as I finally managed to straighten up.....

 

.............WARNING - THIS IS NOT AN IMAGE FOR CHILDREN OR THE FAINT HEARTED!!!..............

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, again, time to basque in the glory of the finished article;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Oh shite - forgot the 'rally slag' number plate!"

......quickly tak that on, and then basque in the glory of the finished article.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's better.

 

Again, as always, thanks for reading.

Please don't forget to sponsor us at www.justgiving.com/soypm

Bye for now.

 

- Big Dave

 

Again I'm back, and again I'll have to apologise that it is only for a small update on progress with the Volvo.

We have decided that this year, since we have a bit more time to play with (this time last year we were still 'bricking it' as we were still hunting for a car!), we would 'develop' the car a bit more this year.  ("Develop - good word, makes it sound like we're not just ruining a lovely old car, I like it.")

After much careful deliberation we thought the next stage in the development of the third member of our team (Fred - "come on people keep up!") we'd invest in a 'custom' interior.  There was a moment of panic where we thought with our colour scheme we'd never find anything to go...........unfortunately (for humanities sake) we did!

And here, modelled by the lovely Samwitch is our new interior;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have to make note at this point (as demonstrated above) that the headrest covers make for BEAUTIFUL hats!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SEE!!!

Ok, enough dicking about this is serious business, we've got a whole car to retrim.  Serious work equipment and safety hat time;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kidding, that appears to be Dr Gunter's hat from Autopsy!

 

Right then..........on with the serious work.........

......firstly the rear bench had to be removed, and using the boot as a new temporary workshop was retrimmed faster than Superman can change his pants!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once trimmed better than a Rolls Royce trimmer it was time to bask in the glory of a splendid job of the rear;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mmmmmm.....spot the GOMMER!!!!!

After a brief glory moment (not like that you dirty git!), it was back to work and on with the front!

WARNING - Severe Gurning:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ahh, spot the "Tongue of concentration!!!!"

Then, as quickly as it started......it was over......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Note the new mascot - no one better to guide us than a nodding bobble-head Jesus)!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out the quality in all its glory............Rally Sports! (Top brand!)

 

That's all for now, thanks for reading, see you soon.

- Big Dave

Sorry it has taken so long, but at last I'm back, and have a small update for you.

We have recently had a decent spell of weather, having had plenty of snow, rain, hail, and anything else the heavens fancied throwing at us.

I had been in contact with the highly efficient people at Volvo, and had a few colour coded parts ordered.  However upon receipt of said items I soon discovered that I must have got my English to Swedish messed up a bit, as the colour codes and order instructions appear to have got 'slightly confused', this is what I ended up receiving;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both the mirrors and the wipers are the wrong colour for each side of the car!

 

Ok, so I guess I have be honest and not blame the lovely Swedes.  The plan all along was to mix things up abit with the 'extras', and our usual methods (incorrect tools all the way) were adopted in this adaptation also.

Firstly to start the job, we had to remove the dull black (and overspray) coloured mirrors from the car, which left a rather bizzare 'earless' Volvo sitting about looking very sad for itself;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was at this, rather late stage in the game, that it suddenly occured to me that in order for the adjusters to work on the mirrors there had to be a hole all the way through to the interior, which meant the whole job had to be done within an hour or so before it got dark or we'd be left with a car which wasn't water tight! - "D'oh!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whoops! (again).

 

For the smaller jobs such as these we are privileged enough to be able to take advantage of our secondary and more compact 'spray booth' (otherwise known as the doorstep);

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out the quality of that first coat of primer.......don't worry, it got better.......slightly;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See, top notch job!!!  If I wasn't letting you in on the trade secrets involved in the 'production' of this vehicle, you'd think it left the factory like it!

 

Then once thoroughly dried for the recommended time (I lie.........as long as I could be bothered to wait before panicking that it would get dark too soon), the colouring had to begin;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mmmmmm.........Orange!!!

 

Once again 'dry', it was time to reassemble the car, again deciding that 'mixing things up a bit' should be taken a little bit further;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then decided that an  announcement for the safety of other road users should be clearly visible;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

......And, what seems to have become our motto;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then for the final touch, we thought it would be an idea to enable other people on the rally to know who's doing the driving and navigating, and we decided there was no way to do this better than a mix of rally style name plates, fitted in a truly Essex Style!;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I shall be back with more updates soon (or at least a lot sooner than this one since the last), please keep comming back.  The whole point of this is to raise money for charity, and shortly I will have made all of the required arrangements to enable us to start collecting.

