Alan.D said:
I will weigh it tomorrow (for postage costs), and sort out pictures so you can see what its like (is there a way of testing the servo?).
General The Last Panda Crusade...
- Thread starter JimMagill
- Start date
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General The Last Panda Crusade...
I will weigh it tomorrow (for postage costs), and sort out pictures so you can see what its like (is there a way of testing the servo?).
OP
OP
Ladies, Ladies!
Pppplllllleeeeeaaaaassssseeee!
:Offtopic:
Right Alan has done some figures and it's looking like the pandas can do this in about two days from Paris to Istanbul as it's only 1850 miles but that would be no fun cause we need to stop of of the all important FF photo shoots at every major European landmark along the way! (along with catching shots of the train with the pandas too!)
On the way back we have to go to Lingotto and get the cars up on the roof like the Alfa boys did last Sept so who can write us an nice letter in Italian that we can send off begging access? (BigIan that comes on here from time to time, His Missus is Italian.. If you see this give me a shout)
And finally this is my list of parts that I need....
Speedo cable
Front Discs (they warped going across USA)
Master Cylinder
New Calipers (they've rusted up again at the docks....)
New alternator (I'm not taking any chances)
Mmm... I'm in Edinburgh in 2 weeks. Might see about getting them in England as it seems a lot cheaper than here:chin:
Jim
Pppplllllleeeeeaaaaassssseeee!
:Offtopic:
Right Alan has done some figures and it's looking like the pandas can do this in about two days from Paris to Istanbul as it's only 1850 miles but that would be no fun cause we need to stop of of the all important FF photo shoots at every major European landmark along the way! (along with catching shots of the train with the pandas too!)
On the way back we have to go to Lingotto and get the cars up on the roof like the Alfa boys did last Sept so who can write us an nice letter in Italian that we can send off begging access? (BigIan that comes on here from time to time, His Missus is Italian.. If you see this give me a shout)
And finally this is my list of parts that I need....
Speedo cable
Front Discs (they warped going across USA)
Master Cylinder
New Calipers (they've rusted up again at the docks....)
New alternator (I'm not taking any chances)
Mmm... I'm in Edinburgh in 2 weeks. Might see about getting them in England as it seems a lot cheaper than here:chin:
Jim
I might see you in Edinburgh Jim, as i need to pick up a 1242 cylinder head 
OP
OP
You can bring that servo and save Alan the cost of postage....
Jim
Jim
Good idea
See you in Edinburgh then, Jim
Alan.D said:
ooh er missus (sorry but i havent had a 'carry on' post for a while )
OK a few details are comming together.....had a word with Stu & Jim and will try to give an Idea.
All the panda's that are going, 3 so far will be meeting in Belfast which is the starting point. I'm going to get our press office & speak to Belfast to look at getting a police escort to the ferry. From Stranrear meet up with the Great north Air Ambulance in Cumbria, then onto London and if possible (no word yet but I am trying) the EastEnders set to photograph all the cars in location.
From there onto the ferry or EuroTunnel and off to Paris to meet up with the Orient Express for the 31st of Aug.
The route from there goes through France, Austria onto Budapest, Sinaia, Bucharest to Istanbull.
By the time we return should have covered 5000 miles
All the panda's that are going, 3 so far will be meeting in Belfast which is the starting point. I'm going to get our press office & speak to Belfast to look at getting a police escort to the ferry. From Stranrear meet up with the Great north Air Ambulance in Cumbria, then onto London and if possible (no word yet but I am trying) the EastEnders set to photograph all the cars in location.
From there onto the ferry or EuroTunnel and off to Paris to meet up with the Orient Express for the 31st of Aug.
The route from there goes through France, Austria onto Budapest, Sinaia, Bucharest to Istanbull.
By the time we return should have covered 5000 miles
Oh! the people going so far.....
Jim Magill.........................(Sylvia)...............NIIMC & FF
Alan Duthie......................(Sisley)...............BMW7RESOURCE, FF, NIIMC
Rob Nichol.......................(Sisley co driver)...BMW7RESOURCE
John Brocklehurst(Fish)......(Selecta).............BMW7RESOURCE, TFHNHA & FF
Richard Goldthorpe............(Select co Driver)..TFHNHA
This should be very interesting a great bunch of lads.
TFHNHA is a virtual Pub website.
