My Astra Art car

[Andy888]

So having decided that I needed to do something vaguely exciting with my life atm, I have entered the Scally Rally Ireland with a couple of mates.

This will be our first ever Scally and have now managed to talk two other teams into entering too.

What is the Scally Rally I hear you ask… Well think Cannonball Run and Gumball Rally and you’re pretty close (well ok we’re only allowed to spend £100 on a car!)

Basically it is a Titanic Enduro Run of 1,000 Miles From the Titanic Quarter in Belfast, where the great ship was built, to Cork where the last passengers boarded for the fateful maiden voyage across the Atlantic, including Irelands most northern point, Malin Head and it’s most southern point, Mizen Head.

The route follows the northern, western and part of the southern coasts of Ireland. We will be driving on some of the most scenic roads in Europe and most importantly passing over many of Ireland’s famous Rally Stages, from Atlantic Drive in the North to the famous Tim Healy pass in the Kerry Mountains.

We were finding it hard enough to get a car for £100. Though finally via a mate in work we went to collect our FREE Punto but managed to nearly burn out the leads trying to jump start it!! So back the next day and stuck in a loan battery and she started first time. I kid you not. This car hasn't moved for nearly two years until yesterday.

Before looking pretty manky

After a jet wash and home after its 12 mile drive

Two of us spent an hour last night scrubbing the mould off the seats and roof and dashboard, in fact just about everywhere lol. It was gross. Then realised I had no pics of it before. But put it this way I sat on a bin liner on the way home

But after having a good look over it and driving up and down the cul-de-sac a couple of times we really didn’t think the little Punto would make it 1000 miles.

So please welcome our Awesome Astra!! For the princely sum of 100 of the Queen's sterling notes we now have power steering, a sunroof and an all important MoT certificate. Woo hoo!!

With only 4 weeks to go to the big event we decided it was time to get our fingers out and start with the preparation. A good clean was first off and Phil spent a happy half hour of his life removing 15 years worth of hula hoops and dog hair from under the seats!!

Onwards and upwards though for the Astra. After a good scrub with a brush to get rid of the moss, I gave it a quick wet sand to get rid of the surface imperfections and get it ready for painting.

And so on one quiet Sunday afternoon in the village of Conlig, Northern Ireland, the neighbours were treated to what can only be described as an outstanding piece of artistic creation!!!!!!

Thanks to our friends at Johnstones paint centre in Bangor for discounting our paint and for Phil in choosing the awesome colours including the fabulous pink(!!!) we started out on our quest for a unique and eyecatching design. I’m sure you’ll agree ladies and gentlemen that we certainly achieved our aim!!!

This is how we started out. Then a bit of intense cleaning, debadging, sanding and painting..............



















And the final product...



Looks good from a few feet away :$ We needed to touch up some of the colour joins with a few black lines, and also the face detail, and then sand off a few runs.

So the following weekend we started on the rims. Shot blasted and powder coated. Real top job. Well all right then, power washed and painted with a two inch brush :P:P

Drew on some black borders between the paint colours with a permanent marker and got our decals on. I had intended to ask a mate to do something for us, but then figured that vinyl was a bit to professional, so yep you guessed it, brush and some non-drip gloss



And finally some proper decals on her:






Hope you like!!!

Just been out this morning and got a foot pump and some tyre weld and a few odds and sods for the trip. Getting excited now. Roll on Friday morning!!

If anyone wants to sponsor us, we are raising money for Arthritis Care. My best mate's mother has suffered with it since she was in her twenties and so it seemed fitting.

http://www.justgiving.com/slowandcurious

Thanks for looking, and wish us luck.

Andy

Edited by Andy888 on Wednesday 14th October 23:12

[North West Tom]

Good job, mate!

[Angry Sheep]

Excellent

Good luck with the rally

[ShadownINja]

And why not.

[Don1]

See you folded down the seats for better traction....

[Andy888]

Cheers guys!!

And yeah removing the 15 years of hula hoops under the seats also added 10 brake! Must get an ebay resistor for it now too!

[li4m]

i thought it was mandatory that every car in the world had an ebay chip fitted!! and extra 15bhp for £5 bargin!!

well done mate that looks great hope it all goes well for you!! couldnt you break the punto for extra cash?

[ooo000ooo]

LOL spotted you this morning heading towards the M5, first few cars made me think WTF? i think it was yours that I spotted the "Scally Rally" clearly enough to figure out what was going on.

[FraserLFA]

Just stumbled across this. Awesome looking car. Nice work chap

[OllieWinchester]

'The slow and the curious', love that. Looks really good mate, good luck with the rally.

[Mr.Jimbo]

Excellent! Great idea for a worthy cause, all the best for your trip!

[Horrocks]

Alright mate, loving the car and more importantly the cause..

I attempted to help out with a donation as any cause like that suits me. When I go to 'Donate now' it says the page has expired and that an alternative donation method is required.

[Mattt]

Horrocks said:

Alright mate, loving the car and more importantly the cause..

I attempted to help out with a donation as any cause like that suits me. When I go to 'Donate now' it says the page has expired and that an alternative donation method is required.

It's a year old!

[The Riddler]

Gotta love a thread resurection.

[Horrocks]

Hahaha, thats the last time I go all samaritan!