Squires on Safari

Czech to Poland

2006-10-02T12:28:00.000Z

Monday 24th July 2006 - The day was dry and sunny, and we were up at 8am. We moved Marvin into the shade between 2 lorries so Neil could work on him. First Neil decided to strip the carburetor and make sure it hadn’t shipped water in yesterdays storm. But as is always the way, the carb wasn’t the problem and after trying the engine again he decided it must be the points, not the easiest on a 2CV as they lie behind the cooling fan, which drives the alternator by belt. A lorry driver kept us company and gave us apricots and peaches while he allowed us to work in the shade of his lorry. He seemed very interested in Marvin, and it was such a shame we didn’t share a common language. Neil discovered that Marvin’s condenser had gone so he fitted new points and condenser and then spent hours trying to get them set right. Eventually the lorry driver said he would have to go in 20 minutes but we got Marvin running just before he left and around 12 noon we left the car park with Marvin running great – well apart from the oil leak we still had!

We decided to avoid Prague so we could try and make up some of the time we had lost, and headed towards Poland as the temperature soars into the 30s. We drove up and down the mountains and round the hairpin bends until we were dizzy and eventually came to the Polish border – where we met up with Gav and Ruth – team Penguin Power and team Blue Lightening in a 652cc Fiat. Jan swapped J-cloths for Ruth’s hat – the weather was hot, hot, hot - while Neil and Gav got the Fiat running again for the lads. We then waved our goodbyes and off we went again – more hills and bends!!

We drove on and in Wroclaw Marvins speedo changed to 00000, a new car again! 58 miles later we decided to call it a day and stopped at a motel where we met team Nervous Breakdown – we enjoyed good food, good beer and good company for the evening then headed to bed. The room was built like (and as hot as) a sauna – wooden ceiling, wooden walls, wooden beds, including the mattress, with a tiny window in the ceiling allowing us to hear the heavy traffic all night. Better than sleeping in Marvin? Only slightly - if at all!!!

And they're off!!

2006-10-02T12:18:00.000Z

Saturday 22nd July 2006 – Up at 7am and before we left we found one of Plan-a-do’s cards on our car!
We set off for Hyde Park, which we finally found at around 10am, so much for getting there early! There were many wonderful cars lined up ready for the start of the rally and people kept coming up to talk to us... it seemed we were famous again. The sign in was not even organised chaos and we spent hours stood by Marvin waiting for the paperwork so we could be ‘authorised’ and we missed all the entertainment because of it! Neil kept sneaking away to film the latest teams arriving and the line of cars got longer and longer!

As we all started our engines ready for the off at 1.30pm, the heavens opened and we began our convoy around the center of London. Or we would have if Park Lane hadn’t been closed due to a demonstration so we had to find another route. We spent over 2 hours driving round London trying to find a way out only to find ourselves half a mile or so from the start line. As we drove down to Dover we passed 6 or 7 rally cars already broken down. We were happily bimling down the motorway when there were blue lights flashing in the mirror and we were flagged over by the police. What had we done wrong? We definitely hadn’t been speeding and it had cost us enough to get Marvin legal. The policeman approached us and lifted the windscreen wiper to look at the tax disc, and then apologised for stopping us. Apparently the all singing all dancing registration plate recognition computer in their car had said we had no road tax! Then Neil found that Marvin’s brakes weren’t working! This was traced to leaving the handbrake on and boiling the brake fluid and in time they start working again. The late start meant we missed our 6pm ferry in Dover, so we spent the time trying to rectify an oil leak that Marvin has sprung. Halfords being shut we settled for B&Q and substitute bath sealant for gasket compound and plant ties for tie wraps, and buy a very useful looking roll of plastic covered wire for tying bits back on!

We missed the ferry by 5 minutes but managed to transfer our booking onto the 10pm crossing. Spent the time chatting with Goldy Looking Micra, who were doing the quick route across Russia due to one of them having a 3 weeks old baby to rush back for, and the time flies by. Which was just as well as the ferry eventually left shortly after 11pm.

