Taking Griff abroad

[Burriana500]

I am taking my '96 500 down through France, over the Pyrenees and down to the south of Spain in August. Obviously I am getting pretty giddy about the trip but am worried about breakdowns... more specifically overheating. My fans never cut in until 90 deg - and the temp goes upto 100 before stabilising, never seems to drop though until you get up some speed and the ram effect cuts in. I was thinking of asking Jules at Joospeed to fit a thermostat that will cut in earlier, say 80 deg, and also fitting the fans with the curved blades as opposed to my current flat faced ones.

Does this seem a reasonable course of action?

Also, has anyone done a trip down to Spain before in the heat? I think I should take a pack of emergency repair bits and pieces like head gaskets, thermostats, fan belt, ignition leads and so on - anyone got any ideas as to a list of 'must takes'?

Thanks!

[Burriana500]

Thanks for all the info guys - what exactly is water wetter then? And I presume the otter switch is the one that kicks the fans in???

I think I'll ask Jools @ Joospeed to fit the lower temp thermostat and otter switch, flush out the whole system and put water wetter in (I presume I have to reverse this process when it gets to winter!) Getting the fans to run faster seems a plus aswell if it is quite an easy job to do - ARE YOU GETTING ALL THIS JOOLS?!

As you will all have gathered by now - I am a complete numpty when it comes to car DIY - I always worry that things'll never go back quite how they should!

Griffman - where'd you go in Spain? I'm heading down to Nerja just East of Malaga, so the quickest way is down tru Madrid, not ideal, had thought about taking an extra day and dropping down the coast via Barca, but if it's anything like the Costa Del Sol, the new Auto Vias run about 5k in from the coast anyway, so I might aswel be inland.

Any routes or experiences welcome - and thanks again for all the info guys.

Al in Yorkshire!

[Burriana500]

Arrrgh!... Just found out that Joolz @ Joospeed is stopping doing servicing to concentrate on performance stuff ... anyone know anywhere around West Yorks that they can recommend using without paying main dealer rates for little jobs like fitting fan over ride switches and system flushing etc???

TJ... any ideas on where best to stop in North of Spain just as I come down off the Pyrenees after first day's drive down though France? I'll clear Calais about 06.30 and hopefully reach the Pyrenees mid to late afternoon... Any ideas of the best / most scenic route over?

Thanks again for all the input guys.

al.

[Burriana500]

Hi TJ... I will be coming straight down through France on the motorways, over one of the scenic routes across the Pyrenees, then straight down to Madrid... Granada... then down to the coast at Almuneca. If it takes longer, another day driving... what a bummer