General Longest journey undertaken

[thisisburdett]

Evening all!

I know this is completely 'how long is a piece of string' BUT...

How long have you / would you drive at one time?

I feel like my little Fiat is lulling me in to a false sense of security, having completed a couple of 1 hour journeys through gruelling Pennine gradients I'm wondering after how long my luck would run out?

I know there are so many variables, but in good shape how far would you push it?

Also, with an original engine (not a 126) how healthy is it to have your foot completely down in 4th? Is that asking for trouble?

Ps. I think we should post more photographs! I love looking at the little blighters, great to see them in different surroundings! Perhaps with the milder weather the snaps will come out!

Dan

 

[the hobbler]

Just before and just after Ann and I got married, we did about 3 round trips in 18 months South London to Edinburgh in my 500 (with a 500 engine)--up and down the OLD A1 (lots of roundabouts that gave the engine a bit of a breather--all gone now in the name of 'Progress'). 1 mod that I did carry out was to put a 3-1/2 litre alloy sump on --the engine definitely ran cooler. Another run that I did was from West-Wickham (in Kent) to just outside Chester to collect Ann--5 hours (the engine was ticking a bit as it cooled down!)--we came back at a somewhat more leisurely pace! And don't forget, there were no 'Motorways' in those days (1971/1972). The main problem these days is that traffic is flowing so much faster that it is mentally quite a strain to drive, because of your lack of performance, for everybody else.

 

[thisisburdett]

Blimey! That is some going!

I want to get mine down to North London from just North of Manchester to drive around whilst I'm down over the summer.

Had previously looked at trailers but then thought 'it is a car after all, surely I could just drive it!?!'

How often did you break on those mammoth jaunts?
Also, did you have your foot down fully in 4th for the majority of it?

Impressed!!!

 

[Damon500]

Fiat 500's are quite capable of low speed long distance travel...

Mine all have standard 650cc engines - have done plenty of trips in them, longest was the Fiat 500 Tour Europa in 2007 when we travelled 6000km in 5 weeks from Germany, through the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, France and the UK. The same engine has now travelled 150,000km and is still running fine to this day.
For those who know Australia I have driven from Melbourne-Bathurst-Sydney and then back to Melbourne. The Sydney-Melbourne run was 900km in one (long) day...
For the Kiwis, earlier on in 1991 I did my first Fiat 500 trip from Christchurch round the North Island from Christchurch to Kaitaia and back again which was 3000km in a week- I still own the car and the engine has been untouched other than maintenance servicing and still runs fine to this day!
If the engine is healthy there is no problem taking a 500 anywhere- use a good quality oil, make sure the tappets and points gap are correctly set and most importantly- lubricate the distributor cam.
The other highly beneficial addition is to install a set of ear plugs... Soft luggage in the back seat also dulls the din somewhat!

 

[the hobbler]

I had 1 breakdown, on the A1 on the way up to Edinburgh (to help sort out our wedding arrangements)--just outside Newcastle on a Saturday afternoon! In those days (1973) 24hr shopping had not even been thought of and most places (Newcastle included) were shut on Saturday after noon. The engine just cut out--restarted, ran a mile or 2 then cut out again. The little bob-weight stops had worn off (on the underside of the bob-weights in the distributor) and the bob-weights had come out so far that they had worn a groove on the inside of the distributor--it was the ally dust created that had shorted out the points---I thought the engine had been going extremely well! Answer?--clean out the distributor interior with some petrol, a gob of grease from a front hub to LUBRICATE the groove, (so that no more dust was created) put it all back together and crank the beastie into life. It worked, and I carried on up to Edinburgh.
When Ann and I eventually moved up to Edinburgh about 3 months after we had got married, everything (and I do mean everything) we possessed fitted into the 500 and moved with us, including the hamster in it's cage (comes of being married to a Primary School teacher); 1 trip!
My advise is to take a careful look at a road atlas and work out a route that excludes motorways--it can be done, and is a darn site more pleasant
All the best with your trip--let us know how it goes. Don't forget, the car was designed by an Italian for Italians, and they only have 2 throttle positions---fully on and fully off

 

[fiat500]

I am currently resting in McDonalds in Perth (Scotland), half way from Preston to Nairn near Inverness. The 500 is outside, wsiting for a drink,of petrol. We are on the return leg and when we are home it will be about 750 miles mainly over two days. Just done 150 non stop and about to do another 120. Original engine and has never sounded better.

 

[fiat500]

I have possibly answered some of the original questions here...
https://www.fiatforum.com/500-classic/422579-murphios-meanderings.html
I rarely give it full throttle and the satnav tells me I am usually at 47mph in top gear when circumstances allow. The car feels good and is happy at that all day.

 

[Vitesse]

Just before and just after Ann and I got married, we did about 3 round trips in 18 months South London to Edinburgh in my 500 (with a 500 engine)--up and down the OLD A1 (lots of roundabouts that gave the engine a bit of a breather--all gone now in the name of 'Progress'). 1 mod that I did carry out was to put a 3-1/2 litre alloy sump on --the engine definitely ran cooler. Another run that I did was from West-Wickham (in Kent) to just outside Chester to collect Ann--5 hours (the engine was ticking a bit as it cooled down!)--we came back at a somewhat more leisurely pace! And don't forget, there were no 'Motorways' in those days (1971/1972). The main problem these days is that traffic is flowing so much faster that it is mentally quite a strain to drive, because of your lack of performance, for everybody else.

Tom were you from West Wickham originally? I was brought up in Shortlands before we moved to Beckenham when I was about 10, which is where I lived when we bought the 500, we moved a bit further out about 18 years ago.

Tony

 

[the hobbler]

Hi Tony;
Yes, the 1st address I can really remember was a big house in Shortlands, 3 Church Road; my parents shared it with another copper (Dad was in 'the Met') and we had the ground floor and part of the 1st floor--large garden at the back, big garage where dad kept car (Lanchester, then among other cars, a M45 Lagonda saloon which was the family car). We then moved to Crystal Palace Park Road (top end of Penge), where we lived until we moved out to West-Wickham. For my sins I went to the 'Beckenham and Penge Grammar School for Boys', not that it did me much good!. Bill Wyman was 1 year ahead of me and amazingly I ended up working for (and helping setting up from scratch) the M/Benz garage that looked after his car--we had some good 'do you remember###' chats. Good days.