Thursday 29 July 2010

ELEVEN WEEKS TO GO!!!

So much to do... this time in eleven short weeks Scottie and Damian will be in Tamworth, staying overnight at the motel ready for scrutineering/driver training/whatever on Friday 15 October, before the esCarpade officially begins on the 16th!!

How did this get so close, so quickly?????

Sunday 25 July 2010

The end is nigh!!

Well, it's been a big week or two at Team Booger Mobile headquarters... first cab off the rank is the awesome news that Silver Sponsor Aqualogical WON their category at the recent Telstra Business Awards - congratulations to Aqualogical!! Just goes to show that good things happen to Booger Mobile sponsors!! ;-)



After that, the official esCarpade door stickers arrived in the post from Josh at the esCarpade office... This is what they look like! The large white space is where your official esCarpade number is required to go in 200mm high lettering.


Rather than have some boring old black numbers stuck onto the sticker, Damian decided that the best option was to cut the numbers out of the white sticker so that the awesome Booger Mobile green would shine through. As you can see, Team Booger Mobile's official number is 64!


Damian started by printing out number outlines and sticking them onto the sticker with some sticky tape... (Bet you didn't think that so many versions of the word "stick" could be used in a single sentence!!) After that, he carefully cut around the outline with a sharp knife...


As you can see, there's also a dot for the 6...


Now that we have the past week or two covered, on with today's update!! Scottie arrived fairly early to find Damian preparing to stick the door stickers onto Booger Mobile. After the obligatory coffee, it was onward and upward!! You wouldn't believe just how difficult it was to get the sticker on nice and straight (without it sticking to itself), and how flimsy it really is where the number 4 is!!

Of course, the dot needed to go into the space for the 6 also!


And a nice close up...

Meanwhile, Scottie was cutting a fine figure lying (in the way) under the driver's side of the car!


Once he had moved, Damian stuck on the other official door sticker - it was much more difficult to line up without the chrome strip in place!!


Scottie had moved on to adjusting the front seat slider wire so that it can be operated by one person (without the passenger having to reach under the seat and grab the wire).


Due to the dodginess of the headrest portion of the new seat cover, the boys decided to paint the existing headrests grey to match the seat covers, and not use the headrest portion... Looks pretty good!!


Also to be painted were the original sunvisors - they don't quite match now that the rest of the interior is grey!!


Here's the passenger side one painted, along with a portion of Damian's thumb!!


The first coat of the headrests look pretty good - a second coat was later applied (but there's no picture of it - sorry about that!!)


Damian also painted the lower portion of the seat so that when the seat cover is on, there is a nice grey seat underneath (just in case any of the edges are visible).


Meanwhile, Scottie was using his wire-working skills to create a special hold-down cable for the bonnet!


This is where it attaches to - underneath the bonnet in front of the radiator...


Damian reinstalled the sunvisors...


Scottie drilled a hole for the other end of the hold-down cable to attach to... Safety first!!


Just for a giggle, here's a random shot of Booger Mobile - all four doors open as if trying to flap its way out of the shed!!


Since the esCarpade is now under 11 weeks away (scary isn't it!!), the boys decided it really was time to think seriously about getting Booger's head sorted out... First job was some open head surgery to reduce the height of it overall, which also causes the shape to be much better!


While Scottie attacked Booger's head with a pair of bolt-cutters, Damian began creating some front mud-flaps out of a piece of flat rubber...



He had some photos to use as a guide - they really didn't help!!


After welding the head back together again (note how much closer to the roof is to Booger's nose), he demonstrated one suggestion for the LED light boogers!!


This photo is to demonstrate the height difference between the (newly adjusted) front of Booger's head and the (yet to be adjusted) rear half!! Quite a difference.


And with Damian's finger making a special guest appearance, this is what the front mud-flaps will look like once attached!


Next step, remove and trace around it on the other piece of rubber for the driver's side!!


Scottie moved on to the rear half of Booger's head... if you click to see the large version of the photo, you will see just how many vice grips and G clamps he used!!


And the adjusted head frame...


And from the other side (not sure which is the better side for Booger's head at the moment - time will tell!!)


Next up, Scottie began to prepare the mesh layer of Booger's head - this will provide a bit of form and substance for the outer layers to attach to.

Trimming, trimming, trimming, wiring, cursing...


While Scottie continued with the meshing, Damian completed the front mud-flaps. They attached nicely,


and sit out a bit further than original ones. This was by design to mix the original design(ish) with the required functionality to minimise rock throwing by the awesome Kumho R700 tyres!!


Scottie threw an old sheet over Booger's head to give it some shape...


That's quite the nose that Booger has!!


