So, the RBRR is over......... and what an epic trip that was! I seem to have missed off the last minute repairs so I thought I'd do a quick one about the whole thing!
I still wasn't happy with the front brakes, the discs were shot.... but new front 2000 discs are really expensive. A quick negotiate with my favorite Stag supplier (EJ Wards of Leicester) and some agreement from Craig saw new Stag discs, pads and good used Stag calipers on the car. What a difference! Anyone who has standard 2000 front brakes, do this upgrade. Discs are £30 each, the pads are the same and you can pick up good used calipers for about £20 each. You need to cut down the bolts which hold the hub to the disc by about 10mm, as the stag disc is not quite as deep in the mounting holes, and you must have 14" or bigger wheels, but what an improvement!
So, the RBRR. Bradley and I met up with Team Marshall/Bennett and trundled down to Enfield in convoy (not before I managed to get a speeding ticket 4 miles from home!!?!), had a leisurely dinner at the Plough and set off about 6.45pm at the back of the pack (that'll teach us to get there nice and early, parked right at the back!!) No major drama apart from the obvious high oil consumption. Noting how much we used to get to London I was already worried and reinforcements came from all over the country. Huge thank you to Amanda Johnson, Lord Sorbington and RoyBoy who very graciously met me at various parts of the country to top me up with 20/50 oil!
Early hours of Saturday morning saw us at Edinburgh Airport (1 gallon of oil down already!!)
Seaview Hotel @ John O'Goats........ what a lovely sight it was!
As usual, their breakfast was a work of art, excellent service, dodgy sausages though!
By now we had also teamed up with Team Radford. Colin, Bill and young Master Callum who was along for the ride in Amanda's lovely 2500 S Estate, fresh from the bodyshop with some new metal where before there was air and filler!
Bradley enjoyed it though!
Lovely scenery!
By early hours of Sunday morning, the exhaust sounded like it had fallen off. Some quick repairs soon saw it even worse, which was when we discovered a flippin' big hole in the pipe just before the silencer. Oh well, next 1000 miles of deafness then!
Lands End, Sunday morning
Teams Torrey Canyon (!) and Radford at Lands End, before a wonderful breakfast and back to London via the southern counties.
So, final analysis. Fuel gauge stopped working at first fill up, speedo cable snapped at Corbridge, Exhaust fell off at Lancaster, car filled with water all the time, U/J in driveshaft clicking, overdrive intermittently not working and worst of all, 9 gallons of oil in 2300 miles!! The good news was that we did it, made it all the way round, got all the signatures we needed and managed to get 27mpg, which it of a manual PI being driven like it was on fire.............. ain't all that bad!
In the car park after the run, I offered to pay Dave Marshall £100 towards his charity if he shaved his head. The next day he came to see me and accepted!! So, Saturday 30th October 2010, Dave will be shaved to raise more money for MIND. So far, we have over £200 in pledges.............. any more gratefully received please! Go to
http://www.justgiving.com/dave-marshall2
Wednesday saw me at Brians workshop, borrowing the truck ramp out side to take off the horrible exhaust...... look, huge hole!!
the top mouunt was clearly too tight, the rear mount had snapped and pulled this one out of the pipe.
Quick bit of stainless migging and it was back on................ how quiet is it now?!?! (well, its still noisy as its a sports system, but compared to before............... phew!)
Whilst we were there, popped round the corner to the paintshop to have a look at Libby. Almost ready for primer and looking very sharp and straight!! I can't wait to get her back and put her together!!
On the way home, popped into the "other" paintshop to have a sneaky peak at Mike Weavers car. I am totally stunned as its been a long time since I saw this one. Be in paint in 2 weeks, then due on the 2000 Register stand at the NEC in November. Come and look at this, its awesome!!
As for Alfie and Smartie, 2 weeks together and already they're the best of friends!!