Jim Magill.........................(Sylvia)...............NIIMC & FF
Alan Duthie......................(Sisley)...............BMW7RESOURCE, FF, NIIMC
Rob Nichol.......................(Sisley co driver)...BMW7RESOURCE
John Brocklehurst(Fish)......(Selecta).............BMW7RESOURCE, TFHNHA & FF
Richard Goldthorpe............(Select co Driver)..TFHNHA
This should be very interesting a great bunch of lads.
TFHNHA is a virtual Pub website.
The Sofitel Hotel, Budapest can be booked for approx £75 a head on the 1st/2nd and the Athenee Palace Hilton, Bucharest approx £95 on the 3/4th, the same hotels that the train travellers are staying in
Thanks for that, are you well travelled
Alan.D said:
Well now you have started something.
Since her chat with you, Sarah (wife) wants to come along and bring her camera gear. So if there is a co-driver slot going spare she will take it.
Failing that, Sarah (the friend you met when we did the bushing session) is also interested (50-50) so I guess I may be looking for a Panda to put them both in and add to the convoy.
If I do need to buy a car & as I'm very new to Fiat anything, and have zero experience of anything smaller than a 2.0 litre 6 cylinder engine....what should I be looking to buy. Answers on a PM please so the thread doesn’t get clogged up
szeged in the far south of romania is a nice town to stop in, theres even a 'john bull' english bar that serves bombadier!! they are mean't to close at around 10pm,but we stayed till gone 3, and the poor bar lady just fell asleep at the bar, leaving us to nick what we liked (and the others in teh bar) but we didn't. we ushered the locals out, then let ourselves out, bless
we stayed in a hotel there, lined with marble and a sort of russian style breakfast (fried egg related!), was called 'Hotel Tiza' its just on the rim of the lenin strassa 'esque park area with scultures and that.
much cheaper than above too!!! think it was around the 60euro mark for three of us in a double and twin room with breakfast included.
when you get to istanbul its a bastrd big place (think birmingham and london, draw an oval around them = istanbul and surrounding dumps), the traffic is really bad, if you want cheap hotels head to kardikov (eastern part of the city on asian continent, pay the motorway toll in dollars, tis about 2USD as is bridge 2USD, more in local moneythough ) there are plenty of hotels about, for around $35-45 per room (usually for two in twin format), but MAKE SUre you see the room first, as we got one that stank of sht. and had a broken shower:yuck:
also watch out, there are plenty of pickpockets about, but their not harmfull really, there are gangs about after abou 7pm, and they will take you, and no one will notice even in broad daylight. in my opinion deepest russia is far safer!!!
If you want to make it into a proper trip (after the distance we did, here, www.slightlycliveracing.com, the drive to istanbul (3days if we didn't stop for a few in buckeresti and breakdowns with other vehicles and crashs etc) was pretty pathetic really, just put fuel in the car and avoid getting totalled by other drivers.
Also in buckeresti there are plenty of cheap hotels, we stayed in one, hotel zarphaha? was recomended in LP guide (lonely planet), was 22 euro's each for single rooms with basin, but shared bathroom/shower, and inc breakfast (blooody good, just dont' loose your voucher as its a 3rd party guy that comes and makes it).
also on the way thru romania (if you go that way) drive the short way to buckeresti, over the mountains:slayer: its kind of the more southern route (when heading from main hungary/romania border south of szeged) heading nearly to timiswara (spl? where tchesko and his wife were apprehended when they fled the country during the rebellion), its about 100km shorter than the long way round, all the trucks use it as its simply shorter .
beware though, don't drive the mountain road (around 120km+) at night or in bad light, you will be terrifed of them trucks!, and don't hang around the truckstops and shops and cafe's too long, their full of hookers who are, cough, VERY forward, we almost got off for free
also when going from hungary to romania they may try some 'car tax' bullcock fine on you, they wanted 350euro from us per car, then we said, no, 1hour later we said we'll pay in dollars, how much in dollars?
500$ not made clear though.
so we went back to cars and got 5x 1$ bills that were mashed up (put in your footwell, mash them up, then straighen out and use, makes you look as poor as the locals).
after another 2hours arguing with them, we gave them $5 and 5x $1 mashed bills and they let us thru, then wanted another $30 odd in stupid this and that, all on the leaving romania bit. but just pay it, its not much, and they WILL not let you go without it. we actually got a few shots fired off at us!!!
bulgaria's a nice place.
