Land's End to John O'Groats
Discussion
Since the last updated and with the dates of the trip becoming alarmingly close i decided to have a "potch" with the car again
Firstly i got some "new" wheels with the help of my master mechanic
next... due to me trying to save weight my "built in" bath had to go
this was due to two reasons, one being the sunroof drainers and another was a bung in the bulk head.. both now fixed i hope.. however this left the roof AND carpet being 15 years old and stank so this happened
Firstly i got some "new" wheels with the help of my master mechanic
next... due to me trying to save weight my "built in" bath had to go
this was due to two reasons, one being the sunroof drainers and another was a bung in the bulk head.. both now fixed i hope.. however this left the roof AND carpet being 15 years old and stank so this happened
So, with just over 2 weeks until departure 4 has become 3. One of the lads couldn't get the time off work so it's now just 3 Musketeers.
Everything is still on track to proceed.
Craig now has an MOT on his "Super Sport" Megane. The "Super Sport" is how his insurers described the car when they refused to cover him!
Bearing in mind he's been driving since he was 17 and is now 31! So he's having to source another insurer. If anyone knows a company who will cover such a rare, fast, sporty collectable car such as a 2002 1.6 16v 3 door Renault Megane, please get in touch! So he decided to amend the livery on the sides of his "Coupe"
Craig also decided that retinas were overrated so fitted the equivalent of Blackpool illuminations to the inside of his Super Sport Megane "in case I need to find something in the dark innit".
My MX5 is taking shape. Decat welded and fitted which is now leaking so much exhaust fumes into the cabin I pretty much have to drive it with the roof down everywhere. So that's fun. A job that will be rectified this weekend, probably with copious amount of pidgeon s
t welding and exhaust putty! I've also found a mounting spot for some spot lights that I'll fit this weekend. I have 4 of the lights shown below, which originated from battery powered emergency exit lights (the type that come on when the power is cut) so I'm upcycling them to act as spot/fog lights. They're pretty bright so hopefully will light up those tight, dark corners in the Northern parts of the NC500.
Mick's Golf estate has suffered a few teething issues following an engine swap. Main one being a monumental fuel leak. Which, on the positive side has made his engine bay and body work extremely shiny!
That's now been fixed so god only knows what else will go wrong. Hopefully any issues will present themselves on his journey over from Dublin prior to leaving for Land's End so we can fix them thoroughly bodge it back together!
The plan is still to travel from Land's End to Kingussie (about an hour short of Inverness) on the first day. So we aim to leave Land's End at 7am after taking the obligatory photos with the sign post etc.
Onwards!
Everything is still on track to proceed.
Craig now has an MOT on his "Super Sport" Megane. The "Super Sport" is how his insurers described the car when they refused to cover him!
Bearing in mind he's been driving since he was 17 and is now 31! So he's having to source another insurer. If anyone knows a company who will cover such a rare, fast, sporty collectable car such as a 2002 1.6 16v 3 door Renault Megane, please get in touch! So he decided to amend the livery on the sides of his "Coupe"Craig also decided that retinas were overrated so fitted the equivalent of Blackpool illuminations to the inside of his Super Sport Megane "in case I need to find something in the dark innit".
My MX5 is taking shape. Decat welded and fitted which is now leaking so much exhaust fumes into the cabin I pretty much have to drive it with the roof down everywhere. So that's fun. A job that will be rectified this weekend, probably with copious amount of pidgeon s
t welding and exhaust putty! I've also found a mounting spot for some spot lights that I'll fit this weekend. I have 4 of the lights shown below, which originated from battery powered emergency exit lights (the type that come on when the power is cut) so I'm upcycling them to act as spot/fog lights. They're pretty bright so hopefully will light up those tight, dark corners in the Northern parts of the NC500. Mick's Golf estate has suffered a few teething issues following an engine swap. Main one being a monumental fuel leak. Which, on the positive side has made his engine bay and body work extremely shiny!
