Chequered Flag

Fame at last for CLM 570 which features in the top right of this picture of Simon Ayris of Rally Preparation Services as featured in Chequered Flag magazine.

RPS Video

RPS has produced a lovely film of the cars they have prepared for PtoP 2016.  I initially thought that CLM 570 didn't appear but I've been told it does at 50 secs).  Follow the link below to watch it.

https://www.facebook.com/179002148782300/videos/1312910428724794/

Here's Steve of RPS working on car no. 16 and displaying his special hat.

RPS have put a map of the route on all of their cars - for when we get lost.

A last picture of CLM 570 before she is shipped to China.  Good luck on the crossing old girl.

 

Entrants

 We were at RPS today for a final look at the car.

so many P to P cars in their workshop it was amazing!

They are absolutely beautiful and put CLM 570 to shame.

Final Test Run

Panic Setting In!

Richard and I visited RPS today where our car is being worked on. A new back axle has been installed but we have two big problems. We need some half shafts and these have to be specially made for us, which is proving to be difficult. We also need to install some front shock absorbers that have to be custom made and this is taking longer than expected.

Otherwise the car looks good - we have a new Monit and the Garmin GPS tracker installed on the dashboard, which looks like something from Star Trek. We also have a drinks and sundries holder between the seat brackets (previously we have become dehydrated because we couldn't access the water we had on board) we also have the most beautiful headlamp grills, and a rear leaf spring mounted above the rear bumper – quite elegant. Oh and new air filters that we can take into the shower and wash clean!

Lots of photos but the technology is too slow so they will follow.

Rear Axle Trouble

The Car is back at RPS who have discovered a leak coming from the rear axle. This turns out to be because the  axle is twisted and needs replacing. Fortunately we have a spare which is now being fitted.

In other news the bonnet catches have been replaced so that it no longer takes 20 mins to close the bonnet; a new starter motor and battery have been installed; we have a drinks holder installed in the cockpit to stop us getting dehydrated (a problem in France because the water was out of reach); the various bugs identified on the Annecy run have been sorted.

RPS are going to fit a Monit and a cradle for the GPS. The dashboard will look like a spaceship when they have finished. Mr Spock would be at home

Brantz Training

A final trip to RPS before the car goes off to Leeds by CARS Europe for the start of the Flying Scotsman.

Simon at RPS has volunteered to give us a lesson on how to use the Brantz tripmeter installed in the car.  We nod along but I'm pretty sure it's going to be a major bog up when the time comes on Friday.

We now have two plastic boxes of parts and equipment in the boot, a fuel can, a first aid kit and the jack and its already full up.  Not sure where the kit is going to go on Peking to Paris.

Bright red seat belts have now been fitted, which look very cool.

More Cash Out The Door

On 25th Feb 2015 we took another visit to RPS where the car was theoretically ready. However, we took with us a checklist from 'How to Win a Marathon Road Rally' that added another couple of thousand pounds worth of work to be done. Still better that than be stuck in the Mongolian desert with a broken car.

Photo left is of the new rear suspension, which looks like it will take Mongolia in its stride.

The Work Continues

I'm posting this in February but it relates to a quickie visit I paid to the team at RPS during January.  The entire fuel system has been replaced with something much simpler and hopefully more reliable, the brakes, gearbox and clutch have all been tinkered with to make them work properly, the seats have been anchored more safely and the driveshaft completely inspected. Some nasty metal shards were found in the driveshaft that would never have been detected without RPS's thorough inspection and which could have led to grief on the rally.  The shaft is being sent away to specialists for repair.

So far RPS has spent £10,000.  It looks like another £10,000 before they are finished. Merde!

After this visit I sent the mechanical checklist from "How to Win A Rally" to the team at RPS to cross check that they had picked up on some of the simple but crisis averting ideas in Alan Smith's book (coconut car mats that can double up as grips for getting you out of sand - I would never have thought of that, or that you tie them to the rear bumper so that you don't drive off and leave them behind).  I think there were a few new ideas for RPS and many that cost only a few pounds.

The Work Begins

Another trip to Rally Preparation Services to see the Buick.  RPS has been working on cars for the Road to Mandalay rally and the workshops were just shipping these vehicles out. This made room for CLM 570 - our Buick - and we needed to sit down with the team at RPS to discuss how much work we wanted done.

Alistair is our project manager and he took us through the Road Test and Report prepared by RPS.  We told him that we didn't have an aspiration to win the Rally but wanted to finish in good order and enjoy the ride (beware any fellow competitors reading this as it may all be gamesmanship and bluff).  This dictated how and where we wanted to spend money.

Another Buick was in the workshop and we got a chance to look underneath it, which was most interesting.  The basic car is as strong as an ox but it's the various modern add ons that lie exposed to road damage.  Hopefully with CLM 570, RPS will ensure the car is protected from trouble - as long as we drive steadily.

Also in the workshop was Phil Garratt / Kieron Brown's Chevrolet Fangio Coupe, which has won the PTP twice. it still looks good even without most of the front end.

Exodus

Richard and I mentioned our plans to Paul and Edmund. Edmund owns an Alvis and fancied the idea and Paul agreed to come along for the ride.  Richard tracked down Simon Ayris of Rally preparation Services based in Whitney, Oxfordshire and organised for us to visit his workshop.

Simon provides many of the mechanics who support the Rally and is himself part of the back up crew. He spent considerable time with us.  His advice was to buy a 1930's American car as these are mechanically simple and therefore easy to repair, have powerful engines, so are reasonably fast and have good ground clearance, and so can cope with rough roads.Since Richard has a strong aversion to breaking down we took careful note of what Simon was saying.

He said that the winners of the race tended to go at a steady pace rather than hell-for-leather.  This was less stressful on the cars and the crew.  His strong advice was not to miss the people and the scenery for the sake of going faster.

Simon had a number of cars for sale, ready prepared for this type of Rally, but we weren't yet ready to buy a car.