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General Murphio's Meanderings

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General Murphio's Meanderings

fiat500 said:
We made it back home yesterday evening after a long slog over 400 miles with a massive detour through The Lake District; .....................................................................
I know I'm getting boring with this message but if you have the endurance, as regards its ability and reliability the 500 is just a slightly slower than average, normal car.(y) Get out there please.(y)
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I never bore of your posts Peter... just full of envy...
To have such a reliable little car that you trust so much is truly amazing.....
Then to accompany teh write ups with such wonderful pictures....

I really see a book (or two).... "the adventures of Peter and Murph" then
"the further Adventures of Peter and Murph"
followed by:
"Peter and Murph go to Europe..."

where next???
 
Vitesse said:
Just got back from the spray shop that painted my 500. He said I saw your 500 in Westerham on Sunday morning. I explained it wasn’t me and told him about your epic trip.
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He obviously should have gone to Specsavers or else he didn't see Murf close-up. If he had there would have been no mistake with the quality of your paintwork etc. etc.:D

But you're right about the car standing out in a crowd. It stands out even more in these remote places where there aren't even all that many normal cars. I was used as the backdrop to a few selfies as I climbed the mountain passes yesterday.
 
Bigvtwin996 said:
I never bore of your posts Peter... just full of envy...
To have such a reliable little car that you trust so much is truly amazing.....
Then to accompany teh write ups with such wonderful pictures....

I really see a book (or two).... "the adventures of Peter and Murph" then
"the further Adventures of Peter and Murph"
followed by:
"Peter and Murph go to Europe..."

where next???
Click to expand...
put me on the pre-order list (not kidding) :)
 
Bigvtwin996 said:
I never bore of your posts Peter... just full of envy...
To have such a reliable little car that you trust so much is truly amazing.....
Then to accompany teh write ups with such wonderful pictures....

I really see a book (or two).... "the adventures of Peter and Murph" then
"the further Adventures of Peter and Murph"
followed by:
"Peter and Murph go to Europe..."

where next???
Click to expand...
I've had some positive comments on this Forum, which I always appreciate, but that's a very nice thing to say. :) You must know by now though..... I'm just a simple show-off. ;)
 
I've uploaded a slightly tedious video of climbing Hardknott. The camera kept sliding about because of the sharp bends and steep gradient.
[ame]https://youtu.be/59Hgt1jrUx4[/ame]
I now realise that at some point on my journey I achieved the equivalent total distance of circumnavigating the earth in Murf. We've now passed 26,000 miles in four years and almost 8,000 since last September when the car was last MOTd.
After an engine and gearbox oil change and new spark plugs, it's back to normal business for Murf as we've done a couple of shortish work journeys along Loch Ness and over to The Black Isle. :)
Maybe it's a habit that's set in but we now seem to cruise at 60 rather than the 55mph of old.
 
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I noticed the plant survived on the back seat! That’s a pretty well travelled plant as well:D
 
Beautiful scenery and roads to be driving, you look very relaxed and at home behind that wheel.

Good to hear Murph is as noisy as my little blue was.
Given the amount of miles you travel have you ever considered / installed some kind of advanced soundproofing?

I recall a few 1000km trips in an old mini I had. The noise it made on the 100kph highways had my ears ringing for quite some time afterwards!
 
BambinoClassic said:
Good to hear Murph is as noisy as my little blue was.
Given the amount of miles you travel have you ever considered / installed some kind of advanced soundproofing?
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Sacrilege!!! :D:D;)

I won't say the noise is music to my ears... But apart from a loud differential whine, which does annoy me, the actual sound of the engine in real life is more than tolerable, in fact I really like it. This is to the extent that I haven't fitted a way to play music or radio, not because I couldn't hear it anyway, but because that engine sound is part of the pleasure...takes all sorts etc.:D

That steep hill was quite a challenge, a torn-up surface with some surprising bumps and very sudden turns; the poor car was actually taking quite a battering as I casually conducted it to the summit.:) On the inside of the bends it's steeper than 25%.
 