Sunday 23rd July 2006 - We arrived in Dunkirk around 1am and set off on our way through France, Belgium, Germany and into the Czech Republic. Just after the border we stopped for fuel and met up with various other teams, three 2CVs, a couple of Minis and a Morris Minor – all with stories of breakdowns to share. Apart from the continuing oil leak, Marvin was running fine .We waved our goodbyes and 2 minutes later the heavens opened and we were driving through the mother of all storms! Water poured into Marvin, from around the windscreen, down the windscreen wiper shafts, through the vent flap and god knows where else. J-cloths to the rescue stopped too much of it running over the instrument panel but worse was to come. Marvin decided he didn’t like it and after 20 minutes or so started to misfire, losing power and tried to jolt himself to bits. We stopped around 2km from a garage and sprayed the engine with WD40 and tried to carry on but it was all too much for Marvin and he came to a halt half way across a bridge 700 metres short of the garage. Neil sprayed him with more trusty WD40 but it didn’t help.
All the cars we had left at the garage earlier streamed past but didn’t stop for us, which was depressing. So much for the Rally spirit!! An American team stopped to see if we were ok but couldn’t offer us a tow to the nearby garage as they were having problems with their clutch. A team in a blue mini with Trouble (Steve) at the wheel whizzed by and Jan swore she would murder him when she next saw him!

Eventually with much spluttering and bumping we made it to the garage and the rain eases off. At the garage we met team Flappo Brothers who had been struck by lightening. Instruments had gone haywire, warning lights came on but after stopping and leaving it a while everything had returned to normal. We sprayed Marvin with WD40 again and left it to dry for a while then we ran him around the garage car park a few times and all seemed ok so off we went – but half a mile up the road the misfire returned so we stopped at the next fuel station.

Neil swapped the coil and fitted new plugs but to no avail and the rain came down again.
So we parked Marvin amongst the lorries for the night and after a quick wash and brush up went for a meal and a couple of drinks. Exhausted we headed back to Marvin and moved our belongings around and got some sleep – hoping for a better day tomorrow.

Friday 21st July 2006

2006-10-02T12:16:00.000Z

After doing a school run and dropping Dingle (the dog) off at her dogsitters, Jan raced round collecting everything needed for the trip and piled them up ready to load up Marvin. Neil arrived and reduced the pile by 50% then started loading the car. Even then, Marvin was bursting at the seams by the time we had everything fitted in.

Around 2.15pm we set off to London and the Docklands Travelodge, armed with directions from the hotels website. Jan was behind the wheel for only the 2nd time but soon got used to going round corners on 2 wheels. We stopped at Watford Gap services for Neil to take over the driving and discovered Marvins oil leak. We then got stuck in a traffic jam just to waste some more time. There wasn’t much we could do about it right there so we carried on towards our destination. As always we got lost and found ourselves at the wrong Travelodge but didn’t really mind too much because UB40 were in concert there so we could study the directions while listening to them. The directions were vague to say the least and had sent us round in a huge circle! We asked security guards for directions but none of them could help us and Jan was soon jumping out of the car and asking anyone she could find for directions. Eventually she collared the police who were there because of the concert and they pointed us in the right direction, even giving Jan one of their maps to help us on our way (or possibly just to get rid of us!).

We eventually found the hotel around 10pm, too late to go to the party the organisers had laid on, so we dumped our things in the room and went in search of food and much needed beer. Before bed we took a walk around the car park and discovered another rally car – team Plan-a-do. We couldn’t see the team anywhere around the hotel so left a couple of our cards on their car (ok maybe more than a couple!) and texted them to say we had seen the car, and then retired for the night.

