Team Mud

2008-02-10T09:10:00.000Z

Hi Folks

It's been a long time since the last post on here, we've both been very busy. Graeme has moved home to NI and I have bought a new house and I'm currently redesigning and rebuilding it. On the Land Rover front the Td5 Alive remap has proved to be a great alteration to the 110 and came in very handy this week as I have bought myself a 1990 V8 Disco and had to get it brought home on a trailer!

The 2008 Mac 4x4 is about a month away now so best of luck to everyone who is taking part this year. I may yet get over for the final nights dinner!

Chris

2007-09-25T18:19:00.000+01:00

Some of you may have seen the news about the Land Rover accident in England a few days ago. This was owned by one of Team Muds supporters, Gresh. Our thoughts go out to him at this very hard time.

Chris

2007-09-14T10:11:00.000+01:00

Well the final result of fundraising is in and announced in the magazines - we're still getting mentioned! Land Rover Owner International, Land Rover monthly and Land Rover World have all mentioned us as top fundraisers. We've issued a challenge to next years competitors to do three things:

1. Beat our total!
2. Get more press coverage than us!
3. Beat £108,000!

Simple really. Good luck to everyone competing, and if you're not, give a quid or two to those who are. Click here to visit the websites of those who are competing next year.

2007-08-06T15:51:00.001+01:00

Well Graeme has returned from the Pyrenees with the 110 still intact. He had a few problems with the starter motor, but nothing serious.

The TD5 Alive remap showed its worth on the long journey there and back and added a bit of extra grunt on the hill climbs.

2007-07-15T11:34:00.000+01:00

Well Graeme is off to the Pyrenees in the 110. Right now he's somewhere off the west coast of France on the boat to Santander. The 110 was well packed with the bikes in the back and the boxes we used on the Mac, and there was still loads of room left. Hopefully he'll bring me back a bottle of 'vin rouge'!

Chris

2007-06-25T22:57:00.000+01:00

Well a year after smashing my collarbone in a mountain bike accident I finally got back on my bike today! And i'm feeling it. Legs bit sore, but it'll be worth it. A few extra pounds to shift over the summer.

Chris

2007-06-09T16:51:00.000+01:00

Left the 90 up to BLRC today. Chassis work and polybushes to get in there - might need a new crank shaft oil seal too. In that case I'll get a new clutch in there. Might see it again before the summer is over!

Chris

2007-05-27T20:40:00.000+01:00

It seems to be spreading. Our Dad was at a tyro with the SLROC over the weekend, managed a clear round. Graeme, however, didn't fare as well. Looks like the driving skill is with the blonde members of the family.

Chris

2007-05-21T18:55:00.000+01:00

Off to Heathrow this week with work. 4 days of "death by powerpoint"!

No work on the landy then. Test fitted my Mud Dash and its looking good. Can't wait to get it fitted properly and get all the wiring done. Roll on end of June when all the work will be finished on it!

Chris

2007-05-20T11:52:00.000+01:00

Eventually got round to putting some copper grease on the wheel bolts this morning. Took a look underneath as well - need a new font prop shaft UJ.

Getting there slowly with the 90, had to refit a core plug yesterday too after it popped out. It's goign to BLRC in a few weeks to get the chassis fixed if it needs it and a full waxoyl. Polybush kit and extended brake lines going in as well in case I decide to put a lift kit in later this year.

Chris

2007-05-10T22:36:00.000+01:00

Still working on the 90. Replaced a core valve plug that had corroded.

Fund raising still going, a recent table quiz and raffle rasied £ 507.50. Many thanks to Noel and the Ballymoney Football Social Club.

Chris

2007-05-05T09:17:00.000+01:00

Finally cleaned out the back of the Land Rover after Drumclog! And cleaned the small amount of mud that was on it! Hopefully get my roofrack in use today to move a carpet for my spare room!

Chris

2007-05-03T18:24:00.000+01:00

Got my lights fitted onto the roofrack.

What do you reckon?

Chris

2007-05-02T18:58:00.000+01:00

News of how great Team Mud is has reached Mongolia... well not quite... Aberystwyth University, in Wales, is the home of the Mongol Beavers who are taking part in the Mongol Rally 2007. They aim to drive a VW Polo from London to Ulaanbataar in Mongolia to raise funds for Send a Cow, Mercy Corps Mongolia, and the Army Benevolent Fund .

Good luck to them I say. And we thought it was tough driving around Wales in a Land Rover!

Please visit their site and see if you can help.

Chris

2007-04-30T13:38:00.000+01:00

Trip to Drumclog

Friday morning and all set to leave. Word had reached us that the advance party had arrived and set up the Peoples Republic of NILRC.

Met Big Rich in Larne and luckily got the earlier boat. We decided just to take it easy on the way up. Then it all went pearshaped as we were driving past Kilmarnock. I heard a bang from the rear of my 90 and a shudder. Looking out the back I saw Rich taking evasive action to miss my rear propshaft! Pulled into a layby and went back to get it. Frantic phone calls lead to nothing until the 4x4 Store in Kilmarnock rang me back with a number for a guy called Duncan. We arrived at his garage to be confronted with V8s of all shapes and sizes from Rangies to Minis... yes... Minis

Managed to repair the propshaft and off we went again to arrive at the site. Got tents sorted and went for a quick play. Few quiet beers and head down all ready for the next day.

