what is the scally rally?
scally galleries
What is the scally rally?
Scally Rally is a European Charity Rally and driving challenge... but there's a catch ! To enter Scally Rally your car must have cost you £100 (or less). There will be a maximum of 100 teams taking part.
What will we do along the way?
Each days driving will be accompanied by a challenge. Some clues may be given before the Rally starts but full details will be given at the start of each day (so there's no cheating!). Each team will be awarded points that will be totaled up on the final day to give us our overall winner.
Are there any prizes?
Yes, due to the increased number expected in 2007, the prize money will be increased accordingly.
1st Prize = £1,000
2nd Prize = £600
3rd Prize = £400
scally rally 06 review
Total mileage: 4500 miles, including trip home.
Date: 14th September – 24th September
how did it all come about?
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Once in a while someone mentions a mad idea that’s so mad it would be
just too good to miss out on.
The Scally Rally is one such thing.
I was browsing the net and came across a site about the Scally rally. I copied
the link a mailed it to a friend for the laugh saying that we should take
the 1993 1.4 VW golf with no brakes or suspension. I thought no more about
it as these mad ideas come up with us all the time and usually just get forgotten
about. Later that evening I got a call to say he had found a Swedish LHD BMW
525i for €140. It had light front damage, no wing mirrors and no rear
suspension worth talking about. It was one of those signs that meant we had
to go.
Plans began to form and within 4-5 days there were two teams going. Him in
the BMW and I came across a 126 series 260se Mercedes for tiny money. I was
all set to buy it when all but myself pulled out of my team. Thanks Lads!!
So I had to then begin to beg for
a back seat in the other car. I managed it on the simple argument of money.
Split everything four ways. Looks like were on for a cheap holiday.
The route is as follows:
Day 1 - Calais to Geneva Friday 15 Sept 2006
Day 2 - Geneva to Menton Saturday 16 Sept 2006
Day 3 - Menton to Barcelona Sunday 17 Sept 2006
Day 4 - Barcleona to Madrid Monday 18 Sept 2006
For the full run down on the routes, visit Route 2006 for full details.
So I hear you asking “why spend only €140 on a car that has to
do 1600 miles to Madrid from Calais in four days?” That’s the
whole point. It’s a banger run. The max cost of the cars is £100.
Anything over that is disqualified automatically. If the car looks like it
cost more, you have to provide a receipt. Oh and by the way, we’ve decided
to drive home too, in eh 2 days. We reckon it will be 4500 to 5000miles by
the time we get home. We’re leaving Cork on Thursday the 13th of September.
We drive to Rosslare. Ferry to fish guard. Drive to Dover, onto the Euro tunnel
and arrive Thursday night in Calais. From there let the fun begin.
I’ll update this news as it happens and if I get a chance, may even
update it while on the rally itself.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
The Team
Name: The barstool-racers
Jason - The Long Fellow. Found the BMW. But it had a dead engine. Redeemed himself by finding "The Jolly Green Giant".
Lorraine - Long Suffering wife of Jason. Coming to keep an eye on us. Kind of the mother of the group.
Sam - All must bow to the holy.
Cian – Kind of the spare team member. No one can think of a good use for him so he’ll be in charge of keep in the car clean.
Liam - The token student. Interests
are rowing so he’ll be the man in charge of the trolley jack. He can
lie down on the group and pull the lever down, he’ll feel right at home
I’m sure.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
The BMW needs some parts to make it drivable, never mind legal. There was
a serious lack of mirrors when we got the car but thanks to Jason and his
negotiation skills, that's now sorted.
He swapped a 1993 VW Golf for a pair in a scrap yard. Not too sure if they're the same colour as the car, but at least we can see what we just passed out!!!