That's now been fixed so god only knows what else will go wrong. Hopefully any issues will present themselves on his journey over from Dublin prior to leaving for Land's End so we can The plan is still to travel from Land's End to Kingussie (about an hour short of Inverness) on the first day. So we aim to leave Land's End at 7am after taking the obligatory photos with the sign post etc.
Onwards!
Maracus said:
The A9 from Inverness to Perth has a couple of sets of roadworks that could add around 40 minutes to your journey times.
I flew up to Inverness from Birmingham 3 weeks ago to pick up a Caravelle. Drove straight back home stopping a couple of times - 490 miles
Good luck to you guys
A new stretch of A9 dual opened a few days ago.I flew up to Inverness from Birmingham 3 weeks ago to pick up a Caravelle. Drove straight back home stopping a couple of times - 490 miles
Good luck to you guys
http://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/new-a9-dual...
Edited by matchmaker on Tuesday 3rd October 13:47
matchmaker said:
Maracus said:
The A9 from Inverness to Perth has a couple of sets of roadworks that could add around 40 minutes to your journey times.
I flew up to Inverness from Birmingham 3 weeks ago to pick up a Caravelle. Drove straight back home stopping a couple of times - 490 miles
Good luck to you guys
A new stretch of A9 dual opened a few days ago.I flew up to Inverness from Birmingham 3 weeks ago to pick up a Caravelle. Drove straight back home stopping a couple of times - 490 miles
Good luck to you guys
http://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/new-a9-dual...
Edited by matchmaker on Tuesday 3rd October 13:47
Thanks guys - will be good fun
Only things we're trying to sort now are:
Only things we're trying to sort now are:
- Walkie Talkies. Will probably just get some cheapo ones off eBay. I did contemplate using my kids' Star Wars 2 way radios but thought we may need something a little more reliable
- Stickers. I've fired an email to StickeredUp who are a known provider of Le Mans type stickers to see if they can accommodate, so will see what they say.
- Deciding what stuff to take. We'll probably head to a supermarket before we leave and stock up on stuff to munch on in the car. Crisps, Chocolate, drinks etc. We're also going to take sleeping bags just in case we can't make it to our accommodation for whatever reason and have to bunk up in the car (yay for me in an MX5).
- I've recently bought a new GoPro Hero Session and an accompanying arsenal of attachments which will be handy for time-laps and action-shots. Mick is bringing his DLSR as well as a drone for those sweeping coastal shots. Craig will also have a GoPro Hero4 on board. So should make for some good footage.
Exactly.
I’ve done Land’s end to east Northamptonshire and it’s a long drive. To then drive to Scotland on top in a day is quite simply madness TBH.
I think you’re really under estimating things but I look forward to seeing how you get on.
At least the A30 is all DC now apart from the very bottom bit
I’ve done Land’s end to east Northamptonshire and it’s a long drive. To then drive to Scotland on top in a day is quite simply madness TBH.
I think you’re really under estimating things but I look forward to seeing how you get on.
At least the A30 is all DC now apart from the very bottom bit
lucido grigio said:
680 miles in the UK sounds like a living nightmare to me.
+1I'm quite tired really after 300 miles in the UK. That takes 5+ hours,
whatever car I drive.
Ah the innocence of youth - 680 miles in one day will be a story
to tell the grandchildren about, along with never eat the hottest
curry the curry house sells.
I did John O Groats to Lands End in 13hrs 13mins in the summer of 2013. As soon as I'd taken a few photos at Lands End, I was off home to Liverpool.
1,251 miles in 19hrs door to door!
I did a thread on here in the Classic Cars section and a mirrored thread on the Scirocco Register site.
1,251 miles in 19hrs door to door!
I did a thread on here in the Classic Cars section and a mirrored thread on the Scirocco Register site.
MJK 24 said:
I did John O Groats to Lands End in 13hrs 13mins in the summer of 2013. As soon as I'd taken a few photos at Lands End, I was off home to Liverpool.
