Well, it was fun while it lasted...

[R7EBO]

Been given the inevitable but still unbearable news this morning that my speed 6's heart is about to stop beating. 4 valves on the limit of adjustment with only a gnat's ck of clearance remaining and also signs of wear on one or more finger followers.

Trouble is I'm all set and booked for a 2400 mile Euro tour starting a week on Wednesday, so as long as it keeps running I'm still going for it - a last hurrah perhaps - but not convinced I'll make it all the way back. At least every mile from now on will feel extra special I suppose!

As my meagre wages barely allow me to keep the thing running as it is, there's no way I can afford a rebuild and so I have to admit defeat and when I get back (driving or on a trailer!) I shall have to park the old girl up. At least I tried to rescue her the best I could and managed to scrape just over 30k unforgettable joy filled miles out of it before it went!

Obviously I will do my best to find funds to resurrect her (AGAIN) but as I need to save for a mortgage deposit it's not looking like it will be any time even close to soon.

I will still try to blag a seat in mates' cars for meets etc, but it won't be the same. And I know this may all sound like I'm about to peg it or something, but I also wanted to say thank you to everyone who has helped and offered advice to me over the last few years. You have all been brilliant and I appreciate every bit of it.

Wish me luck for my holiday!!

Ryan

[R7EBO]

Cheers all. I'm a kind of bury-head-in-sand-hope-for-best kind of guy, so I'm going for it anyway! Picked it up from Steve Darvill's place on Wednesday and it still runs, sounds & feels the same as ever - if not slightly better having spent several £100's to sort a few things out, so I'm a bit more hopeful now that it might last the distance at least. It even goes in a straight line with one hand on the wheel having had new tyres & full alignment carried out which is a novelty!!

It'll be a nice steady run anyway, we won't hit Germany until the last leg back to the ferry so I've picked out a nice scenic route with plenty of mountains to look at. The route goes something like:

Hull - Rotterdam
Rotterdam - Strasbourg (France)
Strasbourg - Lake Como (Italy
Lake Como - Ljubljana (via Venice for lunch) (Slovenia)
Ljubljana - Hallstatt (Austria)
Hallstatt - Vienna (Austria)
Vienna - Bratislava (Slovakia - for the day)
Vienna - Prague (Czech Republic)
Prague - Hannover (Germany)
Hannover - Rotterdam

Place your bets/start your sweepstake now

[R7EBO]

I shall look forward to that then! We made it to Strasbourg by the way without any problems, so touch wood all is well so far! Also about Strasbourg - if you're into your European city breaks then I can HIGHLY recommend it here. It's absolutely beautiful. & I've travelled a lot around Europe! Won't try to load many pics just yet as the Internet isnt the fastest but I have plenty!!

[R7EBO]

Hi guys, we're actually still away! In Vienna at present but moving on to Prague today via Bratislava. It's been smooth running all the way engine wise but we have had issues. Amongst other preparation work I had the throttle cable replaced a week or so before we set off & at the time I was advised to go for an upgraded version to stop it from snapping (as it's an early Tuscan they're prone to it), so I did. However we sat in a queue of traffic for about 40 minutes whilst crossing over from Slovenia into Austria & as soon as we cleared the border, accelerated away & slowly started to lose my throttle pedal. 15 seconds later I had no pedal at all & had to coast - in a tunnel - in 3rd until we got to a layby.

I stripped the pedal box and air box as much as I could in the tunnel before the authorities sent a recovery truck & found the cable had about an extra inch & half of slack. I suspected something to do with the outer casing of the cable but I couldn't find it before a big yellow truck appeared & told us we had to get out. So they took us to a small Citroen garage & sure enough found a large split in the outer sheath. The guy bodged it using a large connector block to take up the slack & we were on our way.

I'm actually waiting for a new one to arrive in Vienna which was meant to come yesterday & get fitted today but hasn't arrived yet. We have to move on to Prague today so I'll have to take it with me & hope the bodge holds out again!! Along the way we've had one or 2 extra stops but have struggled to find decent places to get photos with the car (bloody pedestrian zones!). Up to now we've been to:

- Strasbourg
- Lake Como (Bellagio)
- Venice
- Ljubljana
- Lake Bled
- Hallstatt
- Vienna

Still got Bratislava, Prague & Kassel to go! I'll sort pictures out when I get back, takes far too long & I've got far too many!