First Tiny Steps.

So what has happened since our last blog entry? Our first real PARTS have been purchased, after a lot of advice from various forums (GPRO in my case) we invested in a set of Brembo Brake Pads and Discs. We both agreed that we would like to be able to stop when we wanted. So Brakes ordered. I received a text from Chris saying that the brakes had arrived mid week (I'm sure he got them sent to his workplace so he could show them off ). I must confess I was a little giddy and insisted he tweeted me pictures of our new stoppers. Once the tweet came through and I saw the photo of our big black round discs a feeling of giddy-ness came across me and that buzzing sensation I used to get as a kid the night before Christmas took over (smiling all day). Next we wanted to look for a trailer. EBay to the rescue. Searching through endless rusty shells and crazy out of our budget super trailers, We came across a small beaver tail trailer that would be ideal for our needs, and the bonus was it was located only 50miles away! The bid was standing at £200 with four days left to go, I spotted the top bidder only had ten stars. I knew that eBay noobs always bid in round numbers (10/20/30 etc). I texted Chris and sent him the eBay link, he agreed that it looked good and did the research to check the Puma would fit on the trailer. All systems go! Our bid was placed  knowing the noob bidder would be using full pounds, we popped our maximum bid in as £301.25. The enter key was pressed and the screen flashed up “You are the highest bidder” the amount? £301.25. That's right our other bidder had put his max bud in as 300! All we had to do was sit tight for four days and prey for nobody else to bid. EBay apps on my mobile let us keep track on our trailer. The last hour! All was going well Chris and myself both had the last minuet nerves and via text message we agreed to up our max bid to 350. The seconds ticked away 5....4....3....2.....1... We had won our trailer for 301.25. Both of us were slightly chuffed to say the least (we had thought this piece of kit would cost us a minimum of 500 quid). I made arrangements to collect the trailer the following day and after a quick stop at Halfords to pick up a set of trailer lights we headed off in the glorious sunshine. Cheesy tunes on the radio (although I did find out Christophers deep dark secret!...He knows ALL the words to Livin La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin), windows down, singing out loud. Finding the trailer was easy thanks to sat nav that took us right to the doorstep where we were to pick up our new bit of kit. A quick inspection and payment Dave (trailer seller) invited us to look at his auto grass cars. Again we headed out and we were glad we did. Tucked away in the back of builders yard a Vauxhall Tigra, two Novas all stripped out and ready for racing. Dave showed us what needed doing to get a car ready for auto grass racing and said we could give him a ring for any help (I think he might live to regret that). During our drive home we both came to the conclusion that auto grass was the sport for us (whats auto grass? Have a look - Show Me Auto Grass  )Up to this point I think we were both a big vague what class/type of racing we were going to do. More singing and watching the empty trailer bounce in the air over every pothole (light trailer and bumps do not go well together, but its amazing how far back people stay when you have got a 15ft trailer bouncing a foot of two in the air) we arrived home on amazingly another crisis free day. Next weekend we are set to pop the new brake pads and discs on. Lee.

For sale: A near entire 1997 Ford Puma Interior...

Firstly I think I speak for both myself and my brother when I say a huge thanks to everyone for all their support. The blog has had over 700 visitors, we have had people tweeting support, Facebook messages and a large percentage of you hit a Google advert on this blog. To say we were amazed at the level of support would be an understatement.

So what have we done since those first introductions? The car had a very uneventful journey on a hired trailer from the driveway of my mother's house to my garage. That was almost too easy with virtually no issues other than the Puma's brakes not quite performing as desired. But as these will be the first things to be replaced this wasn't a disappointment.

Stage 2 was to strip as much of the interior out of the car to save as much weight as possible. Carpets, door cards, roof lining, rear seats, parcel shelf, stereo, passenger seat all were removed in a three hour hack and slash. Once again (but generally expected) this was completed with very little trouble. Next stage is to replace the stock brakes for something that will last longer than a couple of laps.