Land's End to John O'Groats
Discussion
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!
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.
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.
Indeed. As Craig says... we made it in one piece. Despite the predictable M6 traffic and nano-bladders (Craig). We got here after 15 hours which includes at most, 2 hours of stoppage time. Thoroughly enjoyable. Good laugh involving a giant duct tape phallus on the rear window of Craig's car. A bottle of piss and some good old fashioned MLM trolling.
Again, all cars performed faultlessly. For a major part of the last 1/4 the cars sat at 95 leptons without hesitation. Amazing considering one is 27 years old and the other is French.
Cracking day and looking forward to the next leg which sees us tackle the NC500 until Ullapool.
A few pics but we have some excellent video footage from the Drone that will be edited post production.
Arrived at Lands End at 7am. 20 mins from our hotel.
Obligatory pic with the Land's End sign post (which hilariously hadn't been erected yet)
Getting some Drone Footage
Leaving as the sun was rising.
Artsy shot
First roadside repairs. On my MX5.
Attire adorned
690 miles. 15 hours and a massive laugh later. A well deserved Single Malt (and tea for Craig). Dalwhinnie, created about by 10 miles south of where we're staying.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's adventure
P.s. will sort the sideways shots out soon
Again, all cars performed faultlessly. For a major part of the last 1/4 the cars sat at 95 leptons without hesitation. Amazing considering one is 27 years old and the other is French.
Cracking day and looking forward to the next leg which sees us tackle the NC500 until Ullapool.
A few pics but we have some excellent video footage from the Drone that will be edited post production.
Arrived at Lands End at 7am. 20 mins from our hotel.
Obligatory pic with the Land's End sign post (which hilariously hadn't been erected yet)
Getting some Drone Footage
Leaving as the sun was rising.
Artsy shot
First roadside repairs. On my MX5.
Attire adorned
690 miles. 15 hours and a massive laugh later. A well deserved Single Malt (and tea for Craig). Dalwhinnie, created about by 10 miles south of where we're staying.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's adventure
P.s. will sort the sideways shots out soon
Edited by MikeDrop on Saturday 21st October 00:02
Day 3. Made it to Ullapool via the NC500 AND John O'Groats. A crazy day with crazy road a and breathtaking scenery. This place is truly beautiful. Unspeakably so. The route we took.the
The last 2 hours were dark and it a super challenging drive. But was worth it in the end.
Tired now and off to bed but will update with more pics after the event.
Again. I'll sort upside down photos another time...
The last 2 hours were dark and it a super challenging drive. But was worth it in the end.
Tired now and off to bed but will update with more pics after the event.
Again. I'll sort upside down photos another time...
Hi all,
Resurrecting this old thread to put up a bit of a blog that we've all written. This is a work in progress and intended for a blog on WordPress but we wanted to share it with this thread for completeness. We've tried to write one blog together to encompass the journey from each of our perspectives, hopefully it reads well. Craig and I have contributed to the below, Mick is still in the process of getting his Irish translated into English so will add his in shortly.
Here it goes. Written by a mixture of Craig, Mike and Mick. You can tell where Mick is typing, it’s all in Irish (something about potatoes and caravans? Can’t quite understand it personally).
I’m Craig. I had been working in a bank for almost 13 years and sitting at the same desk each day was slowly destroying my soul, therefore when it was announced that they were closing my building and we were all getting made redundant this was some of the best news I had ever heard. Part of this deal meant I was going to get 3 months of gardening leave fully paid. Soooooo I hatched a plan. I called Mikey and said we need to road trip. I always fancied the Land’s End to John O’Groats (LEJOG) and thought this would be the perfect option especially as my wife is going to get fed up of me being home for a few months.
Mikey took this idea and ran with it, he looked at bettering the route and came up with the idea of the north coast 500 on top of the LEJOG route. At this point we also messaged out to a few other friends to see who else wanted to joint our adventure. 2 boys came straight back with a YES. Now we had numbers, route and dates - A Mother-Fooking PLAN!
Unfortunately, as is usually the case with these sort of arrangements, one of the guys a few weeks later was unable to attend due to work commitments. However the 3 of us set about organising and, most importantly, buying the cars.
Craig’s Prep
My main priority was reliability. I know what you’re all thinking. The epitome brand of reliability. French. Therefore, I spared no expense and shelled out on a £94, 2002 Renault Megane Coupe. Little did I know that this little 1.6 16v animal would cost me the world to insure but more of that later.
