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LeMons Hell on Wheels: Moscow to Paris Rally


anj

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Hi all

 

Confirmed entry of my 87 505 STI for the rally Jan 31 to Feb 4. This is the Lemons rally in which roadkill is filming an episode http://www.roadkill.com/come-run-lemons-winter-rally-roadkill/ 

Car is ready as it went thru last winter as a DD and a few snow storms.  Not your typical hooptie ride since I grew up in Saskatchewan and am not going to take any chances with no heat or sub par equipment.  There will be no camping or sleeping in the car.  I will try to stay in the recommend hotels.  The mods the car has so far are Torsen diff, Ray wheels with firestone winters, Porsche 944 rotors, Biode lights, Cibie 175 driving lights.  I need to put in the OEM airbox with SC430 filter, change plug wires, plugs, dist and rotor cap, thermostat, stereo install and check fluids. Upgrade headlight harness.

Just found out my friend is unable to attend.  Anyone interested?

Will also need to assemble possible spare, tools and winter supplies.

Goal for the rally is to finish, take some pictures and video. 

Arun

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Sadly I found out I'm in training at work which I simply can't miss...  Devastated I can't make it down for it... :(

Hopefully someone in the the "family" can join Arun as it's going to be an epic adventure! 

Rabin

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  • 2 weeks later...

Good news Joe Ernest will be joining me on this epic adventure.  Will pick him up in Baltimore on the way to starting point.

Finished the headlight and driving light wiring.

New stereo with all six speakers replaced.

Need to install new fuel pump, fuel filter, plug wires, cap and plugs

New battery on the way.

 

Arun

 

 

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Pics or none of it happened... :)

VERY jealous of this trip you and Joe are doing...  It should be an awesome time, and you should meet some really good guys and hopefully not take too much flack for driving a Peugeot!  Do you have a Mascot picked out?  I was going to bring my Peugeot lion "stuffy" (as my kids call them) as the mascot...  

Keep us posted with the happenings and makes sure to take lots of pictures and videos.  

Rabin

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  • 2 weeks later...

Prologue (Draft):

Ensconced in my recliner after the workday, laptop on lap, I performed my daily scans; CL for 'Vanagon', SearchTempest for 'Peugeot' and 'Citroen', 505turbo for everything, the Samba for 'TDI, Passat, Eurovan and Vanagon', recycle, back to 505turbo, then SearchTempest.....Huh? 'Lemons'....back to 505turbo. No Lemons for sale or wanted. What lemons? More forum scanning, and there towards the top of the preview pane I find it....something about Moscow to Paris Le Mons.  

Being quite familiar with PD, and having just binge watched this year's Dakar, my mind was already in that long distance rally mode. I was excited to hear that the Lion of Africa would be roaring from Moscow to Paris, perhaps even extending it's claws in the snow and ice coating the bituminous surfaces between. I made a mental note to revisit the forum and check for progress reports. 

A few days later, again ensconced in my recliner, I returned to the forum, and horrors! Team Lion had lost all its team mates. The Lion would still roar, but now there was an invitation for replacement Lion-izers. Interesting, no, fascinating, enticing.......but no, I am a responsible, alimony paying, cautious engineer type. I do not engage in such irresponsible frivolity. A few hours later, there I was again ensconced in my recliner, like a moth to a flame, drawn back to that 'Le Mons' post. I put the laptop away and pushed all thoughts citric and de Monic out of my mind. Ah, good, 'Wheeler Dealers' are working their magic on an HY van. It had been a rolling garment store and later maybe a produce van in the south of France. Produce? Citrus? Oranges....and lemons? Non, non, non, pas pour moi. 

And then the moth was inexorably drawn into the flame, and it sent Arun a message asking to communicate via email or phone.  A day and a phone call later the moth was crawling across the Expedia screen. Holy insecticide, batman, those big aluminium birds do not fly as efficiently or parsimoniously on petroleum as moths do on bug guts. So the moth morphed into a weasel and sent Arun a weaseling out email. But then Arun responded with an email expanding or explaining the full extent of his generosity, and the weasel was shamed back into his previous incarnation. 

The Expedia tabs were still open in my browser at work so booking both legs of my journey took but a few clicks of the mouse. I had intended to forward my itineraries to Arun that evening, while again ensconced in my recliner, but on my drive home, my phone rang. It was Arun, calling to ensure that I fully understood the full extent of his generosity and the resultant minimal impact on my ability to pay alimony that month. He concluded with an ardent request that I reconsider my decision to weasel. I asked if my forwarding itineraries within the hour was sufficient evidence of adequate re-consideration, and proof of sufficient de-weaseling to warrant riding the Lion. 

Mais naturellement, but of course.

Now came the biggest challenge so far, or since spraying WD-40 and applying a crowbar to the cover of my checkbook - getting my derrière out of bed at 3:30 am, and making the pre-dawn frigid hike from long term parking to the terminal.  Contrary to popular belief, it does get bloody cold in this salad bowl part of sunny California, thousands of feet below but only tens of miles from California's snowy ski slopes. 

Allons-y! Onward ho! To the Peugeot.

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