Borrowed my Dads jigsaw and cut out two replacement pieces of perspex to sandwich a new sign between. (I now have a huge lump of perspex left over that will last me the rest of my natural life)

Knocked together a new sign using a Friday 13th Font 

If anyone wants to make a better one, make note that you will have to remove the sign from the roof completely and take it all apart again, theres no quick-switch option.

The bulb holder that was inside the sign is totally shot, probably due to the bulb heat and fire.

True to the spirit of Dyk I have shoe-horned in a 12v neon tube from an old light in there. Its a very snug fit although I’m going to look at popping some sort of padding to reduce the risk of it breaking during the journey (bubble wrap, the tube shouldn’t get hot right ?)

The light can run off any working 12v we find, or from the cigarette adapter as we shouldnt need the laptop running much.
I popped in the the old taxi sign and lit it up, it looks great even if I do say so myself.

My first major task was getting the thing apart, years of outdoor exposure had left all the main bolts holding the thing together completely rusted solid.

I decided to cut my losses and drill out the bolts, not something i’ve ever done before but I got away with all my limbs and vital organ still intact.

This left me with the following heap of pieces, including the original burnt out taxi sign behind the mysterious filthy yellow plastic.

I’m pretty convinced this isn’t Dyks original taxi sign, the bolts that secure it to the roof are not in the original holes and more importantly under the layer of tatty black paintwork its clearly from one of those burgandy coloured taxis, you can just about make it out if you squint at this picture.

I invested in a sanding flap wheel and quickly got rid of most of the loose paint and rust (admitted onto the spare bedroom floor much to my taxi widows dismay)

Then today I got busy with the spray paint and gave it all a lovely new shiny coat of black

…but not for the Taxi this time. As I sit here gazing at the grey overcast sky which is preventing me from having a go at fixing things on DYK, I ponder how much easier it would be if I had some extra money to plough into the project. Perhaps if someone were to buy my car then this captial might become readily available. [Cue mystical hand gestures & mutterings of buy it, you know you want to].

On the DYK front however, weather permitting, I’m putting together a Programme of Works for the weekend, which will incorporate a substantial run out with the cab fully laden, to see how it copes. A 150 mile round trip in the afternoon should be enough to give us an idea of what to expect, or leave us broken down by the roadside (or both).

A brief run-down of Saturday’s achievements following on from what Chris has said was roughly as follows:

1. Finally fixed the air intake (for the moment)
2. Tightened the alternator belt
3. Secured the wing bolts (to make sure the off-side front one stays attached)
4. Fixed the door handles so they now open from the inside.  Not exactly an OEM solution mind you, but it worked perfectly and only cost £1.50.
5. Removed part of the dashboard to replace blown bulbs and investigate wiper.
6. Re-positioned speaker on rear parcel shelf to provide in-car ents once wired in.
7. Vacuumed the inside (including the last kg or so of broken glass from inside the doors.
8. The ‘For Hire’ and ‘Taxi’ signs have been removed for working on separately.

 It wasn’t all wonderful however, as we still have:

1.  The wiring.  Put in by a sensless simian using handfuls of random wires linked to whatever could be found.  The off-side headlight just shouldn’t work!  It’s not possible!  But it does, so I’ll leave it alone
2. The radio.  It was working in the morning, but now has no power.  Hmmm….
3. The near-side windscreen wiper.  The cause has been established, as the arm is shot and not gripping the spindle.  After a couple of attempted bodges, I think we need a new arm….
4. Did I mention the wiring?  There’s more to that than a simple statement would have you believe…
5. The Supercharger.  Strangely enough, no-one else seems keen on this….

I hadn’t really given it any meaningful thought until last night, when I was discussing how long it’s going to take us to get from York to Le Mans.  The answer (assuming an average speed of 50mph, which is optimistic) is approximately 24 hours, which I couldn’t help but think seems rather apt.

As it’s hard to get much meaningful done when you only have a couple of hours in York, Phil and myself have removed a few items from the taxi for a bit of TLC while at home.

Phil has the “For Hire” sign to repair and fix-up, while I have the roof mounted Taxi sign to have a poke at.

I’m thinking it should really say “On Fire” judging by the mess of burnt offerings that are currently inside it, hopefully in a couple of weeks time when I next see Dyk I’ll have something better to show.

I am pleased to anounce that we have another supporter: Bettys and Taylors who are official tea suppliers to the trip. Please go and have a browse on their website, and buy some Yorkshire tea next time you are out shopping.

Whilst you are here, don’t forget to pay a visit to our other supporter, ChilledHeat.

If you would be interested in 2000 miles of advertising across two countres on a vehicle that will undoubtedly attract the attention of some of the most passionate motor racing fans in Europe, please leave a message and one of our representatives will be happy to discuss your needs further.

Today my lunchtime bread buns have offered me a free football supporters pack taxi decoration pack, for £2.99 it offers me the following delights.

1. Face paints
2. Penalty Tom’s driving blindfolds
3. Roll-up megaphone
4. An inflatable hand
5. Thundersticks (how can they not be awesome)
6. A giant banner giant “please rescue us” sign
7. Bunting
8. Whistles
9. A chanting remote control
10. Napkins
11. Mini-flags

Needless to say, the cheque is already in the post for this pack of tat-tastic taxi bling.

Most of the cabs in Edinburgh are LTI TXI/II’s with a few Metrocabs, there don’t seem to be any Fairways like DYK (the differences are quite obvious when you get your eye in).  However, in London there are a plentiful supply of the older Fairways and metal rot round the TAXI sign seems to be fairly common - I know because I’ve been looking for it.

For the record, the graphic at the top of this page is based on a TXI which has a much rounder shoulderd roof and the sign is, again, more curvy than the Fairway. 

My god, I’m obsessed - I need a 12 step program to fight my addiction.