<CRAIG’S MEGANE>
Mikey went all out and travelled half of the route to Bradford in order to purchase a 27 year old Mk1 MX5. This worked well, as now we both had 1.6 16v engines, both with (a factory) 115bhp and roughly the same weight cars (I see a tussle coming on).
<MIKE’S MX5>
Mick, the man, the myth, the legend MICK was our 3rd member. What made this even more awesome is that Mick had recently moved back to Dublin, so his journey included the addition of a leg from Dublin to South Wales. Especially for this trip. That’s commitment! Mick’s chariot of choice was a car he purchased from Mikey a few months before; A 2004 VW Golf Estate with the 1.9tdi PD130 engine that had been lightly breathed on. However, despite the reputational, bombproof reliability of the VW PD engines, Mick had somehow (“The oil pressure warning is on lads, but there’s oil in it so it’ll be fine, yeah”) managed to destroy the bottom end a few weeks before the trip. So, off to the garage it went for a heart transplant. Out with the PD130 and in with the PD150 with a brand new turbo. POWEERRRR.
<MICK’S BOLF>
The cars were selected, the route agreed and the dates in the calendar. Now, the preparation could begin!
Now, I was as confident of my little French car’s reliability just as I’m confident of farting the morning after a curry. So I set about putting some measures in place to make my life easier when the inevitable side-of-the-road tinkering was required. I ordered some generic LED’s and a switch to place on the underside of the bonnet. Because, well, nobody every breaks down in the daytime when the weather is bright, do they? No, it’s always in the night in the pissing down rain. So this will definitely save faffing with torches when I’m shouting at the car, larger hammer in hand, at the side of the road. Mikey also threw some at his engine bay because his car was 27 years old. And because he had some spare time.
<ENGINE LIGHTS PICTURES>
So you’re probably wondering how on earth I managed to purchase what could easily be described as France’s pinnacle of engineering for 9400 pennies. Well it had a water leak and some 150000 miles on the clock. But, somewhat miraculously, all of the electricals worked faultlessly. Even the completely useless electric rear quarter lights! The water leak was very evidently a water pump so a quick look on the finest auction site meant 1300 pennies later I had a brand new water pump on route. Fitting this is where I had a few issues, all was going well until I had all the timing belt stripped off when my dad came along, to see how I was getting on and rotated the bottom pulley whilst, in all his wisdom, questioning “did you lock this out after?”. Well I hadn’t. Due to having no locking tools and, the home mechanics slogan of “oh well what could possibly happen?”. After refitting the water pump I set about timing the car. I put it all back together and fired her up. She lives! I shouted with a triumphant feeling of godliness. She sounded like a bag of nails. Would hardly idle. Turns out I was a tooth out. So back apart she came, re-timed and she purred back to life with all of her Frenchy goodness.
<MEGANE WATER PUMP PICS>
Finding tdc
Timing marks
Next step for me was stripping the interior. The previous owner had a dog and the carpets were damp from a leak. This meant the carpets were like a wet dog and smelled just the same. So, along with most of the interior this came out. I made a few other mods also, included fitting after market gauges etc. for voltage and extra USB charging points. Also managed to get my hands on a set of Clio 182 wheels which should aid the handling slightly. Especially with the mismatching budget tyres on
<CRAIG MEGANE INTERIOR>
Mike’s prep was a little different to mine his prep story below:
Mike’s Prep
As Craig mentioned, my story begins with a round trip from South Wales to Bradford to pick up a 1990 Mk1 Mazda MX5 (JDM Import so, rather pedantically, it’s actually a Eunos Roadster). It had very low mileage for its age, just 70k miles. Not a lot of history, but there was little to no rust and the price was right.
A few things were immediately sorted:
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 be 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 wiring 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 owner’s 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).
I also set about upgrading the interior due to the sever 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 successfully underwent a retina transplant shortly after!
I collected a set of Mk2 15" Wheels fitted with Toyo Proxes T1R's for the princely sum of £60
I’d made a pretty decent deal on a set of new headlights (complete with Halfords Ultra Brilliant bulbs), to replace my sealed units (one of which had blown – good design Mazda!) and a brand new stainless decat. As my car is pre-1994, a cat is only optional for the MOT. However, the decat appeared to be for a 1.8 so it was too long. Not a problem. Time to break out the angle grinder and arc welder. Oh god! After measuring once and cutting 47 times, the decat was welded up and fitted. Perfect. Except that it wasn’t. It was leaking so much exhaust fumes into the cabin via the gearstick turret I had to drive it with the roof down if I wanted to survive anymore that a 5 minute journey. Quite inconvenient with the inclement Welsh weather. This was duly rectified with even more pigeon st welding and copious amounts of exhaust putty! It didn’t look pretty, but it did the job and I was 12% certain it would last the 2500 mile journey.
