10CR sheds and all that -Part 4 and a bit -the very last bit

Plenty of beers started to flow following the arrival of the Trumpet and Drum band -what a laugh ,I was very good and only had a two beers to keep a clear bowel for the next day ,this was following Homers complaints after the Italian full fat pizza (I'm a ceoliac hence no wheat etc otherwise things can get a bit runny and smelly )

Homer got tucked into the beers and took great pleasure in going to the ladies toilets thinking Dames meant gents-knob head ,his impressive one arm sun burn was also providing the busy bar with lots of entertainment

Come the morning a car park fettle session was called for several PI cars needed tweaking one stalwart Club Triumph member and  Lucas PI expert confessed to being "still too full of last nights piss" to carry out delicate metering unit adjustments and handed the tweaking stick to his crew mate

Our car was doing OK just the exhaust blow to add to the noisy idler gears and clunky diff pinion bearing (which was present when we set off but got no worse on the run)
Today's route was mainly motorway or should I say traffic jams  -several times we got bored and took the next exit  just so we could keep moving in the right sort of direction -found some quite nice roads but got well behind schedule ,not helped by a touch of "Belgium Panic" IE running out of fuel and no sodding fuel stations on the motorway - pissed about trying to find fuel -bloody annoying as we were within sniffing distance of Rouldac food and beer- I am definitely going to invent a bigger fuel tank for the spitfire,having money to pay for fuel is a good idea as well as my account had been blocked since leather clad fanatic land.
Rouldac was found in the pissing rain with fuck all help from the route book instructions- which completely missed a motorway intersection ,lucky Homer was expecting such things and we started to recognize where were were from the previous run in 2009
Had a great night- I  stuck to the red wine to prevent any mishaps on the way to the ferry the next day.
The last blast back to Calais is the worst part of the run as to fail now would be a nightmare but made it we did the exhaust blow getting quite bad but not as blowy as the channel crossing 5 hours on the boat,least I managed to get some kip which set me in good stead for the final drive from Dover to Somerset

Mission accomplished! roll on the next one

10cr the shed and all that PART 4 the last bit

We stopped for a lunch break in a lay on route back to the Motorway the weather was brilliant the car running fine all was good with the world until we got onto the Motorway section -traffic- lots of- we were get very hot and sweaty and gone through most of our drinking water supply (think we did about 4 liters just in that jam!) so we pulled off into the rammed services and watch fat Germans que for the toilets from the shade of a tree whilst waiting for the traffic to die down ,we were wondering where in Germany we were meant to be staying that night as the details had been left back in Blighty- we had the town name but it didn't mach anything in the Atlas.
  Homer being Homer had struck up a conversation with a German lady with an overheating dog which  he proceeded to give the remainder of my drinking water to while explaining to the owner that we were stupid Englishmen abroad- on hearing this she translated our spelling of the Hotel location and gave us directions -her parents lived near the town  -nice one
The traffic calmed down a bit so we set off thanking our new German friend -all though I secretly hoped the dog pissed itself on her back seat after drinking all my water
It was about now that I noticed a slight "blow" from the exhaust and some fumes that wasn't Homers arse -but it was a case of its running  so keep going which we did (now on a mountain pass)  flat out past a sodding dutch camper van  into the clutches of an Austrian policeman standing  at the end of the straight waiting  to fine me 70 euros for speeding  -worse thing about it all was the sodding camper van got in front of us.
  We got back onto the fast main road then the dual  carriageway way intent on not letting the incident ruin a great day, we found the town and Hotel ,managed to hook up to an internet hot spot release some funds into Homers sort of working petrol account! borrow 20 odd euros, got some food and beer in us and meet up with 12 other crews staying at the Hotel which was a great surprise ,then the best bit happened!

10CR the shed blah blah blah part 3 and a bit

I awoke to glorious Italian sunshine and stunning views life was good  as I sat on the balcony smoking a Marlboro red,Homer awoke to cries of  "Nurse"  as I opened my bowels in the en-suite

We were meant to be at a control at 8.45 am but we we still eating breakfast eventually getting  on the road around 9.30 am after stocking up on fruit ,water, peanuts and cigarettes in the village - the idea was to do some hills see where we are at around lunch time then plot a quick route to the next overnight halt in Germany-were didn't have a clue where in Germany - Homer had left the hotel details behind and the only spelling we had of the town we thought we had booked a hotel in didn't line up with any of the spellings on the page in the atlas... never mind it would all work out

The car fired up first time and everything checked out OK so we set off into some stunning countryside and roads, really really great roads, we had a great laugh,in fact were were enjoying it so much we carried on east a bit to much taking in another steep climb before realising were were off route and should be heading towards the motorway and a town called Vipiteno where we aimed to catch up with a few other crews who had had a lay in that morning

