Especially for anyone who is thinking "If only it wasn't so far" 
I've got a few days off this week and the plans to get some MOT stuff & paintwork done soon got shelved when the monsoon season reached the North East a little earlier than usual this year
Cue "Plan B" ;D , work out a route to pick up / drop off / catch up with as much tat and mates as I can in 2 days
Day Zero - "Preparation"
The weapon of choice for this mission was a battle-scarred but trusty AX 1.5 D. Reliable (hopefully), economical (compared to the other car), ideal for moving anything from one end of the country to the other (maybe
)
First the basics, a 10 mile trip up the road to collect an Ebay bargain - a full Saxo interior for £10 ;D Then rip out the original (ripped) interior, redesign it to carry the pilot in comfort - this was a solo trip so no need for other crew accomodation...
Then have a quick practice run
First see how it copes with a 20 kg calor gas bottle andmutt highly trained pedigree hunting dog
No problems so time to add a 5 foot fishtank into the mix
Yep, all ok and we are good to go!
Day 1 - Follow signs for "The South"
Up bright and early (by my standards), then time to hit the road and test the windscreen wipers
First a detour to Leeds to drop off some paintings (not car related so no pics)
The first of many cool cars (and out-of-shot photos
) 
We're getting close to the next stop-off
Time to replace the emergency back window (from a proper wooden table top - none of your flimsy plywood), note the carefully applied blackboard paint & gaffa tape
Out with the old and time to check the inventory, a crate of wine for tonights host + backpack with toothbrush and satnav
In with the new tailgate courtesy of ax16vts and we have a fully functioning tat-collection vehicle ;D
Gaffatape to the rescue again when we find the numberplate holes on the new tailgate are different to the holes in the numberplate
Back on the (wet) road again - shame I didn't have the camera handy when a very tough sounding white Volvo Amazon went past ...
The first signs of sunshine
We're getting there...
Nearly home...
But we can always make time to stop and look at interesting stuff...
Time to call it a day as bed, breakfast, good company and assorted food & drink are waiting ;D
Day 2 - "The Return Trip"
Another early start (sort of ) then we can hit the bits we missed yesterday, Reading first
Our first stop is greeted by....
Which is hiding ...
Which gets us to the reason for this stop-off
Last year I scored for a set of Sceptre bumpers, I paid for them and due to mixup I thought they had been collected by Pony Express and put into storage for me - it turns out they were never picked up
Recently saw a set of Sceptre bumpers on Ebay from the same seller and thought he had relisted the ones I bought - it turns out he now has 2 sets (mine + another), I ended up buying the 2nd set for £10 - so todays trip got all 4 bumpers ;D
Add them to the collection and fire up the laptop to check for anything else nearby that is worth a phone call
Time for a diversion for supplies and fuel and anything else we notice...
Shame the local cops noticed us before I noticed them
PC "Excuse me sir, could you tell me why your numberplate isn't in the normal location?"
Me "The car was vandalised 2 weeks ago and I've been driving with a good boot and number plate but no back window, yesterday I upgraded the wooden window to glass but the numberplate won't fit without tools"
Thankfully a kid then went by on a moped with a noisy exhaust so the PC jumped in the patrol car and raced after them so I was free to go.
Odd - I was on my way into town to get food & a petrol station, saw the same PC while I was walking around the shops and got a pleasant wave off him ... anyways, back on track ;D
Then a detour (and overshoot & retacing the route) to Harlow in Essex to pick up something small and yellow
And time to head for home....
It's the first real run I've had in the car, I need to work out fuel consumption yet - anyone know what a 1.5D AX normally gets to a tank of juice ?
I also noticed a couple of times the motor picked up and felt great - shame it just lasted a few seconds
... and a couple of times it felt very flat, soon cleared but I think there something which is normally 90% ok, when it works at 100% it's great - I just need to find out what it is and get it working right all the time
So there you have it, just over 800 miles in 36 hours with no real drama, some very cool motors, and a great chance to do things that I just didn'thave make time to do before.
