Autosafe Clifton Blog
Qualified, home grown trained mechanics
18/05/10
John Overend Memorial Stages - Melbourne 16/05/10
Our weekend started on Saturday at scrutineering - noise used to always be a bit of a worry with the Pinto engine, many's the time we have been holding our breath and been on 99db! Luckily the Red Top is much quieter - 92db is practically a whisper for a rally car. Scrutineering passed off fine and we set up a giant service area for 5 crews - ourselves, Rob and John in their Sierra, Philip in the VW Golf, Alan and George in a Subaru Impreza, and Guy and Craig in the Escort Cosworth.
The day of the event dawned sunny and breezy - rain had been forecast, and we had a little shower, however, not enough to dampen the dust. Usual Melbourne circuit - bumpy in places witth some new smooth tarmac. A stage layout with some chicanes to slow us down at the too fast spots, and a tricky stage 3 and 4 with 3 laps and some tight splits to contend with.
Stage 1 passes without incident for us and a reasonable time too, but sadly we have our first casualty of the day - Guy and Craig are out with a blown engine.
Stage 2 - disaster for us as we pick up puncture on the first lap. Rather the risk damage to the car we come in off the stage and take a maximum time. Stage 3 is not much better as we pick up a 30 second penalty for "chicane abuse", and the car already has a few bumps and bangs from contacts with big tyres and bales. Its worse for Rob and John who also go out with a collapsed rear main beam.
Phillip has also picked up a penalty and a maximum time for missing the split, but looking much better for Alan and George who are running in top 5 - brilliant for George, navigating for the first time, aged 15, for his Dad!
We have further complication when the steering rack becomes loose, and our Service Team struggle to get the bolt in. They work their usual magic, and we make our MTC Due time with literally seconds to spare - thanks, Boys!
Further excitement after lunch when a Subaru has a major roll - all caught on camera by Mad Video - a very scary looking roll, but the driver and navigator were fine. The car looked pretty totalled though - check out the link to see the clip of the accident. It also shows how dusty it was, which could be a bit of a problem if you ended up stuck behind someone.
We finish the day with some good times, a bit of red mist desended on the last stage and we had a couple of moments due to over ambitous entry speed into tight corners, resulting in another coming together with a bale or two, but finish the day dusty and completely whacked.
Alan and George were 3rd overall - brilliant! In fact the top 3 crews were all North Humberside Motor Club members, which was great.
We ended the day by descending on the Melbourne Arms for a well deserved cold beer and a celebratory drink for the top 3 crews.
Our car needs some TLC and nothing is planned for our next time out yet - watch this space and check out the video clip, also You Tube has some footage of the event - watch out for car 30!
http://www.madvideo.co.uk/over10.mov
09/05/10
Our next rally entry has just gone in - a little late, because we were hoping to get a bit more work done on the car. We have done some welding on the body work, but have not quite got it done as we want, at the moment.
We are out next Sunday on our own Club's stage rally, John Overend Memorial Stages, at Melbourne. The service crew will be busy, as they will be working on our car plus Rob and John, and Philip's Golf as well.
We have had some really nice sunny days on this rally in the past, so fingers crossed for a nice weekend!
31/03/10
Golden Garages Update
We were thrilled to find out that we were chosen as one of the top two garages in the Yorkshire region! The two regional winners were chosen not only on the basis of the votes and comments received, but also judged on the technical competency of the staff, the quality of customer service, fair and open pricing policy and value for money.
Its a great recognition for the team - we did not quite make it into the top 10 final this year, but hope to go one better next year. Still, we feel its a great accolade and thank everyone for their support.
Well done Jon, Nick, James, Chris, Phil and Jonny!
18/03/10
Introducing Nick!
The latest member of the Autosafe team joined the team on the 1st March - Nick Jeffrey. Nick has a wealth of motor industry experience, having worked for a well known local garage since leaving school. Our local customers may also recognise Nick, as he and his family also own and run the Village Stores in Wigginton.
Nick will be working with Jon in our front of house service reception area, so it will be Nick's voice that customers hear when booking vehicles in for service, repair or MoTs.
17/03/10
Happy St Patrick's Day
The Autosafe Rally team hope to be in action this weekend for the Lookout Stages to be held locally at Melbourne Airfield.