In the mean time, thanks for reading.

- Big Dave

 

Ok, again I find myself having to warn you that this is another BIG one!!!!

Since this last weekends weather was rather unseasonably good (or at least sunny) I decided that it would be as good a time as any to get a bit more progress made with regards preparing our lovely Volvo for this years rally.  Expecially since last years preparations were all a bit last minute, and included painting very large percentages of the car in the rain in our professional spray booth (otherwise known as a Wilko's gazeebo).

With a target firmly in mind of getting the whole car painted up before darkness descended on our lowly town, I though best to crack on with things.

Don't worry Bowles, due to the sheer volume of work undertaken, this blog will be 'nice and simple' for you......not too many complicated words, and quite a few pretty pictures!!

So, as has become tradition when preparing the car, the first job was to remove 'many, many' stickers as fitted mostly by an over zealous Mr Sam before last years rally, from the areas to be painted;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To give you an idea of the sheer volume of stickers a 'certain someone' applied to the vehicle last year, here is a selection of some of those removed from the passenger side of the vehicle;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One or two, I hear you cry!

Oh, and don't forget the door numbers.  This time, having remember the required 'super human strength' to remove the last one, I thought I'd take it slowly and be a bit more careful.

Some how that didn't seem to be the correct tactic to adopt, and I made more of a hash of it than last time;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sadly that left a rather 'naked' 340 in the 'prep bay';

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was time to remove last years 'genius touch', the 'glow-in-the-dark' badges;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then the animals from the roof (which crew on the ferry we crossed over to Calais on last year were heard talking about in the shop onboard, about 15 seconds after we had parked up) had to be removed.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.........And relocated to a new temporary home;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then sadly, though the 'tragic' effects of Climate Change (otherwise known as 'some bald beardy git with a screwdriver'), their former home, the tropical island of 'Roofia' sank into the sea without trace;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(or at least last years felt island was removed) - Badly!;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At no point in the preparation of this vehicle were the correct tools used, if something more unsuitable was lying around close by!!!!!;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the roof had been 'de-fuzzed' it was time to again use the best tools for the job (a small screwdriver) to remove the remaining No More Nails which was left on the roof (despite some of the animals it was holding having long emigrated to lands far and wide).

Then it was back to the wonderful job of sanding;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Firstly to 'key' the brown emulsion on the boot lid (another bright idea last year)?!?!?.  Then to the sides of the car;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the vehicle had had a thorough sanding (at least as thorough as I could be bothered with, and my knuckles could take), more professional equipment was adopted to remove the excess dust from the car.  A quick brush down wearing gardening gloves.....that'll do!;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However it worked a treat.

Next was the one bit that always seems to take the most time, masking.  With plans to do the whole car if at all possible, most of the car had to be masked off;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, I mentioned earlier, that the work of the day was decided to be taken on as it was nice and sunny, which it was.  However, it also had a tendancy to let out the odd gust of gale force wind.  So, when masking with pages of newspaper, some initiative has to be taken......and if you only have one pair of hands, there's nothing like using your body as a paperweight;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Worked a treat too, look at the quality of that job!

Without any planning or intention, I have since noticed that some of the headlines on display on the car when masked up were, how can we put this, rather spectacular!  Take the one below (covering the drivers side rear light for example), "Street Lights DO Make Us Safer, Say Minister".  Yes, and so does driving a fluorescent car, says Big Dave!;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the main 'perils' when preparing the vehicle out in the open, was the constant threat of 'professional hand models attacking';

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See, there's one!

Finally, the passenger side all masked up......time to get out the white stuff'

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making sure to rest at regular intervals;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, checking no more hand models were about, time to get out the COLOUR;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With these big jobs, it's important to remember one key bit of advice - start small;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, maybe a bit bigger;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just look at that, got the mask on (prevents breathing in the fumes), and look at the quality of the job around that wheel arch......you sure get your moneys worth here!;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I'm knackered!!!  What do you mean I'm not done yet?";

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, 'sulk over' back to work.....

......"some git's stolen me stool!!";

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know, I'll have a little lie down, no one'll notice;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nearly there now......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

......Nearly.......time for another 'little sit'......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, side DONE!

