Land's End to John O'Groats
Discussion
NoIP said:
Unless you're intending to do all your driving between midnight and 6am you'll be f
ked off with it all before you've even got out of Wales. Driving on s/c roads through the daytime is a painful experience when you're wanting to press on and have places to be. I can tell you right now that any rural s/c road will quickly see you stuck several vehicles behind some idiot doing 30-35mph, all bunched up tightly together and a combination of too much traffic coming the other way + not enough power under the bonnet will render your opportunities to overtake nil. Any dreams you're having of blasting around the Welsh countryside at 60+ with the road to yourself are only ever going to be that : dreams.
Ah well. I guess we'll just have to resort to juvenile abuse over the comms to keep us entertained ked off with it all before you've even got out of Wales. Driving on s/c roads through the daytime is a painful experience when you're wanting to press on and have places to be. I can tell you right now that any rural s/c road will quickly see you stuck several vehicles behind some idiot doing 30-35mph, all bunched up tightly together and a combination of too much traffic coming the other way + not enough power under the bonnet will render your opportunities to overtake nil. Any dreams you're having of blasting around the Welsh countryside at 60+ with the road to yourself are only ever going to be that : dreams.
NoIP said:
Unless you're intending to do all your driving between midnight and 6am you'll be fked off with it all before you've even got out of Wales. Driving on s/c roads through the daytime is a painful experience when you're wanting to press on and have places to be. I can tell you right now that any rural s/c road will quickly see you stuck several vehicles behind some idiot doing 30-35mph, all bunched up tightly together and a combination of too much traffic coming the other way + not enough power under the bonnet will render your opportunities to overtake nil. Any dreams you're having of blasting around the Welsh countryside at 60+ with the road to yourself are only ever going to be that : dreams.
Nothing like a bit of optimism ked off with it all before you've even got out of Wales. Driving on s/c roads through the daytime is a painful experience when you're wanting to press on and have places to be. I can tell you right now that any rural s/c road will quickly see you stuck several vehicles behind some idiot doing 30-35mph, all bunched up tightly together and a combination of too much traffic coming the other way + not enough power under the bonnet will render your opportunities to overtake nil. Any dreams you're having of blasting around the Welsh countryside at 60+ with the road to yourself are only ever going to be that : dreams.
Superchickenn said:
NoIP said:
Unless you're intending to do all your driving between midnight and 6am you'll be fked off with it all before you've even got out of Wales. Driving on s/c roads through the daytime is a painful experience when you're wanting to press on and have places to be. I can tell you right now that any rural s/c road will quickly see you stuck several vehicles behind some idiot doing 30-35mph, all bunched up tightly together and a combination of too much traffic coming the other way + not enough power under the bonnet will render your opportunities to overtake nil. Any dreams you're having of blasting around the Welsh countryside at 60+ with the road to yourself are only ever going to be that : dreams.
Nothing like a bit of optimism ked off with it all before you've even got out of Wales. Driving on s/c roads through the daytime is a painful experience when you're wanting to press on and have places to be. I can tell you right now that any rural s/c road will quickly see you stuck several vehicles behind some idiot doing 30-35mph, all bunched up tightly together and a combination of too much traffic coming the other way + not enough power under the bonnet will render your opportunities to overtake nil. Any dreams you're having of blasting around the Welsh countryside at 60+ with the road to yourself are only ever going to be that : dreams.
So thought I'd update this thread. I collected my vessel of choice a few weeks ago after a monster train journey - so here she is:
114k kms (so roughly 70k miles) on the clock. Imported in 1999. 1.6 with not a spec of rust on it.
Already sorted a few issues:
On the To-Do list:
Due to some work commitments, the timings have changed somewhat as we have had to move the trip back by 2 weeks, so we'll be leaving on 20th October. However, we might actually head from S Wales to Land's End on the Thursday evening and stay the night, so we're fresh and up starting the 5 day trip from Land's End. I'm working on an alternative route plan and will post up once done.
114k kms (so roughly 70k miles) on the clock. Imported in 1999. 1.6 with not a spec of rust on it.