Unfortunately, we will not be out in our car, after an "incident" last time out. Our car is receiving some TLC to the bodywork and the braking system - we had a major brake failure at quite high speed and crashed into the scaffolding of the defunct grandstand, resulting in the car becoming impaled on a metal pole. Luckily it was only a wheel and tyre that was pierced - not my leg!
I will be navigating for Philip Welch, in a speedy VW Golf Kit Car - same class as ours normally competes in. The service crew will be providing support to us, and also to Rob and John in their Sierra.
The only slight doubt in my mind at the moment is the minimum entry level has not been reached - so fingers crossed, the event will run and we will have a nice sunny day, for a change!
15/03/10
We are delighted to have reached the top 5 in our regional heat of the Golden Garages award!
Golden Garages is a competition run in association with the Motor Industry Code of Practice, and is an opportunity for customers to nominate their local garage, to recognise the highest standards of customer service and quality.
We have been voted among the top 5 in the Yorkshire region, and we are thrilled about it - thank you to all our customers for their support.
We hope that you will back us in the next round of the competition - we do need your votes again, to be considered for the final. A panel of motor industry experts will then make the final selection for the ultimate awards.
To vote, please visit the Golden Garages website at www.goldengarages.co.uk
We also made the York Evening Press - page 14 of the Drive Section on Friday 12th March - check out the write up and the lovely photo of Jon!
05/01/10
Happy New Year to all our customers!
We are very pleased to announce that as from the 1st January we are offering a special deal to all customers on MOT testing - MOTs will now be priced at £35.
Our reminder service means that you will never forget to renew your MOT; please let us know when booking your car if there are any other problems that you want us to check out!
Call 01904 691284 to book your MOT in advance, speak to any member of our friendly team.
We'd been looking forward to this event all year - held on a live Tornado base, deep in the wilds of Norfolk, the event is run to support several charities, Royal Air Force Association, the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund, the Bomber Command Memorial Fund and the Richard Burns Foundation.
The crew had been able to get the car ready over the previous week or so, and after a couple of good results we were feeling hopeful of another good result. We were in a very competitive class C, that included a Darrian, a Peugeot 306 Maxi Kit car, and a Vauxhall Astra Kit car who were all seeded in the top 10. Realistically we were aiming for a top 30 finish and top 15 in Class, and more importantly to enjoy the event and the weekend.
The journey down there took for ever down a very tedious A1 and A17, but finally we arrived. We had been advised to bring ID, and were greeted upon arrival by (very young!) armed squaddies, and had to be escorted onto the base and to the service area. We were able to pitch our rather large tent right next to our service area - our first challenge, as the stiff breeze nearly pulled me half way accross the airfield. Our crew - Graham, Jimmy, Phil and Jonny, arrived some time later in our newly acquired crew bus - a Mazda Bongo (!) fully laden with 8 litres of home brew cider. We were made to feel so welcome by the RAF team, who made a point of coming round to all the happy campers to point out the shower, bar and facilities.
Scutineering passed off with only a minor hitch - a headlight out -and then the rest of the evening was spent in the bar provided by the RAF - everything was £1, and as our team seemed to be the best customers, we were soon adopted by the friendly RAF person in charge of the bar, immediately nicknamed Al Murray by the crew, due to his resemblance in both appearance and dodgy line in jokes. Some time later we wobbled back accross to our tents, with emergency RAF lighting to show the way, and causing our tent to glow with a wierd luminous light, just me, and five chaps. Fortunately our tent is large, and I had laid down some tent rules - all of which were broken at some point during the weekend.
The next day we were all up bright and early, the weather was a bit grey and cloudy, but dry. First car on Saturday was 11.30am so we had a comparatively leisurely morning, putting on new tyres, sorting out the lights, and studying the road book. We discovered that the crew next door included a colleague from Beverley Motor Club, who was navigating in a Ford Focus WRC, and was promptly adopted by our service crew, as they did not have their own support team.
Finally we were down at the start for the first stage - 13.6 miles long, nerves were jangling a bit as we finally started. We set off down a long, smooth runway, broken by cutting across from one side to another Into a tighter section of 90 left and right, and then off round the top corner - open and long corners leading into another stretch of long straight runway. Back round a tight and twisty section through buildings, and we lose the back end a bit and bump a plastic barrier. Then onto a long open section with smooth sweeping corners, ending in a hairpin left, into another long stretch of runway. Round the long open top end we keep left and set back off past the start and back into the tight section through the buildings - this time we get it right and head back off down the long open section of perimeter road, back round the hairpin, down the runway again, and this time we keep right for the flying finish. It is so quick and smooth, different to the airfields we are used to - and already we are talking about where we can find extra time and adjusting the road notes.