Now all we need is to find a few more
scrap cars to swap for rear shocks and a service kit and we'll be well on
our way to having a somewhat classy motor
Sunday, September 03, 2006
We got the BMW for the Scally Rally about 6 or 7 months ago but did nothing
with it as it wasn’t starting. We knew it was the alarm so weren’t
concerned about it. We did organise a few bits and pieces to fix it up and
make it more presentable. We got a service kit too. A mechanic called out
to take the alarm out of it and sure enough, it fired up but the temperature
gauge shot up to boiling very quickly so it was turn off and check out. It
turns out the head was cracked and not up to much.
The next week was spent making calls
to people to see if we could source an engine for it. No such luck. As we
had the older M20 engine and it was 2.5, there simply wasn’t an engine
out there to be had. Next choice was to find a car that would seat five people
comfortably for five days travelling and do about four thousand miles in total.
We came across another BMW 520i but owner had trouble tracking down the tax
book so we had to leave it.
A phone call was made to the guy we
bought the BMW from on the off chance he’d know of another car that
could be used. And as it turns out he had. A 1995 Volvo 850, 2000cc 20 valve.
In the worst possible green anyone has ever seen. Mind you, who cares, it
was free. Yes free. Maybe it was guilt that he gave it to us, or maybe the
fact it was sitting outside his place for nearly a year and he wanted rid
if it. Either way it was a Scally car for free. We were back on track.
We called up to see it on Wednesday
night and it started first turn of the key with a battery pack attached. It
didn’t look to bad either by torch light ignoring the driver side being
a little messed up, so all that was left was to call back Thursday night and
bring it home. When we were pumping up the tyres with a cigarette lighter
compressor, it ran out of petrol. We had to push it about 100 meters with
four flat tyres. Interesting minutes to say the least. So finally with air
in the tyres we dragged it down the road to a petrol station. After a few
quid was thrown in, we jump started it again and headed for home.
On the journey home it began to clear
and run a bit more smoothly as it got new fresh petrol. By the time we got
it home it was idling on its own too. We then had to make the list of stuff
it would need for a service, plus the other bits needed. Not the worst list
for a free car too I might add. Service kit (swapped back the BMW service
kit to the Motor Factors for the Volvo one), brakes disks and pads for the
front, rear pads, a few bulbs, a couple of switches, relays and fuses. It
needed to drive shafts too, but they were already in the boot, so only needed
to swap them out.
Saturday morning we put it up on axle
stands and I began the service while Jason started stripping off the old pads,
disks and drive shafts. Easier said than done. The passenger side one went
off without a hitch. Pop out old and pop in new. The driver side was a bit
fiddly to say the least. There is a bracket half ways along the shaft that
clamps around a bearing. The bottom of the bracket was ok to get off but the
upper part was a right pain. It had to come off as the shaft was wedged into
it. There were three bolts holding the bracket onto the body that were the
most inaccessible three bolts I’ve ever come across. Jason lay under
the car and held the socket into the bolt while I spent what felt like an
eternity undoing the bolt, one click at a time. The problem with undoing them
was that we had to put it all back together again. So we resumed positions
and reattached the three bolts, one click at a time. When we dropped the car
back down onto the ground after fitting the new brakes upfront we realised
that we forgot to put the oil in the motor factors when carrying all the other
stuff out to the car. A quick call was made to a mate who would be passing
that way later to pick it up for us.
Oil added and battery connected. Fingers
were crossed at this stage that the drives would actually move the car. There
were smiles all round when it reversed out of the garage and off up the road
without a bother on it. The rasp from the 20 valves is quite pleasing to the
ears above 4,000 RPM.
During the week it’ll be taken
for new tyres all round and off to another mate to do a few electrical jobs.
As soon as the battery is connected the engine fan comes on and stays on.
We need him to put it on a switch or onto the ignition so it will turn off
and drain the battery when it’s parked up. We also noticed that the
lights are a bit funny, flicking off and on when we hit pot holes, so these
need to be checked too. The last few jobs are all cosmetic. It needs a wash
and the front driver’s wing and bumper need a lick of Hammerite green
to make it a bit more presentable. Then it should be ready for me to drive
around for a week or so to see if anything else falls off before we leave.