Already sorted a few issues:
- Radio wasn't working. Which was a shame is it came with the original Mazda head unit. Swapped it for a Pinoeer BT unit, after sorting our Edward Scissor-Hands' handy work (pun intended)
- Had an immobilizer fitted that didn't actually do anything. Just a red blinky light in, what would have been, the female receiver fora fob. SO ripped that out (installed by aforementioned Scissor-Hands).
- Greased the incredibly slow electric windows
- Checked all rain rail bolts were tight (in the correct order)
On the To-Do list:
- Calibrate speedo (been converted to MPH but reading 90mph when doing 70mph)
- Service (Engine, Gearbox, Diff)
- Replace ditch finders (in spectacular, smokey fashion)
- See to numerous key scratches and scuffs on bodywork
- Underseal
- Replace discs and pads and bleed system
- Take from Land's End to John O'Groats
Due to some work commitments, the timings have changed somewhat as we have had to move the trip back by 2 weeks, so we'll be leaving on 20th October. However, we might actually head from S Wales to Land's End on the Thursday evening and stay the night, so we're fresh and up starting the 5 day trip from Land's End. I'm working on an alternative route plan and will post up once done.
Edited by MikeDrop on Thursday 10th August 15:43
A different mode of transport but I did it along with 26 others on motorcycles, many of them small in stature.
Eight days, 1400 miles, a tiny stretch of motorway to get over the Severn Bridge. Anyone suggesting you can't have a good road trip in the UK is in my opinion a bit mistaken. Or maybe you need a moped...
https://flic.kr/s/aHsm5ZrHPJ
Eight days, 1400 miles, a tiny stretch of motorway to get over the Severn Bridge. Anyone suggesting you can't have a good road trip in the UK is in my opinion a bit mistaken. Or maybe you need a moped...
https://flic.kr/s/aHsm5ZrHPJ
Edited by jumpingloci on Thursday 10th August 17:48
@Jumpingloci - looks like an amazing trip!
Just a further update as we've been working on the route once more. The aim is to get from Land's End to John O'Groats, so we want to try and do that bit as quick as possible. As such, we'll be travelling down to Land's End from South Wales on a Thursday evening and staying the night.
The Route
So Day 0 will be South Wales to Lands End.
Day 1 from Lands End, we'll head straight north and aim to hit, at least, Inverness, where we'll stay another night. So by Day 2, we will have arrived at John O'Groats
Day 2 is where the fun begins. From Inverness, we'll point out trusts steeds towards the A9 and spank it towards JOG. Many pictures with obligatory sign and sharply shoot west to Durness and complete the NC500 route until Ullapool. This'll give us enough time to enjoy the drive and take the pressure off if we want to stop and take in the sights/eat/repair our bangers.
Day 3 will see us head down to Applecross, through the Applecross Pass to Strathcarron, back towards Inverness and we'll finish the day in Edinburgh and stay the night.
Day 4, we'll head down from Edinburgh to Haydon Bridge and take the A686 down to Penrith. From Penrith we'll head to Tan Hill and on to Bolton Abbey via Kettlewell which is a nice route through the Dales (so I'm told) then across into North Wales, to Llyn Brenig where we'll stay the night.
Day 5 will see many, many laps of the Evo Triangle (well, until we get bored) then heading back down through Mid Wales, via the Abergwesyn Pass and over to the Black Mountains to home.
The Steeds
So as previosuly mentioned I've taken ownership of a 1990 Mk1 MX5 ([pedant] Eunos Roadster as it's a JDM Import [/pedant]) and have some plans to make it a little more road trip/fast B Road friendly. Namely a harness bar (or roll cage depending on funds) and harness. Some better tyres (thinking a set of Uniroyal Rainsport 3), full 4 wheel laser alignment and a full service (Engine oil, diff and box oil and associated filters etc.). I have a set of Lucas rally lights in the garage that I'll be fitting with some uprated bulbs and mounting them low and wide on the front of the car. They're rectangular shape so the beam throw is similar to that of a standard fog light. This'll be useful on the dark Highland roads to see any nasty corners. I'll also be upgrading the headlights to Xenons.
