First time away from home with car, what do I need?

[NickM450]

I've got some time off next week, so me and my lady are planning a few days away - well, I am planning a surprise few days away

It will be the first time the car has been more than an hours drive away from my house since I bought her. The previous owner included some spares that live in the boot:

Drive Belt
Fuses
Oil - replaced with matching grade and type of oil that I now use
Anti-freeze
Throttle cable
Steve Heath Bible

What else should I be chucking in the boot?

Nick

[QBee]

NickM450 said:

I've got some time off next week, so me and my lady are planning a few days away - well, I am planning a surprise few days away

It will be the first time the car has been more than an hours drive away from my house since I bought her. The previous owner included some spares that live in the boot:

Drive Belt
Fuses
Oil - replaced with matching grade and type of oil that I now use
Anti-freeze
Throttle cable
Steve Heath Bible

What else should I be chucking in the boot?

Nick

You will need to empty that lot out in order to take the lady's suitcases.....no woman i know (apart from my own beloved wife) travels anything like what we blokes would consider "light". You will be lucky if you have room for a change of underwear, a second pair of brown trousers (in case Silverstone, Thruxton or Castle Coombe happen to be on your route) and a toothbrush for yourself.

Just pack your RAC card and a spare set of rosary beads, as well as a jack and a spare wheel if you have one.

[QBee]

And when you have loaded the lady's "essentials", the lady and some lard-arse in the driver's seat, remember to check your ride height if you have adjustable dampers, and raise it back to 160mm, measured from the flat triangular corner of the outrigger in front of the rear wheel, to the road below. Otherwise expect a firm slap in the chops every time she hears her wheel arch catching on the tyre, after you unwisely comment (the first time it happens) about her "losing a few pounds".

Edited by QBee on Wednesday 10th July 16:22

[s p a c e m a n]

Ditch the spare and get some tyre weld if space is an issue. Got the 100amp fuse in that pile? Grab a couple of extra ht leads and a rotor arm aswell, how annoying would it be to have a missfire for a week

[roseytvr]

Credit card and headphones

Edited by roseytvr on Wednesday 10th July 16:28

[Goaty Bill]

QBee said:

...
Just pack your RAC card and a spare set of rosary beads, as well as a jack and a spare wheel if you have one.

^^^^
The RAC card.
Same as I would with any other car.

[slippery]

Is a breakdown really likely enough to have to taint your trip by even thinking like this? Seems a bit OTT to me, but I suppose I'm now going to get shot down in flames for saying it!

[roseytvr]

OP if your car is well used and serviced you are highly unlikely to need owt. I have had one breakdown in four years and that was a sheared pulley bolt that could happen to anyone. Problem is sometimes a new car for you has been standing elsewhere unused and untouched whilst its for sale and this can cause teething troubles. Roadside/recovery covers you for every eventuality otherwise you will end up with a boot full of all sorts of tools and spares. Just drive it and enjoy, oh and take a mobile phone!

[NickM450]

slippery said:

Is a breakdown really likely enough to have to taint your trip by even thinking like this? Seems a bit OTT to me, but I suppose I'm now going to get shot down in flames for saying it!

I know what you mean. I've had her just over a year and she has been faultless, but I will paraphrase what heard on here a few times. Easy to work on, providing you have the bits

I'm trying to put together a small box of stuff to always have in the car that will be able to sort most things, non catastrophic anyway

I will check for a 100amp fuse, if not, where can I get them in a hurry?

I've got breakdown cover, I suppose that should do.

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

If you're staying in this country, you'll never be all that far away from a friendly PHer who will come and help you out. So just take your smartphone so you can post an SOS on this forum.

[QBee]

100 amp fuse. Get a 100 or 125 amp midi or flat blade fuse from any trade parts place. Mine has blown twice in 12 months. Do you know where it is located? And what the symptoms are when it blows?

[NickM450]

QBee said:

100 amp fuse. Get a 100 or 125 amp midi or flat blade fuse from any trade parts place. Mine has blown twice in 12 months. Do you know where it is located? And what the symptoms are when it blows?

I know where it's located, don't know the symptoms. Is it like a flat battery?

