Right then folks, thanks for the welcome in my other thread. As promised here's the full thread of our entry into this years Ramshackle rally.

The rough idea is that you buy a car for less than £150 and drive it the 1500 miles to Valencia via France, Italy and Spain. We always drive back too so a 3000 mile trip. Usually we sell the car on our return (infact the first car was used for more charity rallies by it's next owner) This year however we have storage so intend to use this car every year now just with a new theme.

First i'll give you some history on the last two years cars.

2008 Car - Dave the Cavalier - Team name : The penguins of the Apocalypse

Before



After







2009 car - Dave 2 the Mondeo - Team name : The Jamaican Bacon Inn

Before



After







yes that is a pool table on the roof and a bar on the back!

Video made by another team featuring us a couple of time (see credits at 8.40 on)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1TTyrzNVDA

right, give me a minute and i'll introduce Frank!

Totally mad .. but I love it ... wish I was 40 years younger !!!

Good luck, Enjoy 

Looks like a great deal of fun, cant wait to see Frank when its finished. I also wish I was a bit younger then I would do something like it.
Great stuff mate 

maybe should send you up a flashing headlight kit and some stickers to put on!!

omegameover wrote on 11. Mar 2010 at 16:00:


you're more than welcome to advertise your company on the car in return for a small donation to the kids hospice we are raising money for.

As for a theme. This year we are Team Tommy tank... yep, we're going to make frank look like Thomas the tank engine and dress as train drivers 

to be fair - you don't stand a chance of any support from this forum - you're previous car only shows "TheBoy's" beloved juice twice, once in can and once in bottle and no preference for air-freshener !

Good stuff mate, looks great fun, love the after shots of the Mondeo 

It's looking good

MOT passed 

Incase anyone wants to follow Frank on Facebook, here's a link...

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Frank-the-Ramshackle-Omega/212135322162?ref=ts

Obviously will keep the updates on here too!

and I thought I would celebrate with some mildy immature badgework...



And a wash..

Entwood wrote on 15. Mar 2010 at 19:56:


It does in the pics mate. When I bought it I said if it looks as good in the metal as it does in the pics there's no way we can use it for the rally.

It is however really rough when you see it.. poor filler work and overspray EVERYWHERE. It's solid where it counts though. 

Thanks mate. The parts have done the trick niceley so far.

The rally we do is £150 max (although you can spend out on the car, we are aiming for £250 all in) and must be older than a '95... Planning a major update for the bank holiday weekend, cambelt, waterpump, tensioners, aux belt, oil and filter, new cam sensor and new AICV. All of which cost us about £20... Result! Looking forward to getting stuck in!

So, got quite a bit sorted out today.

The team arrive...



Marked up the aux belt, note the cambelt cover is loose as it's broken in the middle



Off with the old and on with the new...





We replaced the rollers, tensioner, waterpump and of course cambelt.

We didn't want to have anything getting into the cambelt cover and not wanting to spend out on bits we improvised..

Take one scrap 205 door from my pug project and cut a plate...



Drill and bolt up



Sorted!

We also flushed the cooling system and filled it with nice clean antifreeze mix. It was when running it up to temperature we moved the loom a little bit to get it all back where it should be and it died. I bit of investigation later we found a real bodge to the cam sensor wiring...



We sorted that and it's running well again!

Next job was to whip the doorcards off so we can sort the central locking next time. We also found there are no rear speakers, one standard front speaker and one sony speaker just resting in the door with the wires just wrapped around it so we'll sort that too...




Mollie approves





And that was about it for the day! Off goes Frank back to where he is stored...

Looking good mate, I had a 3 series M Sport too, in Grey 

Del Boy wrote on 04. Apr 2010 at 13:45:


Thanks mate, yeah I really like mine... Like the look of your 5 too

i want more pictures of the audi estate man lol looks pretty tasty lineup of cars there

So, Myself and Neil from the team are off to Griffin house with "Frank" tomorrow to meet the Vauxhall PR team to talk charity sponsorship and getting some pics for their corporate magazine. Will let you know how we get on! (i'll make sure the forum gets a mention)

It went well. They are doing a write up in "Torque" magazine and are taking the car into the workshop for a going over. They have also offered us the new clutch we need and a selection of other bits (sensors etc) to help us get frank ready to go!

Hats off to them 

More importantly, we will also be getting a donation for our charity which is Keech cottage childrens hospice. We're onto the fundraising big time now so hopefully we can raise a good amount of money for them.