For the interior, I'm installing an extra 12v socket, a voltmeter and a double USB charging port.
I'm upgrading the woeful, glow-worm-in-a-jar type interior Festoons with SMD versions (Mazda decided that the best size was one that NO ONE readily stocks - 31mm).
The audio system currently sounds like a never ending whoopie cushion so will be upgrading the speakers to 6" drivers int he door, and some 3" comps in the headrest. I still have these left over from my previous MX5 and they worked a treat.
The above has been superseded by the need to fix my daily, which lost 1st and 2nd gear whilst I was just about to move house! Bloody cars!
I'll let Craig (superchickenn) update with his french POS progress and will get some pics of Aaron's V6 Sierra Ute up at some point, as he's recently got it running!
But here are some pics, nonetheless
[url]
The Ute!
Just a further update as we've been working on the route once more. The aim is to get from Land's End to John O'Groats, so we want to try and do that bit as quick as possible. As such, we'll be travelling down to Land's End from South Wales on a Thursday evening and staying the night.
The Route
So Day 0 will be South Wales to Lands End.
Day 1 from Lands End, we'll head straight north and aim to hit, at least, Inverness, where we'll stay another night. So by Day 2, we will have arrived at John O'Groats
Day 2 is where the fun begins. From Inverness, we'll point out trusts steeds towards the A9 and spank it towards JOG. Many pictures with obligatory sign and sharply shoot west to Durness and complete the NC500 route until Ullapool. This'll give us enough time to enjoy the drive and take the pressure off if we want to stop and take in the sights/eat/repair our bangers.
Day 3 will see us head down to Applecross, through the Applecross Pass to Strathcarron, back towards Inverness and we'll finish the day in Edinburgh and stay the night.
Day 4, we'll head down from Edinburgh to Haydon Bridge and take the A686 down to Penrith. From Penrith we'll head to Tan Hill and on to Bolton Abbey via Kettlewell which is a nice route through the Dales (so I'm told) then across into North Wales, to Llyn Brenig where we'll stay the night.
Day 5 will see many, many laps of the Evo Triangle (well, until we get bored) then heading back down through Mid Wales, via the Abergwesyn Pass and over to the Black Mountains to home.
The Steeds
So as previosuly mentioned I've taken ownership of a 1990 Mk1 MX5 ([pedant] Eunos Roadster as it's a JDM Import [/pedant]) and have some plans to make it a little more road trip/fast B Road friendly. Namely a harness bar (or roll cage depending on funds) and harness. Some better tyres (thinking a set of Uniroyal Rainsport 3), full 4 wheel laser alignment and a full service (Engine oil, diff and box oil and associated filters etc.). I have a set of Lucas rally lights in the garage that I'll be fitting with some uprated bulbs and mounting them low and wide on the front of the car. They're rectangular shape so the beam throw is similar to that of a standard fog light. This'll be useful on the dark Highland roads to see any nasty corners. I'll also be upgrading the headlights to Xenons.
For the interior, I'm installing an extra 12v socket, a voltmeter and a double USB charging port.
I'm upgrading the woeful, glow-worm-in-a-jar type interior Festoons with SMD versions (Mazda decided that the best size was one that NO ONE readily stocks - 31mm).
The audio system currently sounds like a never ending whoopie cushion so will be upgrading the speakers to 6" drivers int he door, and some 3" comps in the headrest. I still have these left over from my previous MX5 and they worked a treat.
The above has been superseded by the need to fix my daily, which lost 1st and 2nd gear whilst I was just about to move house! Bloody cars!
I'll let Craig (superchickenn) update with his french POS progress
and will get some pics of Aaron's V6 Sierra Ute up at some point, as he's recently got it running! But here are some pics, nonetheless
[url]
The Ute!
My progression on the Megane took a little sideways step but all is now well, i shall explain some more.