1,251 miles in 19hrs door to door!
I did a thread on here in the Classic Cars section and a mirrored thread on the Scirocco Register site.
That's what I like to hear! 1,251 miles in 19hrs door to door!
I did a thread on here in the Classic Cars section and a mirrored thread on the Scirocco Register site.
Would you have a link to that thread MJK?
With just under 2 weeks until we depart on our voyage of madness, this weekend was spent making some final tweaks for the trip.
The MX5:
Managed to fix the exhaust by making the dodgiest looking gasket you've ever seen, out of some spare sheet metal I had lying about, accompanied by copious amount of gum gum. It's not pretty, but it has done the trick and will prevent gasses escaping into the cabin, knocking me out and causing me to crash into a ball of flames.
I've also managed to get around to fitting the upcycled spot lights onto the front. These originally were bolted to some battery box used for emergency lighting, but they are pretty bright and robust so thought they'd suit well in this application. I very carefully measured up with a piece of twig and, using a self tapping screw no less, screwed the brackets through the underside of the bumper mouth and into the plastic crash bar. I've wired them into the main beam loom, so they are flash to pass as well as perm main beam if needed. The end result is below. Not bad I think. They're a bit floppy so will reinforce with zip ties/duct tape/gorilla glue (delete as appropriate)
Craig had the good idea of fitting some LEDs under the bonnetin case for when we breakdown, in the dark. So they were fitted also and hooked up a little switch. The results are excellent and will add a photo of what they look like in the dark later. I'll also be fitting these lights as interior lights this week as I currently have none.
The only major items I need to attend to now are the tyres. They are scary. Like driving a car on those old plastic Barbie Jeep wheels. Upon investigation I found the date stamp on the sidewalls. There, in all they're cracked, rubbery glory, the stamp "5206". For those of you who may not know, this means the tyres were manufactured in the 52nd week of 2006!
No wonder it was a little tail happy! Some part worn's of a decent brand will do the trick for this trip.
Craig's SuperSport Megane:
Craig has now found an insurer willing to cover his ultra rare, dangerous, super speed Super Sport 1600 Megane so it is now road legal. Just to show what we mean by Supersport:
His maiden voyage was about 60 mile round trip to Bridgend where it performed faultlessly (apparently). I've had a drive of it and, apart from the gearstick having a throw likened to stirring coal with a 7 foot shovel, it drove ok. Oh, and the clutch biting point made me knee myself in the chin. And the tracking is out. And the wheels are not balanced. But apart from that, it's perfect! (sorry Craig! :rofll: )
Here it is all parked up in Bridgend. What you can't see here is the rear wheels are still the standard 15" Megane wheels that he hasn't swapped over yet because they need new tyres!
Onwards!
ETA: We have also sourced some Walkie Talkies from eBay. £26 for 4 complete with chargers and ear pieces. Bargain! We've tested them and the range tends to get sketchy after a mile so will suit us fine. We don't plan on being that far away from one another. They're more to just comm if we have an issue or want to pull over. As well as taking the piss, obviously.
The MX5:
Managed to fix the exhaust by making the dodgiest looking gasket you've ever seen, out of some spare sheet metal I had lying about, accompanied by copious amount of gum gum
. It's not pretty, but it has done the trick and will prevent gasses escaping into the cabin, knocking me out and causing me to crash into a ball of flames. I've also managed to get around to fitting the upcycled spot lights onto the front. These originally were bolted to some battery box used for emergency lighting, but they are pretty bright and robust so thought they'd suit well in this application. I very carefully measured up with a piece of twig and, using a self tapping screw no less, screwed the brackets through the underside of the bumper mouth and into the plastic crash bar. I've wired them into the main beam loom, so they are flash to pass as well as perm main beam if needed. The end result is below. Not bad I think. They're a bit floppy so will reinforce with zip ties/duct tape/gorilla glue (delete as appropriate)
Craig had the good idea of fitting some LEDs under the bonnet
The only major items I need to attend to now are the tyres. They are scary. Like driving a car on those old plastic Barbie Jeep wheels. Upon investigation I found the date stamp on the sidewalls. There, in all they're cracked, rubbery glory, the stamp "5206". For those of you who may not know, this means the tyres were manufactured in the 52nd week of 2006!