Back into the service area and we find that we have bashed our back light out, and got a nasty dink in the back wing, but nothing too serious. Sadly, our neighbours in the Focus have gone out on the first stage with engine problems. Mark Higgins' Aston Martin is also out after running slow with engine problems, and then another competitor running into him - ooops!!
A quick break, and then we are off to do the same stage again - very fast and this time we take over 20 seconds off our previous time, so we are pleased - reallise we are going through loads of fuel and the new tyres are looking a bit worse for wear already, so swap them front to rear for the next two stages. We also have a small oil leak, at the rear, coming from the wheel bearing.
Stages 3 and 4 and 13.05 miles long and this time we really feel we are flying. The stage has lots of open corners and only the one tight twisty section through the buildings. We are faster on stage 4 by 17 sections and finish the first day in 28th place overall and 12th in Class, so we are feeling really happy with ourselves.
However, the new tyres are completely shredded and we realise that we are going to need more fuel. In addition, the wheel bearing is not looking so good, so the crew set to work, borrowing welding gear from another crew to fix the rear end. Meantime, the Focus boys have discovered their problem, and rush off to Colchester to get more bits so they can rejoin the Trophy Rally - our boys muck in and strip the engine for them, and then help rebuild with the new parts.
We are all ready for showers, as after the cloudy start the weather had become warm and sunny. The facilities are not bad, and for once the queue is at the Gents and not the Ladies. The hot water lasts all evening, apart from poor Jimmy who worked late to finish the Focus, and was rewarded with a freezing cold shower. The service guys carry out the essential task of firing up the generator so I can plug in my hair straighteners and do my hair. Afterwards we regroup in the bar. Grateful Ford Focus Driver and Navigator arrive and treats us all to shots of something strong, but quite nice, and as darkness falls we head off down to the Party on The Pan. Hog Roast, live band, lots of rally videos, and really spectacular fireworks make it an evening to remember. The kids were all thrilled by the presence of Rupert Grint, aka Ron Weasley from the Harry Potter movies, who seems like a nice guy as he happily poses for photographs with the children (and a few of the grown ups!). However, we are mindful of an earlier start, and sensibly Jon and I head off for an earlier night. We leave the serious partying to our Crew, not sure what time they made it back to the tent but they end up back in the bar with Al Murray and his RAF buddies, and eventually come to bed when Focus Man tells them off for making too much noise outside his tent.
There are certainly a few sore heads when we wake in the morning, and a few greenish looking faces. Our first start time is 09.30, and we are back in our starting order, we are feeling confident about a good finish. But, as the saying goes, "don't count your chickens....." and we have just completed our first lap of Stage 5 when clearly we have a problem with the back end, at first I think we have a puncture, and then the awful noises get worse. We have strict instructions not to run with a puncture, so we pull over as soon as we can. Jon jumps out, and quickly sees it's not a puncture, we carry on for a little while but then stop again - the problem is worse when we go around corners. We have quite a long way to get to the finish, and realise we are going to get a stage maximum, but we do manage to limp back to the finish and get the car back to Service. Closer examination shows we have a collapsed wheel bearing which has caused the half shaft to pull through and break - disaster! We have a mad chase around the service area and eventually find a half shaft from a Sunbeam, but the studs are the wrong size. One of the other guys competing in a Sunbeam comes accross to help us, and eventually we come up with a solution that gives us a chance to run, and we get down to the start, hoping to get started at the back of the field. Unfortunately we are OTL, just, and they won't let us go, despite our desperate pleadings. We both have major strops, but that seems to be it and we resign ourselves to not finishing. I head down to Rally HQ to plead our case, but to no avail.
I'm just about to knock the top off a cider when Ken Sturdy rocks up, waving and shouting - the event Liasion Officer beckons us to follow him - luckily for us, Ken had spotted the guy on the phone, saying he couldn't find us, and had quickly shown him down to our service area. We were told that they are going to let us complete the last two stages. ...we have got two stage maximums though, so no chance of the finish we hoped for. But by now, we are just happy to be able to run again after all the work and effort gone into the repairing of the car.