Now for the roof, at which point help arrives!;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, it was very important to get the roof masked up well, as the divide of colour has to run the full length of the car, so we took our time and planned fully, measured......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.......Measuring all distances before commiting newspaper, to masking tape, and masking tape to car, and finally paint to car......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.......See......team work.........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I'll just pop down the front for a little rest now!";

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh no, I'm painting, it looked for a minute like I was skiving off.....not me, professional to the end (plus if it's a job I can do sitting down, it's a job worth doing), although it looks as though I might be asleep?;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not too sure what's going on here.....not 100% positive as to whether Sam is helping with the painting, or preparing for his next bank job!?!?!;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, after a days hard work, and 15 seconds to allow the paint to drym it was time to remove the paper and masking tape, and admire the fruits of our labour;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

......looking good.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.......still good, the windows are still clear and see-through......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

..........professional edges........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

......long, manly stripes of masking tape coming off to reveal a quality job done by all........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

......final few touches.......oooohhhh the excitement.......

(Volvo with a bad boy bonnet anyone, you get the idea)!!!;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

......."What do you mean it's wonky?"......."Bugger!"..........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, there you have it.....for now.......again!

The paint is now basically on, it now all comes down to the details.  I'm looking forward to this, as this year we have over 6 months to prepare, and by this point last year we'd not really even started to look for a car.  I guess you really do live and learn!

Thanks for reading, until next time........

 

- Big Dave

 

Welcome back........Ok, thanks to a clear day I managed to get a little bit more done on Sunday, and I guess I should show you guys the 'fruits of my labour'.

I'll warn you now there are quite a few photos on this one, so it may be a slow loader!

I decided to start off doing a bulk amount of something a bit simple, so thought it best to start painting the drivers side of the car, and come back to the roof and boot (which will be a bit more time consuming, due to the meeting of the colours in the middle, to continue half and halfing the car).   Not that I'm lazy and wanted to take the easy road or anything like that?!?!, I just wanted to get a bulk amount done, so you (and I) could   start building   up a decent idea of   how this thing is going to turn out in the end.

So, again to begin with I had to remove 'one or two' stickers from the car;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the bulk of the small ones had been done, it was time to tackle the numbers from last year.   Now these are proper FIA approved door number stickers and as such were somewhat of a 'pain in the proverbial' to remove from the car, and therefore came away rather slowly;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However after a supreme feat of super human strength, it was off (almost in one piece) and we had a 'dull and boring' drivers side to the once 'superbly decorated' Fred;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh yes, and a fantastic start to our bag of rubbish, consisting of many used stickers   (for sale - one careful owner?);

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then with a plain Fred looking all sad and in desperate need of some attention, we got down to 'keying' the paint.   Now you may remember the 'little incident' with the angle grinder last time, so I thought I'd play it safe and go straight for the 'good old fashioned' sandpaper!   After much rubbing, we finally ended up with a surface good enough to prime (or at least as good as I could be bothered to get it!);

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out the quality of that work......that's true craftmanship that........no cowboys here!?!?!?!

Even the little devil had to rubbed out a bit (poor little guy);

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, as before, masking off of the parts we didn't want painting had to be done.   A much bigger job this time as there was the front and rear windows, the front and rear bumpers, the petrol cap, the door handle......;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just check out the quality of that job........

 

.............I think I'll take a step back and admire that fully...................;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.................what do you mean I've missed the wing mirror?

Best hide for a while and save face....;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a great place to hide, you'd never guess where I was!

Then, with the proper equipment this time (to avoid massive headaches from paint fumes) I was ready.....check it out safety equipment (what was I thinking?);

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Might need to 'tuck the beard in'.   So on with the primer it is then;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See satefy equipment being put to it's correct use!   I did most of the time;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So there you have it, a rather uncharacteristically thorough going over with primer (and not one picture to prove I used the mask at all!).  

Then, once the primer had dried thoroughly, it was time to start with the paint again (yay, more fluroescent colour!!!).   Having read the instructions (for some unknown reason), they were taken a little too literally reading 'shake vigorously before use', hence the face;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mmmmmm, red head.......attractive!!!!   Seriously though, these cans clog a lot and do require a lot of shaking to keep them going (bit of a pain when you're going to be doing a whole car), you'll notice at times I had to use my thumb on the nozzle to keep enough pressure on it to keep the paint flowing.   And if you think it's just because I'm a wimp come and have a try yourself!! (an remember my superhuman feat above removing the door number sticker thanks)!!