I've got a few days off this week and the plans to get some MOT stuff & paintwork done soon got shelved when the monsoon season reached the North East a little earlier than usual this year
Cue "Plan B" ;D , work out a route to pick up / drop off / catch up with as much tat and mates as I can in 2 days
Day Zero - "Preparation"
The weapon of choice for this mission was a battle-scarred but trusty AX 1.5 D. Reliable (hopefully), economical (compared to the other car), ideal for moving anything from one end of the country to the other (maybe
)First the basics, a 10 mile trip up the road to collect an Ebay bargain - a full Saxo interior for £10 ;D Then rip out the original (ripped) interior, redesign it to carry the pilot in comfort - this was a solo trip so no need for other crew accomodation...
Then have a quick practice run
First see how it copes with a 20 kg calor gas bottle and
No problems so time to add a 5 foot fishtank into the mix
Yep, all ok and we are good to go!
Day 1 - Follow signs for "The South"
Up bright and early (by my standards
), then time to hit the road and test the windscreen wipers First a detour to Leeds to drop off some paintings (not car related so no pics
)The first of many cool cars (and out-of-shot photos
) We're getting close to the next stop-off
Time to replace the emergency back window (from a proper wooden table top - none of your flimsy plywood), note the carefully applied blackboard paint & gaffa tape
Out with the old and time to check the inventory, a crate of wine for tonights host + backpack with toothbrush and satnav
In with the new tailgate courtesy of ax16vts and we have a fully functioning tat-collection vehicle ;D
Gaffatape to the rescue again when we find the numberplate holes on the new tailgate are different to the holes in the numberplate
Back on the (wet) road again - shame I didn't have the camera handy when a very tough sounding white Volvo Amazon went past ...
The first signs of sunshine
We're getting there...
Nearly home...
But we can always make time to stop and look at interesting stuff...
Time to call it a day as bed, breakfast, good company and assorted food & drink are waiting ;D
Day 2 - "The Return Trip"
Another early start (sort of
) then we can hit the bits we missed yesterday, Reading first Our first stop is greeted by.... Which is hiding ...Which gets us to the reason for this stop-off
Last year I scored for a set of Sceptre bumpers, I paid for them and due to mixup I thought they had been collected by Pony Express and put into storage for me - it turns out they were never picked up
Recently saw a set of Sceptre bumpers on Ebay from the same seller and thought he had relisted the ones I bought - it turns out he now has 2 sets (mine + another), I ended up buying the 2nd set for £10 - so todays trip got all 4 bumpers ;D
Add them to the collection and fire up the laptop to check for anything else nearby that is worth a phone call
Time for a diversion for supplies and fuel and anything else we notice...
Shame the local cops noticed us before I noticed them
PC "Excuse me sir, could you tell me why your numberplate isn't in the normal location?"
Me "The car was vandalised 2 weeks ago and I've been driving with a good boot and number plate but no back window, yesterday I upgraded the wooden window to glass but the numberplate won't fit without tools"
Thankfully a kid then went by on a moped with a noisy exhaust so the PC jumped in the patrol car and raced after them so I was free to go.
Odd - I was on my way into town to get food & a petrol station, saw the same PC while I was walking around the shops and got a pleasant wave off him ... anyways, back on track ;D
Then a detour (and overshoot & retacing the route
) to Harlow in Essex to pick up something small and yellow And time to head for home....
It's the first real run I've had in the car, I need to work out fuel consumption yet - anyone know what a 1.5D AX normally gets to a tank of juice ?
I also noticed a couple of times the motor picked up and felt great - shame it just lasted a few seconds
... and a couple of times it felt very flat, soon cleared but I think there something which is normally 90% ok, when it works at 100% it's great - I just need to find out what it is and get it working right all the time
So there you have it, just over 800 miles in 36 hours with no real drama, some very cool motors, and a great chance to do things that I just didn't
