Another 90 miles in the course of my work. Handy to pass the AA box but didn't need it. I must remind Murphio to break down there if he ever feels tired.
COR_0215 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
I passed through some real Scottish scenery towards Strathspey, where many of the whisky distilleries are.
COR_0414 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
One of my destinations was this lovely tower-house which can be rented as a holiday cottage.
COR_0409 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
A very short video of us struggling around a steep bend. The wide angle deceives but this as very nearly a first-gear hill.
[ame]https://youtu.be/dgc5MDfZKiM[/ame]

57 miles to the gallon.
I can be fairly sure of this as I started with a really full tank on Wednesday which needed three and a half gallons top-up today.
Deja vu when we came across another AA box which is 50 miles from the last one.
COR_0513 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
We were quite high up overlooking the Dornoch Firth.
COR_0508 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
One of my destinations was this lovely cottage in a remote glen beyond Bonar Bridge.
COR_0547 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
As always, Murphio ran without fault although I am noticing a very slight quantity of oil vapour collecting , which is from the rear engine oil seal I think.

You sure do live in a beautiful part of the country Peter.
A far cry from the busy South East.

It is lovely round here, especially at this time of year.
You don't see much of the scenery in this one of my typical creative :yuck: vids, but you can see how to handle single-track roads without crunching the gearbox.
[ame]https://youtu.be/7v4CBjg8_Us[/ame]

Today's "task" was a 200 mile round trip to Applecross over the infamous Bealach na Ba mountain pass.
COR_1020 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
I think it was on Wikipedia that I read that it is the only truly Alpine road in the UK. It has hairpin bends and very steep gradients, particularly approached from Kishorn.
COR_0817 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
I hadn't been over in that direction in Murphio before, so we gave it a go. We had no problem and used 1st gear only once when I misjudged a bend slightly....they are very tight, even in a 500 So if the 500 engine and standard brakes can tackle that, there can't be anything other road in the UK that we can't do.
COR_1009 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
I made a driver's eye video of the descent on the way back.....very scary.
I will post later.

[ame]https://youtu.be/oWdJMno19Oc[/ame]
There you go...

Thanks for posting. I bet that road would be fun in winter with snow drifts and black ice!

cheers, Steve

That was great. Like the music too. Who was it?

I kept waiting for the flick turn in the hairpins........

Looks like great fun. Problem is there is its a long way to fall if you are over enthusiastic.

I had to ask Siri about the music. It must a throw back to Peter's LSD days?

Behind the wheel just push that junk right off the vinyl seat
Give my rusty door a shove
My breaks are shot, squeeze right on in, there's half a tank of gas
Hear the tires squeal the love

Any chance you can post the video again Peter but without the music so we can hear the purr of the 500 engine?

I had to wipe the sound file because with the camera sitting high above the car there was nothing recorded except loud wind noise. When I edited the video down to a reasonable length I needed a soundtrack just long enough to back it. "Movie Maker " lets you locate tracks which can be freely downloaded and you can choose the tempo and approximate length. The track by The Prefab Messiahs, https://theprefabmessiahs.bandcamp.com/ was something I had never heard of before, even in the days when we used £SD (pounds, shillings and pence?) . But I think it suits the action quite well.
COR_1008 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

Fifty-one weeks after his first MOT, Murphio went back to Kwik-Fit for his second one today. He was on their telly!
IMG_20151001_095207317[2] by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
To help the tester I took care to label all the switches and gave clue about starting the car.
COR_1118 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
Still he struggled to fnd the "VIN" number but we are now OK for another year and all for the princely sum of £30.
As a treat I bought him some fresh oil from Halfords. Just straightforward, old-fashioned 20/50 with all the benefits clearly explained on the the tin. Amazingly, this £20 can carried a free gift with a £15 price-tag on it...a set of very useful screwdrivers. Thank-you Mr. Halford.
COR_1115 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
I didn't quite make my 5000 miles but would have done so had I not had the MOT a week early. I am off on a 150 mile trip tomorrow; thus starts the next year's motoring.
COR_1120 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

A great milestone there. I would like to use my car as an everyday driver but most of the roads to work and back are 80-100km/h zones with hills in the way. I used to use a Fiat 600D for the commute bur struggled to maintain pace amongst the traffic. Ok on the flat and downhills bit the long up hills were not much fun.

It will be interesting to see what a difference the 650 conversion makes in the 500.

I think I am lucky here in NE Scotland, that it is mainly quite flat. There is rarely an incline I can't make in 4th gear. The real hills are out west and then all the traffic is going slow because the roads are twisting and narrow and great fun in any car.
Today I went out along the NE coast and visited several harbours and an interesting little village called Crovie which is actually inaccessible by car....even a small one.
COR_1295 by Peter Thompson, on FlickrCOR_1273 by Peter Thompson, on FlickrCOR_1253 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
I am making my list of little things to do for the winter:
1. Deal with stonechips...cellulose paint and a car that invites overtaking means that the number of these increases with each journey.
2. Replace the front crankshaft seal that weeps a little bit.
3. Work out why Murphio sits a bit higher at one side at the back.
Apologies to the people who like "blood and guts" restoration images, but I am sure I will have some of those soon.

Wow love this picture, great view.

Could be time for a "Cape to Cape run", to experience some of the Scottish scenery.

H A

The problem with a "cape to cape" for me is that I have done every chunk of it so many times and it really isn't that big a distance. I would like to do Lands End to John o Groats but I have already done more than a half of that. The big one is likely to be to Newcastle or Hull and then somewhere on the continent.

Since the MOT the car decided to "play up" and I couldn't get the headlights and one sidelight to work. Quite a bit of head scratching despite the fact that it was me that wired the car not that long ago. It turned out that a fuse was done because a headlight bulb had blown and was then shorting the circuit....never heard of that before. Anyway, new bulb and we are back in business.

I also fitted a new, boxed, old-stock air filter that came with my "scrap" car. I think the originals are slightly longer or have a more squashy base rubber, because the air-cleaner lid, which did give me a looseness problem a while ago, is now tightly locked down.

Hello Peter,
Sorry for the radio silence...things have been pretty hectic this end!

Great article on Ken Russel from your old man. Great news about the MoT, I've got mine coming up next month.

Do let us know when you are Lancashire bound next!

Daniel

fiat500 said:

The problem with a "cape to cape" for me is that I have done every chunk of it so many times and it really isn't that big a distance.

Click to expand...

I was meaning Lizard point Cornwall to Dunnet Head, must be 850 miles or more.

Could be a challenge.

H A

H A said:

I was meaning Lizard point Cornwall to Dunnet Head, must be 850 miles or more.

Could be a challenge.

H A

Click to expand...

..aha! It would be a challenge and well worth it, but is that not just a variation of LEJOG?

By the way Daniel, I may be down in Lancs quite soon for a brief visit, but as I have to take three largeish people out for a birthday meal, it won't be in the 500.