This weekend was the London to Brighton Veteran car run and this year, I decided to pop into London for the concourse event for the run, held on Pall Mall on the Saturday.
I am fascinated by these cars, none newer than 1904 (122 years old!!) and yet they still trundle on. Some were in original (ie. knackered looking) condition, others restored to as-new. I don't pretend to know much about them, so here's a picture dump:
There were also some interesting newer cars not in the official event:
This is a Vespa (of scooter fame) - absolutely tiny!
Also this very unique 911 GTH? Never heard of it...
On the Sunday, I spent a couple of hours on the route, watching them drive past - very cool.
While watching them and seeing the reaction of people who know nothing about cars normally, I had one of my soul-searching moments, wondering what my motoring future is to be. I saw a lovely MGA on the road and 2 stunning Austin-Healeys and once again wondered if I might prefer an old classic rather than Barry.
Then I went for a drive.
The roar that Barry sings as you nail it up the road is just lovely. Yes, he is too common a sight for anyone to look twice, unlike the MGA, but, for now, he'll do me.
So MOT finally passed, with advisories for rusty brake lines and play in the steering rack, which at least matches up a little with the previous place.
Initially, Barry failed on emissions but they allowed me to pop out for an Italian tune-up and he passed fine. Trying to find driving space to get some heat into the system is not easy in this part of the world but it was fun. Basically, this can be my next excuse if I get caught speeding - if I drive too slow, I kill polar bears 😀
UPDATE: the DVLA system wasn't working when I had my MOT done, so I didn't get a printout on the day and I've just checked the online DVLA - Holy Advisories!!! There are loads which they never mentioned on the day; handbrake a bit weak, all brake lines corroded, play in the rack, detiorated drive shaft bushes, front ARB rusty (new one on me, tbh, I thought the rear was worse) and front side indicators clouded (I've had this before, they look clear as day!!).
They're all fair enough, I suppose, although if I ever try to sell, I wouldn't be buying this car if I saw that history 😀.
The driveshafts are the bits I am most worried about because they are so damn expensive to replace, although there is a company who now do cheaper pattern parts but one person on the Porsche forum had them and they failed in 500 miles, so...
Supposedly, he failed for a leaking brake line but after taking all 4 wheels off, there is no sign of a leak. Yes, the lines are corroded but not leaking, which is sort of sad. This is why I am cynical and don't trust garages; the indie I took Barry to has previously told me about my corroded brake lines and suggested they be changed and now I take him for an MOT and, shock, it fails on the things they want to charge me £1600 for.
I was all set to try cut off the corroded ends and replace them but that wasn't going to be a one day job. It would be nice to do but trying to get the brake lines out the caliper are notoriously difficult. If they were actually leaking, I would have definitely done it but as they're not, it's too much effort (Keep It Simple, Stupid).
Instead, we cleaned the worst of the corrosion off the pipes and sprayed it with rust converter stuff, which should keep them going a bit longer:
I'd bought new brake discs all round as they'd been advisories on previous MOTs and they always have looked a bit crusty and changing them was very easy (apart from realising I'd been given the wrong size for the fronts, so we had to rush to Euro car parts).
Cearth also cleared the codes that also failed the MOT; the main one was the standard 'air mixture inefficient' or something, which I think is something to do with the lambda sensor but clearing it (which I've done before a few months ago) seems to get rid of it. Interestingly, I also had codes for the missing standard stereo which I took out a week after I bought Barry and for the front and rear boot lights which I think a previous owner removed the bulbs for. My cheap scanner never picked those up but Cearth has a more expensive iCarsoft scanner.
Finally, we used Cearths headlight cleaner kit, which did a great job.
So, all ready for a re-test (somewhere else!) and hope it all goes OK.
So, the dreaded MOT day and poor old Barry failed miserably.
Major defect was a leaking brake line and it is the hard line at the front that, in theory, needs the front subframe to be dropped. My indie kindly quoted me £1100 for that job!
Advisories were also on worn brake discs all round (I knew this) and some play in the front tie rod ends, which I didn't know.
Initially, I was pretty hacked off but, with some research, I'm actually feeling excited. Firstly, I've known my brake lines were dubious for ages - this same indie warned me about them 2 years ago! So I've wanted an excuse to sort them out and here we are...
My mate with the lift is happy to help which is a huge bonus and I found a video of someone who, rather than replacing the whole line, just cut the leaking bit off, re-flared it, bent some new brake line into the right shape and attached it to the original.
If this works, I'll also try do the small hard lines that go to the calipers and the line on the caliper that goes between the 2 halves; all of these are common corrosion and leak points. I've bought a roll of cunifer brake line (copper/nickel mix) for £30, Cearth has a flaring tool and pipe bender, so we should be good. I actually did this on my kit car years ago and that lasted fine.
I'll also have a look at the main lines that run the length of the car and the rear hard lines, although the O/S is a PITA as it goes over the gearbox. There is a braided flexible line you can buy for that, however, if needed.