Homers Arse crack in the 

Dolomite's

10cr Sheds and all that PART THREE-

 We spent the rest of the day tagging along with the Stag providing amusement for Sarah and Andy as I tried to get the Spitfire on 3 wheels Homer  holding on for dear life ,I was loving the handling really  pleased I rebuilt the suspension using the best bits I could afford -these cars are so much fun on a hairpin ,keep the engine revving and a standard 1500 does bloody well with two fat bastards and a boot full of spares to drag along,I had to keep telling myself to stop leathering the car so much as this year I had to make it last another day!
We decided to cut Stelvio with the aim of getting to Hotels before darkness and give ourselves a chance of enjoying the location and some relaxation,plus the fact Homer had left the directions to the hotel behind- all we had was a village name and the name of the Hotel,we found the village OK -it was on the side of a hill and consisted of very narrow cobbled streets almost medieval in feel and typical Italian Dolomites  ,I parked up the car and left Homer with his "Smart"phone trying to find the Hotel on Google earth or something -I don't know why they call them smart phones as he was calling his fucking stupid  - I found the Hotel using the old method of walking and looking,it was at the bottom of the sodding steep hill and I had to walk back up the sodding steep hill with only one knee working the other had  adopted the "spitfire" position ealier on in the day and I was walking like someone from  Leather Clad Fanatic Land
Hotel found, car tucked up in its personal space,room with a veranda overlooking the hills, pizza in tummy's and beer in  guts we were well happy -Homer even got a cash machine to work!

A COW

A STAG

BORDER CROSSING BREW UP

OUT OF LEATHER CLAD FANATIC LAND -at bloody last ,bloody Swiss anal bastards,get some proper fuel stations Christ  why do you want everything out of a sodding automatic machine... rant rant rant 

10CR shed and all that -PART TWO

So on a wing and a pray we set off on for Dover -the plan was to cross the channel a day early and join the event at the European start venue,this I reckoned gave us a fighting chance to sort any problems early doors and not have to play catch up, the car ran fine just the diff clonk and noisy idlers in the gearbox worrying me as we sat for 2 hours at Sveenorde services waiting for 70 odd other Triumphs to turn up

Dodgy geaser awaiting other dodgy geasers

I checked the car over and noted that the engine that had been laid up for 13 years had now started to find its oil leaks again nothing serious apart from a substantial weep from the back of the head which looked to point at an iffy head gasket,hey ho not to worry as we buggered off down the road as the first Triumph and committee member rolled in and  signed our "route book" as far as we were concerned that was that 2,500miles and 20 alpine passes waited to try and halt the little cars progress, as it turned out the car wasn't bothered it was Swiss automatic fuel machines that posed more of a threat to progress than steep inclines...twats
Here are some brief jottings and I made on route -
Charleville-Meziere -stopped for fuel cash and Homers first MacDonald s,car appears to be fine clonking along used no oil to mention leak at back of head no worse doing around 40 mpg
Picked up Belgium and Luxembourg now sitting in a Swiss services just over the border that boasts a sex shop next to the forecourt!? must be for the pissed Mullet heads that rolled into the coffee shop as we were leaving to get some kip in the non-reclining cheap as chips ebay seats fitted to the spitfire last week Christ was that only a week ago at least's it better than the "official halt" a deserted car park next to a airport with only a hedge to piss in,for someone who cant sleep  Homer is doing a good impression of a snoring bastard
03.00  about to head off feeling good got a good few hours kip well ahead of schedule

Listen to the diff clonk!

Not a pot to piss in at this halt so on to Leather Clad Fanatic Land (Switzerland)

Bastard automatic petrol pump just ate 20 euros Homers card wont work,used up fuel in jerry can pressing
(Homer had the only chip and pin card between us I had shifted my subs into his account the night before via internet banking leaving us with only my dodgy old cash card)
St Gotthard pass 1/4 tank of fuel left and no cash and not another crew in sight at the control -we are still a couple of hours ahead of the main pack,priority now to find cash/fuel on route to San Bernardino

Diff still clonking,throttle sticks as well

More clonking,but its getting no worse

-With our last 10 euros burning a hole in Homers pocket we peeled off into a town only to find automatic fuel pumps not trusting them after the 20 euro incident we moved on, Homers bowels had now given in to the MacDonald s and needed to open quickly! pure luck a service station for the motorway had an pedestrian access from the  minor road we were on -pulling up Homer was able to lighten the load and I was able to fill the jerry can,we tried phoning his bank -we guessed his card had been stopped as he didn't mention we were travelling through Switzerland -no answer as they were not open yet (we were an hour ahead)
With the tank topped up using the gerry can we carried on and luck led us to a village with a cash machine that gave me 50 Swiss  francs! now to find fuel- asking in the local shop they pointed us to the next village,and guess what it was an automated machine -luckily we got this one right and it filled the tank and jerry can feeling elated but sure we were now the last car on the road, we didn't bother stopping or even looking for the San Bernardino control and just drove straight to the summit parking up to get a phone signal so we could sort the cash flow!
I was enjoying the view when I heard a lovely roar of several Triumph 6 pots coming up the hill along with a few V8s chasing a local Jag E type so we weren't last on the road
Bank sorted we tagged on behind the Johnson's Stag following their stat nav , Homer put the maps away ...