Home at last

2006-08-24T20:43:00.000Z

9.00pm Barnsley time, and we are finally back home. Flew from Beijing 11.25 local time, arrived Heathrow about 3 this afternoon after a 10 and a half hour flight... these time zones do my head in! Hired a car and drove back north. Seemed odd to be oh the right side of the road again.
Will start a proper write up when we have both recovered a bit!

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2006-08-22T15:21:00.000Z

A couple of nights in a Bejing hotel, hoping to do the forbidden city tomorrow then fly to London Thursday and find our way back to Yorkshire.

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2006-08-20T13:57:00.000Z

8pm local time, just boarded the train, arrive at border 11am tomorrow then take the coach that gets us into Bejing 6am Tuesday.

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2006-08-17T15:00:00.000Z

Final mileage 7826, taken Marvin to his temporary home. Within 5 minutes he had 5 people and an Alsation riding around in him. Was a touching moment for us to leave a part of our team. Spent a lot of the day trying to arrange transport home with no luck! Latest plan is train to Bejing then fly back from there.

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2006-08-17T10:00:00.000Z

Mileage 7808, made Ulaan Baatar at 7pm local time. Arrived at Daves car and celebrated with ice cold beer and English food and caught up with the other teams there. Found a decent guest house and enjoyed a shower and a good nights sleep.

Marvin has made Mongolia!

2006-08-16T08:28:00.000Z

Marvin has made Mongolia. 3pm local time. Now 212km to UB.

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2006-08-16T08:25:00.000Z

Mileage 7460. Just past Ulan Ude. Lake Baikal stunning and mountain roads unpredicable and exhausting. On the downside we appear to have lost our camera and the video camera died in the crash.

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2006-08-15T07:16:00.000Z

It's outer Mongolia we have gone to not outer space! Come on - we need messages of support +447870648387

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2006-08-14T16:36:00.000Z

Mileage 7012 - 507 miles including many non-existant roads. Met up with 6 other teams for a chat until police moved us on. 70 miles from Irktusk. Now to sleep!

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2006-08-14T08:04:00.000Z

Mileage 6505. Drove 'til midnight to try to make up some miles. Stopped to feed the Mozzies about 40 km from Kansk.

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2006-08-13T17:39:00.000Z

Mileage 6173 Marvin has been panel beaten to within an inch of his life and his exhaust has been repaired, so off we go again towards Krasnoyarsk.

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2006-08-12T16:35:00.000Z

Marvin has spent all day in hospital, looking much better now, even getting a paint job - well the bumper at least. Hoping he will be well enough to travel tomorrow.

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2006-08-11T18:01:00.000Z

Mileage about 375 miles further than yesterday! Both OK but had an accident, Marvin span out of control backwards into a ditch and into trees. Lost his figure but running OK on the whole. Got to get work done on him before we can move on. Very scary but we are alive!

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2006-08-11T11:40:00.000Z

Mileage 5819 crossed Russian/Kazak border, usual mayhem. 35 miles from Novobrisk where we hear the roads change to non-existant. Could do with some texts of support please!

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2006-08-11T11:37:00.000Z

Mileage 5350 wheels rounded, shock repaired. 1 mile on and Marvins front end drops down an open manhole and drive shaft is torn out. Locals repair him in minutes. Overnight stay in Semey and on towards the Russian border

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2006-08-11T11:36:00.000Z

Almost reached Semey near the Kazak/Russian border. Still square wheels and a rear shock in the boot. Heavy storm, Marvin leaking, we are sat in puddles of water

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2006-08-11T11:34:00.000Z

Mileage 5122 stopped on a blasted heath outside a hole called Ayakoz. No help offered so stuck with no shock and only 3 good wheels

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2006-08-11T11:31:00.000Z

Our 4th square wheel and the 2nd shock mounting gone, we are limping to the next town which is who knows how far away! Mileage 5048

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2006-08-11T11:29:00.000Z

Mileage 4764. 200 miles north of Almaty. Shock mounting snapped but repaired now. Would like to know other teams positions so get texting please folks! +37253357934

