One week to go…

…so it’s manic as usual. Had The Beast out last weekend with the reinforced wings and the new fans, and the Camaro water pump – the original one was leaking. It was running too hot – however, I hadn’t used Water Wetter in the radiator. This is pretty amazing stuff which reduces the water temperature significantly (10c or so) because it improves the transfer of heat from the water to the radiator. And unlike most of the snake-oil remedies – it actually does what it says on the tin (OK- bottle). So why didn’t I use it? Well, because I was pretty sure the rad would have to come out again, and I didn’t want to waste a bottle of the stuff. Then I found that the connection to one of the fans was loose as well, so the jury is still out on whether I have enough cooling. Weather forecast shows a maximum of 38c in Liwa next week, which is damn hot, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Gareth at A2B has got The Beast back to sort out a few minor problems, and discovered that the annoying whine from under the hood is the alternator bearings on their way out. So we’ll put a new one in and (when we have time) re-con the old one as a spare – no point in trying to ignore it and hoping for the best.

Arabian Automobiles, the Nissan distributor, has very kindly come to the party with a consignment of expensive spares on sale-or-return. So we’ll have spare front and rear diffs, full set of spare half-shafts, spare front hub – basically everything we broke last year and then some.

Al Thika’s trusty VW Transporter is once again being pressed into service as the support truck, and I’ve replaced a dodgy section of the deck with a shiny new section of ¾” ply. I’ve decided that, for once, it would be nice if we could actually find the tools and parts we need, so I’ve splashed out on a proper tool chest with drawers. Trouble is, I can’t lift it once it’s filled with tools, so we’ll have to load it on the truck and then put the gear in. Once it’s there, it stays there.

Today, we’re in the Gulf News – fame at last! Shame they can’t write for toffee, but that’s PR agencies for you.

According the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge website, there are 40 cars, 4 trucks and 75 bikes/quads on the entry list this year – but no works teams, which is good for us privateers. We’re number 224 (24th), which reflects our poor showing in the 2009 event, Dave Mabbs is at 204 and Team Saluki are 209. Novitsky in the BMW X3 is top seed, and the only other female competitor in the autos is our old friend Andrea Meyer, co-driving a T4 truck.

Now I need to go and finish refurbishing the support truck...