[rigga]

Your just succumbing to the often quoted wrong view that these cars are unreliable, which is of course tosh. ......take the same view as any car you would use in the same situation check it over before setting off, fluids, tyres etc and just go, breakdown details and phone in hand should the worse happen .... which it won't !

[QBee]

NickM450 said:

I know where it's located, don't know the symptoms. Is it like a flat battery?

Rigga is right - they are pretty reliable, just do the sensible checks before you go.

For the record, the 100 amp fuse is electrically between the alternator and the battery, so if the 100 amp fuse blows, you end up driving on battery and not charging it. The car will start and run, but after 40-60 miles it will run out of charge, start trying to stall at every junction, won't go over 50 mph and will then just give up and die. During the 40-60 miles you might notice a few odd things, like the speedo may under-read (mine was saying 55 mph at 4500 rpm in 5th gear). I had mine stall mid-gearchange on a track day, locking the rear axle when I released the clutch, and causing me to spin.

Easy to test - if you cannot detect 12 volts at the back of the alternator with the engine OFF, then your multimeter cannot see the battery and so the fuse is broken. If you start the engine and then get 14 volts in the same place, the alternator IS charging.

[NickM450]

Cheers QBee

I know that they are reliable, as I've said, she has been faultless. I don't see the harm in being prepared though, I have complete confidence.

I will give her a good going over and make sure I have my phone, hopefully there will be no SOS threads started

[FlipFlopGriff]

To add:

Fuse puller - tried getting the fuses out without one.
Fuel pump relays (x2).
2 x tyre weld - 1 isnt enough.
Pump compressor - to use with tyreweld or pump tyres up.
Various spanners, screwdrivers.
Torch.
Spare keys.
Thin rubber disposable gloves in case you have to do any work on the car away from civilisation.
Couple of spark plugs and 2 extenders.
Liquid metal maybe
FFG

[Julesprivate]

Sunglasses and a cap of some description...

Some spares are "nice" to have so you're self sufficient but TBH a credit/debit card and the car itself should be all you need...

Have a great trip...(take lots of pictures)

[rickprice]

I take mine all sorts of places, long and short drive.

I have a can of tyre-weld in the boot that is past its expiry date, and a set of heavy-duty jump leads still pristine in their packet - bought because I burnt out a friends when I jump-started his car off the TVR.

In my wallet I have 2 RAC cards - one up to date, the other marked by scraping snow off the windows. And a credit card with extra flexibility forSUper Unleaded, of course.

Why, if you service and look after the car regularly, would you be worried about it? Think back to your childhood when your dad, like mine, hauled a Wolsey six across mid-Wales in winter (or similar daft journey) - now that's brave.

Taking a relatively modern, low mileage sports car on a tarmac road for a few hours at a time is not, particularly, brave. IMHO.

Rich

[FlipFlopGriff]

rickprice said:

I take mine all sorts of places, long and short drive.

I have a can of tyre-weld in the boot that is past its expiry date, and a set of heavy-duty jump leads still pristine in their packet - bought because I burnt out a friends when I jump-started his car off the TVR.

In my wallet I have 2 RAC cards - one up to date, the other marked by scraping snow off the windows. And a credit card with extra flexibility forSUper Unleaded, of course.

Why, if you service and look after the car regularly, would you be worried about it? Think back to your childhood when your dad, like mine, hauled a Wolsey six across mid-Wales in winter (or similar daft journey) - now that's brave.

Taking a relatively modern, low mileage sports car on a tarmac road for a few hours at a time is not, particularly, brave. IMHO.

Rich

Maybe not brave, but when you do need the spares they are invaluable. Waiting hours for a breakdown service to turn up is no fun in any car, when a simple fix maybe done in minutes and you're away. Been on a lot of run outs to Scotland and Wales and invariably someone will need something, and between the group usually havbe the item needed.
FFG

[QBee]

NickM450 said:

I've got some time off next week, so me and my lady are planning a few days away - w
Nick

If I may take you back to the beginning.....Nick's going to have enough trouble squeezing a toothbrush and a spare pair of Y fronts into the glove box thingy by the time "my lady" has packed her "essentials" into the boot, the rear parcel shelf and the cubby holes behind the seats, not to speak of the roof rack he wasn't planning on taking.

So the whole thread is somewhat hypothetical, methinks...