Sponsor Your Queen and Country

BABE Rally 2007 - From BA (Big Apple) to BE (Big Easy), a total drive of 1500 miles in four days on the east coast of the USA, in a banger yank tank that has to cost less than $250.

In a moment of madness, Martini and Gausie have entered a team - "Queen and Country", the entry has been accepted, and so long as we can get all of the prelims in place, at the end of May we'll be setting off from New York with "New Orleans or bust" ringing loudly in our ears.

In case you're wondering, we'll start with Martini as Queen (Gausie will be Cunt-ry) and we'll swap over every now and again.

We'll be raising money for Save The Children, and hopefully, in due course, some of you guys will dig deep.

We're planning on getting a car in late April and flying out a week early to prepare it for the journey - which is at the end of May.

We'll be looking for a car with acres and acres of metal and rust, a decent set of brakes, an engine and gearbox that stands a chance of getting us 1500 miles, and a very loud stereo. We've decided that an open top is mandatory - even if we have to take a cutter to a saloon. A custom paintjob is planned, given sufficient time.

OK, woke up this morning with a brainwave running round in my head. I'm sure you've all had those moments. Well here's my idea:-

We're going to the US right? Home of the cowboy, so there must be loads of horses running around. Fix a towbar to the car, steal a horsetrailer, find a horse and tow it behind the car in the trailer, then, when the car breaks down irretrievably on some god forsaken Alabama dirt road and the KKK is bearing down on us with their pointy heads and flaming crosses, we can hitch Dobbin to the car and it can pull us to safety and New Orleans.

I've thought and thought about this and I can't find any flaws in the argument, except perhaps the rota of who mucks out the trailer each morning, so how about it Team, can you find a horse on Staten Island?

This plan also has the added advantage of a ready made barbecue supply should we run out of food in the Nevada desert, which I have absolutely no doubt we will find ourselves in if Martini doesn't fix the cigarette lighter to plug the TomTom into.

My mission for today is to source an Elvis wig and a fly screen - 1500 miles in the back of a car with no roof, I'll need a fly screen!

dcb

J; Dont worry you have already got a couple of old nags in the car with you, I should take some ear plugs, when you have heard about the Leyland Service Department for the 400th time you will wish you were back in Suffolk :-)

I would hire a car and follow the old rust bucket at a safe distance.


Mike

PS You do realise that despite Martini's career in cars and Gausie's Alfa rebuild job, they dont have a clue about car mechanics, so God help you if anything breaks, maybe you should have a tow truck on 24hr standby.

Mike - As my light reading, I'm taking "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Mechanics". Positive thought is all that will be required :-)

J

Martini

It's ALFA - papajam would be entirely justified in showing you the wrong end of his sports rifle if he catches u spelling it wrong.

Sat in airport departure lounge.

cu soon

G

Just raised another 90 sposorship from the estate where my office is. Add it to the total!

Gausie - Martini - By the way, one of the firms here are very sophisticated engineers, they said that cutting the top off the car without adding additional strengthening would be very dangerous. have you considered this. It is a serious point.

J

Gausie
Yes he has already hit me over the head with a monkey wrench over that!!

DCB
Excellent thank the trading Estate and brother for us.

Tell your friend we had concidered it and the plan is to weld the doors up to make the deepest sills he has ever seen.
Regards

M

Justgiving Page updated and only 10 away from our current target of 3000

chopping the top off is a bad idea,your car will go all wobberly,like a shoe box without a lid,did you watch Top Gear when they did it,
maybe THESE GUYS can help you out,you never know as they have a big following in the UK aaswell,

steve

scussy
Top Gear still wanted to use the doors - the whimps. The only thing that will stop us doing it is time and access to a mig welder plus angle grinder/cutting tools.
Beam stiffness not torsion is main concern and a roll bar will help the torsion
Yes we could do with the "Pimp my ride" guys to help out!

M - But will the battery supply sufficient power for the modified Stannah Stairlift to get you and me over the welded sides? Or are we staying in the car for four days?

dcb

DCB
LOL - off to get hire car do some shopping and risk life and limb crossing New York to get Gausie from JFK.

Busy day on car we will post update later.

Thanks to great generosity from DCBs golf club we have surged through 3000.
M

Some car preparation pictures.

As you may know, panel beating is a black art requiring careful use of a range of hammers and an assortment of specialist technical equipment. It takes years of training and expertise to reach the sublime heights that only a few gifted individuals ever attain. Exponents of this skill are highly trained in the elastic properties of sheet steel, and exhibit finesse with their specialist tools.

So - here's how it's done

They look so Happy ,well done Lads

Happy they may look, but its Dopey, Sneezy and Sleepy who are doing the work that worry the crap out of me.

dcb

By the way, a total of 503.00 raised from my golf club. Well done Hintlesham Golf Club, Ipswich Suffolk!

dcb

yes well done them

I see G & M are using precision tools for the conversion work. LOL.

Well done with the fundraising DCB.


JC

Well done DCB great effort. See you at Newark airport.

Also many thanks to Graham, Keith, Steve and Julie for helping to push us over the 3500 - $7000 bar.

You should see the pair of us - stricken in the heat of battle!
My knackered right leg is complaining its not used to work nowadays and Gausie stubbed his right foot on a tree root and he is limping on a nicely blackening big toe.

We cant even support each other as we fall over to the right.

Jim and Dan in the pictures above have been stars in giving us access to tools at the factory in Elizabeth and with Jackie welcoming us into their home in the deep woods for the paint job.

We move on to the start hotel on Staten Island today for final preparations. The car looks stunning.

We will share finished item soon.

Best Regards
M

Arrived The Staten Island Hotel