The Bleeding Van...

Oh for God's sake.... This van, does it ever stop leaking ? Our drive is now covered in a puddle of oil about 10 feet long. It's a sloping drive, so it has run down from where it has been leaking under the engine. I'm pretty certain it's oil, but it might have some petrol mixed in with it. Judging by the fuel consumption, which again isn't great (it was fine for a few days last week in Somerset), it could be both an oil and petrol problem.  Let's hope Chris can do something with it next week.

Hairyman is looking at the roof next week too. There is a big gap between roof and van, which I'm guessing won't help with fuel economy or mosquitoes  A few more rivets in the right places and some sealant should keep the nasty little critters out. Hopefully he can also look at the other leak, this time an inward one, where rain water permeates through the rust at the back around the tail gate.

The back tyre was leaking too. It's odd. When I move the valve from side to side, it expels air. It's fine if I leave it alone. I'll leave it alone I think. Had enough of leaks this week.

Whilst I've been doing dull administration type stuff, sorting out vehicle insurance and similar, other teams have been making great strides. Team Trauma in particular have had an exciting week with the arrival of something large, yellow and French. After months of promises, finally they have their vehicle. Cost them £1. Quite possibly the cheapest but most valuable vehicle in the fleet. Hopefully we shall get to see some photos of the ambulance once they have found a company brave enough to insure them. From what I have gathered, it should be smothered in advertising panels very soon as they have already pre-sold around £2000 worth of advertising. By all accounts, they are still working on this side of things.

Team Red 5 have been quietly slaving away in the background. Harvey and Martin have now dragged Doris the Morris out of retirement and have her road legal once more. By the sound of it much work has gone in to replace or repair many, many parts on her, but she has been out and about. By the sound of it though, they won't be troubling the speed cameras too much.

Today I also saw the hot hatch, the silver Proton Satria that will be the chariot of Richard and Mark of Team Chameleon. Whilst other teams have been adding garnish or foul coloured paintwork, they have actually been 'de-boy racering' their car. Taking off the big, fat, noisy exhaust and replacing it with a standard one, even un-garnishing some of the bodywork. The car is going well by all accounts and they are fairly well set to go already.

Olly has some serious bling too. I'll leave you to read the Team Newlywed blog for that news. Looks good though, the silver statue on the bonnet, Rolls Royce style. It should also be useful to tie one end of a clothes line to when we are washing our smalls half way round.

Team Nightmare are still awaiting some DVLA paperwork before they can take 'Ladiva' out on the road. Knowing Team Nightmare, they'll be getting this through on June 13th. Nothing is ever simple with the Nightmares. They still need to take seats out of the back of the van and install a full kitchen and larder for Phil before she is ready to go.

The leaving event on June 14th is taking shape. Three live music acts have agreed to play for us, down at the home of English non-league football, the Bob Lucas Stadium. Speedway Snails, who so wanted to come with us on the trip, are going to be playing last, as we depart the hallowed ground. Before them we have Hairyman (who also wanted to come with us) and his new band 'A Bit of Ruff' and also a local legend, Neil Coad, a relative newcomer to the music scene, if you don't include running a nightclub for many years. Neil covers everything from the 40's to the Naughties. Should be a cracking night, just pray for decent weather. It is on between 6pm and 9pm and is open to all.