12 Jan 2011
Update - Suffered from intermittent fuel pump problems on Sunday 2nd Jan, the problem lead to the engine cutting out!
We tried in vein to revive Zeeebra-3 over the following days and without much success. Zeeebra-3 is not well enough to travel to The Gambia reliably so Team Idiotz.Abroad has elected to reschedule the fund raising rally.
We are now scheduled to participate in the Plymouth to Morocco Challenge in April 2011
We post further updates on the fuel problem and reliability testing
So please accept our apologies for not starting the event this month, however this does provide team Idiotz.Abroad more time to increase our fund raising and awareness
Idiotz.Abroad
Following on from the summer of 2010 Zeeebra-3 is coming to the final preparations for the challenging drive for our charity Marie Curie Cancer Care.
So what has been happening since out last blog?
Well we have managed to overcome the technical gremlins some of which included
Onboard instrument failure (dash board gauges)
More ferrous oxide (rust) decay discovered and treated
Mineral leaks (Oil leak)
And new drive train friction material (clutch plate) added
We have also ensured that we have catered for the chilly drive through France and prepared for the warmer climates as we reach Morocco
Team Idiotz.Abroad have also made some changes to Zeeebra-3 which include:
New team colours
1985 Volvo works rally style decals
Zebra Seat covers and mesh grills at the front
Final preparations include
Preparation for the desert leg
Packing the vehicle against our checklists
Completing the final checks for the vehicle
Medication and Vaccinations
Markings for our remaining sponsors
We hope you all like the new look for Zeeebra-3 (Starsky & Hutch stripe was too difficult to put on in freezing temperatures)
We will up-load more photos as we complete the final checks ahead of departure
So as we, Team Idiotz.Abroad, prepare for the challenge on behalf of our charity, Marie Curie Cancer Care, and, as we are not so keen on walking all the way, we needed to find some wheels to speed us along the way. We prised open the local AutoTrader to find our chariot to expedite us to foreign lands.
After months of searching, we found our weapon of choice, a 1985 Volvo 740 GL 2.3. finished in a delicate shade of greyish brown, complete with 20+ years of battle scars and environmental bruises
Well, this old girl was conceived in 1985 in Sweden, and was duly named Volvo 740 GL at birth. After a period of time growing up and piling on many kilometers, the Volvo decided to move to warmer climes and so, it left the land of Abba.
In 1989, Volvo 740 GL boarded a ferry for the long sail to the UK where, on arrival at the tropical shores of Poole in Dorset, she frolicked in the sunny climate while putting on many, many more miles
July 2010, Volvo 740 GL became our new team member. We decided to change her birth name to Zeeebra-3 (taken from the radio call sign from the Starsky & Hutch TV series)
July 2010, Zeeebra-3 was found to be sitting in a secondhand car yard as a trade-in after years of loyal service to her original owner. Not unlike Team Desert Rats’ companion, Zeeebra-3 had been sitting around waiting for a new owner, whilst nurturing a team of spiders and their homes.
We negotiated a price with the trader and agreed a princely sum of £150.00, complete with 3 months’ road tax and MoT to boot.
On the drive from the sunny Dorset to London, Zeeebra-3 decided to kick up a fuss, with a failed alternator, which led to a 3-hour delay, then onto the back of a recovery truck; we made a quick calculation of the fuel used from Dorset to London and found it to be excellent – nearly 100 miles on £5.00 of fuel!
As we brought Zeeebra-3 into the garage for surgery, we discovered that she required some degree of medical and technical attention. With a respectable 328,000kms on the clock and her original engine, she needed some attention following her brief storage in Dorset. Zeeebra-3 did need our love and attention to make her roadworthy once again. By fitting a replacement alternator and giving her a full service, Zeeebra-3 is almost ready for her MoT.
Other items that we are sourcing, due to wear and tear, include door panels, door handles, missing sun visors, spare relays and a resistor pack
So what’s on the list outside the routine diagnosis? Well, not much, which is good considering her age and the mileage she has covered; the list continues:
Lots of bulbs, replacement of the CD player, dodgy relays, flaky LT resistor and, finally, un-blocking the water drains in the boot (which helped to create a small lake in the boot, complete with plastic dolphin!)
So what’s next for Zeeebra-3? Well, we are planning to get a roof rack, off-road lights, bull bars, chicken wire, landing lights, hot-tub, portable Jacuzzi, tropical aquarium, and paint job to blend in with the European and African landscapes.