No wonder it was a little tail happy! Some part worn's of a decent brand will do the trick for this trip.Craig's SuperSport Megane:
Craig has now found an insurer willing to cover his ultra rare, dangerous, super speed Super Sport 1600 Megane
so it is now road legal. Just to show what we mean by Supersport:His maiden voyage was about 60 mile round trip to Bridgend where it performed faultlessly (apparently). I've had a drive of it and, apart from the gearstick having a throw likened to stirring coal with a 7 foot shovel, it drove ok. Oh, and the clutch biting point made me knee myself in the chin. And the tracking is out. And the wheels are not balanced. But apart from that, it's perfect! (sorry Craig! :rofll: )
Here it is all parked up in Bridgend. What you can't see here is the rear wheels are still the standard 15" Megane wheels that he hasn't swapped over yet because they need new tyres!
Onwards!
ETA: We have also sourced some Walkie Talkies from eBay. £26 for 4 complete with chargers and ear pieces. Bargain! We've tested them and the range tends to get sketchy after a mile so will suit us fine. We don't plan on being that far away from one another. They're more to just comm if we have an issue or want to pull over. As well as taking the piss, obviously.
Edited by MikeDrop on Monday 9th October 13:42
Update time.
So a lot of work done over the weekend on the LEJOG steeds.
My MX5:
First thing I needed to do was to sort out the severe lack of interior lights. In the dark, it's pitch black inside which would be a pain if I were rummaging around in the dark for stuff. Those who know MX5s know that the interior lights are positioned in the worst place possible, underneath the dash and are powered by tiny glow works trapped in a tube. I used the same style light used for under the bonnet, a cluster of 4 white SMDs. Well, used 2 of them and positioned them in a more traditional spot by the rear view mirror. I splices into the existing loom to a separate toggle switch which allows me to control them individually from the existing interior glow worms. It's not pretty, but it works. So much so that I'm booked in for a retina replacement on Wendesday!
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/DrDV25M8.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/N4c6Q1Au" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/N4c6Q1Au.jpg)
I collected a set of Mk2 15" Wheels fitted with Toyo Proxes T1R's for the princley sum of £60
I also set about adding a USB charging cable to the Walkie Talkie doc. Broke out the Soldering Iron (forgot to take a pic of the final product though). It works though and allows us to charge the Walkie Talkies as we drive.
Friday saw a few beers and a trip to Amazon and eBay. We all know how those end up. First, I wanted some baskets to put in the boot and on the passenger seat just to keep things organised a little. First listing on Amazon. Ordered. Arrived. st. Absolutely useless!
Second order was something a bit more left field. Funtional in that I can drive a lot more with the roof down. Not so practical in that I will most definitely end up getting pulled over at some point.
Last orders included a generic cup holder thingy that I can hopefully stick somewhere in the car, some bungees (originally for my useless baskets) and some Red LEDs for the existing interior lights. These will serve as Map lights. Some lights I can keep on while I'm driving so I can see my Monster Energy Drink and Snickers bars (probably filling my tiny baskets).
For the stickers, they proved to be too expensive. So we resorted to good, old fashioned stencils and paint. But we didn't really want anything permanent so we got some Rustoleum Peelable Paint from B&Q. Cut the stencils using a dye cutter my mother had. Rough and ready after spending all of 15 mins. But looks effective, if somewhat rough and ready!
Craig's Super Sport Megane:
The Super Sport also got the stencil treatment. Actually done this one first. Wasn't going to experiment on my own car, was I?!
He also managed to bodge in a small panel to fit his voltmeter, USB and 12v sockets. Held in with some trusty hot glue, hope and most importantly, dreams!