Fingers crossed on that one!
So what did we end up with for free?
1995 Volvo 850 2.0 GLT 20 valve
Hammerite green
Electric windows
Electric sunroof
Electric mirrors
Central locking that doesn’t work on the drivers door
Half leather interior
Trip computer
145,600 miles with a service history up to 102,000 miles
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Friday night and yesterday saw the car getting closer to being ready. It got
spot lamps, a radio and some switches.
As the fan was staying on all the time and would drain the battery if left on, it was driving Cian mad as he was in and out of the car a lot. After a lot of looking, thinking and talking the decision was made just chance cutting a wire that looked like it might be the earth and put a switch on it. It worked and there was much whooping and hollering. Ok so we were happy.
Saturday the FREE tyres were fitted and made a huge difference to the handling of the car. Now it can go around corners! Liam was set the task of washing “The Jolly Green Giant”. To be fair to him he did well considering the state of the car. It looked like it hadn’t ever been washed. It was caked it grime and it was hard to shift. Therefore it was left to him!
As far as we can tell, all that's left to do now is get a few bulbs and we're ready for road. Well we hope so anyway!!
Just a brief update on proceedings onThursday 7th.
The car is mostly ready bar one or two electrical jobs, stickers and tyres.
A big thank you to both Jerry Murphy R&R Tyres and General Tyres for supplying four new tyres to us for free. This is a large saving for us at this stage and is badly needed. We pick them up on Saturday and hopefully a few stickers for the car too.
I’ve driven the car over 200 miles since Monday and it hasn’t been completely trouble free. This morning I had nowhere to put my cup of coffee on the way to work. This is serious and an urgent job that will have to be addressed tonight. Heaven forbid, I should spill some on the surprisingly clean interior.
This reminds me, think I should wash the car; it mightn’t get some many odd looks if it was half presentable. I guess it needs a wash anyway so the stickers will stay on it!
We reckon that by Saturday evening we should be virtually ready to set off, only to pack the toothbrush and a clean pair of underpants!!!
Thursday, September 14, 2006
It's 12.40 and the car is half packed and Sam is missing for the past four
hours. If he's not in the car by 3.30am, he's staying at home. Good news for
us, more room in "The Jolly Green Giant". Not much point in going
to bed for a few hours as we're all like 5 year olds on Christmas Eve waiting
for the man in the red suit to call.
The bad jokes, giggling like school
children, warm tea and lots of looking at the car is all we're doing. The
car is too wet and dirty to put on stickers so that'll have to wait till later.
The plan is, petrol stop one - wash car, petrol stop two - put on stickers.
And of course, petrol stop three - re-apply stickers.
posted by barstool-racers
We struck off in convoy across England for the Euro tunnel. We had the last
laugh, the Yellow Bellies in they’re 1600 Carina couldn’t keep
pace. Fair dues to the 1300 Golf, it was good to go, but they were waiting
for the Carina so it got left behind too.
The laughs didn’t last long though; we sat in traffic on the M25 for
two and a half hours between junctions six and eight. Cian and Jason even
resorted to a game of eye spy to relieve the tension. We ended up missing
our time slot but got a later ferry. We finished off putting on the stickers
on the car while a posh English tourist was straining his eyes to see what
was going on. Poor plonker should have asked, I’m sure his eyes still
hurt at this stage.
We arrived to the first meeting point at 10.30 in Calais, tired but looking
forward to the whole experience. Registration was quick and easy so food and
a few beers were called for then. When we had our fill we pottered off to
the luxurious Ibis Hotel. Well seeing as we had been up for nearly forty hours
at that stage, a wet blanket and a stray dog for a pillow in the car park
would have seemed like luxury. No one was too early to rise the following
morning and we were the third last car to leave. As it turned out this suited
us very well.
