Garage update

Spoke to Roy this morning for an update on the car. He’s still very confident that he will get it repaired in plenty of time. The old pistons were from a Volvo! So God knows when and where they were fitted. There’s no record in the paperwork of them every having been replaced. The Cylinders are being rebored at the moment, although there was surprisingly little damage considering how far the debris from the broken piston had travelled.

 

Off to Graydon for our briefing day on Sunday. Call from James last night, “whats going on on Sunday?”. I don’t know how many times I have given him the details. I am going to take up meditation before we set off so that I can, in all circumstances, remain calm. Pity we won’t be able to take the car but there we go. It will be nice to see our friends from the Flying Scotsman once again.

 

RHC

Monday 15th March

Having got the Lagonda back to Roy’s on Sunday we stripped the engine on Monday. As we suspected a disaster! Not only had one of the pistons completely disintegrated but the metal had been sucked through the valves into the other cylinders. Roy hadn’t seen anything like it in 42 years of restoring vintage cars! The good news is we know what we have to do and Roy is absolutely confident that we will get it done in time for shipping by June. He suspects that the piston had been cracked for some time. If it had happened on P2P i suspect we would have been out of the rally so we have to look on the positive side.

 

I have done everything I can so it’s over to Roy and the lads for the rebuild!

 

I feel confident that we are still very much in the rally and that we will be able to ship on time.

 

RHC

Flying Scotsman

 

RHC

Flying Scotsman

Day 2 and we are off through the North York moors to Darlington. Lincolnshire all a bit dull but the trails are going really well. A run round Fulbeck cart track with a target time of 1:10 we managed in 1:38. The map reading and Time Controls test in the Time Controls test in Yorkshire went really well, dropping 1 minute and then lunch at Eden camp, a second world war camp built by Italians. Not perhaps the most appropriate place to stop for our German competitors! The Regularity test at Rievaulx Abbey was a disaster but not only for us. Having to do three things at once proved too much for James and we missed two turns and cocked up the timing completely. We were all over the place but learnt an important lesson – these tests require preparation and we as usual had done absolutely none! The route took us through a huge ford at Caydale Mill. We completed the test which was more than the Fraser Nash did. Hitting a T junction at speed after the ford its brakes failed and it went straight through a stone wall and down a very steep hill. Driver and co-driver abandoned ship and survived to compete another day!

 

Onto Helmesly where Rex was waiting by the check point. Sadly no time to stop for a chat but I hope that he enjoyed a glimpse of James on the way through. Then on through the North York moors keeping up with a Riley which was going so well. We still had a chance at getting to the final check point on time if we could fill up with petrol. Of course the Esso garage at Scots Corner is in pieces and it took nearly 20 minutes to fill up with petrol.

 

The disaster struck! On the A1 about 8 miles from the end of day 2 we lost all compression and slipped quietly onto the hard shoulder. I knew it was a disaster and so it proved. The RAc turned up and had a look seeing pieces on metal in the cylinders. The mechanics from the rally towed us to the hotel and we out of our first rally.

 

Worryingly the car gets shipped to China at the beginning of June so it doesn’t leave us long to get the car fixed. I am praying we can get whatever spares we need and that Roy and his team can turn their attention to the car quickly. Tomorrow we need to get the car home. Tonight we will drown our sorrows!

 

RHC

 

Flying Scotsman

 

RHC

 

Flying Scotsman

 

RHC

 

Flying Scotsman

 

RHC

 

Flying Scotsman

As our final workout, with most of the Peking to Paris work completed, we entered the Flying Scotsman rally. A three day vintage rally for pre-war cars was to take us from Borrklands (Weybridge) to Edinburgh.

 

The first hiccup happened on the way down when I ran out of petrol about a mile from the hotel. Luckily I cruised to a stop outside a pub and there was a petrol station 150 meters away. What I had forgotten was that there is a back up tank of 15 ltrs which one can switch over to! What an arse! Anyway back up and running, dinner with James and then off to the start at Brooklands.

 

We did the famous Brooklands hill climb which we cruised up. Some didn’t make it! Then slowly round the famous Brooklands bank and onto the Mercedes test track. We didn’t even know that we were supposed to do it in a certain time so we cruised round it and were late! Then off to Edinburgh with all sorts of tests and challenges along the way. The circuit in the car park at Qainton sidings railway museum we made a complete hash of and max’d out on penalties and that was one of the easy tests. Then it was on to time trials at Weston by Welland, Launde Abbey and Ponton all in my back yard. We drove through Burrough-on-the-Hill and waved at Alice and Coco! I think we began to get the hang of those trials. Then to Belton Woods, Grantham for the night.

 

We learnt a lot today, not least that we could spend the day in a confined space together. We learnt a lot about the trials and the car seems to be running really well.

 

Supper with Alice and coco which was a joy and then day 2 to come.

 

RHC

Flying Scotsman

 

RHC

Flying Scotsman

 

RHC

 

introduction

In 2010 Richard Cunningham and James Chancellor both turn 50. Although we can hear the gasps of amazement, it is unfortunately true!

 

To celebrate this moment in our lives we have entered into the 2010 Peking to Paris vintage car rally. We acquired a 1934 Lagonda M45 pillarless saloon (AUA117) and started the journey which will, with a fair wind, finish in Paris on 16^th October 2010.

 

This blog is our diary of this adventure, the highs and the lows and the utter determination to finish.