The water pump was pi$$ing the coolant all over the place so this needed to be changed, however £12 later on ebay i had a brand new water pump. When fitting this i had removed the timing belt and put it back together, at the point of testing it my old man being older and wiser i listened to, he suggested turning the engine over by hand, which i was ready to do once the bottom pulley had been installed. however the old man said "just put the bottom bolt on and i'll turn over fine" ..... well it didnt, the bolt span the crank without moving the timing belt as it was not keyin. FECK there goes my timing.
it was about to get dark so that was left for another day, a google later that evening showed where the timing marks on the back of the cams where. So once i had some time i took the belt back off and turned the cams and found TDC on cylinder 1. Put it all back together and (mike is my witness here as he was over) she fired into life, at this point i turned her off and refitted the drive belt etc. Once it was all put back i started her up again and this time she was not happy, she was spluttering all over the place.,.. WHY WHY WHY...
After a bit of looking around it seems im about 1 tooth out... later that evening when the kids were in bed i stripped her all down again this time i pulled the cams a fraction of a turn and re fitted.... BOOM.. she was alive..
To be fair the belt and tensioner were in good nick so they just went back on. However the drive belt was terrible so this was replaced :-)
All in she is happy.
The water pump was pi$$ing the coolant all over the place so this needed to be changed, however £12 later on ebay i had a brand new water pump. When fitting this i had removed the timing belt and put it back together, at the point of testing it my old man being older and wiser i listened to, he suggested turning the engine over by hand, which i was ready to do once the bottom pulley had been installed. however the old man said "just put the bottom bolt on and i'll turn over fine" ..... well it didnt, the bolt span the crank without moving the timing belt as it was not keyin. FECK there goes my timing.
it was about to get dark so that was left for another day, a google later that evening showed where the timing marks on the back of the cams where. So once i had some time i took the belt back off and turned the cams and found TDC on cylinder 1. Put it all back together and (mike is my witness here as he was over) she fired into life, at this point i turned her off and refitted the drive belt etc. Once it was all put back i started her up again and this time she was not happy, she was spluttering all over the place.,.. WHY WHY WHY...
After a bit of looking around it seems im about 1 tooth out... later that evening when the kids were in bed i stripped her all down again this time i pulled the cams a fraction of a turn and re fitted.... BOOM.. she was alive..
To be fair the belt and tensioner were in good nick so they just went back on. However the drive belt was terrible so this was replaced :-)
All in she is happy.
In other news,
i acquired a e46 with a possible water pump issue, i think this may be more of a head gasket issue
this was after a 2 min drive
https://youtu.be/1PlN1H0yCJ4
hope this link works
i acquired a e46 with a possible water pump issue, i think this may be more of a head gasket issue
this was after a 2 min drive
https://youtu.be/1PlN1H0yCJ4
hope this link works
Riley Blue said:
I still reckon 720 miles in 12 hours on day one is a very optimistic target but I shall be delighted when (if) you prove me wrong - safe motoring!
This. We left Cornwall early on a Thursday morning a couple of weeks ago and it took 2.5 hours just to get to the Tamar Bridge, and that was the quicker option than going over Bodmin Moor according to the matrix signs.
Do not underestimate just how slow it is going to be on all the single carriageway roads behind lorries, caravans and tractors that also realise its a good idea to get out of Cornwall first thing in the morning.
Quick Update.
Accommodation has now been booked for the 5 nights that we'll be staying out. Tried to get it as cheap as possible, and between 4 of us we are looking at an average of £19.15 each per night. So £95.75 for 5 nights accommodation. This is made up of a mix of 2 Hostels and 3 B&B's. Bargain!
Cars are coming along nicely. Craig got some Clio Sport wheels and tyres for his Megane.
I've bought a decat (that doesn't fit) for the MX5 and fitted my volt meter, extra 12v socket and 2 USB Ports in a neat little location (pics to follow once I get them off my phone).
Mick (our Irish mate) has confirmed he's coming along and he'll be bringing his Mk4 Golf Estate. It used to be mine and I sold it to him about a year ago. It's a GTTDI with the PD130 engine that's lightly breathed on. Well, it was until he blew the fecking thing up. He's recently just had a PD150 swapped into it and is apparently running great. Mick is most definitely the most mental as his trip will be book-ended by a Ferry trip from/to Dublin! :O Madness, but we love it.