BUT DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES stay out in the country, even in groups. word of mouth of foreigners spreads faster than an aussie bush fire, and there are bandits with guns, and they do use them and kidnap people quite a lot (almost their pet hobby). stay in police or electronic shop secure carparks over night, give them a few mashed $1 bills and they will let you in, maybe even feed/drink you.
also watch out for a big bastrd lump in the road, my mate swered to avoid it in his merc estate, then got side glanced by, no sht, a BULLETPROOF GLASS ARMOURED LADA NIVA WITH GUN PORTS AND TWO 18ST BULGARIAN SECRUITY GUARDS!!! car was a mess, so was theirs police sorted it out, and they were all a friendly bunch.
this lump is on the main road too, on a downward single lane stretch turning gently to the right with two lanes going the other way.
just making sure you know it, as it will kill a panda no problem
petrol is around the 78-85p mark in bulgaria, and its fair good quality, theres a station or two just before the turk border on the main road, theres also a HUGE truckstop there,that sells every single truck/car/ van spare imaganable, if you need soemthing YOU CAN get it there, theres even more hookers too. so as I said, EVERYTHING!!!
fill your car up (but no gerry cans, as there is this tashed turk wnker who hates english and he does 'triptic' its like a customs inspection after you go thru everything), as petrol in turkey is around the £1,10-20 in west turkey, and £1,30 for crp russian stuff in the coutnry £1,40 for turkish fuel, which is also crp.
I would really recomend heading to the coast with th black sea and going a fair way along there, its hot, its beautiful, its full of hot russian/turkish babes, and there are some absolutly breathtaking mountains, but more importantly some STUNNING mountain roads, some upto 3000METRES!!!
believe me, the further east you go and north, the bigger the grin on your face!!!:worship:
at the time I thought istanbul was amasing, then I found the mountain roads way to the east (north of ezerum, between there and trabzon) and never looked back. I just want a drive holiday in them there mountains!!
also, you better not care about your paintwork, as when there is road works in romaina/bulg/turkey, you just drive straight thru the middle, so get splattered in tar, after a few kilometres we gave up keeping our £100 cars tidy, and just went for it!!! managed to get tar upto and on the side windows and basically everywhere:worship:
fit mudflaps for everywhere else, there are loads of stones on the road, and the tar melts everywhere in summer.
also as for the local driving, it gets worse every mile you go east from hungary onwards, you get used to it, and start driving like them, then its OK. just don't get angry at them, as none of them take it personally when you cut them up etc, as they do it all the time.
any q's on your route or places to stay and food and stuff, just ask.
they are mean't to close at around 10pm,but we stayed till gone 3, and the poor bar lady just fell asleep at the bar, leaving us to nick what we liked (and the others in teh bar) but we didn't. we ushered the locals out, then let ourselves out, bless we stayed in a hotel there, lined with marble and a sort of russian style breakfast (fried egg related!), was called 'Hotel Tiza' its just on the rim of the lenin strassa 'esque park area with scultures and that.
much cheaper than above too!!! think it was around the 60euro mark for three of us in a double and twin room with breakfast included.
when you get to istanbul its a bastrd big place (think birmingham and london, draw an oval around them = istanbul and surrounding dumps), the traffic is really bad, if you want cheap hotels head to kardikov (eastern part of the city on asian continent, pay the motorway toll in dollars, tis about 2USD as is bridge 2USD, more in local moneythough
) there are plenty of hotels about, for around $35-45 per room (usually for two in twin format), but MAKE SUre you see the room first, as we got one that stank of sht. and had a broken shower:yuck: also watch out, there are plenty of pickpockets about, but their not harmfull really, there are gangs about after abou 7pm, and they will take you, and no one will notice
even in broad daylight. in my opinion deepest russia is far safer!!!If you want to make it into a proper trip (after the distance we did, here, www.slightlycliveracing.com, the drive to istanbul (3days if we didn't stop for a few in buckeresti and breakdowns with other vehicles and crashs etc) was pretty pathetic really, just put fuel in the car and avoid getting totalled by other drivers.
