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General Murphio's Meanderings

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General Murphio's Meanderings

Murf is running short of places in the north of Scotland that he hasn't been to, so he jumped at the chance to board a ferry and leave the mainland for Orkney.
We covered 400 miles in two days and he's never sounded better. The return trip included a non-stop 70 mile dash on some amazing rolling roads from John o' Groats down towards Golspie which seem to have been designed for a 500. With the clear, early-evening sunshine, the blue sky and matching North Sea and the enthusiastic little engine kicking out warmth I don't remember ever enjoying driving a car so much.
Roll on the next trip. :)

We fancied this small house on Orkney:

FER_9070 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

Life on the open road:

FER_9074 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

Being on a fairly small island, the sea is pretty much everywhere.

FER_9043 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
 
I contribute to two classic car forums; this one and one actually called "The Classic Car Forum". Proof, (were it needed) that I get about in Murf quite a bit came today in an unexpected posting on that forum from someone who had spotted me yesterday on his dashcam.

http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=20350&highlight=

This is the same forum that Tony and me both documented our restorations; Tony being somewhat more thorough and perfectionist than me.:eek:

Tony (Vitesse): http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=14089

Me: http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=13107
 
fiat500 said:
I contribute to two classic car forums; this one and one actually called "The Classic Car Forum". Proof, (were it needed) that I get about in Murf quite a bit came today in an unexpected posting on that forum from someone who had spotted me yesterday on his dashcam.

http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=20350&highlight=

This is the same forum that Tony and me both documented our restorations; Tony being somewhat more thorough and perfectionist than me.:eek:

Tony (Vitesse): http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=14089

Me: http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=13107
Click to expand...

Oh that’s really interesting timing, as my thread ended over three years ago on completion of the 650 engine and guess what I decided to do? See my new thread!
 
I’ll post it tomorrow as it’s driving me mad and I’ve deleted it three time by accident!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
fiat500 said:
I contribute to two classic car forums; this one and one actually called "The Classic Car Forum". Proof, (were it needed) that I get about in Murf quite a bit came today in an unexpected posting on that forum from someone who had spotted me yesterday on his dashcam.

http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=20350&highlight=

This is the same forum that Tony and me both documented our restorations; Tony being somewhat more thorough and perfectionist than me.:eek:

Tony (Vitesse): http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=14089

Me: http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=13107
Click to expand...

Well that was a good way to spend my Saturday evening looking through the two Restorations.

I was planning to go out to the garage and do some more polishing but you saved me from venturing into the 5 C temp garage.

I also caught a glimpse of the Austin 10 when Murph was waiting for wheel bearings.

Very nice.
 
Last edited:
1500500 said:
I also caught a glimpse of the Austin 10 when Murph was waiting for wheel bearings.

Very nice.
Click to expand...

The Austin 10 was the love of my life for a very long time but totally impractical and would never have been used once Murf was up and running.

As said before, I rarely clean the car, and lately we have had an enormous quantity of yellow pollen in the air. This part of Scotland is rampant with wild gorse and broom (local name "whin bushes"), such that all cars and windows etc. are covered in the stuff; hence the attractive surface pattern on the bodywork and the roof after the morning dew has worked on it (you can still see the shine though. ;) )

FER_0329 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

FER_0330 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

I wondered if a quick drive would sort it out so I spent the afternoon in a place with the forbidding name of "The Black Isle"; not that bad though, is it?

FER_0421 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

On a narrow spit of land that leads to a dolphin-watching spot called Chanonry Point you are worryingly flanked by a golf-course on both sides of a single-track, 30 mph limited road.

FER_0471 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

When I returned to the car, having spotted no dolphins I had a front wheel puncture and this allowed me to test the suitability of my non-standard bottle-jack which worked a treat. I have since fixed the puncture but now I've spotted a small oil-leak from the rocker gasket which I must attend to tomorrow. :bang:
 
Love these posts! They are very envy-inducing. Scotland is beautiful -was there (Edinburgh) for the first time last year.
 
1500500 said:
There was a time when Peter thought he could stop posting to Murphio’s Meanderings, but by popular demand the photos kept coming.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure it was popular demand; I think I couldn't resist taunting everyone about the fun that they could be having.:D...as I was today;

I did around 130 miles to and from a place called Glenlivet (think whisky :) )
In doing so I passed through Grantown on Spey, which I have done many times before.

FER_1419 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

I drove up to a track high above the town
FER_1410 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
before stopping to admire the gatehouse at Castle Grant.

FER_1437 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
 
We're on a roll with another 170 miles covered on a trip to Brora and other places on the north-east coast. This area is not as wild as the west but is very interesting and has a long historical connection with commercial inshore fishing. Here's Murf at Balintore:

FER_1681 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

There is series of small fishing villages that are distantly by-passed by the main road and to be honest, despite living up here for almost 30 years I didn't realise that they were here. We found some colourfully co-ordinated houses:

FER_1665 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr

One of the villages, which is called Nigg is at the edge of a sheltered and very deep sea-loch, so it has been developed as an oil-terminal and oil-rig maintenance and construction yard. Here we are climbing the hill to get away from the industry with the Cromarty Firth and all the queued-up rigs behind us.