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2006-08-11T11:26:00.000Z

Mileage 4555 spent the night at the home of a lovely Kazak family, Peter and Luda, treated like royalty. Leaving Almaty, heading to the Russian border

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2006-08-11T11:23:00.000Z

Mileage 4040 Back in Kazak after the quickest border crossing so far - an hour and a half! Stopped just over the border for night. Up at 6 on road for 6:45

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2006-08-11T11:20:00.000Z

Mileage 3758 Marvins had surgery on his starter motor and Jan has a new charger, so all systems go. Heading back to Kazak from a lovely Uzbek

Communications failure!

2006-08-11T11:17:00.000Z

SMS to Blog seems to have failed so family to the rescue. Thanks Alan and Didi

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2006-08-06T02:09:00.000Z

Mileage 4040 Back in Kazak after the quickest border crossing so far. an hour and a half! Stopped just over border for night. Up at 6 on road for 6.45

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2006-08-05T09:02:00.000Z

Hopefully phone problem sorted.. Keep your texts of support coming on 37 253 357934

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2006-08-04T13:57:00.000Z

Neils dad - please text us on 447870648387 jans number - neils phone stolen and jans phone lost number

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2006-08-04T03:56:00.000Z

Neils mobile stolen,? Jans charger broke. Will post new details when we sort something.

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2006-08-03T14:14:00.000Z

Mileage 3514 at uzbek border.. Hotter today.. Aiming for a cool beer. Points broke on Marvin but ok now.Protex saved the day, hit pothole but leak sealed itself

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2006-08-02T16:51:00.000Z

News. Jan almost chokes to death on melon,Neil loses stove bag, finds it and loses stove,Gav celebrates not needing shovel and Ruth almost out of pens

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2006-08-02T16:36:00.000Z

Mileage 3172 just outside Kvzvlorda where we had 3 police stops and 1 wedding in 30 mins. 240 km to Uzbek border tomorrow. All well despite 41c thanks Dad!

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2006-08-02T09:15:00.000Z

Thanks for all your messages 100 miles south of Aral and just got a signal . Love to you all. Thanx Leo and Elisabet Andy and Neale

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2006-08-02T09:03:00.000Z

Mileage 2754 10hrs to 300 miles dirt tracks ripped out tarmac lumps and bumps. Find a comfy crater and finish at 7.30 for night

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2006-08-01T03:01:00.000Z

Mileage 2447 sorry think was wrong in last post! Leaving Aktobe after a days fettling and relaxation. Please text 447739310550 other number dead

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2006-07-31T13:21:00.000Z

Mileage 2740. Made Aktobe 22.00 Sunday. Hotel for 2 nights. First flat tyre after hitting pot hole wheel now square!

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2006-07-30T05:53:00.000Z

Mileage 2105 crossed Kazak border last might with Team Penguin Power and spent night in a field. Next stop Oral and Aktobe

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2006-07-29T11:31:00.000Z

Another late nights driving after taking 3 hours to get out of Moscow! 3am finish mileage 01730 350km west of Samara.

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2006-07-26T20:08:00.000Z

later get pulled for first time. Now parked up for night

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2006-07-25T23:54:00.000Z

Mileage 00597 Ultena in Lithuania . Late night after one of Neils night drives. 500 in the day catches up some time and its been hot hot hot! Love to all our followers, send us a text on 37253357934 to let us know you are watching

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2006-07-25T06:59:00.000Z

Tuesday 8.45 mileage 00083. On the road after a night in a motel where we met Team Nervous Breakdown. Had a meal shared a few beers and chatted for a few hours. Slept in a sauna with a soundtrack of cars and trucks!

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2006-07-23T17:23:00.000Z

Heavy storm.. Rain pouring in through the dash board!

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2006-07-23T17:19:00.000Z

Just crossed into Czech about 120 miles to Prague.. Mileage now 99709 - all going well so far! We are exhausted!