Also in buckeresti there are plenty of cheap hotels, we stayed in one, hotel zarphaha? was recomended in LP guide (lonely planet), was 22 euro's each for single rooms with basin, but shared bathroom/shower, and inc breakfast (blooody good, just dont' loose your voucher as its a 3rd party guy that comes and makes it).
also on the way thru romania (if you go that way) drive the short way to buckeresti, over the mountains:slayer:
its kind of the more southern route (when heading from main hungary/romania border south of szeged) heading nearly to timiswara (spl? where tchesko and his wife were apprehended when they fled the country during the rebellion), its about 100km shorter than the long way round, all the trucks use it as its simply shorter . beware though, don't drive the mountain road (around 120km+) at night or in bad light, you will be terrifed of them trucks!, and don't hang around the truckstops and shops and cafe's too long, their full of hookers who are, cough, VERY forward, we almost got off for free
also when going from hungary to romania they may try some 'car tax' bullcock fine on you, they wanted 350euro from us per car, then we said, no, 1hour later we said we'll pay in dollars, how much in dollars?
500$ not made clear though.
so we went back to cars and got 5x 1$ bills that were mashed up (put in your footwell, mash them up, then straighen out and use, makes you look as poor as the locals).
after another 2hours arguing with them, we gave them $5 and 5x $1 mashed bills and they let us thru, then wanted another $30 odd in stupid this and that, all on the leaving romania bit. but just pay it, its not much, and they WILL not let you go without it. we actually got a few shots fired off at us!!!
bulgaria's a nice place.
BUT DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES stay out in the country, even in groups. word of mouth of foreigners spreads faster than an aussie bush fire, and there are bandits with guns, and they do use them and kidnap people quite a lot (almost their pet hobby). stay in police or electronic shop secure carparks over night, give them a few mashed $1 bills and they will let you in, maybe even feed/drink you.
also watch out for a big bastrd lump in the road, my mate swered to avoid it in his merc estate, then got side glanced by, no sht, a BULLETPROOF GLASS ARMOURED LADA NIVA WITH GUN PORTS AND TWO 18ST BULGARIAN SECRUITY GUARDS!!! car was a mess, so was theirs police sorted it out, and they were all a friendly bunch.
this lump is on the main road too, on a downward single lane stretch turning gently to the right with two lanes going the other way.
just making sure you know it, as it will kill a panda no problem
petrol is around the 78-85p mark in bulgaria, and its fair good quality, theres a station or two just before the turk border on the main road, theres also a HUGE truckstop there,that sells every single truck/car/ van spare imaganable, if you need soemthing YOU CAN get it there, theres even more hookers too. so as I said, EVERYTHING!!!
fill your car up (but no gerry cans, as there is this tashed turk wnker who hates english and he does 'triptic' its like a customs inspection after you go thru everything), as petrol in turkey is around the £1,10-20 in west turkey, and £1,30 for crp russian stuff in the coutnry £1,40 for turkish fuel, which is also crp.
I would really recomend heading to the coast with th black sea and going a fair way along there, its hot, its beautiful, its full of hot russian/turkish babes, and there are some absolutly breathtaking mountains, but more importantly some STUNNING mountain roads, some upto 3000METRES!!!
believe me, the further east you go and north, the bigger the grin on your face!!!:worship:
at the time I thought istanbul was amasing, then I found the mountain roads way to the east (north of ezerum, between there and trabzon) and never looked back. I just want a drive holiday in them there mountains!!
also, you better not care about your paintwork, as when there is road works in romaina/bulg/turkey, you just drive straight thru the middle, so get splattered in tar, after a few kilometres we gave up keeping our £100 cars tidy, and just went for it!!! managed to get tar upto and on the side windows and basically everywhere:worship:
fit mudflaps for everywhere else, there are loads of stones on the road, and the tar melts everywhere in summer.
also as for the local driving, it gets worse every mile you go east from hungary onwards, you get used to it, and start driving like them, then its OK. just don't get angry at them, as none of them take it personally when you cut them up etc, as they do it all the time.
any q's on your route or places to stay and food and stuff, just ask.
Ok, the convoy just got bigger.
A DHL Pilot friend of mine has thrown his hat into the ring. May not be in a panda but a "brave mans" camper van. 1984 comma camper van!!
He is willing to paint it with panda's though.
A DHL Pilot friend of mine has thrown his hat into the ring. May not be in a panda but a "brave mans" camper van. 1984 comma camper van!!
He is willing to paint it with panda's though.
You bringing the kid's n the dogs as well
Nope!!!!
My good man is going to join up here next time he's on the tinternet.
If I can't find a Panda can I bring the 7?
My good man is going to join up here next time he's on the tinternet.
If I can't find a Panda can I bring the 7?
NO. 7's are banned for this event
