Welsh test run...

So we are on the road, heading to foreign lands, but for this run its only to wales.  Currently updating this blog from the passenger seat to test 3G tethering... All seams ok so far.

If you want to follow our progress, check out the real-time GPS tracking over at Greenalp

If you are in the area, we are spending the night here: http://www.cornbwch.co.uk

Things got a little bit sticky

Right, its time to get the livery sorted for the car.   As noted in previous posts, we are aiming for an SR-71 theme.  To that end we decided to add several Air Force themed stickers to the car in relevant locations.  

There were some issues with the wonderful Royal Mail delivery service supplying our ScumRun branding stickers, so we started with our own ones.

Stickers placed with masking tape for shape and space.   Place holder newspaper for the  ScumRun stickers.

Air Force stickers added (complete with "remove before flight" tails)

Adding to the theme, an "ejector seat" hand brake :)

Gregg looking menacing

A week later, the guys at ScumRun HQ managed to get a replacement set of branding stickers out to us.  This is what she looks like following the application of said stickers (Click to zoom):

New team photo :)

People have asked what "FSO" and "RSO" mean.   Its to go with the airforce theme again.

• FSO = Flight Systems Officer
• RSO = Reconnaissance Systems Officer.  

Spray it again, Sam!

A few clear days over the bank holiday weekend afforded us the opportunity to start the process of "prettification".

We had originally intended to spray the whole car, as it really does need a respray ( and some body work), but as time is running short, we opted for a simple highlight job.   Following the theme of SR71, we decided to add a red highlight to the car to mimic the red lines on the original aircraft as shown below:

For this respray we opted for a product called "Plastidip".  This is a plastic based spray that forms a pliable  and more importantly "removable", coating.  So if you really screw it up you can just peel it off.  There are several guides to coating your whole car is this stuff so its certainly automotive grade, and apparently durable enough to last several years, but we only needed enough to cover the we highlight areas.  Here are a few pics of the process.

A quick rinse before her makup session...

Shake well before use...

Mask off the area to work on

Add some light to warm things up

Getting there

5-6 layers later...

And the final product.

Not a significant change, admittedly, but it doesn't look too bad... from a distance.  Ok, we aren't car spray artists by any means but it was pretty good for a first attempt.  It probably would have benefited from some better prep, warmer day, and about 8 coats in total however we ran out of spray paint.  Maybe 3 or 4 cans would have done the job rather than the two we used.   You live and learn.  We can always peel it off and do it again later now we know how to do it properly.

Next up: Stickers !!

Snowpocageddon...

We got the car back from Mitsi Art in one piece and I took her for a run up to Telford for the iSeries event.  Everything was going great, and then the weather... oh the weather....

The carpark during the first downpour of sky-ice...

The next day, roughly 8 inches of snow (scoop for scale)

Made sure the scrum run poster was still visible :)

Thankfully, once I dug her out, she was still fully functional...

Side shot ftw

Bit of a hump of ice in front, no match for the 4WD :)

Like a phoenix from the ashes...

The GTO hath returned from whence it came...   woo.

Paul at MitsiArt has finished working his magic on our wonderful beastie and she has emerged in a far more functional state.  Here's a quick look at the workshop from when I went down there the other day...

The outside view, sorry for the potato-cam

Do you even lift?  Apparently they do....

Unfortunately the car wasn't being worked on at the time, so no "action shots" but still, you get the idea.

Anyway, back to the motor.  Various things were fixed but importantly:

• Clutch
• Brakes
• Oil pressure
• Sticky accelerator peddle
• Cruise control
• Anti roll bar bushes
• Protective cover for the 4 wheel steering hydraulics

As well as a general prod and poke around at various things.  This ran us a very reasonable £800 which did include nearly £500 in parts, so all in all not bad.

This week will see a long-distance test-run as I take her on a jaunt up north to Telford.  Hopefully we will be able to garner some more support from people at Multiplay's i48 event, but if nothing else, its a good shake down prior to our proper "test run" over the following bank holiday weekend.

More news as it happens...

Thumb twiddling mini-update.

Just a quick update whilst we wait for her to come out of surgery. A peek at the chosen theme of an SR-71 "Blackbird" spy plane, please enjoy these artists impressions, ramblings, etc.

Oh also we have just broken 60% of our funding goal! Big thanks to everyone.

So much room for activities!

The rear seats in the GTO leave a lot to be desired, like legroom, and comfort, so we have decided they are superfluous to requirements and had to go.

We started the process with nothing but some cups of tea and a make do attitude.

Built on Tea, just like Britain.

Cabe Smash!

Yet more freaking random red wires!

Is it for the fog light? Is it a bomb? I DON'T KNOW!

See what you can fit in the boot of a GTO once you remove the seats? A WHOLE WhiteKnight!

Because he was a good boy, I let him play with the screwdrivers. :)

Our efforts managed to get us a 20kg weight reduction. Not a bad days work I say.

20kg? That's half our bacon allowance, top job!

That is it for this week as she has gone to MitsiArt to have the clutch and other mechanical gremlins worked on. Hopefully we can get to the electrics such as the stereo and all important CB Radio this coming weekend.