This is a bit rich, considering I probably won’t be doing much, or possibly even any of it, but here is a list of the things that I remember definitely need to be done before we set off.

1) Replace that terrible 3″ bit of hose that Ian pointed out was absolutely shafted.

2) Tighter the alternator belt.

3) Make it so the doors open from the inside.

4) Fix the taxi sign, and, if possible, pimp it.

Also, Matt’s bodywork repairs will make us look super-smart. I think we should also put our own choice of pictures in the back seat advertising spaces. I vote for a picture of Mary Poppins on one side, and Bert on the other. It’s a jolly holiday with Mary. No wonder that it’s Mary that we love.

As the current theme is to list jobs people are doing. I thought I would throw my hat in to ring.

Once a certain person has returned Dyk (Nice try Tom but your Audi looks nothing the Cab). I will continue with the rust removal and respray Dyk with a lovely coat of Hamerite. I tell you it will start a trend. All those Barrys will be wanting to respray their Novas with Hamerite!

Tom seems to have the mechanics well in hand and the number of free weekends I have before the main event is now only two (neither of which are guarenteed to be free for chief mechanic Tom or anyone else)

Therefore i’m only going to give myself a couple of targets for next time.

1. Make sure the radio, speakers, mp3 player, tape adapter, cigarette adapters, laptop and GPS all work with each other.

2. Repair the “Taxi” light on top of the cab, and see how easy it will be to replace the damaged sign.

Just noticed a decent “reflectoporn” style photo we picked up in Dyks wing too

 Detail :-

While catching up with the weekend papers, this caught my eye in the Honest John column of the Telegraph Motoring Section:

Cab age soup

Would a used taxi be a sensible purchase as an everyday car?
P.C., via e-mail

• It will be slow, uncomfortable for the driver and, in all probability, worn out after its long, hard life.

He’s right on every count, although might I recommend a seat bolster from a Hyudai to remedy his second objection?

Further to Chris’ post on yesterday afternoon’s work, we managed to achieve a few good things all over:

• The air intake pipe is now fitted, although the top speed has subsequently gone down (see below), possibly because there’s a slight kink in the new pipe. More investigation required….
• The near side headlight now functions properly, thanks to Phil and Chris’ sterling effort.
• The near side wiper now functions(ish) following Ian’s judicious use of molegrips.
• The near side front wing is now actually attached properly (see left hand photo in Chris’ post below)
• The drivers’ seat is comfortable! Probably because the bottom of it was taken out and replaced with that from a Hyundai, which does make the driving position slightly higher, but I’m a short-arse, so that’s quite beneficial.
• The partition between driver and passenger has been removed to allow us to actually talk to each other en-route.

All in all, pretty good, and if it keeps coughing up money at this rate we’ll be rich!

It also has has a wash and coat of polish for the first time in its life, and looked so good, that I gatecrashed Tadcaster car show in it today. There was plenty of fancy metal there, but it got its fair share of attention, especially when I mentioned the plan to take it to Le Mans… While there I aquired some 1″ x 2.5″ union flag stickers to go on the wings (photos to follow), and a steering wheel cover to replace the monstrosity that was on there before (mmm…fake walnut formed from plastic.)

I think the door mechanisms might have to be the next priority, as I’m getting tired of opening the driver’s door from the outside…

I’ll let Tom fill you in on the technical details, but good progress has been made.

Dyk has also revealed some of his secret past in the shape over £10 in loose change and a empty durex packet.

Many thanks to Matt for the endless supply of hotdogs and coke.

I took a trip out tonight, to grab the battery and charge it up before Saturday, but my impatience meant that I had to try and jump start it from the Audi instead.

Confession time:  There is a fuel primer, but not a self primer as on the Audi.  Hidden in the grime on the top of the fuel filter (alright, alright, it was obvious but I didn’t see it) was a large black button.  Once pumped repeatedly, it primes the fuel filter and the lines, and then DYK started first turn of the key.  That’s the new thing I’ve learned for the day, although I still feel like an amateur.

Once out and running, a top speed of 60mph was obtained…after about a mile on the flat with my foot to the floor.  It doesn’t sound like it’s revving overly highly, so I shall check that the throttle cable is properly adjusted come Saturday.  Also, I now have the ducting for the air intake, so you never know, we might yet obtain 61mph!

I’ve had a few questions about the Google Ads at the top right. We get paid about 10 cents every time someone clicks on a link. But before you get too click happy, there are things in place to detect fraud.

More importantly, if you’ve got some free time (and if you are here then you are clearly not too busy) go and have a browse on ChilledHeat, there’s some stunning photos there.

My brother-in-law is very good at breaking cars. There’s a Hyundai Accent on my mother-in-law’s drive thats been there for over three years rotting into the tarmac.

Tom and Orde came to Redcar one weekend and we proceeded to take it apart to see if we could fix it. (More for fun that with any real intention of fixing it.)

We knew we wouldn’t manage when we found a six inch hole in the side of the engine where a broken piston had punched through it. Anyway, this means there’s a car full of spares just sat there ready to use. The wrong car admittedly but lets forget that for the moment.

I have extracted the stereo and four speakers and I’m going back tonight to try and get as much of the stereo wiring out as I can with resorting to my mate Stanley (the knife).

I think I could easily have a pop at getting the rear wiper motor out, no idea if it will fit but what the heck: I dont have any other plans.

Dyk is a bit underdeveloped in the drivers seat department, I’m going to try to unbolt the whole Hyundai seat from the floor and take it along to York on Saturday.

Given that I’ve spent more than a little time on this I want to blag the credit for the work I’ve been doing on the design (if you hate it then it’s all Phil’s fault).

I’m done with the basic layout (check out the bumper at the bottom of the page, it’s probably going to be missed by most people) all I need to do now is sort out the text formatting, a job not made any easier by Internot Exploiter’s idiosyncratic rendering of things that work in a proper browser [ressum, fessum, messum…]

Right, I’m off to design my own web site… with blackjack… and babes. In fact: forget the web site… and the blackjack.