So we get a start time for Stage 7, but before that, all the competitors were marshalled onto the start area, to be photographed with the Red Arrows flying overhead! We start stage 7 from here, so get to see all the cars off the line. Mark Higgins indulges in a bit of show boating, by do-nutting the Aston several times in the start line up. THe crew are having fun too as Al Murray had called by our service area in full battle dress, complete with automatic rifles, and captured AK47s and grenade launchers - boy toy heaven! (He was manning the recruiting stand).
Stages 7 and 8 are shorter at 12.80 miles, but very quick and open, again with just the tight section through the complex of buildings. Jon has a rush of blood and attempts a slightly over ambitous entry speed into a 90 right, and we indulge in a spot of off roading, but survive unharmed, and the last two stages pass without further incident. Our tyres again are shot by the end of the last stage, but we are pleased with our times and improve by 20 seconds on stage 8. We were running approximately top 20ish on the last two stages. Sadly our Focus friend retired from the Trophy Rally when in 4th position, with further engine problems.
We find the chap who gave us the half shaft - a lovely man called Gordon Jarvis, who normally has Richard Burns' dad navigating for him, and we have a lovely chat with him about his motor sport career and his memories of Richard; we were so grateful for his help and we sort out a price for the part.
We get a finish, in 48th overall, and 20th in class, and while it was not quite what we had hoped for, we were very pleased to make it to the end. This was a fantastic event, the weather was great, the RAF Team made us feel very welcome, and we met loads of new friends. The camaraderie was second to none on this rally - everyone went out of their way to help each other, it was a really special event. It will definitely be on our "to do" list next year!
Thanks as ever, go to the fabulous service Crew, who not only prepare and look after our car, but who help us to keep running, even when the going gets tough, and never give up! Graham, Jimmy, Phil and Jonny did an amazing job.
Also a massive thanks to our wonderful foreman, Chris, who stayed behind and looked after the garage, so we could take part in this unique event.
27/07/09
It's been a little while, and we have done all sorts since our last blog and have had a really busy month in July.....
Our latest rally jaunt was the Armstrong Massey Rally on the 5th July, this is run by Beverley Motor Club at Driffield. Driffield is an MOD driver training base and the venue is a mixture of concrete and tarmac and some loose surface. It does have a reputation for being a bit rough, but the Club did say they were not going to use the most rough parts of the venue.
Scrutineering was on a lovely sunny saturday afternoon, and the car passed with no problems, and since replacing the exhaust our noise test was the lowest ever at 94db.
We arrived bright and early with our crew, and set up service with 2 other crews from our club, Al and Lawrence Kirby and Guy and Craig Gladwin.
From a Navigators point of view, the maps were not too difficult - the layout is basically a big square with two diagonals crossing the infield, and the stages were different combinations of these.
Al and Guy were both seeded a bit higher then us, and as we were lining up for our first stage, we saw the ambulance guys spring into action - always a bit worrying, as it means someone is off somewhere, and we knew Guy and Al would both be out.
Unfortunately, it was Guy and Craig - Al had been out on stage and come accross them, the stage was stopped at that point. Their car had gone off on a bend, which had loose gravel on the apex, hit some concrete blocks and come to rest on a fencing post. Guy was fine, but Craig had a suspected broken rib, and was swiftly carted off to hospital, and a very sad looking Escort Cosworth was recovered back to service.
This part of the track was cautioned before we set off, so we were perhaps, a little cautious on the first stage. However, the biggest problem for us was the dust - we got behind another car and it was like being in thick fog. We were bolder in the second stage and improved our time, and this continued on stage 3 - we were feeling confident!
Things rarely always go to plan though, and we hit trouble on stage 4 - the last before lunch - when we picked up a puncture. As we were quite near the end of the stage we kept going, and got out, although not without completely destroying a wheel as well!
As it was lunch break we had time of to get all sorted, although this was accompanied by a huge downpour - bless the service crew, they were lying in running water as the rain came down in stair rods.
Out again after lunch - only to have another puncture. This time we were quite a way from the finish, we limped through losing a fair bit of time, and destroying yet more wheels. We got through the time control and I legged down to service to grab the crew, (losing my time card on the way - fortunately it was handed in). The plus side was that the rain had helped to dampen the dust down.