I've also bought new tie rod ends and brake discs - £400 in total but should sort all the problems out, touch wood. Quite looking forward to it...
The annual German car day at Brooklands museum was an excuse for a trip out, along with the fact I haven't been to the museum this year at all and I like to support the place. Not that they need my help - the place was heaving...
I got parked on the edge of the action but with quite a nice backdrop of the original Brooklands track:
As always, lots of beautiful cars on display:
This weird old Merc body fitted with a modern 6.3L V8 had a very industrial paint job and those pipes in the back were, I think, just for show as the engine was running and they weren't hot:
This may be my old person retired choice car one day:
I also did mange to squeeze into an older F1 car, just:
I spent as much time in the actual museum sections, which normally I skim over when I'm here with people. Nice to get time to read more about the exhibits and the history, of which there is a lot.
The final day was pretty good - grey start in Wales with the weather improving as I headed east, along with the traffic increasing. This is the biggest problem with England; lots of great roads but too many cars.
I had a fun run through the Shropshire hills and some smaller roads through Oxfordshire, with blasts of excitement intermingled with dawdling along behind trucks or old dears - even B-roads are busy in England.
Lunch was a couple of sandwiches from a petrol station in a pretty spot near Wantage:
I do look like Barry has black wheels in that pic, which isn't far off the truth:
A wash may be on the cards.... A final dash down the M4/M25 and home at 3pm.
So, how was it?
After 911 miles, the verdict is in and, you can probably guess, it was 9/10 (got to leave room for improvement). I was most concerned about being solo but that was really not an issue. I missed some conversation in the evening for sure but the driving was probably better; I never had to worry I was driving too fast or too slow, never needed to check up on others or wait for anyone, I could change the route without having to tell anyone and I could stop places that only had 1 space left.
Our country is beautiful and Wales has the added advantage of fewer people and less cars. A stellar road trip which I will try do again next year.
Would you Adam & Eve it but today was even better than yesterday! Partly that was because the sun made an appearance but also because of that drivers heaven called the Elan Valley.
I've been coming to Wales for several road trips but most were in my kit car and that never took bumps very well, so the Elan Valley was a mixed blessing; fast roads but bumpy, which meant I used to ground my very low kitcar frequently, not an enjoyable experience.
But Barry is in another class - more ground clearance and silky smooth with it (the new suspension is harsh at slow speeds but is perfecto when speeds increase).
But I digress - first up were the Elan Valley lakes and you can see that they aren't short of water round here:
I did do some drone work at one of the dams but it needs some editing to improve it so I might add it later.
UPDATE: here ya go, I couldn't be bothered editing, soz:
After that was the run through the valley itself and I'll try not to bore you again with how frickin brilliant it is. It looks like a windswept moor so I rarely stop for photos. It's about 50% B-road and the rest single lane but it's good single lane because you can see far ahead and don't have to slow to a crawl for all the blind bends. This makes those sections like a go-kart track; very narrow and roller-coaster like - you lose your stomach on occasion.
Sadly, the Two Hoots cafe at Devils Bridge, my regular stop from previous trips, has gone. The local steam railway that it used to be next to decided to end their lease, it seems, so they can add on to the station or something. There is another cafe at the other end of town but it has no character, just a modern money-spinner. Ah well...
After the stern talking to that I gave my satnav, it seemed to be much better today, finding some excellent twisties down towards the Brecon Beacons, although it did start sending me down glorified footpaths, so much so that I eventually gave up on it and just stuck on the wonderful B-road I was on at the time.
I headed for the famous Black Mountain road. For those that don't know, this is a short (7 mile?) stretch of tarmac over the Black Mountains (they're really not mountainy but, ya know, marketing). It is a nice road but short and despite someone having chopped down the average speed cameras (which REALLY ruined it), you can't be too sure. However, the road from Llangdog to the north end of the mountain road is actually much better and that was a hoot today, taking me up to the usual car park I always stop at:
At this point, my original route took me south on the rest of the Black Mountain road but it's only a short section and then you're into the fairly dull area south of the Brecons which never toasts my muffins. So I decided to head back north (repeating the road to Llangdog - yum) and headed up to Lake Brianne. There is a wonderful road that runs above the lake:
It was here, a few trips ago, that a few of us stopped and listened to the Queens funeral ceremony (on crackling LW radio) and the setting really added something to the occasion, so I remember it well.
From here, I decided to go on the 'boring' A-roads to Aberystwyth, a place I'd never been. But what I thought would be boring was anything but - the A485 was a revelation. It twisted and turned, rolled and dived, as good as any B-road. Best of all, I had a clear run and it was glorious.
An ice cream at the beach in the sun was enjoyable and then a last run back through the Elan Valley to my B&B - stupendo.
All that sun has given me a headache (the teeth-clenching on those roads probably didn't help) - tomorrow is for heading home. I'll try to make it interesting with a wiggle through the Cotswolds...
