New Chim owner planning a loooong roadtrip
Discussion
Had my chim for a month now and loving every minute of it ! In June I'm driving down through France into Italy for some touring. Just wondering what bits I'd be wise to take ie Whats most liklely to go wrong 1500 miles from home ! I don't fancy driving round in a 'courtesy' corsa !
On another note - I've got a rattle / knock coming from what sounds like the top of the Windscreen header, when I hit slight bumps. Seems worse sometimes than others - it does it with or without roof on.
Bit annoying - any ideas ?
On another note - I've got a rattle / knock coming from what sounds like the top of the Windscreen header, when I hit slight bumps. Seems worse sometimes than others - it does it with or without roof on.
Bit annoying - any ideas ?
I did 3000 miles through France, Italy and Switzerland last October in my Griff. It was practically faultless, the only problems being a blown headlamp bulb on the morning of departure, and a slightly leaking rocker cover gasket.
I didn't take too many spare bits. Lots of spare fuses, relays, bulbs and connectors; otter switch; throttle cable; serpentine belt; tape (gaffer, insulation, and hose repair) and tie wraps; oil; water; common tools; two cans of tireweld; electric compressor; 2 gallon jerry can of fuel (many Italian petrol stations close on Sunday). Of that lot I used one bulb and a few litres of oil, but it was worth the peace of mind. I also took 5* AA cover!
Cheers,
Pete
I didn't take too many spare bits. Lots of spare fuses, relays, bulbs and connectors; otter switch; throttle cable; serpentine belt; tape (gaffer, insulation, and hose repair) and tie wraps; oil; water; common tools; two cans of tireweld; electric compressor; 2 gallon jerry can of fuel (many Italian petrol stations close on Sunday). Of that lot I used one bulb and a few litres of oil, but it was worth the peace of mind. I also took 5* AA cover!
Cheers,
Pete
I'm planning a similar trip in my new Chim departing June 7! What route are you taking? Mine is 2 weeks and approx 3000 miles - Home (Herts) -> Amsterdam -> Bern -> Lake Garda -> Rome -> Monaco -> San Tropez -> Paris -> Home. Should be a fantastic holiday! Alpen roads... lovely long tunnels... beautiful landscapes... gorgeous weather (I HOPE!) and some lovely places too! Can't wait. 
I would definitely suggest taking a throttle cable though... my Chim is currently immobile due to the cable snapping on Friday night! It just gave way without warning, less than 24 hours after I picked up the car! And order now to make sure you have it in time... a few calls to dealers and independents have shown me that most places have had them on back order for a couple of weeks at least, so keeping a spare seems to be pretty important. Some owners even carry a spare in the boot at all times!
Anyway, happy driving, and enjoy the rest of your Bank Holiday!
I would definitely suggest taking a throttle cable though... my Chim is currently immobile due to the cable snapping on Friday night! It just gave way without warning, less than 24 hours after I picked up the car! And order now to make sure you have it in time... a few calls to dealers and independents have shown me that most places have had them on back order for a couple of weeks at least, so keeping a spare seems to be pretty important. Some owners even carry a spare in the boot at all times!
Anyway, happy driving, and enjoy the rest of your Bank Holiday!
Gareth,
Thanks for the post - I've seen a few posts now mentioning throttle cables and hence will order one.
As for the route I'm planning - the rough itinary is :
Midlands - Eurotunnel, Champagne region, Alps, Italian lakes (Maggiore probably), Tuscany, Rome, back to either the Italian of French Riviera for a few days relaxing in one place. Then planning two stops on the way back through France - not sure where as yet.
This is my first such trip although I've driven in parts of France before. Have you done similar before - just wondering what sort of hotels to aim for - out of town with parking, or risk in town ? Also I was thinking of getting the train down from Tuscany to Rome - again any idea if this is best, or is driving down no problem ?
Thanks for the post - I've seen a few posts now mentioning throttle cables and hence will order one.
As for the route I'm planning - the rough itinary is :
Midlands - Eurotunnel, Champagne region, Alps, Italian lakes (Maggiore probably), Tuscany, Rome, back to either the Italian of French Riviera for a few days relaxing in one place. Then planning two stops on the way back through France - not sure where as yet.
This is my first such trip although I've driven in parts of France before. Have you done similar before - just wondering what sort of hotels to aim for - out of town with parking, or risk in town ? Also I was thinking of getting the train down from Tuscany to Rome - again any idea if this is best, or is driving down no problem ?
We have done two long road trips so far, with another planned for the end of June. We had no trouble at all either time. I think as long as you have spare fuses, bulbs, a throttle cable is probably a good idea, (you never know) you should be ok. We also took 40 litres of extra fuel in Jerry cans last year when we went to Norway, but the year before we did Belgium, Germany, Austria and Switzerland and found that there were plenty of petrol stations dotted around. Just make sure you carry enough cash to cover petrol as some of the places we stopped at wouldn't take the credit card.
If you don't want to put all the miles on the car, the transport trains are a very good idea. We put our Chim on one the first holiday we did and it just meant that we could go further and see more without putting all the miles on the car.
This year we are doing: Hull>Rotterdam>Dusseldorf - car on train down to Austria > night in Venice > drive back through Tuscany and Italy > Autobahns > Belgium > TVRCC Track weekend at Zolder > Back Home. Very shortened version, can't remember what else is planned at the moment.
If you don't want to put all the miles on the car, the transport trains are a very good idea. We put our Chim on one the first holiday we did and it just meant that we could go further and see more without putting all the miles on the car.
This year we are doing: Hull>Rotterdam>Dusseldorf - car on train down to Austria > night in Venice > drive back through Tuscany and Italy > Autobahns > Belgium > TVRCC Track weekend at Zolder > Back Home. Very shortened version, can't remember what else is planned at the moment.
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