The challenge for day one was to drive from Calais to Geneva, spot as many
other Scally cars as possible, take a photo of the reg number, and team number
and note them down. This meant hard driving all day. Having the power in the
Volvo meant we were easily able to catch the many other slower cars. On the
days challenge sheet we had a bingo box which had to match certain car numbers
and we were awarded points for every car that we had ticked off on the bingo
box. Out of the thirty five cars we spotted, we managed a whooping five points.
Spotting car numbers was very easy for us as all the other cars were clearly
marked. Being car number 50, we used a fifty cent coin for our number. We
had some laugh at the other cars, mainly English cars, that couldn’t
spot our number. Most cars had to mouth to us across to us to find out our
number. One car even wrote a sign to ask us our number. We laughed all day
at the reaction on the faces of the other competitors when we pointed to our
number on the door. A few of them cursed us in Menton later that night when
we meet up for a few pints.
Day two started just as well as day one. Late picking up our pack but it didn’t
matter as today there was no challenge. It was decided, wisely I might add,
that it was enough of a challenge to cross the Col’s (mountain passes).
The first one wasn’t too high, only about 8200 feet. The second was
a bit higher at nearly 9000 feet. While the scenery was breath taking, the
main objective was getting the car all the way up without it dying. We found
that second was too low and the car was never below 3000 RPM and third was
too tall and kept dying. I’d hate to imagine the MPG figure for that.
3-5000 RPM with five up and a boot stuffed to the brim with suitcases and
tools. It was all fine till we arrived into Menton and found we had no accommodation.
There was a little panic for about an hour and a half till we found what can
only be described as possibly the worst hotel any of us has ever seen. At
that stage we were all so tired we didn’t care. So as usual we wound
down with more food and beer. It was a great evening to catch up with people
and hear their experiences of the Col’s.
Day three was mainly motorway from Menton to Barcelona going via Monaco. Nothing
too exciting happened today but it was a break from driving up and down mountains.
More a break for the car rather than the team. Today’s challenge was
to take photographs of expensive cars. Not a very difficult task in Monaco.
Extra points were awarded if you managed to get a photo of your car parked
next to an expensive car or if your team was standing next to it. We managed
to find a Ferrari garage and park the not so expensive Volvo next to one.
We spent an hour or so in Monaco and reckoned that we spotted well over €1m
of cars. We also drove most, if not all of the F1 track.
Day four was a blast from Barcelona to Madrid. Again mostly motorway driving with the temperature rising all the time. It hit over 30 degrees for a long time and the heat with five people in the Volvo was something not to repeated. When we arrived into Madrid our GPS let us down as there was so many new roads and flyovers, we could find our way to the hotel. We caught up with the crew car ad followed them for over an hour. They stopped to buy a map but it still let them down. We reverted to the compass on the GPS to take us in the right direction and then just followed the map on the screen to find the hotel. We just managed to get there and park before the crews arrived in convoy with other lost teams. The partying was already under way and all was set for a great night. Showers and beer all round were the order of the day. Followed up by raw steak. We’re fully convinced that the Spanish just don’t know what burning steak is all about.
The awards ceremony was at 9pm in the disco of the hotel. While we didn’t
win any prizes, we were the highest ranking Irish team of the rally. We scored
five times that of any other Irish team. The overall winner got in the region
of 580 points. Team Bar Stool Racers were hot on they’re heals with
a not to shabby five points.
Congratulations to Team 84 – The Yellow Bellies” from Wexford,
for winning spirit of the rally. They won it because they had to tow a car
onto the ferry and when the Gold of Team XX broke down they took the two boys
with them on the entire rally. Fair play to ye lads. Not a bad prize either,
free entry to next years rally.
To sum up the entire event in one word – mad. Never had so much fun
sitting inside a car for so long with so many people. Every night was like
a big party that continued on from the night before. The only difference in
conversation was the last leg just completed. Everyone we meet were of the
same mind frame as us. Drive, eat, drink, sleep and then do it all over again.
To Sue & Neil for going to the effort of organising such a mad event,
it must have taken a huge amount of time and commitment from ye both, well
done and thank.
http://www.scallyrally.co.uk