I wanted to fit some additional lighting. I had a set of Lucas Rally lights in the garage. Somewhere. Probably to be found in 1000 years when people on hoverboards are performing an archaeological dig. Replacements were found in the form of spotlights removed from an old emergency lighting set up. The kind that are hooked up to batteries and designed to come on in the event of a power cut etc. 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)
We’d chipped in a for a set of 4 new walkie talkies with headsets so we could stay in communication on the road. Mainly for company. 15 hours on the road with nothing but my st taste in music and my own thoughts would drive me into a mental asylum. So I 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.
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. Functional 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!
The Megane also got the stencil treatment. Actually done this one first. Wasn't going to experiment on my own car, was I?!
About a week prior to departure, I set about fitting my new brakes when I noticed my existing discs were in pretty good shape. I was 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:
Mick’s Prep
My name is Mick. This is my story *cue heart-felt music* Apologies for the length of time it's taken me to add to this wonderful blog, there's literally two members of staff that can translate Gaelige and one of them is off work at the minute to prep for the upcoming potato harvest... Now that ALL the stereotypes are out of the way, let me finish my Guinness and continue. As Craig mentioned, my vehicle of choice for the trip was an 04 TDI Golf estate, Ratlook, purchased and tinkered with for about 30k miles by Mike before I brought it to a safe place across the Irish sea.
Those 30k miles really took their toll on the poor bolf (golf with the front end of a bora slapped on her) and she was gradually falling apart in the first few months I had her. The list I received from the mechanic the first time I brought her in...
Unfortunately I had very little experience in, well, cars in general really. I got my licence in Feb 2016, purchased the car in Sept 2016 so was completely inept when it came to fixing the simplest of problems. Thankfully, with the help of Mike and Craig in our newly created "Bolf Diagnostics" Whatsapp group and some decent mechanics that patched her up nicely, by summer 2017 the car was running the best she ever had. "She's running the best she ever has" I said to my friend in the passenger seat one day. Spoke too soon. Next month she had open-heart surgery. Second hand engine from a Seat (£280 - Belfast), Flywheel and Clutch with about 3k miles on them, brand new water pump, timing belt kit and all the trimmings, cost me less than €1k including labour, which I was pretty pleased about. I had long since fallen in love with the car so there was no way I was letting her go so soon! Mike and Craig had everything journey and accommodation wise sorted, so aside from the organ transplants, due to my lack of experience, there wasn't much for me to prep under the bonnet. I did have a list of things I wanted to do with the car, aesthetically. I managed to give the boot door the rust treatment, which wasn't a bad effort for someone who hadn't a clue what they were doing!
That, a sticker bombed passenger side wing mirror and a return ferry ticket to Fishguard meant I was ready and waiting to depart on this epic journey!
The day before the day that was
Onto the evening before the adventure, Mike and I though this would be the ideal time for an oil change. In the dark. In the rain. A good time to test out our new lights. We often wonder how we get through life with our bright ideas. Anyway, much swearing later, I had completed an engine oil change. Mike, despite planning to do his diff, gearbox and engine oil, had just about managed to complete his diff oil after losing the nozzle off the grease gun he was using.
The Day of Departure: South Wales to Land’s End
Thursday morning. The day of departure. We had planned to leave in the evening and head to Land’s End. Mikey and I had daddy duties which involved dropping the kiddies to school. By this point Mick was on the Ferry and on his way to the starting location aka my crib aka “MASSEY” (South Wales). Once all the above had been taken care of and Mick had arrived safely (also a miracle considering he hadn’t driven it very far since its transplant) we said our goodbyes and set off at around 6pm. The weather was pretty st. Well it wasn’t – it was horrific! It was the outskirts of Storm Brian. Excellent timing. Seeing as though my mighty Megane had only done a max of 20 miles since being in my ownership, the first drive was a shakedown to a superstore around 8 miles away to stock up on food and useless travel supplies.
Mercifully, the French Car Gods allowed me to arrive in said superstore without issue! Good start! At this point we took the opportunity to purchase vital essentials like energy drinks, beer, water, beer, sweets, beer and sausage rolls. Oh, and we snuck in a toy train into Mick’s shopping.