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2006-07-23T00:17:00.000Z

02.10am just arrived in France after missing the 6pm ferry.. hopefully repaired Marvins oil leak.. Next stop Prague!

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2006-07-22T12:40:00.000Z

13.40 Saturday 22nd July 2006 and we are off!

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2006-07-21T23:03:00.000Z

8 hours to get to our hotel.. Traffic jams.. Oil leaks and now a few drinks!

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2006-07-21T13:19:00.000Z

2.15 milage 98739 a full tank of petrol and we are on our way to London

Almost Ready!

2006-07-20T22:40:00.000Z

Well the suspension has been altered so that Marvin is level now - the drivers side was quite a bit lower than the passenger side, the wiring is complete and Neil from Protex has kindly gundged our tyres for free so we should be safe from punctures (hopefully)!!

Got to put the rest of the stickers on Marvin, pack all our things into him (somehow) and blow up the 6' palm tree - don't ask - then we should be ready for the off sometime around mid-day tomorrow - Friday!

Keep checking out the site - we will be updating by text during our journey!

We have sounds!

2006-07-17T23:24:00.000Z

A full days work put in on Marvin has resulted in almost all the sound insulation being cut and glued in place, aerial replaced, 4 speakers fitted ( two by our feet and two just behind our heads.... a set up that worked well last year) and all the wiring in place for our cassette radio. Neil managed to find the right power inputs and with fingers crossed the plugs were put in the back of the radio and the ignition switched on and.............. nothing! At that point instead of throwing the radio out of the window Neil had a closer look at it and found the on-off button and we have sounds. Well no radio at the moment as it had an iso socket which needs an adaptor to connect to the aerial. But the cassette works fine, and even better the cassette-MP3 adaptor works great with our Archos. So a few more jobs crossed off the list.

Happy Birthday Dad

2006-07-16T17:45:00.000Z

Although we still have work to do on Marvin, there are somethings that take priority. So this Saturday we collected Neil's niece Sarah from a friend in Bradford at 8am and set off down the M1 to London to celebrate Neil's Dad's 80th birthday with the rest of the Harris clan. Didi had been in charge of the arrangements and found a lovely italian restaurant, The Marco Polo on the River near Putney Bridge. almost all of three generations were there, only missing Frances who couldn't get out of work commitments and Bex's future husband Tim who was in the States. Lovely food and a wonderful setting and so nice to catch up with everyone before we set off. Four hours passed in a flash and all too soon we were saying our goodbyes and driving back up north.
And now starts the final push to get everything finished in time for the launch next Saturday.

Time for some stickers!

2006-07-12T21:35:00.000Z

Another job out of the way. Tuesday morning Neil took Marvin to Abbey Signs before going to work, and handed him over to Stephen to get him stickered up. Stephen did a great job of stickers for Marvin last year at very short notice and offered to do this years stickers for us for nothing again. Its really touching that some people will put themselves out to help us.
Anyway bright and early this morning Neil got a taxi over to Abbey and picked him up, and Stephen has done us proud. Have a look at the gallery to see Marvin in his new icelolly.com strip! And we have some Squires on Safari stickers to put on, as well as Abbeys own stickers so Marvin will be looking very posh come the rally

Faith restored

2006-07-10T20:53:00.000Z

Just when you think that no one is going to help you someone does something to restore your faith in human nature. We need a fairly decent sound system in the car to keen us sane(ish) on the drive so Neil starts browsing eBay and comes across someone in Wakefield with lots of car radio cassettes for sale. A quick email to ask whether we can collect one to save on postage is met with a reply that we can have one for free! So thanks to Robert Maguire of Caraudiosupermarket.Hope you finish the Great North Run and raise a shedful of money for the Wakefield Hospice (if you fancy supporting him its www.justgiving.com/ryhill4 )
Saturday was spent getting stuff for Marvin and the rally . Last year Neil got some thick felt from a place in Bradford to reduce the noise levels in Marvin so we thought we would give them a try again this year. The Owner of the place remembered Neil from last year and gave us two sheets of felt for the price of one, and free seat covers and they will give us a steering wheel cover when we work out how big Marvin's wheel is. So another big thanks to Shahid Choudhury at Autosynergy of Bradford.
Sunday was a frustrating day and all we managed to do was fit the seats which took most of the day but eventually we got them in... now Neil doesn't have to stoop to see through the windscreen, but Jan needs a booster seat to see over the dashboard!