He also cleaned out the inside and strapped the 20l Gery cans and tool chest in place.
Mick's Bolf Estate:
Our Irish counterpart was busy on the weekend adding more rust to the rusty rat of a Bolf
He also made a very mad purchase in the form of a drone. Which we're hoping will provide some amazing footage of our journey. It even has "follow me" functionality. So when Craig's french POS breaks down, we can get the drone to follow the AA van
Next Steps:
So there's still a load to get done before we depart.
So a lot of work done over the weekend on the LEJOG steeds.
My MX5:
First thing I needed to do was to sort out the severe lack of interior lights. In the dark, it's pitch black inside which would be a pain if I were rummaging around in the dark for stuff. Those who know MX5s know that the interior lights are positioned in the worst place possible, underneath the dash and are powered by tiny glow works trapped in a tube. I used the same style light used for under the bonnet, a cluster of 4 white SMDs. Well, used 2 of them and positioned them in a more traditional spot by the rear view mirror. I splices into the existing loom to a separate toggle switch which allows me to control them individually from the existing interior glow worms. It's not pretty, but it works. So much so that I'm booked in for a retina replacement on Wendesday!
I collected a set of Mk2 15" Wheels fitted with Toyo Proxes T1R's for the princley sum of £60
I also set about adding a USB charging cable to the Walkie Talkie doc. Broke out the Soldering Iron (forgot to take a pic of the final product though). It works though and allows us to charge the Walkie Talkies as we drive.
Friday saw a few beers and a trip to Amazon and eBay. We all know how those end up. First, I wanted some baskets to put in the boot and on the passenger seat just to keep things organised a little. First listing on Amazon. Ordered. Arrived. s
t. Absolutely useless! Second order was something a bit more left field. Funtional in that I can drive a lot more with the roof down. Not so practical in that I will most definitely end up getting pulled over at some point.
Last orders included a generic cup holder thingy that I can hopefully stick somewhere in the car, some bungees (originally for my useless baskets) and some Red LEDs for the existing interior lights. These will serve as Map lights. Some lights I can keep on while I'm driving so I can see my Monster Energy Drink and Snickers bars (probably filling my tiny baskets).
For the stickers, they proved to be too expensive. So we resorted to good, old fashioned stencils and paint. But we didn't really want anything permanent so we got some Rustoleum Peelable Paint from B&Q. Cut the stencils using a dye cutter my mother had. Rough and ready after spending all of 15 mins. But looks effective, if somewhat rough and ready!
Craig's Super Sport Megane:
The Super Sport also got the stencil treatment. Actually done this one first. Wasn't going to experiment on my own car, was I?!
He also managed to bodge in a small panel to fit his voltmeter, USB and 12v sockets. Held in with some trusty hot glue, hope and most importantly, dreams!
He also cleaned out the inside and strapped the 20l Gery cans and tool chest in place.
Mick's Bolf Estate:
Our Irish counterpart was busy on the weekend adding more rust to the rusty rat of a Bolf
He also made a very mad purchase in the form of a drone. Which we're hoping will provide some amazing footage of our journey. It even has "follow me" functionality. So when Craig's french POS breaks down, we can get the drone to follow the AA van
Next Steps:
So there's still a load to get done before we depart.
- Service the MX5 - Engine oil, gear and diff oil.
- Front discs and pads on the MX5
- Fit new wing mirrors to MX5
- Install tiny baskets in MX5
- Fit new wheels to MX5
- Supply shop (Beer, Monster Energy, Crisps, Chocolate, Sweets etc.)
- Loads that we've probably forgotten
Another small update (not sure if people are still reading but I'll continue posting as a sort of blog )
Had my new brakes delivered over the weekend. Eicher discs and Pagid pads from ECP:
Set about fitting them when I noticed my existing discs were in pretty good shape. Still scratching my head as to why the performance was so bad though. I'd originally assumed it was because the car was stood for a number of weeks prior to collection and the discs looked pitted. However, when I removed the pads, despite having plenty of meat left on the bone, the surface of the pads were extremely glazed and smooth to touch. Not sure what may have caused this. They were branded TSW and a quick Google didn't provide anything to suggest they were good, nor bad really.