Aaron has been pretty quiet. But he's the type who won't say a word and turn up on the evening of departure more prepared than the rest of us. He's got his V6 Sierra Ute running so hopefully he's still working on it in silence.
Couple of things we need to get before the trip:
Accommodation has now been booked for the 5 nights that we'll be staying out. Tried to get it as cheap as possible, and between 4 of us we are looking at an average of £19.15 each per night. So £95.75 for 5 nights accommodation. This is made up of a mix of 2 Hostels and 3 B&B's. Bargain!
Cars are coming along nicely. Craig got some Clio Sport wheels and tyres for his Megane.
I've bought a decat (that doesn't fit) for the MX5 and fitted my volt meter, extra 12v socket and 2 USB Ports in a neat little location (pics to follow once I get them off my phone).
Mick (our Irish mate) has confirmed he's coming along and he'll be bringing his Mk4 Golf Estate. It used to be mine and I sold it to him about a year ago. It's a GTTDI with the PD130 engine that's lightly breathed on. Well, it was until he blew the fecking thing up. He's recently just had a PD150 swapped into it and is apparently running great. Mick is most definitely the most mental as his trip will be book-ended by a Ferry trip from/to Dublin! :O Madness, but we love it.
Aaron has been pretty quiet. But he's the type who won't say a word and turn up on the evening of departure more prepared than the rest of us. He's got his V6 Sierra Ute running so hopefully he's still working on it in silence.
Couple of things we need to get before the trip:
- Walkie Talkies/CB Radios
- Some spare parts for the cars
- New tyres for my MX5
MikeDrop said:
Also, I'll be broadcasting our location and will post a link up here if people would like to follow and even join us for a pint at one of our destinations
Careful about doing this during your 720 miles in 12 hours thing. You're going to have to be driving flat out (I'm not convinced it's possible without a veyron with blue flashers or a motorbike tbh) and it'll be obvious from the timings.glad youve got accommodation now instead of spending your time in tents. thats no way t get proper rest between stints of between 10-12 hrs at the wheel.
and unless you are young in years I swear by one of those neck supports you can buy - they really do work and mine was a cheapo one so I bet the decent ones work a treat. The material inside mine kept moving down so I had to keep miving the neck rest back up every few minutes.
a wide range of music on tap. lots of mints to eat. not so bad if you are sharing the driving rather than each vehicle having a solo pilot. one can soak up the scenery or sleep whilst the other drives but the danger of feeling sleepy at the wheel is ever present when doing such long distance hauls. I had moments last weekend doing 680 miles in one hit on saturday. You know youre a bit tired and the eyes start blinking furiously to try and stay open. Horrible feeling when you have a kind of snap out of it moment that I have never experienced before. its a split second jolt like in a dream where you stop yourself falling but its literally maybe a second. Knowing when to rest is vital. Sitting more upright can help until you reach the next safe place to stop.
and unless you are young in years I swear by one of those neck supports you can buy - they really do work and mine was a cheapo one so I bet the decent ones work a treat. The material inside mine kept moving down so I had to keep miving the neck rest back up every few minutes.
a wide range of music on tap. lots of mints to eat. not so bad if you are sharing the driving rather than each vehicle having a solo pilot. one can soak up the scenery or sleep whilst the other drives but the danger of feeling sleepy at the wheel is ever present when doing such long distance hauls. I had moments last weekend doing 680 miles in one hit on saturday. You know youre a bit tired and the eyes start blinking furiously to try and stay open. Horrible feeling when you have a kind of snap out of it moment that I have never experienced before. its a split second jolt like in a dream where you stop yourself falling but its literally maybe a second. Knowing when to rest is vital. Sitting more upright can help until you reach the next safe place to stop.
A couple of pics of my 12 install:
Deciding on the location was tricky. In the end, I opted for the side of the centre console. There's enough space (with a gnats bk to spare) between the edge of the console and the shifter to fit all the wiring and gubbins behind. There's also enough space between the front of the sockets and my seating position so I'm not constantly bashing my leg on it.