Jans First Drive!

2006-07-03T21:12:00.000Z

This morning I drove over to collect Marvin to take him to Abbey signs to see Stephen who is doing the graffix for us.... it was the first time I had driven him - oh dear!!!

Took me ages to fight the seat into a driveable position and I couldn't get reverse so I got a nice man to push Marvin backwards (with one hand).... found 1st gear and revved a little too much and pulled into the traffic and stalled.... second attempt - much the same.... then we were off - third time lucky!!

My mum accompanied me and I DID warn her first not to expect a limosine but I don't think she had quite the right idea about a 2cv - with me getting the wrong gears for the first mile and my mum screaming and holding on with one hand and holding the window open with the other (the latch is missing at the moment) we screamed off through Bradford, wing mirrors spinning - they need fixing too - the journey was only a couple of miles but I think we both lost a couple of pounds with the hard work involved.

We arrived safely to see Stephen and he came out to see Marvin - then got in to have a better look - he doesn't envy us - well I don't think he does by the way he said we are mad!

My mum begged him to keep Marvin til the graffix are done so she didn't have to ride in him again but he said he couldn't so in she climbed - I was going to take a flying run over the grass verge to get out of the car park but fortunately for my mum I found reverse - was going to get some practise in - that's all!! Then off we zoomed back to the garage greeted by Billy - with a grin on his face - as I managed to draw Marvin to a halt and fell out.

Neil collected Marvin after work and I will take him back to collect the graffix next week - not sure if my mum will acccompany me next time tho!!!!

MOTd at a price!!!

2006-07-03T09:38:00.000Z

Well we have an MOT so we should be happy but to be honest we are just hacked off at the lack of support we have had from the garages around here. Other teams have had cars given to them, had the cars put thro MOTs and serviced for free... Even had them sprayed up for nothing. Here we have been charged full price for everything, and overcharged for some! Welding that we could have done better our selves charged at £100s, when we could have had a whole floor replaced for less. Not much we can do but grin and bear it... oh and lodge a complaint about the MOT carried out by one of the garages concerned!

SMS Post

2006-06-30T18:41:00.000Z

Well at least one thing is sorted. This message has been posted from my mobile phone! The wonders of modern science!

Still no MOT

2006-06-27T18:26:00.000Z

Well Dimac have taken Marvin to another garage for an MOT and he's failed again. Still on emissions but also they reckon he needs some welding!!!! Even tho we have a fail certificate saying no welding is required the new garage has found some. So Dimac have started the welding work and the boss now admits to being a bit of a wizz with aircooled engines and will set the carb up for us. Maybe an MOT by Friday? We wont hold our breath.

4 weeks and counting

2006-06-26T20:04:00.000Z

Well not even four weeks... on 22 July we will be departing Hyde Park on route for Mongolia

So this afternoon Jan phones Dimac to see if we have an MOT or not. No is the answer... we haven't got the car, didn't know anything about it and we couldn't do it till next Monday anyway.... WE HATE GARAGES!!!!!!

A quick call to Carl and a different story emerges. The bloke did know but couldn't do anything as his MOT tester is on holiday, and seemed a bit miffed that we hadn't paid him for the failed MOT yet... hardly suprising when we were expecting a retest. Oh and he was going to sort out an MOT at another station. We are hoping Marvin will pass his test tomorrow - so who knows what will happen next!!

