Cannonball 8000 2007 - Germans don't see the funny side!

We've had an email off the Cannonball 8000 team saying that talks have broken down with Germany, and their Police are going to consider the Cannonball 8000 2007 rally 'illegal'!! They suggest we should peel off ALL of our car stickers before entering Germany and driving incognito.. In this car?! It's hardly under cover! They then suggest we should re-sticker our car as soon as we exit Germany. I'm having two sets of sponsor stickers made up just in case. Donner und blitzen!

One week to go..

The lightweight carpet is now in, Mark has borrowed a roll cage off a friend and we're almost ready to roll. As long as nothing goes wrong (ie engine exploding etc) she will be ready to pick up next Saturday. Mark's going to ride her around for a bit to check it's all OK then install my Steve Wong performance chip. After picking her up and driving home, I've booked her into to JZM for the wheel bearings and shocks to be replaced along with the ride height lowered and geometry checked. I really hope our luck holds up and nothing goes wrong mechanically. Honestly, I think I'd cry!

Decals are on

Day by day we get closer.. The Carrera Decals are now in place, but we're still missing the roll cage and light carpet set. We're sending the new (silver on black) registration plates and my Steve Wong performance chip up to him to install. The Cannonball 8000 2007 is only 25 days to go now. As far as I'm aware, we're the only entrants in the rally who had a car built specifically for it! Woo hoo!

Wow, only a couple of weeks to go..

Wow, Mark sent over the latest pictures and it looks stunning.. Absolutely stunning. He said they're having trouble locating the exhaust headers, so I'm borrowing an exhaust off Andy until after the Cannonball 8000 rally. The interior is still stripped out, so there's still a load of work to do. Apparently the guy who put the stereo in left a load of bare wires behind the dash which shorted and burnt out a load of wiring - so that's all got to be replaced. I've decided I'm just going to get the wheel bearings and geometry done after picking her up and before the rally. There's no point tempting fate by replacing the clutch and shocks. Look at it… Look at it!!!!!

One month to go.. Car Still in pieces!

Well, there's only a month to go before the rally starts. Thank so much to everyone who's sponsored us.. We're up to around £1,400 now which is amazing. Mark is back off holiday and is completing the final assembly of the car now. It's going to be very tight indeedy. We may have to forego some of the mechanical work that needs doing, and just hope the car lasts the trip! Next week we're going to meet with Rani and Flembo for a drink to discuss preparation for the rally. These guys are doing it in a frankly awesome Ferrari 360CS… It's a stripped out racer (though it's still got air-con. Damn). You can go to their web site here: http://www.team79.co.uk/