Tommy's A-series Misery - Mini Action (plus bonus Aggro)

[Tommyboy12]

2 hours ago, Lacquer Peel said:

Don't do it, make your own path.

The NC500 has taken a lot of traffic to undeniably beautiful places worth visiting  but with limited infrastructure and next to no upgrades since.

Im not sure I completely agree with that. Ive done it eight times now and the local government has put huge efforts into the road surfaces over the last 7-8 years. Many roads are recently re-paved or dressed at least and even this year (vs. last year) I would say we drove on at least 50 miles of new tarmac. There are still some rough bits but its a lot better than it was before COVID. Obviously it cant easily cater for the fact that motorhomes are quite large but the passing places are pretty regular. Another trick we have developed is to do the popular bits either early doors or late. Peak times are probably 10am-4pm. Outside of that the traffic on popular sections is a lot lower.

Fuel and facilities are easy to find and theres plenty of hotels about. Theres plenty of cafes and tea rooms to stop at too. I am a big advocate of using the local facilities and supporting the local economies. Campervans are a scurge because they fill the roads and they dont spend any money locally because they shop at tesco and park up in roadside parking every night. Use the local hotels, drink in the local cafes, and its a great experience. You meet some lovely locals and get to try some lovely food.

I had a couple of conversations with locals this year (a Reliant is a rarer sight than a Ferrari and far more interesting so we garnered a lot of attention) and a couple of them did say its been quieter this year and to be honest apart from a few sections near larger towns/villages, I also felt it wasnt that busy. We usually do it late September/early October to minimise the traffic but it honestly didnt feel busy even in the peak of the summer holidays. The only noticeable difference for me was the amount of European registration plates/

Of course, youre right about forging your own path. Theres hundreds of miles of beautiful routes up there and we dont even follow the true NC500 route. We skip Inverness to Ullapool and come in from Fort William because then you can take in Loch Lomond National Park. Weve developed our own version over years that adds on sections and removes others (like driving to Mallaig and getting the ferry over to Skye before taking the bridge back to the Mainland).

The NC500 is a great starting route for someone who has never been up there but we see a new part every time and I love it.

For the love of god please dont take a campervan though.

[comfortablynumb]

3 hours ago, Lacquer Peel said:

Don't do it, make your own path

I read the other day that theres now a similar, if shorter, route around the coast of Wales, without the traffic.

Worth considering?

[sharley17194]

I assume by this statement you are local? I disagree with it totally except the part about making your own paths! 

Its quite the opposite, its brought in tourism and money into a very remote part of the world where spending has increase significantly, when I first went a little under 10 years ago the outpost at john O'Groats was for sale and the whole place derelict. A lot of northern Scotland is now thriving with new roads and money clearly being spent on local businesses. 

I would welcome tourism, just look what's happened to Brighton....when tourism leaves!

7 hours ago, Lacquer Peel said:

Don't do it, make your own path.

The NC500 has taken a lot of traffic to undeniably beautiful places worth visiting  but with limited infrastructure and next to no upgrades since.

 

[New POD]

Just now, sharley17194 said:

just look what's happened to Brighton....when tourism leaves!

 

It becomes a haven for the LGBQTL..PLUS community? 

[sharley17194]

it always was! its so run down it's depressing to look at. 10 years ago it was thriving then thanks to the locals all the car runs and shows were stopped, now the sea front is just a building site, its sad to see.

13 minutes ago, New POD said:

It becomes a haven for the LGBQTL..PLUS community? 

 

[High Jetter]

4 hours ago, New POD said:

It becomes a haven for the LGBQTL..PLUS community? 

Maybe that's why tourism left? No idea, despite being local.

[Tommyboy12]

I've got a long weekend off for the bank holiday and I started it with more welding!

I started with the end of the heelboard on the driver's side

I also closed off the gaps on the inside and installed the companion bin. This companion bin is one of the worst pattern panels I have ever dealt with. It wasn't straight, nothing lined up with the door or floor, which are original. I had to trim a lot off it to get it in.

I'm missing a closing panel hence the gap. I'm intending to fabricate the closing panel but I can do that from the outside

I hate over sills

They just do this

So I spent quite some time chopping out more rust and welding in a new floor section under the cross member which I didn't photograph...

I also had to remove the old sill seam and the over sill seam because apparently they cut the old sill off but didn't remove the seam from the door step

Thankfully the over sill didn't completely destroy the inner sill and floors. I needed to do a couple of small plugs and patches on top of the cross member section but nothing major.

I did however reach the end result of installing a new sill! Coated in brown of course.

Apart from the closing panel that is the driver's side finished! Huzzah!

 

[Morris 63]

I'll admit to having used oversills before, but at least I drilled drain holes in them, and painted and waxoyled inside!

[Tommyboy12]

1 hour ago, Morris 63 said:

I'll admit to having used oversills before, but at least I drilled drain holes in them, and painted and waxoyled inside!