Cars stocked up, we hit the road. Destination: Land’s End. Mr Google said this would take us around 4 hours, so we got the hammer down. None of the roads on this leg would be exciting. The objective was to get there as fast as possible and the weather was pretty rough, which hindered progress somewhat. The journey was pretty trouble free although we took great joy in testing out our walkie talkies. Banter and “F****ck” moments were shared all the way to Land’s End. One memorable part of this was pulling into a petrol station and being rear ended by Mick and Mike, the owners of said station didn’t know what was going on. The look of confusion, worry and perplexity were hilarious. We stopped to get some fresh milk for the morning cuppa and arrived at our hotel, which was about 20 minutes shy of Land’s End, at around 10pm. The room was cheap at £50 for the three of us. So we expected the worst. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find the accommodation was beautiful. A few beers were swiftly sank (tea for Craig) and we had a look through some footage of the drive down before heading off to bed to get our 6 hours of sleep. Plenty for the 690, 16 hour drive the next day, right?
Leaving the superstore after a KFC:
The journey ahead:
To be continued….
ETA Mick's Blog.
Resurrecting this old thread to put up a bit of a blog that we've all written. This is a work in progress and intended for a blog on WordPress but we wanted to share it with this thread for completeness. We've tried to write one blog together to encompass the journey from each of our perspectives, hopefully it reads well. Craig and I have contributed to the below, Mick is still in the process of getting his Irish translated into English so will add his in shortly.
Here it goes. Written by a mixture of Craig, Mike and Mick. You can tell where Mick is typing, it’s all in Irish (something about potatoes and caravans? Can’t quite understand it personally).
I’m Craig. I had been working in a bank for almost 13 years and sitting at the same desk each day was slowly destroying my soul, therefore when it was announced that they were closing my building and we were all getting made redundant this was some of the best news I had ever heard. Part of this deal meant I was going to get 3 months of gardening leave fully paid. Soooooo I hatched a plan. I called Mikey and said we need to road trip. I always fancied the Land’s End to John O’Groats (LEJOG) and thought this would be the perfect option especially as my wife is going to get fed up of me being home for a few months.
Mikey took this idea and ran with it, he looked at bettering the route and came up with the idea of the north coast 500 on top of the LEJOG route. At this point we also messaged out to a few other friends to see who else wanted to joint our adventure. 2 boys came straight back with a YES. Now we had numbers, route and dates - A Mother-Fooking PLAN!
Unfortunately, as is usually the case with these sort of arrangements, one of the guys a few weeks later was unable to attend due to work commitments. However the 3 of us set about organising and, most importantly, buying the cars.
Craig’s Prep
My main priority was reliability. I know what you’re all thinking. The epitome brand of reliability. French. Therefore, I spared no expense and shelled out on a £94, 2002 Renault Megane Coupe. Little did I know that this little 1.6 16v animal would cost me the world to insure but more of that later.
<CRAIG’S MEGANE>
Mikey went all out and travelled half of the route to Bradford in order to purchase a 27 year old Mk1 MX5. This worked well, as now we both had 1.6 16v engines, both with (a factory) 115bhp and roughly the same weight cars (I see a tussle coming on).
<MIKE’S MX5>
Mick, the man, the myth, the legend MICK was our 3rd member. What made this even more awesome is that Mick had recently moved back to Dublin, so his journey included the addition of a leg from Dublin to South Wales. Especially for this trip. That’s commitment! Mick’s chariot of choice was a car he purchased from Mikey a few months before; A 2004 VW Golf Estate with the 1.9tdi PD130 engine that had been lightly breathed on. However, despite the reputational, bombproof reliability of the VW PD engines, Mick had somehow (“The oil pressure warning is on lads, but there’s oil in it so it’ll be fine, yeah”) managed to destroy the bottom end a few weeks before the trip. So, off to the garage it went for a heart transplant. Out with the PD130 and in with the PD150 with a brand new turbo. POWEERRRR.
<MICK’S BOLF>
The cars were selected, the route agreed and the dates in the calendar. Now, the preparation could begin!
Now, I was as confident of my little French car’s reliability just as I’m confident of farting the morning after a curry. So I set about putting some measures in place to make my life easier when the inevitable side-of-the-road tinkering was required. I ordered some generic LED’s and a switch to place on the underside of the bonnet. Because, well, nobody every breaks down in the daytime when the weather is bright, do they? No, it’s always in the night in the pissing down rain. So this will definitely save faffing with torches when I’m shouting at the car, larger hammer in hand, at the side of the road. Mikey also threw some at his engine bay because his car was 27 years old. And because he had some spare time.