New Pagid pads fitted:
While the wheels were off, I fitted my newly acquired Mk2 15" Wheels, with Toyo Proxes T1R tyres. Much better:
Next job is to Gorilla Glue my new mirrors on.
In more positive news, Mick hasn't been washed into the Irish Sea by Ophelia. So can still join us on our travels. He's not looking forward to the Ferry much.
)Had my new brakes delivered over the weekend. Eicher discs and Pagid pads from ECP:
Set about fitting them when I noticed my existing discs were in pretty good shape. Still scratching my head as to why the performance was so bad though. I'd originally assumed it was because the car was stood for a number of weeks prior to collection and the discs looked pitted. However, when I removed the pads, despite having plenty of meat left on the bone, the surface of the pads were extremely glazed and smooth to touch. Not sure what may have caused this. They were branded TSW and a quick Google didn't provide anything to suggest they were good, nor bad really.
New Pagid pads fitted:
While the wheels were off, I fitted my newly acquired Mk2 15" Wheels, with Toyo Proxes T1R tyres. Much better:
Next job is to Gorilla Glue my new mirrors on.
In more positive news, Mick hasn't been washed into the Irish Sea by Ophelia.
So can still join us on our travels. He's not looking forward to the Ferry much. Well. This time tomorrow one of us will likely be on the back of an AA truck on the way to Land's End!
Some late night working tonight.
My MX5:
Changed the Diff Oil successfully. Skipped the Gearbox oil as I literally couldn't be arsed. Checked Engine Oil and it was in really good nick. Reading just over low on the dipstick, a drop of 10w 40 seen it look good.
I've added a pair of 120w headrest speakers for a little more quality. Added some screen wash (berry scented I'll have you know) and put some antifreeze in the 100% water filled radiator.
List is now looking like this:
Craig's Super Sport:
Craig managed change the engine oil in the time it took me to find a 23mm socket for my diff. The under bonnet lights came in very useful. He also topped up his antifreeze too.
Some late night working tonight.
My MX5:
Changed the Diff Oil successfully. Skipped the Gearbox oil as I literally couldn't be arsed. Checked Engine Oil and it was in really good nick. Reading just over low on the dipstick, a drop of 10w 40 seen it look good.
I've added a pair of 120w headrest speakers for a little more quality. Added some screen wash (berry scented I'll have you know) and put some antifreeze in the 100% water filled radiator.
List is now looking like this:
Craig's Super Sport:
Craig managed change the engine oil in the time it took me to find a 23mm socket for my diff. The under bonnet lights came in very useful. He also topped up his antifreeze too.
First leg was a success. Pic we took in KFC Risca before departing.
All the cars performed faultlessly. The only complaint was the fuel consumption of my MX5. 3/4 of a tank. Ugh.
We arrived at our first Hotel at about 10.10pm last night. Swiftly sank one or two beers and headed off to bed. The weather on the way down was utterly atrocious and my choice in vessel (pun intended) would have been better seen with a canoe than a car.
It's now 5.53am and were up ready to make the 20 minute journey to Land's End for the obligatory pic with the sign. Then, the bohemeth of a journey to Kingussie. Google says 11 hours 30 mins. We'll see.
All the cars performed faultlessly. The only complaint was the fuel consumption of my MX5. 3/4 of a tank. Ugh.
We arrived at our first Hotel at about 10.10pm last night. Swiftly sank one or two beers and headed off to bed. The weather on the way down was utterly atrocious and my choice in vessel (pun intended) would have been better seen with a canoe than a car.
It's now 5.53am and were up ready to make the 20 minute journey to Land's End for the obligatory pic with the sign. Then, the bohemeth of a journey to Kingussie. Google says 11 hours 30 mins. We'll see.
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