I have spoken of this before but as we are entering the "do" phase I will refresh the thread.

Next year, 2012, is the 50th. anniversary of the Volvo Owners Club, and whatever is thought of "bearded old farts" (like me) the VOC has done a great deal for marque and for Volvo Owners.

Usually the BKV (best kept volvo) meet revolves around the "best presented car" competition (I won't call it a concours event because it isn't, however much we'd like it to be) and a few trade
or autojumble stands over one day. Next year it will be a two day event on the 16th and 17th June. It will be held in the grounds of Thoresby Hall, Nottinghamshire (just off the A1).

I am among a group of VOC members who are determined to ensure that the 50th. is the best ever and far more than just a clean car comp. The BKV itself will be held on Sunday 17th. but Sat.
is open to to a range of other activities that will hopefully be of interest to enthusiasts and their families.

I am now in a position to formally invite V3M to participate and I very much hope that from the ranks of V3M we can find enough people to organise a demonstration/display of our own.
I would like to cover three areas.

1. Volvo 300s in motorsport. (All aspects from Rallycross and classic rally to drifting) with static displays, poss video, and representative cars.

2. The difficulties of sourcing replacement parts, and their re-manufacture by enthusiasts. (I'm hoping to display what's available from Robbert, Dai and Geo.Mitchell)

3. Demonstrations of common repair techniques (I have an offer of "strut top refurb.", and I shall probably carry out helicoil repairs).

V3M is welcome to attend the event in any case but I really hope we can, in addition, put on a good show.

I shall post more details of the actual event later, for example camping/caravan arrangements, or other accommodation for those who might wish to stay over. Thoresby Hall is a "Warner Leisure"
hotel and the VOC has "done a deal" for the weekend (but is still B expensive).

What, however, I CANNOT DO is everything all by myself - so I'm going to need help - ideas, research, as well as "help on the day". I am asking for a commitment now for this help (without it
I won't even try to put on a show as I have plenty of existing ways to make myself look a twat). Full requirements will obviously emerge as things progress but I shall certainly need assistance
in gathering the motorsport info.,pictures etc. We shall also need, on the day, a well engineered "Drift" car and a classic Rally car. I have a "gazebo" type tent, and I should be able to get
some marquee space as well - but extra "accommodation would be useful. Mains power will not be a problem.

So thinking caps on please. I would like, if possible, at least a "yes/no" decision in the next couple of weeks as to whether we can or cannot do.

Any thoughts, suggestions etc. post or pm.

Mac

Hi mac.
What a cracker idea. Is it doubling up with the V3M national event?
Cheers Mark.

That, Mark, is actually not a half bad idea - thoughts Foggy, Rupert, Chris ?

Mac.

ps - Bill Patterson sends his best (V pleased with g/box)

I nominate Jonovlov's for the best engineered "drift" car on this forum.

Also, any chance I could bring along my future drift 740 which will be finished by next summer?

The only trouble I foresee with it doubling up with the National Event is that traditionally (he says, there having been only 2!!) the 300 National is a 2 day event comprising a leisurely drive on the Sat with an overnight camping stop and then a visit to a museum or some such attraction on the Sun. As the BKV is a 2 day event next year there's no day available for the scenic drive unless we go for a Friday which means time taken off work etc.

Hi mac.
I am very glad to here that Mr Patterson is pleased with the
gearbox. He was such a gentleman to talk too on the phone.
Cheers Mark.

I have some on board footage from rallies and autosolo's I can bring along.

I will be able to demonstrate certain things at the national, not all 300 specific... I'm thinking stock ECU re mapping and diagnostics on the F7x stuff, as well as possibly some of the CAD to 300 parts stuff. I'm not convinced many people would be interested in force and stress calcs on bits of metal though, possibly the computer to lump of metal thing maybe.

I take it we'll be able to use more than one car to represent each motorsport?

Can't see a problem there - ideally 3-4 cars per "sport".

What would be verrrrry nice would be for someone in the drift "community" to do some research on the sport that I could make up into "story boards" for display.
Photos that I could copy /enlarge would also be good.

How did the sport start , it's Japanese roots, how and why 300s etc.

The same goes for rallycross and classic rallying. Again concentrating on 300s.

Mac.

Very willing to help however I can. I'm reasonably nearby, and can provide kit to make the "video" side of things happen. Audio will be easy, but the challenge is likely to be the video side of things (projection is cheap but probably not bright enough for a marquee in daylight...a big plasma will do the job, but isn't cheap to hire). It would be good to put together a compilation of clips from cars competing (or just hooning - Santa Pod, drift events (Mat_91 at Wheels, for example?) and maybe the RRG hillclimb footage from this year?) in the present day, plus vintage footage from the Rallycross championships in the early 80s.

Valver swap on the day, anyone? I can provide a hoist, a large jack...various 'heavy' tools. A timelapse video would be pretty damn cool.

I'm willing to volunteer my car(s) for the stand if all else fails, although they're not used in motorsport.

As far as a tie-in with "our" national event goes, I'm tempted to say that we should keep with our plan of hosting the event in the North West this year, to give the Irish guys very little excuse not to come over, and to make it more accessible to the guys in and around the Tyne / Durham area. However, I think we should make much more of an effort to attract people from V3M, maybe encouraging people to come for the two days with a drive or similar on the Saturday?

cheers

James

The video idea sounds good if you can gather as much video as possible now, then maybe it'l the rest of the year to get the bits of video that you want but are missing? does that make sense lol

Valver swap sounds like a good idea I've got a Megane engine for mine, wont be putting it in for a bit, i wouldnt mind donating the engine and car for the day

Without having an off the shelf set of parts for it, I'd not do a valver swap, in a field. When you get good at it, you can have the engine out from driving in about 40mins, but if you had to fab anything on site you'd be stuffed.

Do it in a workshop, make sure you've got all the bits Then take it back out again and put the original back in, list all the bits and what they do and where they go as another guide to putting one in Turn up on the day, put it back in Although it defeats the point of doing it on the day. it'l show viewers just how easy it is to put one in I'll be using bike carbs anyway so no faffing with wiring

It goes without saying that you'd need significant preparation to pull it off...but I'm sure we can do preparation if we put our minds to it...right?

cheers

James

Going by past experience, which of us is any good at preparation? You make me look good ffs!