Veni, Vidi, Volvo

("I came, I saw, I roll" - which ties in with Mr Roll and the brand of the car

ok now that is clever name!!!  Id hazard a guess most people doing the rally never did Latin so wont get it but its genious! haha

the wallpaper ideas probably the simplest.  We could also use cheap vinyl flooring for kitchens/bathrooms.  Both of them will be fairly quick to fit and they will come off aferwards so its back to a normal volvo.

If we wallpaper it, then covering it in paste afterwards should waterproof it well enough and flooring is naturally waterproof.  Flooring gives a ton of options from laminate wood effects to bright colours and some mad patterns.

Theres a BnQ down the road and Ive come home early so we can sort something out.  Id go and start doing something now but really need Andys thoughts since its up to him.  Hes coming round in a bit to sort things so we might get a chance later on.  We;ve only got a day left and need a new seatbelt and rear tyre so hopefully we can get cracking soon.

Im kinda liking some of the BnQ flooring:



Something like that covering the Volvo would be mad lol


The best would be if astroturf is on sale and then we could have a grass/camo car.  If we can cope with jumping languages then thatd be veni vidi verde volvo But cant start anything till Andy gets here.

Andys going to ring you and Eru either tonight or tomorrow and insure you...  guess hell prob do it tomorrow.  Anyway we added me to his insurance for 7 days and it was only £30 so should be about the same for you.  We tried adding you guys but they need some info from ya.  Andy has a full list of what they need but off the top of my head he needs to know:


Full name
date of birth
month/year you got your license (has to be >1 year)
any car isurance claims in last 5 years (theft or accident)
any convictions in last 5 years
Profession
Do you belong to any unions/professional bodies
Any illness that might affect driving your driving
Always been a uk resident?
(address probably wouldnt hurt too but not sure they needed that)


If you want to PM either me or him on here then thats cool otherwise youll prob get a call.  They said its no problem to add you guys assuming you dont have any weird things like 400 crashes last year  .

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General stuff:

V5 arrived yesterday and Andy got the tax disc this morning so the car is officially road legal now.  In fact weve been using it a bit today and Andy and his lass are out in it now.  Ive not drivven it yet (insurance starts tomorrow) but its comfy and seems smooth enough considering its age etc.  Not driven a 5m long car before so should be interesting lol

We got AA european breakdown cover today for ~£50.  It seems a very good deal - if they cant repair it by the side of the road theyll tow the car back to Andys house for us from any of the 4 countries we pass through.  Then theyll pay our travel costs back to blighty (including budget flights) or more usefully provide us with a hire car  Seemed a bargain once we got the price down.

We settled on a compromise with the decoration.  We bought some shiny sticky film sheets (think christmas wrapping paper and you wont go far wrong).  Weve got pink and silver.  Were going to do 2 dodge viper stripes over the top of the car in the pink and then use the silver for something on the sides.  Itll just peel off and it should show weve made an effort We actually considered pop riveting carpet to it and painting a union jack on the bonnet and roof at one stage in amongst looking at wallpaper and kitchen flooring lol.  Well be decorating tomorrow and Ill drop you some pics.

Knighty lent us the giant multiroom tent and a good tow rope the other night so were set on that front.  Well try setting it up tomorrow if its dry.

We got something to repair the exhaust since theres a 2p piece size hole in the pipe meaning the lambda sensor is on, it smells pretty bad (carbon monoxide?) and it sounds like a tractor lol.  I tried fitting some quick fix aluminium tape the other night to temporarily patch it but that blew out this afternoon.  Anyway were going to repair it properly tomorrow with putty and a metal collar.

Not exactly ciritcal but all the gizmos like heaters and electric windows work fine which is reassuring and were going to transplant Andys head unit into the dashboard so we have some music.  We have all the little stuff like headlight deflectors GB sticker, the rally stickers for the doors, replaced the windscreen wipers, spare light kits, first aid kit, tools, etc so will prob do a fluid check.  Its been on my drive for a couple of days and no leaks of any kind so itll just be top ups.

Were taking the car down to a Volvo specialist so they can give it a health check - mainly to make sure everythings safe.  After weve got a new rear tyre (getting low on tread) and the Volvo guys have checked the passenger seatbelt then the cars good to rally!!!



Think thats everything.  Sorry its a bit of a brain splurdge but least you know everything thats going on

get one of those 40 quid petrol generators - invaluable, combined with a battery charger.

Ooooo its all exciting

right, well were still not ready... lol

but leaving at midnight tonight.

keep an eye out for the bright orange & black mondeo... lol

Ill PM rolly & steveF my mobile number incase yous wanna meet up on the way down depending on what time yous are leaving.
If not, see yous there...

last but not least - GOOD LUCK AND DRIVE SAFE

Ok weve repaired the exhaust properly with aluminium tape, tons of gun gum and a metal collar with clip round it - that fixed the lambda sensor and it sounds like a car again.



We did the stickers which took frikken AGES.  Rain showers all day and sticky back plastic are not a good combo.  Its now got pink dodge viper stripes from bonnet to boot (the pic below was early on but they do go all the way back now).  Theres a slight gay vibe to the car but its all good



We rewired the car speakers and transplanted Andys head unit so we now have a CD player with 4 speakers working.  Grab some CDs cause were prob not gonna have a lot of time to make things.  I demand bohemian rhapsody is in the there and Gogol Bordello singing Start wearing purple as our team song.  (purple stripes etc etc and who can resist a bnd doing hungarian gypsy punk rock from New York )

Ill PM rolly & steveF my mobile number incase yous wanna meet up on the way down depending on what time yous are leaving.
If not, see yous there...

last but not least - GOOD LUCK AND DRIVE SAFE

you too mate - were gonna set off at 9am so unless you have some serious catastrophe on the way down well catch you the other side of the ferry  (got your number)

Im not sure...  the one Im using right nows about the worst we could use.  Its 17 or 19" diagonal, a desktop replacement (= no battery power) and worth ~£2k.  Depends how many photos/how much video we need to dump onto it.  Not having access to plugs will be the killer.

Can take it if its needed but it wont last long for playing music etc.

edit: just realised I have an old f**ked laptop.  That might be better for just dumping files off cameras  Ill dig it out and see if the battery holds charge.  (Has no keyboard but that shouldnt matter).