Scottie wanted Damian to take a photo of his hand to show regular blog readers that yet again he is bleeding for the cause... You may need to enlarge the photo and move closer to the screen!!

As you can see, the end is nigh for Booger Mobile... for the building of it!! The esCarpade is just 11 short weeks away, and Booger Mobile is closer each week to being ready...

Stay tuned for further updates... and coming soon, a blue mod plate, RWC and rego!!

Thursday 22 July 2010

Silver Sponsor - Jesus Metal

Team Booger Mobile are stoked to announce their latest Silver Sponsor - Jesus Metal!!


Jesus Metal are a christian heavy metal band from Tasmania, and are in the process of producing their first album.

If you like your music loud, metal and with a message, check out the Jesus Metal website at http://www.jesusmetal.net.au/ where you can download their songs - TOTALLY FREE!!

Tuesday 13 July 2010

Major Raffle - Awesome Prizes!!

Team Booger Mobile proudly announce their major raffle for 2010.

Tickets are $5 each or 3 for $10.

FIRST PRIZE

Duncan Free (2008 Olympic Gold Medallist) framed and signed shirt!!
(value approx $2000)

Kindly donated by Love & Partners Financial Services
and
Professional Investment Services.

This stunning first prize has to be seen to be believed - the photos really don't do it justice!

Approximately 95cm high and 80cm wide, beautifully mounted and framed.





SECOND PRIZE

Two x Wilson K-Factor Tour Tennis Racquets
(value approx $500)

Black and gold in colour, these Wilson tennis racquets will have you playing at the top of your game. Prize is two racquets and carry cases. This prize was donated by someone who has been tremendously helpful with Booger Mobile, but who wishes to remain anonymous.




THIRD PRIZE
Garmin GPS72 Personal Navigator (Handheld GPS)
(RRP $389)

The mariner-friendly GPS 72 is WAAS-enabled for accuracy to within 3 metres and features a large screen and easy-to-use buttons.

Don't worry about losing this GPS device in the water. The GPS 72 floats, and it's IPX7 waterproof to withstand the accidental dunk or splash. Whether on water or land, the GPS 72 can save up to 500 of your favourite places in memory and point you to your destination (no street or terrain maps). (Information from Garmin website.)
This prize was donated by Keyra - another fabulous Camp Quality volunteer.




Raffle is drawn on 5 October 2010.

Sunday 11 July 2010

New Sponsor Stickers and Front Seat Cover

Sunday morning rolled around again, and no Scottie today as he had to work, so Damian was left to his own devices. Initially Damian decided to install the new front seat cover that arrived during the week, however Elli and Steve arrived with new sponsor stickers, so that took priority!!



There were a whole lot of new stickers to go on, including large ones for the sides of the roof rack and a replacement sticker for Cadist Consulting on the rear windscreen, as it needs to move from the top of the screen to the bottom, so there's enough room for the esCarpade official stickers at the top.


First up, the passenger side of the roof rack...


Damian stood back and let Steve apply these stickers - they are not only large, but overlaid (two stickers stuck together to create a background colour).

The top layer holds the stickers still while they are applied... This one looks nice and straight!!

And it's always good to give the blog a plug!!

Time to get started on the driver's side. This is where the Acreage Driveways sticker will go!


Looks impressive with the backing paper removed - the sticker has a red background, so the whole thing looks red from the back!!


And it's stuck on and nicely lined up... Time to wait for it to dry a little before removing the top sheet...


Peeling back the paper shows the true magnificence of the Cadist Consulting signage...

All finished, and the blog address is nice too!!


Chasing Blakey (the band from the Team Booger Mobile trivia night) have a nice burgundy coloured sticker - the photo really doesn't do it justice!!


Time to peel back the Acreage Driveway sticker!!


The yellow on red signage looks spectacular!!


DNL Bookkeeping have a nice pink sticker on the passenger side...


The old stickers were painstakingly removed from the rear windscreen, and the residue cleaned with eucalyptus oil, ready to put the new stickers on!


Cadist Consulting get another sticker - aren't they lucky?


Peeling back the sticker again...


And there it is, hiding the speakers!!


Front and rear bumpers also got some special stickers... guess what they said?


BOOGER MOBILE


What are the odds?



And plugging the blog again, while showing the Acreage Driveways phone number!!


Driver's side...


Passenger side...


Once the stickers were finished, Elli and Steve headed off, and Damian got to the front seat covers... This is what it looked like before...


And getting started...


All finished!! When Scottie comes down the next time, Damian will get him to help tie the covers down - it's a task that requires more than one set of hands!!


Another week sneaks by, and the boys are another week closer to the esCarpade... Sadly, progress has almost ground to a halt... some big days are going to be required soon!!