Well, it’s not quite a Rolls Royce… but it’s certainly a way to arrive in style…
But it makes a statement… and the statement is “I’m having too much fun to be in a boring car”.
Though I’m not going to embarrass the bride by posting photos of her getting out of the car – even if it was done very elegantly.
Though I wouldn’t buy a used car off this man (sorry, J.D.!)
Well, driving home from the Thames Valley 4×4 event I started to get a collection of interesting noises from under the car. Something’s not right… and removing the propshaft made it pretty clear what – one of the UJ’s was in the terminal stages of demise.
Not a surprise – the grease nipple had snapped off sometime in the previous ownership, so I knew this might happen.
After two hours hammering the joints in all different directions, I’ve come to the conclusion that the existing joint is determined to stay where it is, and have ordered a new propshaft.
I’ve also discovered that there’s a new kit available to improve the wipers. Modifying the Range Rover ones to work on the Dakar was always a bit of a bodge, and there’s now a kit available to replace the whole mechanism, so I might have to invest in one of those.
Next important job, though, is to fix the passenger seat mounts. Anyone got a seat base going spare?
Andy
The weekend just gone was the annual summer rally for the Thames Valley 4×4 Club – an event that’s as much about beer and barbecues as driving off-road.
An excellent time was had by one and all, and I got the Dakar fairly mucky – and broke a few bits into the bargain:
Shameful!
So what have I done in the last 7 weeks?
Oh, and working as well. No wonder I don’t have time to blog.
I think that’s the busiest weekend I’ve had in a long time.
Saturday was spent on the final part of the course for my Intermediate Radio Licence – exam on Wednesday! That was a fairly demanding day talking a lot about the internals of radio transmitters and receivers, then I got home and loaded up the Dakar.
Almost unheard of for me, I left at about 7:45 am on Sunday morning to make the trip up to Avon Dassett, just outside Banbury, to join the Thames Valley 4×4 Club for the day. I wanted to get there early, since I had an evening appointment and needed to be back in time.
And Sunday evening was spent in Woking watching Pam Ann – wonderfully funny, and thoroughly crude!
My second website achievement of the weekend was getting the website for the Abingdon 4×4 Festival up and running.
Well, actually it’s not changed much from the old one. Yet. Watch this space.
The club website is at http://www.dakarowners.co.uk
Paul Kibbey of Thames Valley 4×4 participated in the Inaugural Landy Rally, taking in 8 countries in 7 days. Paul’s participation was done to raise funds for the club’s charity – supporting Russ, their the club’s president, who suffered a brain stem stroke a few years ago and now suffers from “locked-in syndrome” – one of the most severe forms of paralysis.
I told Paul I’d sponsor him £10, and I’d double it if he came back with a prize.
The scheming little whatsit told the organisers about this. Paul comes back with the “Contrived Award to Thames Valley 4×4 Club so they can collect more funds”.
Hey, it’s all in a good cause!
After last year’s ignominious exit from the off-road course at the Abingdon 4×4 Festival, I’m pleased to report that I made it around the course this year.
[Certificate Picture taken by Motor Photo, who did all the photos and all profits made go to the event's charity]
Between the weather and the poorly Dakar, the summer’s activities were a little curtailed this year, so I took some time off on Friday to check the camping gear over and get both cars loaded up. The drive to Abingdon – about an hour away – was eventful in itself since the wiper linkage came apart, so I drove the last few miles reaching down every few seconds to pull the linkage and operate the wiper by hand. Fortunately at this point the rain had eased so it was feasible for me to continue in relative safety.
Thanks to the kind assistance of some of the mud club members, I was able to get the tent erected and have a beer by the time Yvonne arrived later in the day – sparing her from putting the tent up in the rain scored me a few Brownie Points. After our evening repast we adjourned to the beer tent where the rubgy match was just finishing, and had a fine time chatting with Tom McGuigan and some of his teams from the Landy Rally.
There a down side to consuming lots of beer when camping – the inevitable 3am trip to the toilets, which necessitates getting dressed and trogging across a dark campsite.
Saturday morning dawned bright and clear, with the clouds breaking away to let some sunshine through. We wandered around and caught up with a bunch of people we hadn’t seen since the last Abingdon event, and after lunch decided the off-road course was a bit quieter.
After the mis-hap with the wipers, my confidence in the Dakar wasn’t fully restored. After passing scruitneering (batteries bolted down, everything else held in place, no whippy aerials) I was off, and spent the next hour navigating a challenging course and generally getting muddy. There was a certain trepidation as I made my way round, but apart from a couple of hill climbs that needed a second run-up, it went very smoothly.