The reat of the dat flew by, and barring a minor spin and a an over ambitous entry speed into a hairpin, the day passed without further problems.
We were really delighted to finish 3rd in class and 12th overall and to pick up our second trophy of the year. Al and Lawrence finished 4th and 1st in class, and Craig made a full recovery - no lasting damage!
On to Marham next - check out the website - www.richardburnsmemorialrally.co.uk
17/04/09
We had a great weekend at the Bank Holiday, not least because we found a different way to get involved with a different form of Motor Sport. We have lots of MOT and Service customers and come to see many of them as friends, not just customers, and through the garage we met two young guys who are in to AutoGrass - Oliver and Phil.
They both run Minis, and the Autosafe team, ever enthusiastic, have helped with the prep on both cars, and some sponsorship, so we decided to go and support the lads at the local track on the A59 near Green Hammerton.
Basically, its cars in the same class racing around an oval circuit, and it seems to be the sort of sport that anyone can take part it, from juniors onwards. The cars range from those that have very little engine modification, to the "specials" which are very exciting to watch.
It seems to be a really cheap way to get into sport - the licence costs £40 and the entry fees are £3!! Other then a car and a helmet that seems to be it! There were over 250 cars competing at York which is amazing, but when you compare this to the cost of rallying, you can see why so many people are doing it. Its also hugely entertaining to watch, and as the cars in each class are all the same its very competitive too - fast and furious.
We'll definitely be out again to support our boys!
07/03/09
.....so that was it, the end of our first multi-venue event. Needless to say, the event finished in the bar, at the awards ceremony. We were delighted and surprised to hear we had won an award - Best Novice. This is awarded for crews that have not competed in a multi-venue event before. We came 31st overall and 10th in Class, and we were happy with this. Bit disappointed that I picked up 2 time penalties for arriving early at MTC 3 and SS15, but you live and learn! Al and Lawrence finished in 9th place overall, so a great result for them too.
Not sure what we plan to do next, but we liked the tarmac! Possibly the Richard Burns Memorial at RAF Marham in August - watch ..this space.
Another little clip of us below - Car 76 right at the end.....
Check out youtube to see a brief glimpse of us on the night stages.
http://pop.youtube.com/watch?v=pQUE02csAFA&feature=related
We woke up early on Saturday and after studying the Road Book again, and making more notes on the stages, we get up and walk the Pontins stage. We do 4 stages today at Pontins and have been warned about the tight turns and splits. We note a couple of tricky sections and the meet up with the crew for breakfast. I'm nervous and manage to force down half a piece of toast.
We can get the car our of Parc Ferme and hour before our start, time and this gives the crew time to get all the jobs done. On with the Racers as well - today we will go for it, and it's dry.
The first stage is back down the promenade twice, but first we have to be interviewed on the start ramp, which makes us laugh. Our start, however, is delayed, due to a car having an incident on the stage and having to be removed before we can go, but finally we are off. This time the stage is a long straight course, broken by several chicanes and a double hairpin. We really fly down, loving every minute of it. Straight back for the second run, and I am shouting at Jon to go faster. We fly through the finish flat out, brilliant!
Head off down the road to Hillhouse, and I'm feeling calm and confident again, we are much more organised. Reach the stage with no problems; it's a former works and the surface is a mixture - parts of it are quite rough, and there is also a deep lagoon. No problems, and the car is driving and handling really well, and we head off back to Weeton.
No problems getting there this time and we find the entrance easily in the day light. We can see the tight turns and it's much easier to call in the daylight. The only problem we have is we think the exhaust has dropped off - we are certainly making alot of noise, the Crew have a quick look as we exit, but its not serious, and we head back to the Service area for lunch.
Catch up with Rob and John, who have been having a contretemps with the local Constabulary, which put them OTL, but they are still running. Al and Lawrence, Guy and Gav are all still running too so good news all round.
Its Pontins after lunch, another fast, fun and enjoyable stage, with loads of spectators, again we really enjoy flying between the Chalets.
Then back off to Hillhouse - it's very rough this time around and parts have cut up quite badly, we have problems getting the car round one tight hairpin where it's very loose, but finish both stages with no problems.