Look Closely at smoking brakes..I had pulled in as indicator repeater lamp stopped working and I wanted to check indicators were working.. greeted by burning smell I thought the wiring was on fire until I lifted the bonnet!

I also sorted a faulty fuse cap whilst letting brakes cool-below trying to get it on three wheels ...which I did on the next corner! oh what fum

10CR shed and all that -PART ONE

I really couldnt be arsed to write about the Spitfire and the 10CR when I got back from the run as the lead up to it had been so intense I just had to park the thing up in the Shed and get back to normality for a while!  so now is the time to recall the story of the Spitfire,sheds 10cr and all that .......

Let me begin, back in April a man was out walking his dog and spotted a 1978 Spitfire 1500 in a shed ,he then told another man who likes sheds ......that  man then went mad and decided to get the shed out of the shed it had been in for 13 years and get it ready to drive 2,500 miles round Europe he had very little time and very little money and only one leg that worked properly  ...but he did it and the car made it too this is his story..

That first inspection of the Spitfire really didn't reveal any surprises it was a typical car that had had a checkered past,having been tarted up on the outside bits you could see during the classic car "boom"  and botched on the underneath bits you couldn't see so ,but I decided I wasn't going to get much better for the price (the bonnet,front wings and boot lid were mint and worth the asking price on their own) my plan was to botch over the botches on the floor  and body tub and restore /refurbish replace the mechanical s with decent second hand parts - I sort of stuck to that plan but underestimated the botches I was prepared to put up with,there were three levels of welding/ repairs that I found
1-bloody shite-this included metal from washing machines undersealed into place ,
2-shite-this inclued patches blobed into place using a welder of sorts to hold the seat belt mounts in etc
3- OK -This included outer sills gas welded on and the repairs to replacement bonnet wings etc

So I set about cutting out the bloody shite,and shite -putting in new inner sills , strengtheners and "A" post bottoms , fabricating the rest of the repair panels my self ,this all took time which I didn't have
 - I was on 12 hour shifts with a 1 hour trip each way to work- getting about 4 or 5 hrs sleep an night I had forgotten what my family looked like , in among the Spitfire repairs I rewired the fist  and second floor lighting circuits as well as pressing on with other house restoration work,my dodgy knee was also getting worse- a resultant consultation with the medical professionals diagnosed a knee replacement  was needed due to the damage that had been done 15 years earlier playing rugby -this was a job I couldn't do myself in the shed so kept taking the pain killers and limped  a lot  pretending it was fine -setting a date for the procedure post 10cr

With a month to go before the 8th of  September event  start the welder was finally put away and the really late nights started -2am was normal bed time -here is a list of the major bits done.
Home made dash installed -the old one was disintegrating
Re-wire,installing relays and moving fuse box to inside car
Front suspension stripped and re-bushed (SuperFlex)- every sodding nut nut and bolt was shagged and just added to the time taken column constantly pushing back the planned MOT date
Front uprights turned out to be beyond repair so were replaced after several attempts of locating decent second hand units
Trunions replaced
New N/S stub axle fitted
New front wheel bearings fitted
New rad fitted with twin electric fans
New water pump
Master cylinders replaced
New rear slaves fitted
Brake lines replaced with new
Discs and calipers replaced - the N.O.S discs  cost £2.99 off ebay no one wanted them as they had  a bit of surface rust and  the new new calipers came with the car they were in the boot
N.O.S clutch plate kit located and fitted
Rear spring +  drive shafts replaced with good second hand units
New uprated rear dampers
Good second hand uprated  front dampers and springs
Rear bushes replaced
Dizzy replaced with good second hand unit
Electronic ignition fitted
Original carbs binned -jet bush sized etc etc so a set from a Triumph 2000 I had on the shed  shelf were refurbished on the bench and   homade linkage and air filters added

It seemed every single job hit a snag ,even the wheels that came with the car didn't fit-including the steering wheel that was home made by some Muppet with a death wish -they had used  3 self tappers to hold the rim to the boss. I couldn't give up, I wouldn't, I was sick of unfinished projects I was in  deep.
I fired the engine for the first time, it ran sweet my luck had changed-on hearing it run  I had an instant gut feeling that the car was going to make it round  even though the water pump leaked on that first fire up I somehow knew it wasn't going to let me down.
MOT was achieved on the 23rd of August ,still with plenty of snagging  left to do from the rebuild/refurb work,the serious stuff of "preparation" started any old car of any condition needs this  prior to a hardcore European long distance event
Homer came down a few days before to our planned departure to help out and in his normal way settled my nerves and did some of the pain in the ARSE jobs -like raiding a wiper motor from a 2000 and making it work on the spitfire (the original unit making a bad grinding noise and becoming very slow on the run back from the MOT)
My biggest concern was the diff I had only managed to do around 200 test miles and the clunking from it didn't inspire confidence I guessed it was the front pinion bearing but with one day to go had no chance of replacing it so it would have to be wing and prayer

(Have a look at the previous posts for pictures of the above "works")

Notes from the trip itself to follow in part two!