OmegaGav wrote on 30. Apr 2010 at 18:14:


Thanks mate! Decoration starts in two weeks so the updates should starrt to get quite amusing! So far we have collected some fibre glass and resin, a large oil drum and some guttering downpipe. Just need some paint and a few more odds and ends and we should be ready to go!

not only is this genius, you actualy got vx to do a free clutch and sensors, amazing! they couldnt even send me the correct sealant to fit a oil cooler this week, ended up with some locking nut glue or something!
done well. hope it goes well, and hope to see more updates

omegameover wrote on 30. Apr 2010 at 23:14:


Funny you should say that... The PR lady mentioned that we might have to stick a VXL suffixed number plate on it for the publicity shots 

Radiomarko wrote on 01. May 2010 at 13:53:


Thanks mate, yes it's a loveley colour. This one has been blown over very badly though so is flaking off in a number of places and is very dull around the wheelarches where it's been bodged before.... No probs though, it'll be a fetching shade of blue soon 

Zuffenhausen wrote on 02. May 2010 at 15:24:


Thanks mate. Yes we have just set up the donation site here...

www.justgiving.com/tankengine

Hopefully will be getting plenty of sponsorship on there soon.

Thanks chaps, really appreciate it.

Frank is back and running well... Had a run to Kent and back today with one of the team including a couple of hours in the Dartford tunnel traffic. Didn't miss a beat.... Bring on the paint!

I cant wait to see it finished 

Well, a rather large oil drum has been donated ready for the boiler and face arrangement on the front. I have a spare bonnet so we'll be getting to work on that on Saturday along with more pinstriping, wheel painting and a few more coats of red on the bumpers and side strips. 

The paint job doesn't look to bad either, looking good guy's. Will be nice to see the end result.

VX1 wrote on 19. Jun 2010 at 22:41:


Thanks mate, yeah we've refined the process since last year. It's not a bad finish at all and we were careful with the masking so actually looks alright!


p j morgan wrote on 20. Jun 2010 at 13:46:


Thanks matey! We're feeling pretty confident that Frank is up to the job. We'll be sorting the bonnet out in a couple of weeks ready for the VBOA show at billing.

omegameover wrote on 21. Jun 2010 at 19:38:


That would be quality! We did jokingly talk about a Ramshackle caravan done as one of the carriages but it would slow us down a bit too much 

Strong work guys! 

Right, here goes!!



First of all, let's see how it measures up...







Out with the grinder...











This gave us a rough base to work from, re-marked and measured and out with the grinder again...







Much better! Next the fixings went on...







Then the grill was modified to fit as was the bonnet catch...











The mouth was cut out for cooling...







And on with the chimney...







Just needs a coat of paint and the smoke machine fitting and the bonnet will be done!

Omegatoy wrote on 17. Jul 2010 at 17:03:


It is possible they may not like it.... it's always a bit touch and go. Last year we had beer cans coming out from the wheel centres and drove past several traffic cops with no issues. If the worst comes to the worst we are making sure it's painted underneath and it's relativeley easy to remove. My theory is that due to the rake of the bonnet the visibility is still good and it's less dangerous to a pedestrian than a lorry 

Lizzie Zoom wrote on 19. Jul 2010 at 20:49:


That is EXACTLY what we are doing. I'm not joking either.... can't wait to get him finished!

what an amazing job your doing. cant wait for the end product

Big day today!!



my mate Gemma turned up to start face painting..







The finished face...







Buffers were then added...











Then the coal scuttle was finished off with a base...







This was then painted black and on with the coal..











Fair bit to do but it's really coming together now!!

ringo would be proud of you

Looking good.

Hate to put a damper on things, but how do you stand with plod on the buffers as they tend not to like protruding items

Loving the car though.   

Thanks for the comments folks. It's cerainly turning some heads now which is good. Re the police and the buffers, that's a decent point. They are pretty easy to remove if we have to but hopefully the police won't mind them. Only one way to find out... 

hotel21 wrote on 01. Aug 2010 at 19:48:


They are just plastic gutter tube with plywood circles painted black so will just snap off if they hit anything. Hopefully will be ok.... we shall see.

Next step is to hook up the pa system and smoke machine!

Laughed all the way through this. What a rockin' idea. Even my 5 yr old was laughing at making an Omega into Thomas the Tank.
Will be following this one for sure!!
Best of luck with everything!!

Right, Sunday is the day we aim to get Frank finished off ready for the off on Thursday! Did a few minor odds and ends...



Ridiculousy large CB aerial







sponsors stickers (Thanks to City signs)







A few more stickers..