As you can tell, we have done this before, or do we know something the other teams don’t?
We will up-load more photos as we complete the final stages of Zeeebra-3
At this stage, as we prepare for our epic tour for our chosen charities, we would like to send a personal thank you to the following people for helping us get this far:
Ammo – For the brave drive from Poole
Tony – Structure reinforcement and integrity
Nobby – For donating lean to tent, jerry cans and food provisions
Ted – For donating the water butt
John - For donating the safety equipment and fire extinguishers
Dale – For donating the portable cooking device
David – For donating the 3 man tent
Neil – Internal Combustion Engine Consultant, and for donating the CD player
Our Sponsors:
Patrick – Porshcembri for the MoT Zeeebra-3 and many spare parts for the trip
Please consider sponsoring us either by contacting us direct for a sponsorship form, or via our fundraising pages at justgiving.com by just clicking on the links below:
Email us: idiotz.abroad@ymail.com
Twitter and Tweets on Twitter.com and search for (ID): idiotzabroad
Please consider sponsoring us either by contacting us direct for a sponsorship form, or via our fundraising pages at justgiving.com by just clicking on the links below:
Please Donate to Marie Curie Cancer Care please click on the following link
Team IdiotzAbroad contact details
Twitter and Tweets on Twitter.com and search for (ID): idiotzabroad
Our intrepid partners for this excursion are:
Team Desert Rats -
Email us at: TeamDesertRats@hotmail.co.uk
We are fundraising for our two charities, Help for Heroes and Naomi House Children’s Hospice.
Please consider sponsoring us either by contacting us direct for a sponsorship form, or via our fundraising pages at justgiving.com by just clicking on the links below:
- Help for Heroes
- Naomi House
This blog will be updated as we prepare for the event and feature reports and pictures of the odyssey itself.
We are fundraising for our two charities, Help for Heroes and Naomi House Children’s Hospice.
Please consider sponsoring us either by contacting us direct for a sponsorship form, or via our fundraising pages at justgiving.com by just clicking on the links below:
- Help for Heroes
- Naomi House
This blog will be updated as we prepare for the event and feature reports and pictures of the odyssey itself.
The 3 week Banjul Challenge is the worlds first-ever Banger Challenge that has spawned so many others and is now in its 8th year.
In December 2002 the first group of hopeful souls left the UK in a motley collection of vehicles, optimistically believing that the (dis)organiser Julian Nowill knew what he was doing, where he was going and had substance and experience behind his words. Despite later finding out to the contrary, this first event was a great success and most of the 42 Teams even made it to Banjul.
So why a "Banger" Challenge? Well, the event rules state that entrants' vehicles must cost no more than £100 to purchase, and although this rule is applied more "in spirit" rather than "in fact", past Challenges have seen ice-cream vans, 2CVs, VW Beetles and a whole host of aged vehicles that should by all rights be quietly rusting in peace at a local scrapyard, rather than being thrashed for thousands of miles under the merciless desert sun.
The Banjul Challenge heads South through Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania and Senegal, arriving at Banjul in The Gambia. The route travels mostly on tarmac roads, but the highlight is the two-day off-road crossing of the Sahara Desert. The journey is approximately 3700 miles and can comfortably be covered in three weeks (if all goes well). Those in a hurry have completed in under two weeks, but that is missing the point, really. This is NOT a race. There is so much of interest en-route that it makes no sense to rush your travels.
The Challenge really starts in Southern Spain, where hotel accommodation is provided. The Road Book provides the clues as the Participants bond over a beer (or two) in the hotel bar, and form into travelling groups for the journey South. Ahead lies Sand, Sea and... even more sand. Experience the heat of the desert sun, and the challenge of nursing a knackered car all the way to destinations that most people would only consider flying to.
This Challenge is only open to Left-Hand Drive vehicles. The route can be completed by almost any vehicle, and there is no distinct advantage to having 4x4 drive (except when others are stuck in the sand!). It is a condition of entry that All vehicles MUST be donated to the Control Committee in The Gambia. The vehicles are auctioned and the funds raised are distributed to local worthy causes. This is the only legitimate way to ensure that the best price is obtained and that the funds are distributed appropriately. Nasty things do happen to those who might flout this requirement, because it is illegal to sell your vehicle privately.
(Julian's official site can be found at: http://www.dakarchallenge.co.uk/ )
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