Back to Hospital

2006-06-24T10:23:00.000Z

We collect Marvin from Dimac and having arranged to get him MOTd on Monday 26th.

Neil drives him back over the hill to Sowerby Bridge and to 2CV City, with Jan following behind to drive us back into Bradford tso we can get on with other necessaries.

We leave him there to have the work done ... hopefully this time they will get Marvin to MOT standard.

We collect him up Saturday afternoon and back we go to Bradford... at least the brakes don't fail as they did in the way over!.

Sundays job was to replace the carb and air filter with ones off Marvin I , suitably cleaned and adjusted, in the hope this will get the emissions under control.

While we are working Carl comes in with some of his family and says he will take Marvin into Dimac for his MOT on Monday. The man's a star of the highest calibre!

Marvin to Hospital

2006-06-20T10:21:00.000Z

Marvin is almost ready, the biggest job was to change the barrels and pistons to allow him to run on low grade fuel without damage. Luckily the 2CV engine is easy enough to work on and he is soon purring away again. The front wings were a bit ropey so we replaced them with the ones from Marvin I which are still in store!.

Neil decided that tackling the hand brake and King pin is beyond him with the time constraints we have, so reluctantly we hired a trailer and took Marvin IV to 2CV City to get him MOTd.

However the boss decided that he didn't like the welding that had been done on him so wouldn't take him to his MOT man for us. But he said he would do a pre-mot test and do all the work needed to get him through an MOT apart from the welding.

So on the 17th June we drove over to collect him and after being relieved of over £200 for all the work required, Marvin made made the trip back to Bradford under his own power and we drop him off at Dimac autos for an MOT on the following Monday. The news isn't good... far from doing all the work required, Marvin fails the MOT on the other kingpin, a seized front caliper, ineffective handbrake as well as emissions and a rattly exhaust. The welding passed tho!!!!!! We are furious as we assumed that when the experts said they would get the car up to MOT standard that's just what they would do, but we were wrong.

A phone call to 2CV City is met with the answer "well you only said the king pin and handbrake needed fixing... we didn't see how bad the other king pin was.. the other caliper must have been seized too... etc etc. " Ignoring the fact that they had told Neil they would be doing all the mechanical work needed to get it to MOT standard!!!! So caught between a rock and a hard place we have little choice but to take Marvin back to them to get the rest of the work done. Neil cant take anymore time off work so it has to wait till the next Saturday.

Fundraising Failure!

2006-06-19T11:44:00.000Z

In an effort to raise funds we decided we needed to do a boot sale. Due to other commitments we had one week to prepare for the sale so cupboards, wardrobes, lofts, garages and garden sheds were raided and work began on cleaning, washing and ironing our goods. Neil was soooo pleased that we had so much to sell we would have to take 2 cars and he would have to attend the sale too!

Exhausted on the Saturday night after working flat out all week, we fell into bed after setting the alarm for 4am - didn't even know there was more than one 4 o'clock in a 24 hour period!!

Drove over to Bradford to collect Maggie who had very kindly offered to help and headed off to a field in Yeadon, close to the airport. We paid our £16 entrance fee and proceeded to set out our goods while being pestered by would-be buyers.

Jan had never been to a boot sale before and was surprised that people expected the things to be almost donated to them. The sale wasn't going well and other sellers commented that it was a 'bad week' - just our luck!

By lunchtime the weather had changed and it was starting to rain so we decided to cut our losses and head off home to watch the Motogp we had recorded earlier. We packed up and Neil drove off first leaving Jan and Maggie to get lost in a field after taking a wrong turning, doesn't bode well for the rally!

Once home we counted our takings and after deducting our £16 entrance fee and £1.80 coffee bill, we were left with the massive amount of £1.13. If we include the cost of fuel, there's no arguing that our boot sale was a total disaster.

Needless to say our first boot sale experience was definitely our last and Jan was left with a house looking like a charity shop..... Oh for some sleep!!!

