15 September 2007
Hannah is collecting money in Ashbourne tonight
Hannah and some of the girls are dressing as pirates tonight and taking a tour around the pubs of Ashbourne with collecting tins. If you happen to meet them please give generously!
14 September 2007
Flat Battery
Went to the car tonight to turn the old girl over - battery was flat as a pancake..... All the extra electrics must have taken their toll!
12 September 2007
We're in the Stunner again
We've got into the local paper again...... click here to see the web article or here to download a PDF of the printed article (needs Adobe Reader - download the latest version by clicking here).
09 September 2007
Video on YouTube
After a very rough edit our latest video is on YouTube - it is all video of the Pirate Day water pistol fight.
08 September 2007
Back in Blighty
Back in Blighty - we caught the ferry at lunchtime! Everything was fine on the way back (except for a few minor mechanical difficulties - more later). Now need to sort through the photos and video and write a diary of our adventures.
05 September 2007
We're in the The Ashbourne News Telegraph
The local paper (or The Stunner as it is locally known) have printed a story about our trek....click here to see the web article or here to view a PDF of the printed article (needs Adobe Reader - download the latest version by clicking here).
04 September 2007
We made it!
We are now sitting in an internet cafe in downtown Prague sampling the local brews and generally relaxing after a gruelling few days.
We left Bormio on Sunday morning all dressing up as pirates a parade through the town which all the locals came to wave us off - we even had a police escort. Then up Stelvio pass - an awesome mountain pass where the hairpins get tighter and tighter and the drops get steeper and steeper. Once at the top there was a impromptu pirate party and water fight. We then headed back down the pass (just as hairy - especially when the hairpins were tighter than the car could handle and we had to reverse back to get round) followed by a more leisurely drive through northern Italy, Austria and a bit of German autobahn before recrossing the Austrian border to Salzburg.
It was on this bit of motorway that the battery warning light starting flashing - the alternator was on it's way out! With the headlights getting dimmer by the km we managed to drive almost to centre of Salzburg before the all-electric dashboard went all hay-wire....... time to pull over.
Over-night we charged the battery in our hotel room using a bodged charger made from our splicing the wires on our video camera charger. At 6.00 am in the morning I got up and took off the alternator - checked it and cleaned it with a good squirt of WD40 - unfortunately there was no change - the output voltage had fallen to 11.3 volts - not enough to keep the battery charged.
After a few phonecalls and a lift from the "Roman Roadies" we managed to find a recon alternator in an out-of-town motor factors.... by 1pm it was fitted... by 2pm we were back on the road.
We passed through the Czech border at about 4pm with the minimum of fuss (unlike most teams who had a lot of trouble - one team got turned away from four border crossings because of the cars poor condition before they found a back road with an unmanned crossing point). We arrived in Prague at about 7pm.... just enough time to check into our hotel (the car was valet parked!!!) have a quick shower before walking into town for the end of rally in the St Georges pub in old town Prague.
We are now spending a few days chilling in Prague - it is a city that lends itself to taking it easy! - before driving back through Germany, Benelux and France. We will be back in Blighty at the weekend.
01 September 2007
Safe in Bormio
Well, that’s day 2 completed. We are in Bormio, Italy and arrived here about 6.00pm with 1,100 miles behind us. No problems apart from intermittent loss of power steering due to a slight fluid leak which made going over the mountain passes a bit more exciting than it should have been - we think there is an air lock in the system. Tomorrow we go over the Stelvio pass which is the second highest pass in the Alps - that should be even more exciting
31 August 2007
We have reached Interlaken
It was a bit of a rush making sure everything was OK before we left home, we think we have done it all but maybe there will be some bottles of milk on the doorstep when we get back. Just completed day one of Czech Wrecks and we are in Interlaken, Switzerland, after a 550 mile drive.Everything OK with the car and crew.
Now off to the official party at Hooters Bar.
30 August 2007
We're off!
Well - we are as ready as we are going to be. Not everything is wired in and we've probably forgotten to pack something but the time has come to head off down the A50 to the M1. We will try and keep you all updated through FaceBook.
26 August 2007
More Preparations
Well tonight we are a few steps closer to being ready. The brake pipes are now full of new, clean DoT 5.1 brake fluid - hopefully means less chance of cooking them in the Alps. New wiper blades fitted so we can see where we are going in the rain. The car is now mechanically ready - just need to put the stickers on and a few electrickery toys to wire in.....
25 August 2007
Exhaust Sorted
After being quoted £60 for a new down-pipe and front section exhaust I decided to spend £5.99 on a Holts repait kit......Job Done!
Something else I learned today.... if you remove the hazard warning switch then you will disable indicators - not very good when you nip into town to get the said Holts repair kit....
24 August 2007
Congratulations to Phena & Ferghal
on their wedding.
We both wish you both the best of luck and happpiness for your future life together!
23 August 2007
Updated Web-Site is launched
After a few hiccups with space allocation on the server the new web-site was uploaded and this is it - more news - photos tidied up - links to video - more web links....and more importantly news of our next rally adventure and details of how to give to our charity! It has been redesigned from scratch and switched to a different server provider so there are bound to be a few glitches. If you find any please let us know.....
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21 August 2007
Just Giving Page for 2007 Rally goes live
Today the TeamRoversReturn on Just Giving page goes live and ready for donations . Please visit the page and give generously - it is for a good cause that is very dear to our hearts! |
12 August 2007
Thanks Rob
Not really news but a little note to say "Thanks" to our good friend and neighbour Rob Scarborough who has been letting us use his yard to prepare the car and lending us two small but very loud "toys" :-)
05 August 07
Road Trial in Wales
We have just returned from taken the banger for a road trial - across to Wales - a bit of a blast on the M6 and A55 and up into Snowdonia to simulate Alpine driving.... Everything was fine except for the meaty exhaust sound has been replaced by a definitely blowing noise. Looks like I may be doing bean-can-fabrications!
30 July 07
Paint It Black
New spoiler painted matt black!
28 July 2007
Facebook Page Goes Live
Team Rovers Return sets up it's own Facebook page. Facebook members can now keep up with the team's progress and leave messages on our wall. |
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28 July 07
Scrap Yard Bargains
Visited the scrap yard and managed to get a rear spoiler from a Vitesse Fastback....a fiver! Excellent value.
21 July 07
MoT Passed!
It was a tight thing but we now have a tested car - with tax and insurance. Ready to go? Nowhere near!
04 April 2007
Tax & Insurance Sorted But Car Is Very Sick
The car is now legal for the road being both taxed and insured with a few month test to run. Such a shame that the revs keep falling back to idle and it is undriveable! - especially as there is a Rover 800 Owners Club meet a few miles away next weekend. Currently scouring the internet and owners forums trying to diagnose the problem........
19 March 07
We are Officially Crap!
Top-Trumps was the coolest playground game when we were growing up - and Crap Trumps is just like it - but Crapness wins!
Staples 2 Naples 2006 was sponsored by Crap Trumps and to celebrate (if that is the right word) this they produced a set of cards featuring cars from the rally.
Team Rovers Return is highly honoured to feature in this set of cards as the King of Clubs - with a crap rating of 68%... Whoaaa!
These cards are available on general sale through a number of web-stores but if you do buy a set please support Alex Moore from Team-Malex who entered S2N06 and is selling the packs to raise money for his team's charity. |
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