'General' Stickers

Since designing the original Area 52 stickers, I have had many requests from people to sell them so that they could put one on their car. The original idea was that anyone visiting Area 52 got an 'Authorized Personel' sticker (one black, one white) as a token of being part of the whole A52 thing.

This will not change, the 'Authorized' stickers will remain a free item given to visitors to the unit.

To try and meet the requests of people who have not yet had the opportunity to visit the unit, but would like to have an Area 52 sticker, I have just designed a 'General' sticker that can now be bought. The aim for this is twofold: 1) So that people can have a sticker without having to have been to the unit (although anyone is always welcome) 2) To raise more money for the A52 fund.

Here is the new 'General' Area 52 sticker:

As with the mugs, 100% of the money raised from sticker sales will go towards the ongoing costs of the unit (electricity, BBQ gas, tea/coffee etc...) as well as building a fund to buy more kit & equipment.

The stickers are only available in matt black or matt white (just like the 'Authorized' versions) and are 155x55mm in size.

The cost of each sticker is £2.00 and postage is free on any order of two or more stickers (50p p&p for single sticker). There is no limit to the number of stickers ordered in either colour.

The outer border can be removed easily if you want to make your sticker look a little bit different, or want to make it a little bit smaller.

If you would like to order any stickers, please PM me details on Retro Rides and I will get back to you with payment details etc....

I have done these in time for people to be able to order along with any mugs they wish to buy.

Project car mock-up: 14" - whaddya think??

Down at the unit this evening with Morgs and Ryan, we decided to take a few minutes to itch a scratch I've had about how the Huslter 'group build' project carwould look on some 14 inch 70's style rims.

 

With a jack holding up the rear and some blocks of wood under the front (health & safety meh!) the wheels were offered up. Due to a PCD way off that of the Mini hubs, the wheels had some good poke going on where they were resting against the protruding studs....but the look certainly seemed to suit the little buggy...

7" wide but on the end of the already extended studs, this little car could easily pull off 8" wide at the front and 9" at the rear. Good times.

The biggest problem will be the clearance of the rear wheels against the subframe/trailing arm mounts. Nothing that can't be sorted though.

This project is going to be a very exciting one and the end result should be a very interesting and original vehicle. I can't wait until the weekend!!!!

AX Authentique

Area 52 currently has a new car tucked up behind the big blue steel doors....my little Citroen AX GT Mk1.

It's only there for a short period of time because I am selling it.

So why the blog entry? Because any cool car (large or small from any country) that makes it into the unit will get a mention one way or another.

Also because it has been an amazing little parts collector for the unit....travelling all over the UK gathering bits like the parts washer, welder, welding gas and even most of the hand tools, so in many ways Area 52 owes a lot to this little French pocket rocket.

The full advert for the car can be found HERE on Retro Rides. It is for sale for £650 which is a very good price for one of these (backed up by comments on RR)

I will certainly miss the little thing, it has been a great, fun car to own. They are getting very rare now in original, unmodified form so this car will hopefully appeal to an enthusiast who won't go sticking a Saxo VTS engine in there....

 

Playday dates: Get your diaries ready!

You heard it here first, these are the dates for the next few months Playdays:

January - 30th: Preparing the unit
February - 20th: Fibreglassing workshop
March - 20th: Intro to welding workshop
April - 10th: 'Special' welding workshop (* see below)
April -29th ('the' tour): Details to be confirmed (**see below)
May 15th - Project Car

These are now set and have been posted up so that you can book them in your diaries.
All future playdays will involve work on the project car on the Sundays (if you're up for it....you're more than welcome to tinker on your own car if you need?). This is so that we can have the focus on a specific activity on the Saturday daytime.

* This 'Special' welding workshop is limited to 20 people. Details of how to put your name down will be posted in February.

** This is the 'Area 52 on Tour' weekend and will mean taking Friday 30th April off work. Leaving Bristol on Thursday 29th in the evening approx 8pm giving you time to get to A52 from work. If travelling from afar, you might need to leave work early on the Thursday? We will be returning on Monday 3rd May which is the Bank Holiday Monday. Details of this event will be posted up in February.

BBQ @ Area 52

Some of the banter about food on the Areas 52 thread on Retro Rides has got me all hungry and dying to get my teeth into a juicy fat BBQ'd steak.

The playday next Saturday will see the arrival of the CarBQ, built by Ian (BiAS) and now owned by Tim (Brat Man), to aid with the cooking duties. To accompany this, Matt (Stealthstylz) is bringing along a copious amount of steak. Good times.

It seemed like the perfect opportunity to reflect on some shots of BBQ'ing at previous playdays:

 

 

The BBQ is at the very heart of everything we do down at Area 52. It keeps us all going, all day...late into the night and first thing the next morning. It warms our hands on those bitter winter days (no heating at the unit) and it is as much a part of the whole playday experience as the people themselves.

Burger anyone??

Ghetto wheel arch rolling

RTLKYuubi (AKA Ryan) from Retro Rides popped in to Area 52 on Weds night for a cuppa and a chat. While he was there we decided to break out the wheel arch rolling device and get busy on his car ready for when he lowers it:

1) Bring one Micra along to Area 52

2) Park amongst the surrounding retro wonders

  

3) Stand back and admire your £100 'hi-rider' Micra 

4) Despite the massive altitude, assess how much scrubbage

is occuring on the wider rubber/fully laden interface 

 

5) Take one length of 3" tube (thick walled) and align with rear of arch

6) Get assistant to drive back & forth while you admire

your incredible Uri Geller metal bending technique

 

7) Get car on flatter surface to allow greater use of 'the force'

8) Now that you've mastered the technique, get started on the other side

 

9) To achieve the perfect finish, get assistant to bounce joyfully on rear

bumper while you watch your arches roll back to an ideal position

 

Clearance: Acheived.

Technique: Aprroved.

Stickers

Not for sale (and never will be) - the Area 52 stickers are only given to people who visit the unit. They are free and there is a choice of matt white or matt black.

 

I ran out of the initial batch just after Playday II, so made some more last night. Quite a few people have visited the unit since I ran out, so most of these will be reserved for those who have not yet had any. Obviously with more & more visitors due over the forthcoming Playdays, I need to make sure I keep a stock in at all times.

They are most commonly found on peoples cars. A few examples are Mark's Senator, Chris' Golf and Morgs' Fiesta:

 

 

....but they can often be found in other places as well:

 

There is also a 'Ltd Edition' version of the sticker that was only given out to people who attended the first ever Playday in Sept 09.