Press Article and Appeal for Help!

2006-06-05T21:23:00.000Z

Unfortunatley personal circumstances mean that Neil hasn't been around for a few weeks and we have fallen behind with getting started on preparing Marvin and now we need help. We send out a few emails to attract publicity and appear in the Bradford Telegraph and Argus.... most of a page full of the usual inaccuracies!

The appeal for help from any local garage to sort Marvin was met by a resounding silence.

So Jan made a phone call to Carl who had given us the run of his garage last year and after a bit of hesitation he agreed to let us pick up a set of keys and use the garage at the weekend when they had finished. So we were back in our own home again!

Mongol Rally Meet

2006-04-21T21:42:00.000Z

The first meeting is held in Uxbridge on 19th April at the university, so off we go to meet fellow ralliers and gain info on this years rally.

There are lots of us and we look forward to getting to know many of the other teams..... we have to vacate the uni at 4pm and quite a few of us trek to a town centre pub where Tom has arranged for us to take over the upstairs bar for liquid refreshments, seems not very many of the other teams are there for the full session but we carry on regardless - as the evening draws to a close and we prepare to leave, Gareth and Doug (Team Jaws) from the 2005 rally appear and we spend another couple of hours catching up on last years experiences and howling with laughter, such a shame they can't make it this year, we tried our best to entice them but fail. Even when Jan reminds Doug that he had agreed to start a yak farm with her and open a Tea Bar on the Kazak steppes, our attempts still fail!!!!

They will be at the launch to wave us off tho and we look forward to seeing them again

Search Over

2006-03-26T22:15:00.000Z

By March we have found Marvin 4, he is based in Lanchester, County Durham and has no MOT so we hire a trailer, a first for us, and off we go to collect him. He is living with a very nice couple and in pretty decent condition, has had work done fairly recently and we are happy with the £106 we pay for him. He shouldn't need too much more work doing to get him MOT'd and ready for his travels in 4 months.

We trailer him back to Bradford, losing the trailer ramps and doing a u-turn to locate them on the way, then sweet talk Neils neighbour into letting him live on his drive until we can get him roadworthy.

Neil decides what parts are needed and purchases them and we plan to start the work as soon as we can.

Icelolly.com

2006-03-13T09:21:00.000Z

A couple of months ago while out with friends, Maggie and Tim and after a few (!) drinks Jan asked Tim about his new job with a travel portal company – Icelolly.com, and if they arranged holidays to Mongolia. Tim didn’t know but Jan drunkenly suggested they should sponsor our trip to Mongolia.

On a cold snowy weekend at The Ides of March bike rally in Todmordon after a few dinks (!) (sounds familiar), Jan drunkenly, jokingly, asked Tim if he has sorted out our sponsorship with Icelolly.com and was stunned to hear that Adrian has said he would sponsor us and provide a dvd video camera for us to record our trip.

After the struggle to raise sponsorship for last years rally we just HAD to celebrate with a few more drinks and eventually crawled back to our tents around 5am, still talking (wibbling) about our good fortune, unaware that outside the snow was falling heavily and that we would be snowed in the following day, but who cared – we had solved what we saw as one of our biggest headaches of the rally.

Thank you Tim! Thank you Adrian!

Here we go again!

2005-09-10T20:11:00.000Z

After failing to complete the 2005 Mongol Rally we decided we just HAD to make a second attempt but not in 2006 as it was too expensive to do two years running….. Alas we had been bitten by the bug, so in August (the same month we failed) we agreed to stop buying joined up meat and live on mince for a year in order to fund our second attempt.

We searched Ebay and found a Dyane for our expedition, sent off the £150, ordered 4 new tyres from Germany and sat back to await the arrival of our new chariot. Two days later we decided we couldn’t possibly take anything other than a 2cv so set about searching once again – after all – we could sell the Dyane, hopefully making a little profit, in order to buy Marvin4.