On the way out we meet Guy and Gav - sadly they are out with electrical problems, and when we find the crew they tell us Rob and John are also out.
Back to Weeton again, we are quite familiar with it and although the course lay out is different, we get round with no problems. The car is noisy but going well.
Then its on to a new stage - Clifton is a waterworks, and a mixed surface of concrete and tarmac. It's complicated and I lose my way, and struggle to pick it up, but we get out of the tight twisty section onto a long straight to finish, the tarmac is covered with mud - we get a little out of shape, the back end starts wagging and we lose it big time, spinning off onto the muddy grass. We waste time getting it out, and when we get to the finish the timekeeper laughs and said he thought we were going to go through the flying finish backwards. We are not amused. Second time around we take it steady at the end, and get through with no repeat performance.
Lytham Hall is next, another short blast in basically a big semi-circle, with a tight section through a farmyard and a slippy section through a wooded area. Then you go past the Hall and onto a very fast tarmac section to the end. We tiptoe through the wooded area, there are some nasty looking tree stumps we do not want to hit and cane it at the end. Back round, do it all again, then off back to Pontins.
The same short, tight course in reverse, there are even more spectators, fast and furious - I feel like we are a bit close to the Chalet walls, but we make it round.
Back to Clifton, and its getting darker now. I miss calling a corner and we take it far too fast and go off - we are lucky, there are no kerbs so I get away with that. By the end of the two stages its dark, but I feel more confident with the darkness and the last two stages are Lytham Hall. Another quick blast round, the only problem is the maplight is flickering on and off, but I can call it from memory, we fly through the finish.....and thats it! We made it! 26 stages with the car all in one piece, no major fall outs, and we are feeling really chuffed with ourselves.
We hand in our final time card, I'm feeling absolutely shattered and head off back to the Chalet for a bath and a beer!
25/2/09
And so on to the first stage.....we'd been chatting to some local crews, who'd explained that the Promenade can be a bit slippy with sand and water, as well as very tight between concrete walls, so we made a decision to go out on Intermediate tyres. Also it had started to rain a little, and didn't want to take any risks on the first stages.
I was very, very nervous by now, with lots of new things to cope with - reading the road book and following "tulips", using the trip meter, being in the dark in an unfamiliar area, working out times. Added to this, I have a trapped nerve in my neck, which has caused my right hand to go numb.
We finally set off to the first stage - a quick blast down the promenade. Managed to get the Time Controls right, and off the start line, and just about follow the map and call the directions. Flew down the stage, adrenalin pumping, panic a bit at the end, lose my pen, trip wire flapping, can't follow the directions to get back to the start line for stage 2. Lose my pen, again, can't record the time and more by luck then accident get back for Stage 2. This is a repeat run, so just about manage to get us to the end, this time a bit quicker and less tentative.
Get to the end again, Jon is chucking his helmet at me, asking for the practice cans, calling for directions -which way, which way?! We set off, hopefully in the right direction.
Next stage is Weeton - an army barracks, and I hope I am on the right track. My arm is shooting pins and needles, so I know I must be tense. We get to the barracks OK, but I miss the entrance and we go past and have to turn round. We get in to the stage, but I am convinced we are now late.
We're fumbling to get helmets out, get rid of the practice cans, my pen has gone again!
We get to the start line and we're off. The stage is tight and full of 90 degree turns, I lose my place almost immediately. We have traffic coming in opposing directions as well and this adds to my sense of confusion. Jon realises I have gone quiet and shouts to give him the directions. A quiet navigator is not a good sign! I tell him I am lost and ask him to shout out if he sees a number so I can find my bearing again. I can't pick up where we are, but on the second lap around, I am calling the corners from memory, and pick it up correctly for the last few corners.
We do not have much time in between the next stage, and again we manage to get back to the start line on the right time. We are both a bit fraught. I concentrate really hard and this time, more or less, I keep on the directions, and we make it through to the end, again a bit quicker.
We get back in, manage to get in on time, and put the car in Parc Ferme for the night, and its straight to the bar for a large drink!
I feel bad, because I felt I let Jon down, but pull myself together and tell the crew what I need - the trip wire taping down, the trip reset needs to be on my roll cage, I need pens! I also have a chat with Gav The Nav who, as usual, offers me advice and encouragement (also tells me about one of our colleagues who was sick on the first stage!) so I feel a little better.