I decided to line up the backing plate with the bottom edge of the console:
Holes drilled, backing plate secured and sockets installed, with wiiring to the back. This annoyed me, as installed all the correct way around the pos and neg terminals were not all on the same side. One for "Photos that make your teeth itch" thread I think. But it'll be hidden, so not too bad. The shifter does make contact with the wiring, but only just, so it just flexes appropriately. And yes, I know I need a new shifter boot.
Spliced in to the perm live supplying the stereo. I wanted perm live so I could leave something on charge if I pop to the shops etc. I do plan on switching it, so I can turn it off when I want to, but that's phase 2. Once I installed, I left the car sitting for 3 days and the voltmeter was still reading 12.4v so the draw is very minimal.
All installed and wired up. Looks pretty neat.
And to show my leg position when driving, plenty of room.
Whilst I was at it, I had a spare marine 12v socket so replaced the OEM version (of which the bore is too wide for modern USB chargers etc. to fit in anyway). Ignore the scotch blocks beneath it. That was previous owners handy work.
Should come in handy for the trip. The USB sockets are dual - 1 x 2.1a output (fast charge) and 1 x 1a output (trickle charge).
Deciding on the location was tricky. In the end, I opted for the side of the centre console. There's enough space (with a gnats b
k to spare) between the edge of the console and the shifter to fit all the wiring and gubbins behind. There's also enough space between the front of the sockets and my seating position so I'm not constantly bashing my leg on it.I decided to line up the backing plate with the bottom edge of the console:
Holes drilled, backing plate secured and sockets installed, with wiiring to the back. This annoyed me, as installed all the correct way around the pos and neg terminals were not all on the same side. One for "Photos that make your teeth itch" thread I think. But it'll be hidden, so not too bad. The shifter does make contact with the wiring, but only just, so it just flexes appropriately. And yes, I know I need a new shifter boot.
Spliced in to the perm live supplying the stereo. I wanted perm live so I could leave something on charge if I pop to the shops etc. I do plan on switching it, so I can turn it off when I want to, but that's phase 2. Once I installed, I left the car sitting for 3 days and the voltmeter was still reading 12.4v so the draw is very minimal.
All installed and wired up. Looks pretty neat.
And to show my leg position when driving, plenty of room.
Whilst I was at it, I had a spare marine 12v socket so replaced the OEM version (of which the bore is too wide for modern USB chargers etc. to fit in anyway). Ignore the scotch blocks beneath it. That was previous owners handy work.
Should come in handy for the trip. The USB sockets are dual - 1 x 2.1a output (fast charge) and 1 x 1a output (trickle charge).
Updated plan:
Completely appreciate these are Google figures. However, I'll be recorded daily mileage and driving/stoppage times so will be interesting to compare after the event.
| Day | Leave | Depart Time | Arrive | Arrive Time | Driving Hours | Stopping Hours | Total Hours | Miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19/10/2017 | South Wales | 17:00 | Land's Endl | 21:30 | 04:30 | 00:30 | 05:00 | 228 |
| 20/10/2017 | Land's End | 07:00 | Kingussie | 18:19 | 11:19 | 01:00 | 12:19 | 679 |
| 21/10/2017 | Kingussie | 08:00 | Ullapool (Via John O'Groats)l | 17:00 | 09:00 | 01:00 | 10:00 | 340 |
| 22/10/2017 | Ullapool | 08:00 | Edinburgh (Via Applecross Path) | 16:30 | 08:30 | 01:00 | 09:30 | 352 |
| 23/10/2017 | Edinburgh | 10:00 | Evo Triangle | 18:10 | 08:10 | 01:00 | 09:10 | 321 |
| 24/10/2017 | Evo Triangle | 08:00 | South Wales | 14:00 | 06:00 | 01:00 | 07:00 | 200 |
| 47hrs 29mins | 5hrs 30mins | 52hrs 59mins | 2120 |
Completely appreciate these are Google figures. However, I'll be recorded daily mileage and driving/stoppage times so will be interesting to compare after the event.
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