I'm gradually working through some well-deserved maintenance of Murf after his recent exertions. The car will have covered almost exactly 8,000 miles when the current MOT expires in a few days, which is the furthest we've travelled during four years of motoring.

Fiat 500F by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

I had noticed an increasing amount of oil leaking from somewhere and tracked it down to the sump gasket. It was an easy fix as it involved tightening every single sump setscrew by a half a turn...they were quite loose! It may be a coincidence that I used the Fiat recommended grade of 15W40 in the recent oil change, but the engine certainly runs and sounds OK on it.

The clutch cable also needed tightening a little; not surprising considering how much use it has had

There's a conundrum with the fact that the spark plug ends are a bit paler than is ideal, but the mixture is at a really good setting and the engine is starting and running really well.

So now just the brakes shoes to check, brake-fluid to change, wheel-bearings to grease and I think we're good to go for the next 8,000 miles.:D

Having said that, someone else is keen to start doing some of Murf's miles for him.:)

FER_4975 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
 
After torrential downpours yesterday there has been an unreal and very unseasonably hot and sunny day today. Happily it co-incided with a work journey I had to make. So despite that being 270 miles to Skye and back I decided that it was a good idea to give Murf possibly his last big day out of the year.

FER_5443 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

FER_5453 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

FER_5520 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
 
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Vitesse said:
Where’s the first picture taken? It looks pretty high up?
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I think it must be quite high but a steady climb so you don't realise that in a car. I think it's called Glengarry and the first time I'd been that way in a Fiat 500. I know you like a steep hill ;) but you would not have believed some of the hills in Sleat on Skye... you'll have to get up here one day.
 
I'm learning the obvious in that when you drive small vehicle to destruction things get destroyed.:eek: On my last journey there were a couple of moments when I felt the engine miss a beat and that is certainly not normal.:)
I decided that it must be related to the tappet clearances which were last done about 5,000 miles ago, well before the frantic 2,500 mile dash I did a month ago. But a slight adjustment of one exhaust valve was all that was needed. But with the rocker cover off I had my inspiration; I had commented a while ago about the different raised location of the HT lead bracket on my replacement 652 engine in comparison with that on the 499 engine.:

https://www.fiatforum.com/500-classic/460679-126a-v-110f-rocker-cover-important-difference.html

The indentation on the insulation of one of the HT leads was deep enough that I think it is likely that this caused the hesitation by misfire, so I have replaced the lead and fitted the rocker-cover off the 499 engine.

FER_5840 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

I also wanted to tighten the fan-belt and ended up replacing that because it must have been slipping sufficiently that it had become narrowed and frayed.:eek:

FER_5846 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

Next due for inspection are the brake shoes....I hope I still have some.:D
 
I noticed that the 123 gives out such a strong spark that because my coil is on the opposite side of the engine my king lead runs runs across the rocker box cover with the other two leads inside a plastic sheath. When I was manually timing it one day I couldn’t work out why both spark leads were sparking at the same time even though one was disconnected on the distributor cap. On close inspection I could see them arcing between each. You need a decent set of HT leads with a 123. Probably silicon but not silly expensive.
 
I have fitted "Magnecor" ignition leads on my (tuned) 652cc engine. They look the same as normal, but of a very high quality. I also had the lead for No. 2 spark-plug made a little bit longer, which allowed me to give it a better 'lead' over the engine.
 
the hobbler said:
. I also had the lead for No. 2 spark-plug made a little bit longer, which allowed me to give it a better 'lead' over the engine.
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I think the lead for No2. must be a bit longer as I'm on my third set:eek: of silicone-sheathed:eek:, off-the-peg ignition leads which have all been of uneven sizing. All of the problems I've have been caused by physical abrasion, the cause of which took me while to track down.

Other than that, these inexpensive, "high-quality", non-original spec. components have been faultless. IS6173

https://www.fiat500vdlaan.nl/en/webshop.php?CategoryID=33
 
To give a better 'lead' for my No. 2 ignition lead, I found a slighter longer screw for holding the carb top-cover on, and used this to hold a small plastic covered 'P' clip onto the top of the carb. I lead my No. 2 lead through this 'P' clip---I have not suffered any chafe problems.
 
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