More exciting things to come on Sunday like the smoke machine

P_Russell wrote on 13. Aug 2010 at 19:47:


Thanks mate. I'm on the south side of Rushden (The new bit near the A6)

P_Russell wrote on 13. Aug 2010 at 21:01:


And replied! Small world!

Fantastic!!

You have made that miggy into my favourite mode of transport; a steam engine!

Hope the trip goes well ... you deserve a good time after all the effort so far.

Take care and enjoy .... 

Thanks for all the comments guys. I'm pleased to report that Frank covered the 2970 miles there and back with no major issues and scooped the coveted "Best car" award. I'll get the full write up done in the next couple of days and will then get Frank ready for his winter hibernation!

Well done matey.

Excellent news regards the "Best car" award, all the teams efforts have been rewarded well   

Saturday – Annecy to San Remo

A quick fluid check once again showed no oil or coolant use the day before so looking good! We got together with the convoy once again pulled into the local Mcdonalds for our first faff break of the day. Some of the guys decided on a dip in the glacial lake to wake themselves up. Declaring myself a “water gay” I kept dry and played on the Mcdonalds childrens slide instead
We had made the decision the day before that we were going to go up and over the Alps rather than through the tunnel so we were soon winding our way through the countryside with Dean and Craig up front with the Camera out of the back of the A-Team van. (don’t tell the HSE) Having pulled up at the roadside to gather the convoy, Pete was the first to notice that we would appear to be sitting on gravel. Cue the mother of all peel offs from the little Clio, this was followed by team stag in the 520 and then of course it would have been rude for Frank not to join in with a bit of tail wagging from the line (when trying this exercise on tarmac it was soon revealed that none of us had enough power to pull the skin off of a rice pudding let alone break traction on our amazing “Accelera” tyres.

Some water balloons were also aquired which made overtaking another ramshackle car an interesting proposition. Some quality hits were scored including one of the other teams driving a convertible!

The drive up the Alps was amazing, All of the cars made it up although the WRC Astra was by now running very very warm. Karl from Team stag bridged the temp sensor to make the fan run constantly and we cut a section from the front bumper which helped a little but it wasn’t looking great. Many cooling stops ensued but we all got there in the end.

Team Stags 520 popped a coolant hose going through the towns on the way down but fortunately it was at one end which was cut off and refitted. Job done!

The trip over the Alps had seriously lengthened our day so we headed out to the Motorways and drove the distance to San Remo as quickly as we could. Rolling in at 11.30 we went for the French shower option and got ourselves to the bar for some well deserved beers.

Pics

Convoy



Convoy on one of many cooling breaks



Ladies love Frank





Chasing down team stag



Nice road!



Done it



Sunday – San Remo – Perpignan

The usual checks once again revealed Frank to be holding up well. We hit the road deciding that we would now only communicate to toll road staff via the cars PA system which went down surprisingly well. Dean and Craig were interviewed for BBC radio Essex on one of our many faff breaks with a little “help” from our PA. We headed into Monaco for a dip in the sea and a look around/some lunch. We grabbed a pic of Frank outside the Casino before completing as much of a lap as we could and hitting the Autostrada. We convoyed all the way to Perpignan without any issues (although the WRC Astra was still running hot!) We actually had time to get ready properly tonight before heading down to the meeting place for a few beers.

Pics

Monaco



Outside the Casino with team stag



Oops…



Monday – Perpignan to Valencia

The last day of the rally. We hit the road early with the convoy having decided we wanted to hit Valencia at a reasonable time. We gave the girls a bit of a side swipe which removed most of the balls from their car at one point and almost ended up with a Polish guy who decided he wanted to come to Valencia with us. A few more games of pass the porn were played along with “pass the random Thomas the tank engine merchandise” and of course some water bomb action. Rocking in at 6 we got sorted out and headed out to the final meeting point for awards night where we where over the moon to win the award for the best banger by quite some margin! Every car in our convoy had made it which was fantastic. A great night was had by all and we finally got in at 5am for a well deserved kip.

Pics

He’s still got it..



Dirty Frank



MMMM…

great pics. sounds like it was a great time 

Well done to the lot of you & to Frank for behaving himself..well he would do would'nt he with two girls sat on his face, lucky old so & so!!!

MutantCav wrote on 29. Aug 2010 at 14:36:



didn't think 4 pots had this

So, took Frank over to storage today where he will be laid up for a few months.

Waiting to go in with the other halfs 182..



Where he'll be for a bit...



Covered up...



And to top it off... The trophy...



This bit is going on my garage wall as a reminder...