Determined to do better, I finish my beer and head off to bed - cannot go to sleep though until I have sat and gone through the maps for tomorrow and made my notes. Set the alarm for 6am, so we can get up and walk the stage set up around Pontins.
We both fall asleep as soon as our heads touch the pillow.........
23/2/09
Well, we made it to get the car all ready for the North West Legend Fires Stages, and had a fabulous event! We set out from the garage on friday morning, with another motor club team - Rob and John (Sierra Cosworth) who also share our fabulous service crew. The garage was left in the safe hands of Foreman Chris, assisted by Technicians Jonny and Aussie Jimbo.
Our Crew all arrived, and we must really thank them for giving up their time - our top Technician James, his dad Graham, Ashley, Adam and Mark. As well as service crew we also needed two "chase cars" to follow us through the stages and service while we were out on the stages.
We decided to take the scenic route to Blackpool via Harrogate and the A59, and arrived at lunch time at the highly glamorous location of Pontins, and met the other two crews from our Club, Al and his son Lawrence (Suburu Impreza) and Guy and Gav The Nav (Escort Cosworth). As we arrived early, we all managed to get set up together in the Service Area. Part of the fun of an event like this is the social side and the camaraderie - not to mention the mickey taking!
The first hurdle to get through was scrutineering, where the cars and equipment are all checked to make sure everything meets the required standards - always a bit of a nervous time! Noise check is first (our car is very noisy!) and sure enough we were right on the 100 decibel limit! Onwards to scrutineering where all was OK for us. John and Rob were not so lucky - John's overalls were deemed to be out of date and without a race suit you can't rally! A frantic hunt ensued, and John was lucky enough to find someone who knew someone who has a shop - a phone call to them and the helpful lady not only had a set that would fit, but could also drive them down for him, hopefully in time for their start on the evening stages - fingers crossed!
More tomorrow!!
17/2/09
I read a really helpful article at the weekend about the benefits of keeping your car well maintained and having it serviced at regular intervals. Basically, it was part of an article about spending money wisely during the current tough times, and said that making sure your car was properly serviced could save you money in the long run. It also said that making sure your tyre pressure was correct will also make your vehicle more efficient to run. We try and help all our customers by sending out regular reminders for both service and MOTs; quite often our regular clients will pop in to have little things looked at - like checking tyre pressure, which we're always happy to do. Jon can also tell you many a horror story about "people who neglected to service their car and ended up with a major problem".......
Anyway, we are all very excited about the North West Stages at the weekend. New seats are fitted, and exhaust attended to today. The new seats are a bit smaller then the old ones, so definitely will have to keep off the pies and bacon sandwiches between now and then!
12/2/09
It's just a week now until our first event, so now we are really having to start pulling everything together to make sure we are ready. We have been really busy with MOTs and service repairs since the start of the new year, which is great, but obviously this takes precedence over the car - so we will need to put in a few late shifts to get things done.
New seats arrived yesterday - in the end we did not have time to get bespoke ones made, so went for some OMP seats, Hans compatible. Prop shaft is ready and hopefully the right size now! We have a trip meter and probe ready to wire in, and a number of other jobs to do.
I still need to sort out a map reading light, as we are doing some night stages - it would be helpful to see where we are supposed to be going!
We have also got some fab practice cans, supplied by Graham, who works for a communications company - these are really necessary for the road sections, as the engine is so noisy. Thank you Graham!!
23/01/09
When we got a rally car, 2 years ago, it was "sold" to me as a cheap, fun car, something we could batter round Melbourne and other local events and just have a go to see how we get on.
I should have known that the words "cheap" and "rallying" don't normally appear in the same sentence together
Sure, the car was a cheap buy - however, I think we must have replaced most of the major components on the car, including gearbox, engine, and suspension. Plus, after being battered, as mentioned above (coming together with large bale at Melbourne), husband was unable to leave the poor thing battle scarred, so it got all the bumps knocked out and a complete respray. If my bodywork got the same attention as the car, I'd look like Cindy Crawford by now.
The latest trauma is the saga of the prop shaft. We hit a big bump last time out, which ripped out the prop shaft and damaged it badly. After taking it to the engineers at, we discovered its cheaper to get a new one then repair this one, so left the old one with them as a template. sadly when we got the new one back we find it is 3 inches too long so has to go back! This is all a bit of a stress because we're supposed to be doing the NW Stages in 4 weeks.