I think the annoying thing is that they did a proper job and completely removed the old sill! 

However, as much as I dislike them. They did keep more minis from the crusher 

[Tommyboy12]

Doing household chores today. The Panda seemed the perfect tip run car

 

[Tommyboy12]

As per most of my epic road trips I have almost immediately put the car up for sale. Its the only logical thing to do in my mind.

 

[Tommyboy12]

This old girl needed some TLC. Theres plenty of outstanding niggles that I've not really tended to in quite some time.

The big one was the exhaust downpipe which had been leaking at the clamp after I hit a speed. I had to remove it and clean off the old joining paste and refit. That required the entire exhaust to be removed which isn't that easy because it's solid mounted in a number of places. A quick repaste and a battle to get the V-clamp back in place and that was that sorted. 

I also sorted the Speedo which had fallen out of it's mount and replaced some of the bulbs in the binnacle which had failed.

This morning I took it to a local show. Picked up a couple of friends en-route.

I stopped off at Caffeine and Machine on the way home (via a large diversion!). I was surprised to find it very quiet but was able to get a good picture in front of the pub

The drive out today has reminded how much I love this car. The noise of the turbo spool, the air intake noise and the whine of a straight cut gearbox!

I really need to take some more time driving it.

[Tommyboy12]

Some other pics from the show also

 

[GeorgeB]

Were you doing cartwheels while you were taking those pictures?

[Tommyboy12]

A few evenings of Panda wiring has ensued.

Gone from a broken radio to something that actually works. Yes it was the cheapest radio I could buy. How does one make and sell a radio for £2.79 brand new and post it to your house? I wasn't expecting much (it's certainly ugly) but it actually works and has Bluetooth and radio.

It did involve disassembling the dashboard to reach various wires. 5 screws and the whole facia came off.

I plumbed the clock back in as it'll be getting enough use to not worry about drain.

Fitted with new wiring. I also chased down a switched feed as the standard stereo wiring doesn't account for one.

Facia back on

New and old. A period one would have been nice and considering the £2.79 cost I could still go down that route. For now it has proper ISO wiring and actual switched live so it's good enough.

Also fitted some floor mats I had laying around. Luxury.

What hole? I don't see that...

[Tommyboy12]

The Reliant also departed this evening. Onto the next project!

 

[sharley17194]

Just hijacking Toms thread to say cough cough, chop chop Tommy boi! 

[Matty]

8 hours ago, sharley17194 said:

Just hijacking Toms thread to say cough cough, chop chop Tommy boi! 

Who's is it mister???

[sharley17194]

It’s mine, purchased truly sight unseen again! I’m in America and won/had it delivered while out the country…I’m just winding Tom up as he needs to find one now 😂

1 hour ago, Matty said:

Who's is it mister???

 

[Tommyboy12]

Ive purchased something else instead 😅

[sharley17194]

Less purchased, more inflicted...

2 hours ago, Tommyboy12 said:

Ive purchased something else instead 😅

 

[Matty]

6 hours ago, Tommyboy12 said:

Ive purchased something else instead 😅

Let's have a cryptic clue then 😉 

[Tommyboy12]

35 minutes ago, Matty said:

Let's have a cryptic clue then 😉 

Bought on the forum and it's a bit plush

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, Tommyboy12 said:

Bought on the forum and it's a bit plush

Ooh, Aunty!

[Matty]

7 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Ooh, Aunty!

Never! That'll be a bit comfier than @sharley17194s ride then if I've guessed this right. It'll be like Upstairs Downstairs 🤣

[sharley17194]

20 hours ago, Matty said:

Never! That'll be a bit comfier than @sharley17194s ride then if I've guessed this right. It'll be like Upstairs Downstairs 🤣

I own a proper Vanden plas I’ll have oath know 😂

[Tommyboy12]

Is yours a proper VDP though? Looks more like an 1100 to me.

Also my purchase is definitely not pre-war so I will be buying again at some point soon 😅

[sharley17194]

Mine was finished in the VP works, yours wasn't lol

1 hour ago, Tommyboy12 said:

Is yours a proper VDP though? Looks more like an 1100 to me.

Also my purchase is definitely not pre-war so I will be buying again at some point soon 😅

 

[Tommyboy12]

Busy day today. I broke my door lock on the Panda. It just fell out and there was a tinkle of metal inside the door

So I did the right thing and took it to a car show anyway.

Parked next to this beauty

There were a few other interesting things there too

Before that I went to a family open day at work where my Mini was on display along with a variety of very lovely other things

This actually participated in D-Day

 

 

[Tommyboy12]

When I got home I did actually set about fixing the Panda. I started with the door lock which the screw had worked out of the back. It was back in place in no time once I stripped the door down

Then I set about fixing the parcel shelf so it actually lifts with the hatch

Then I fitted some speakers with grilles. I can see why they previously weren't fitted as they're a bit large

I also poked the sill in preparation for some time with the sparkle stick. It's really not that bad. It needs about a 6 inch patch.