<ENGINE LIGHTS PICTURES>
So you’re probably wondering how on earth I managed to purchase what could easily be described as France’s pinnacle of engineering for 9400 pennies. Well it had a water leak and some 150000 miles on the clock. But, somewhat miraculously, all of the electricals worked faultlessly. Even the completely useless electric rear quarter lights! The water leak was very evidently a water pump so a quick look on the finest auction site meant 1300 pennies later I had a brand new water pump on route. Fitting this is where I had a few issues, all was going well until I had all the timing belt stripped off when my dad came along, to see how I was getting on and rotated the bottom pulley whilst, in all his wisdom, questioning “did you lock this out after?”. Well I hadn’t. Due to having no locking tools and, the home mechanics slogan of “oh well what could possibly happen?”. After refitting the water pump I set about timing the car. I put it all back together and fired her up. She lives! I shouted with a triumphant feeling of godliness. She sounded like a bag of nails. Would hardly idle. Turns out I was a tooth out. So back apart she came, re-timed and she purred back to life with all of her Frenchy goodness.
<MEGANE WATER PUMP PICS>
Finding tdc
Timing marks
Next step for me was stripping the interior. The previous owner had a dog and the carpets were damp from a leak. This meant the carpets were like a wet dog and smelled just the same. So, along with most of the interior this came out. I made a few other mods also, included fitting after market gauges etc. for voltage and extra USB charging points. Also managed to get my hands on a set of Clio 182 wheels which should aid the handling slightly. Especially with the mismatching budget tyres on
<CRAIG MEGANE INTERIOR>
Mike’s prep was a little different to mine his prep story below:
Mike’s Prep
As Craig mentioned, my story begins with a round trip from South Wales to Bradford to pick up a 1990 Mk1 Mazda MX5 (JDM Import so, rather pedantically, it’s actually a Eunos Roadster). It had very low mileage for its age, just 70k miles. Not a lot of history, but there was little to no rust and the price was right.
A few things were immediately sorted:
- Radio wasn't working. Which was a shame is it came with the original Mazda head unit. Swapped it for a Pioneer 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)
- Calibrate speedo (been converted to MPH but reading 90mph when doing 70mph)
- Service (Engine, Gearbox, Diff)
- Replace ditch finders (in spectacular, smoky 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
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 be 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 wiring 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 owner’s 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).
I also set about upgrading the interior due to the sever 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 successfully underwent a retina transplant shortly after!
I collected a set of Mk2 15" Wheels fitted with Toyo Proxes T1R's for the princely sum of £60
I’d made a pretty decent deal on a set of new headlights (complete with Halfords Ultra Brilliant bulbs), to replace my sealed units (one of which had blown – good design Mazda!) and a brand new stainless decat. As my car is pre-1994, a cat is only optional for the MOT
. However, the decat appeared to be for a 1.8 so it was too long. Not a problem. Time to break out the angle grinder and arc welder. Oh god! After measuring once and cutting 47 times, the decat was welded up and fitted. Perfect. Except that it wasn’t. It was leaking so much exhaust fumes into the cabin via the gearstick turret I had to drive it with the roof down if I wanted to survive anymore that a 5 minute journey. Quite inconvenient with the inclement Welsh weather. This was duly rectified with even more pigeon st welding and copious amounts of exhaust putty! It didn’t look pretty, but it did the job and I was 12% certain it would last the 2500 mile journey. I wanted to fit some additional lighting. I had a set of Lucas Rally lights in the garage. Somewhere. Probably to be found in 1000 years when people on hoverboards are performing an archaeological dig. Replacements were found in the form of spotlights removed from an old emergency lighting set up. The kind that are hooked up to batteries and designed to come on in the event of a power cut etc. 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)
We’d chipped in a for a set of 4 new walkie talkies with headsets so we could stay in communication on the road. Mainly for company. 15 hours on the road with nothing but my s
t taste in music and my own thoughts would drive me into a mental asylum. So I 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. 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. Functional 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!
The Megane also got the stencil treatment. Actually done this one first. Wasn't going to experiment on my own car, was I?!