Excited wasn't the word on Saturday morning. Rich, Gordon/Colin, Andy, and I were off. Half a mile later Rich got stuck, Andy was digging holes and i was stuck in a few big ruts. Rich got to use his winch as well. Made it to the top of the hill and watched a few nutters crossing the pipeline. Jumped back into the 90 to head further and wondered why the rear tyre was rubbing the mudguard.

Bugger.

Rear trailing arm mount had broke.

Many thanks to everyone I was with then to help me get sorted to get back to camp. Got stuck in Andys ruts on the way back and had to use 43 Suzukis as an anchor to get out of them.

Back to camp and found a man with a welder, who promised to sort it for me to get home - small panic over.

Took a wee walk round and found this man playing.

Not long later the casualties started limping back. Stephen in the V8 had broke a halfshaft so a few of us spent all afternoon sorting that out.

Gordon and Colin arrived back with a broken propshaft, but Colin was happy because his weld hadnt failed.

Ian did a CV joint.

Sandy arrived back after rolling his disco and sorted out my rear trailing arm so i could drive home. Again thanks to Colin, Gordon, and Rich for helping me out

Time to relax!

For all the bad things that did happen I had a great weekend. And I now know how to change halfshafts!!

Booked my 90 into BLRC to get it sorted now in June so looks like i'll be marshalling for a bit

2007-04-24T16:48:00.000+01:00

Well all the spares arrived for my 90. But the weather is awful and it won't fit in the garage with the roof rack on, so i'm going to get soaked!

On a lighter note - all the shopping is done for Drumclog. Food, drink, more food and toilet roll all boxed up and ready to go in the back.

Also got my second battery wired up again so when the lights and all the accessories get sorted they can be wired into it.

Chris

2007-04-22T08:30:00.000+01:00

Seems the troubles aren't over yet! Theres a crack in my coolant header tank. New one being ordered this Monday to be fitted this week before Drumclog. Hopefully going to get the rear door chequer plate and dog guard on today - might try and get the harnesses fitted too.

Chris

2007-04-21T00:38:00.000+01:00

Just back from a holiday in Cyprus. Left the 90 in the garage before i went to get the cylinder head replaced. Hopefully getting it back tomorrow as I've a bit of work to do to it before I head over to Drumclog next weekend!!!

Chris

2007-04-10T14:11:00.000+01:00

Still a few quid to come in from our efforts. But we've made the decision that we won't be taking part next year. A lot of effort went into raising almost £10,000 and to do it again would probably lead to divorce for both Graeme and I (even before i get married). And that's another reason - I have my wedding to organise.

Even though we won't be competing we'll still be doing our bit for Macmillan Cancer Support. And giving advice to anyone who wants a few fundraising tips.

Hopefully back at the Mac in 2009!

Keep an eye on the blog for updates on the Team Mud Land Rovers, and what we're up to!

2007-04-06T15:56:00.000+01:00

Once again we make the press! The Mac 4x4 write up from the lovely Kate Erswell at LRM mentions me! I'm a star!

Chris

2007-03-27T20:19:00.000+01:00

Weel it's time the truth came out. Team Mud Too has been retired due to a lack of chassis! Big red as she was affectionately known was going to cost too much to keep on the road so she was sold off for parts. You may have seen my new toy on the forums though. A '94 300 Tdi with Kumho KL71s, rock sliders, winch and bumper, Cobra Trakker seats, rear wheel carrier, snorkel, Rebel steering guard and front and rear diff guards.

2007-03-25T20:03:00.000+01:00

Final results of the Mac 2007 are in. Team Mud were 5th overall with a score of 277, the winners had 311 points over the 3 days.

Chris

2007-03-13T19:22:00.000Z

Well that's the event over! We got lost a few times, muddy, argued, but had a great event. We walked away as top fundraisers this year which we are delighted about and we would like to thank everyone who has supported us. Keep an eye out for a few pictures in the next few days.

Chris + Graeme

2007-03-05T21:55:00.000Z

Yes getting excited here!

Well happy with getting over the £7000 mark, with the gift aid donations its actually over £8000. Also chuffed to be raising awareness of Macmillan and the work they do. Quite poignant we went over £7k today, one of the several reasons that led to me wanting to enter the Mac was a little girl who had cancer in my wifes class, the Macmillan nurses came into the school to talk about cancer. Unfortunately she passed away last week and Kathy was at the funeral today.

Had a wee accident with the Landy last week, was putting boxes with the new rocksliders on the roof, jumped down and caught my wedding ring on the roofrack. OUCH! One badly cut and swollen finger. Recovering now though still quite sore, was lucky though, could have been much worse!

So haven't managed to fit the rocksliders yet, will be a wee job for Chris when he comes over!

Graeme

2007-03-05T16:37:00.000Z

Not long to go now. I fly over to Graeme this Wednesday to do the final preparations to the 110, before travelling down to the start of the Mac. I'll be travelling in the knowledge that we have raised well over £7,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support. We are delighted wih what we have achieved so far and look forward to seeing our final fundraising total.

Chris