Cima Racing is Rallying an old banger around Europe to raise money for BEN Donate Now!
Meeting and Greeting
27 May 2007
Well that was an interesting day. Rising fairly early in the morning, I took the car down to K&P Tyres in West Ewell, stopping off in Hatfield to allow the car to cool down. I really ought to investigate the overheating problems…The very busy but very efficient guys at K&P had the tyres sorted quickly, after a short queue thanks to their popularity. With four new Falken tyres fitted it was off to Sutton to meet up with our good friends at Micheldever. Thanks to incessant rain and dropping temperatures, the car stayed cool and ran faultlessly, although not smoothly enough to impress anyone. I think the phrase 'rally car' conjours up images of Colin McRae bouncing over yumps in Finland, and not an old luxury barge.
Still, from there it was off to Frieda B, the swish Clapham bar hosting out launch party. Shown some lovely hospitality by bar manager Richard, we can't wait to get our supporters there to drink too much and hand over more cash for SPARKS.
The only downside is I've got avoid the drink, as somebody's got to drive the car away at the end of the night. That'll be me then.
Labels: Staples2Naples 07
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Dated carbon
21 May 2007
The car heads down to London next weekend, ready to get a new set of tyres from Micheldever, and presented to our supporters at Frieda-B in Clapham, so I'm working flat out to make sure it looks as good as possible.That said, it's a 15 year old Renault Safrane so expectations are probably quite low…
First up was some cosmetics in the engine bay. The snapped engine cover was replaced with one from the spare car, although not without a bit of hacksaw action in order to make it 'fit'. I've also chosen the best five alloy wheels and fitted them to the car, sorted out some minor bodywork issues, fixed the interior lighting and taken a look at fixing the voice synthesiser.
I've also added a half carbon fibre interior! I say carbon fibre, but really mean plastic film printed to look a little bit like carbon fibre. It's now covering the centre console and, amazingly, looks a lot better than the vast swathes of plastic that was there before. The fake wood trim is next for the carbon treatment, but that'll wait for a bit.
A quick wash and vacuum and the car looks almost presentable.
Labels: Staples2Naples 07
A very very nice man
17 May 2007
After three days of walking to and from work, forgetting to bring the necessary kit to swap the battery over, I'd had enough. I called out the RAC.A very very nice man (I know…) came out and surprised me, not least because he was the same man who took a hammer to the underside of my sports car last year, before declaring that it was broken.
I didn't let that put me off (he was actually very good, but that doesn't read as interestingly) so I let him loose on the Renault. After fiddling around for a while, he diagnosed a flat battery, at which point I revealed my Halfords branded box. Against all the rules, and because I was raising money for SPARKS, he agreed to swap them over.
Ten minutes later, the car fires. I can drive home!
Labels: Staples2Naples 07
New tyres thanks to Micheldever
16 May 2007
The gorgeous and lovely tyre people at Micheldever have come up trumps, happy to supply the rally effort with a new set of boots, which should keep the tread depth police off our backs for a while.Supplying us with a shiny new set of Falken tyres, to be fitted at K&P Tyres in Ewell. I've got to get the car down there next week for its tyre transplant.
Probably best not to mention the fact that the car's still not moving...
Labels: Staples2Naples 07
It's still dead, Jim
15 May 2007
The rally car is still sitting in the car park, refusing to play ball. Having being connected to countless cars, for no real reason, the battery is still empty, and the car still won't start, so a trip to Halfords for a new battery is in order.£70 later, I've got a heavy lump of lead by my desk, but no tools to put the battery in the car.
I've not thought this through. I'm walking home again.
Labels: Staples2Naples 07
It's dead, Jim
14 May 2007
Oh dear. Fresh from being fettled with, the Safrane has decided to let me down. Perhaps being helped along slightly by me leaving the lights on, the car's battery has died entirely, with the car refusing to even acknowledge the fact that the key is being turned in the ignition.To the rescue comes my hefty jump leads and a SEAT Alhambra. Duly hooked up, the keys are turned and… nothing. Leave the Renault charging for a bit, try again, and… nothing.
I'm walking back home tonight.
Labels: Staples2Naples 07
Stopping the spewing
08 May 2007
I guess it's time to reward the Renault, seeing as it's got itself past the MOT.It clearly likes oil, seeing as it's drinking about a litre a week of it, so I've made the effort of patching up the holes and keeping the oil in the engine rather than along the bottom of the chassis and the road behind. When I say 'I', I obviously mean 'local specialists ASAP'.
We also took the opportunity to remove the damaged undertray and fiddle around with a few other bits.
Total cost? A pretty reasonable £140, so just slightly less than the cars cost me.
Cashback.
Labels: Staples2Naples 07
It's only gone and bloody passed!
03 May 2007
I'm stunned. Literally, stunned. The Safrane has sailed through the MOT without any problems, and not an advisory in sight (if you ignore the tyres being low on tread).It's beginning to look like this £51 car was a bit of a bargain.
Roll on September!
Labels: Staples2Naples 07
Going for an MOT
Risking £45, I've put the car in for it's MOT. As it'll no doubt fail, I figure that at the very least I'll have a nice list of what absolutely has to be done to the car.As it's still spewing hot oil from the top of the engine, and the air intake isn't actually connected to the engine, there's a very good chance they'll simply laugh at it and fail it there and then. Still, I'll then have a month to put things right before I go for a free retest.
As an aside, the tester at local specialists ASAP looks at the daily list of cars to test, and suggests whether they'll pass or fail before even seeing the car. The Safrane's down as a fail...
Labels: Staples2Naples 07
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