Team 5,6,7/8's

Why call out team 5,6,7/8's, well it sounded catchy and it sounds rock 'n' roll. So obviously it suits us perfectly!

At the end of May this year we will be embarking on a Trip from Brugge Belgium to Split Croatia by road in a sub £250 car. The purpose of this trip apart from blessing the Europeans with our presence is to raise money for a good cause. The trip is organised by the Charity Gemin-i, who are committed to dealing with some of the world's greatest issues through education using technology. Through the internet, debate and forums they can teach children to make positive changes. Therefore the trip is helping educate children about HIV/Aids, malaria, conflict resolution and human rights.

Please take a look at the Gemin-i website: http://www.gemin-i.org/

We are planning to do the trip in a Morris Minor. Originally we were going to use a BMW 318iS once owned by myself (Tom) but these plans fell through. Thanks to the generosity of Graham Clayton (ESM Morris Minors) we now have a Morris Minor to complete the trip in. With Morris Minor values suprisingly high its no wonder that this car will need serious amounts of work to complete. A mammoth weldathon lies ahead, but I'm sure we'll have a vaguely roadworthy steed to take part in.

The trip takes part over 4 days, setting off from Brugge and passing through Strassbourg, Munich, Ljubljana and finally arriving in Split Croatia. I imagine the trip will be tricky enough for most of the competitors, but I feel we may find it a little harder given the antiquity of our vehicle and its unsuitability for both 'high speed' motorway work and twisting alpine roads. Most competitors will be scrapping their vehicles on arrival but we plan to take an extended route home on what will turn out to be around 4,000 miles in about 10 days. In a Morris Minor this will certainly be a challenge.

This is for a very good cause so we ask that you give generously.

Many Thanks

Tom Child and Lee Stockwell.

UPDATE:

It's been a while since this page was written so I thought it was time for an update. Our facebook page has lots of little updates with many pictures of our beautiful steed 'Pete' (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=316192898684).

I'd always assumed the biggest challenge would be getting the car roadworthy. I think I may be right. Although completing the ~4,000 mile round trip will be no mean feat. So far about 5 weeks of evenings and weekends have been spent on the car. The vast majority of the work has been structural welding. 'Pete' has been literally plucked from the scrap heap at ESM Morris Minors after his owner could not justify carrying out the repairs needed to bring the car up to MOT standard. So far I have repaired the sill structure on the N/S and O/S of the vehicle as well as replacing the 'floor edge' sections. The inner wheel arches and inner wings were in a very poor state and needed a lot of replacement metal welding in.

Unfortunately 'Pete' did not come with an engine and the only suitable engine I had available was from a different vehicle. Although a fairly straight forward conversion; the Morris Ital 1,300cc engine has required lots of little pieces doing to allow it to fit and run in the Morris. Keeping costs down has been a priority and many pieces such as brackets have had to be fabricated or modified to avoid using pricey 'off the shelf' parts. I'm particularly proud of my 'custom' (and I do use the word loosely) exhaust that started off as a Vauxhall Corsa system and is now a 'sporty' side exit Morris Minor system.

The suspension is also fairly tired and has required completely rebushing at the front as well as a few other replacement parts and a good grease up. I'm currently chasing a persistent knock that will not show itself when the suspension is inspected.

All in all we've been fairly busy!