We are also looking for new seats because we don't think ours will pass scrutineering. Another quite big expense - we want to get Hans ready seats as well, just in case that it's made compulsory. We are looking at custom made ones, but this would mean a trip to Manchester and not sure if we will have the time to do this.
You can even get your name emboidered in the seat if you want!
Well, I have learnt that rallying is expensive, frustrating, and can be hugely disappointing - but the thrill of thrashing round at high speed in the mud, rain, dust, fog and snow makes it all worth the pain!
Fingers crossed, we'll be ready for the 20th Feb.....watch this space......
19/01/09
I'm supposed to write about all things Autosafe here (MOTs, Service, Autodiagnostics etc etc), but today I think I need a bit of a chunter. Great weekend - started with me and five year old daughter having sickness bug. This resulted in a washing mountain the size of Ben Nevis, as five year old was very indiscriminate with her vomiting, bless her cotton socks. When we got a rally car, 2 years ago, it was "sold" to me as a cheap, fun car, something we could batter round Melbourne and other local events and just have a go to see how we get on.
Anyway we got over this by Saturday, had a lovely day on Sunday rounded off by a swimming lesson. Just got sat down at swimming, when Jon started feeling poorly, really bad stomach ache and back ache and nausea, so I immediately thought he had succumbed to the lurgy. I deposited him at home, while we had tea at mums, got home to find him in absolute agony, bad stomach pains and really uncomfortable. I have NHS Direct in my speed dial, luckily, having gone through the questions (can he talk, and is he blue?) they advised me to ring the local Doctors out of hours service. Explained the symptoms again, and they said they would get a doctor to call me back, which he did, very quickly, and the next advice was to take hubby to A & E. This meant loading five year old with all quipment for a sleepover, and groaning husband back into car. A & E was deserted luckily, got in to see very pleasant doctor within minutes, and he diagnosed severe acid, treatable with a prescription drug, which we could get from Monks Cross Boots midnight pharmacy. Only problem...midnight pharmacy closes at 5pm on Sunday.
Hubby is still in pain, so decide to ring a) my Dad, to check local chemists rota on t'internet and b) my friends at NHS Direct. NHS Direct said no chemists open between Scunthorpe and Newcastle! Dad, in the meantime had rung the police (if in doubt, ask a policeman, I only hope he did not dial 999!)They confirmed that NO CHEMISTS WERE OPEN, so we admitted defeat and came home, with hubby still in pain, but somewhat reassured to know he was not seriously ill. Now, is it me, or in "olden days" was there not a chemist rota where you could go to in the event of emergency?? Anyway, if you are going to get sick on a Sunday, make sure it is before 5pm!!
Tomorrow I will be back in "car" mode and will have news of our prop shaft....don't get too excited....
17/01/09
WE NEED A TECHICIAN!! We currently have a vacancy for an experienced Motor Vehicle Tecnician to join our small but busy team. Phil, our youngest Technician has to have his cruciate ligament repaired (damaged thanks to a combination of Moto X and football!). We're looking for a full time person for 6 weeks initially, but could lead to a permanent role for the right person. We need someone with experience ideally of working in the independent sector, who is able to work on all makes of cars and vans. Providing excellent customer service is something we all feel strongly about, so we need the person to be comfortable advising and updating customers about problems, as well as happy with the technical side of things. We are a small team so it's important the person will fit in - if you like rallying,motorbikes,football and/or fishing it would help! Probably to start in February: if you think you would fit the bill give Jon a call on 01904 691284 for an informal chat.
17/12/09
We hope to use our blog to keep you updated about all sorts of things - including the progress of the Autosafe Rally team - our first event coming up soon is the Legend Fire North West stages. Based in Blackpool this is a multi stage event, and includes racing down Blackpool Promenade, and around the Pontins Holiday camp. For us, it will be the first multi stage event AND the first time we have run in the dark, so it should be interesting. Also, the first time we have used our new engine (Vauxhall Red Top) in anger. Could be my only holiday this year...2 nights in Blackpool...in February...at Pontins...does life get any better then this? Visit the website by clicking the link www.nwstages.co.uk
16/12/09
Pay Your Car Tax Online
You can now pay your car tax online through the DVLA Swansea web site click here