About a week prior to departure, I set about fitting my new brakes when I noticed my existing discs were in pretty good shape. I was 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:
Mick’s Prep
My name is Mick. This is my story *cue heart-felt music* Apologies for the length of time it's taken me to add to this wonderful blog, there's literally two members of staff that can translate Gaelige and one of them is off work at the minute to prep for the upcoming potato harvest... Now that ALL the stereotypes are out of the way, let me finish my Guinness and continue. As Craig mentioned, my vehicle of choice for the trip was an 04 TDI Golf estate, Ratlook, purchased and tinkered with for about 30k miles by Mike before I brought it to a safe place across the Irish sea.
Those 30k miles really took their toll on the poor bolf (golf with the front end of a bora slapped on her) and she was gradually falling apart in the first few months I had her. The list I received from the mechanic the first time I brought her in...
Unfortunately I had very little experience in, well, cars in general really. I got my licence in Feb 2016, purchased the car in Sept 2016 so was completely inept when it came to fixing the simplest of problems. Thankfully, with the help of Mike and Craig in our newly created "Bolf Diagnostics" Whatsapp group and some decent mechanics that patched her up nicely, by summer 2017 the car was running the best she ever had. "She's running the best she ever has" I said to my friend in the passenger seat one day. Spoke too soon. Next month she had open-heart surgery. Second hand engine from a Seat (£280 - Belfast), Flywheel and Clutch with about 3k miles on them, brand new water pump, timing belt kit and all the trimmings, cost me less than €1k including labour, which I was pretty pleased about. I had long since fallen in love with the car so there was no way I was letting her go so soon! Mike and Craig had everything journey and accommodation wise sorted, so aside from the organ transplants, due to my lack of experience, there wasn't much for me to prep under the bonnet. I did have a list of things I wanted to do with the car, aesthetically. I managed to give the boot door the rust treatment, which wasn't a bad effort for someone who hadn't a clue what they were doing!
That, a sticker bombed passenger side wing mirror and a return ferry ticket to Fishguard meant I was ready and waiting to depart on this epic journey!
The day before the day that was
Onto the evening before the adventure, Mike and I though this would be the ideal time for an oil change. In the dark. In the rain. A good time to test out our new lights. We often wonder how we get through life with our bright ideas. Anyway, much swearing later, I had completed an engine oil change. Mike, despite planning to do his diff, gearbox and engine oil, had just about managed to complete his diff oil after losing the nozzle off the grease gun he was using.
The Day of Departure: South Wales to Land’s End
Thursday morning. The day of departure. We had planned to leave in the evening and head to Land’s End. Mikey and I had daddy duties which involved dropping the kiddies to school. By this point Mick was on the Ferry and on his way to the starting location aka my crib aka “MASSEY” (South Wales). Once all the above had been taken care of and Mick had arrived safely (also a miracle considering he hadn’t driven it very far since its transplant) we said our goodbyes and set off at around 6pm. The weather was pretty s
t. Well it wasn’t – it was horrific! It was the outskirts of Storm Brian. Excellent timing. Seeing as though my mighty Megane had only done a max of 20 miles since being in my ownership, the first drive was a shakedown to a superstore around 8 miles away to stock up on food and useless travel supplies.Mercifully, the French Car Gods allowed me to arrive in said superstore without issue! Good start! At this point we took the opportunity to purchase vital essentials like energy drinks, beer, water, beer, sweets, beer and sausage rolls. Oh, and we snuck in a toy train into Mick’s shopping.
Cars stocked up, we hit the road. Destination: Land’s End. Mr Google said this would take us around 4 hours, so we got the hammer down. None of the roads on this leg would be exciting. The objective was to get there as fast as possible and the weather was pretty rough, which hindered progress somewhat. The journey was pretty trouble free although we took great joy in testing out our walkie talkies. Banter and “F****ck” moments were shared all the way to Land’s End. One memorable part of this was pulling into a petrol station and being rear ended by Mick and Mike, the owners of said station didn’t know what was going on. The look of confusion, worry and perplexity were hilarious. We stopped to get some fresh milk for the morning cuppa and arrived at our hotel, which was about 20 minutes shy of Land’s End, at around 10pm. The room was cheap at £50 for the three of us. So we expected the worst. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find the accommodation was beautiful. A few beers were swiftly sank (tea for Craig) and we had a look through some footage of the drive down before heading off to bed to get our 6 hours of sleep. Plenty for the 690, 16 hour drive the next day, right?
Leaving the superstore after a KFC:
The journey ahead:
To be continued….
ETA Mick's Blog.
Edited by MikeDrop on Friday 15th December 14:32
Edited by MikeDrop on Tuesday 19th December 13:38
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