So, paint away;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at that, using the 'trigger' and everything.   Not surprisingly since it's made by the same people who make the paint it works better on these cans..........but not that well;

This work does get a bit knackering....time for a new method;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ahhhhh, that's better;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look though.....mask on in all of these photo's - who's a good boy then!   Just noticed now, but how cool is it that the newspaper covering the headlight looks like a headlight until you look closer (planned to perfection of course - ha ha ha).

Nearly there;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See....thumb!

Just the final few touches, little bit more knackered now, time for a lie down;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then shortly after - Fin, stand back and admire the goods;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally unmask once dry, and fully appreciate, also for the first time, start to get an idea how the finished article will look;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out the lines, thanks to the precision masking;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, as an 'homage' to Mr Sam, I couldn't bear to paint over his most 'triumphant moment' from his help last year, so we had to save a mural...................

 

.................Drum roll please................;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

............Yes, I had to save the now infamous "Wanted Huge Nasty Monkey" sticker!!!   I just couldn't bring myself to remove it and paint the hallowed space it occupies.

Well, the orange side is now done, and not surprisingly you get a few looks when you drive around.   For some reason the last thing people seem to expect to see is a fluroescent Volvo 340 driving past them!   No idea why, any one would think Volvo has an image of being 'dull and sensible'.   I guess I'll have to do my best to change that!!!

Once again, for this installment that is the end, thanks for reading (hope your eyes haven't been burnt out of your head), please check back soon for more.......

- Big Dave

Well, where do we begin?

For those of you joining us from our previous home, hello again, for those of you completely new to our site and as as a group - Welcome.

This is the first of no doubt many entries to The Blog, and to begin with I guess I'd better introduce what it is all about.

This year in September, I (Big Dave) will once again be taking part in the Scally Rally which is an event organised to raise funds for charity.   The aim of the event is to purchase a car for no more than £100, and drive it over the course of a long weekend from Calais (France) to Rimini (Italy) taking in the Alps and Dolomites on the way, including Top Gear's 'World's Greatest Driving Road' - The Stelvio Pass!!!

In order to take part in this event we purchased a 1985 C Registered Volvo 340 GL, which goes by the name of Fred.

For those of you who remember it (and for those of you who don't to get a taste of what Fred looked like on last year's rally), he is a picture of him outside a well know sports car manufacturers headquarters;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes that really is a 'Fiat Broom Yellow' Volvo 340 outside the Ferrari headquarters in Maranello!

So, after much deliberation (about 15 seconds) we decided on a paint scheme for this year, and started preparing the car accordingly.   Unfortunately for some this involved allowing Mr Sam some time with the angle grinder;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not that I'd say he seemed to enjoy the experience a bit too much, but check out the grin hiding on his face;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, our trusty 23 year old Volvo was a little bit too tough for said angle grinder, and shortly after this picture was taken, the car got the better of it and the angle grinder packed in - R.I.P.   So it was back to blood, sweat, tears, and sandpaper;

 

 

Once the car had been thoroughly 'keyed' with the sandpaper, we had to start masking off the areas we didn't want painted, professionally as ever!;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To aid us with the painting, since we would be using 'rattle cans' to paint an entire car, we thought it best to purchase a 'trigger' attatchment for the cans;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This however, turned out to be what can only be described as 'naff', so that idea was completely abandoned (sore fingers here we come).   It was then time to 'carefully' and 'accurately' apply the primer;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once dried (about 10 seconds later - who said patience is a virtue?!?!), it was time to get our first glimpse of how the paint will look, so we began with the orange;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once that was applied (and our eyes had stopped burning.   It is fluorescent paint!), we had to start on what would become the colour for the other half of the car.......green;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To give you an idea of how bright the paint actually is, have a look at the 'reflection' on Mr Sams face;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then all that was left, after everything had dried nicely, was to remove the masking tape and newspaper, stand back, and admire our handywork!;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And there you have it...............for now!!!!

The whole car will eventually be done in the above half and half paint scheme, and once that is complete the fun of 'detailing' can begin.   We already have plans, but it all depends on time as to which come into fruition and which get abandoned, so we are not going to give anything away at the moment just in case.   You'll just have to wait and see.

Until the next instalment, thanks for reading.

- Big Dave