FER_1695 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
 
Like the rest of the UK, here in Scotland we've finally been able to sample some normal Greek weather. With the temperature steadily at more than 27C, I tested the engine's hot weather ability on a 250+ mile, sunroof-open, round tour of Aberdeenshire. Half of this was conducted on some of the county's steep roads across from Nairn to Braemar. With regular stops to photograph the landscape and some holiday cottages I had plenty of opportunities to assess the car's hot-starting ability and general touchability of the engine-lid, (this has been established as the benchmark test for a overheated engine). :D The real heat problem was for the road surface. In one place I had to slow down when I started loosing grip and could see big chunks ripped out by previous traffic; this doesn't seem to happen in Greece.:confused:

It would be stupid to say that the engine was no hotter than on a normal day but even so, it didn't sound or smell hot, make any odd noises or have any difficulty starting when hot; I also managed to get 55mpg. I'm lucky and didn't have traffic lights and jams to deal with but I think that all this is down to having the car adjusted properly and keeping the engine revving all time.
FER_2252 by Peter Thompson, on FlickrFER_2238 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr/1787/43076066501_7020dfc832_c.jpg[/img][/url]FER_2237 by Peter Thompson, on FlickrCorgarff Castle by Peter Thompson, on Flickr FER_2214 by Peter Thompson, on FlickrFER_2527 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
 
Interesting regarding the hot starting. I think people read too much into this problem because after all the car was designed and ultimately used most in a country that generally is a lot hotter to our average summer temps.

It’s testimony to your skills in setting the car up right that it is clearly running so sweetly in hotter weather than we tend to be used to. I have to say when I ran my 500 daily for commuting in all weather for well over two years. I could rely on it daily basis without a single worry, bar the occasional hiccup every few months and that was running with a conventional points and condenser setup. But I also think this shows that these cars do really run best when they are used regularly. They don’t like sitting there doing nothing for weeks on end.

If for instance today you pulled up switched the engine off and then literally tried to restart it within a couple of moments. How many times would you need to pull the lever up and crank the engine over before it restarted. Would it be instantly or maybe a couple of times?
 
Living in the south east, I would die to have a go on those roads up north. Very jealous of the stunning views and clear and empty roads!


R
 
Vitesse said:
If for instance today you pulled up switched the engine off and then literally tried to restart it within a couple of moments. How many times would you need to pull the lever up and crank the engine over before it restarted. Would it be instantly or maybe a couple of times?
Click to expand...

With the previous engine, the worse situation was when you left it a bit longer than that; for instance when at the petrol station....a gap of a couple of minutes when in theory the petrol gets to evaporate. But in both cases the engine currently starts instantly on first pull of the starter as long as I depress the throttle a touch.

The more i use the car the more convinced I have become that the key areas to get right on this engine are timing and valve clearances to be spot-on. After 6,000 miles on this engine there was only a very slight closing-up of one tappet.
 
fiat500 said:
The more i use the car the more convinced I have become that the key areas to get right on this engine are timing and valve clearances to be spot-on. After 6,000 miles on this engine there was only a very slight closing-up of one tappet.
Click to expand...

Yep totally agree I think valve clearances are key. They rattle away at a rate of knots, so they are one of the parts that are most likely to self adjust themselves. They are certainly one of the major causes of the hot starting problem.
 
No problems with any kind of starting over the last few days when Sheila and I had a rare, long-distance leisure trip in Murf. As she said, it was like a "busman's holiday" for me but it was nice to show someone else the beautiful places I have found and to be able to stop and sample the fantastic food and drink that is available en-route.
We chose to camp overnight which meant that the entire back seat was laden with a lot of paraphernalia and although Sheila's no porker, I did have some misgivings that performance might suffer, particularly on the hills. I needn't have worried as Murf was easily up to the job. For the first time since fitting a 650 engine I tackled the Bealach na Ba; a notoriously steep and tricky road with hairpin bends and gradients of 20%. With 499cc I had needed to use first gear on the worst section and although there was no fear of not being able to make it, I needed to keep up the momentum on the bends. This time I didn't use first gear at all and we weren't phased when we had to manoevre around an idiot who decided to stop on a hairpin bend to admire the view.:bang:
We pitched our tent at Applecross and went off to expore in the car. When we came back, by chance, three German gents had parked-up next to us driving an MGA, an MGTC and a Dutton respectively. They were most impressed since they hadn't been aware that Fiat made RHD 500's and wondered had it been assembled in the UK?
Sheila now thinks that I drive the car for its properties as a babe-magnet. Having said that, we're talking male and female "babes" and mostly over the age of 50; the car was a great attraction as we toured around at low speed for most of the time apart from a brief spell at 70mph to overtake a lorry.
In all, 220 miles in beautiful sunshine and scenery and more repetitive photographs. :D:D:D

FER_2584 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
FER_2616 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
FER_2621 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
FER_2726 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
 
fiat500 said:
.....................three German gents had parked-up next to us driving an MGA, an MGTC and a Dutton respectively. They were most impressed since they hadn't been aware that Fiat made RHD 500's
............low speed for most of the time apart from a brief spell at 70mph to overtake a lorry.
............

Click to expand...


Well the three Germans must have been informed by the dealer in the UK I spoke to who told me Fiat didn't make any RHD early cars and they must have been all converted"
650 - 70mph errrr my N has a 650 engine and it's scary at 30.. I'd best not push it that far
And I was convinced the last pic was some form of campsite with some strange looking tents.... or do I need new glasses!!!
 
If your 'N' feels scary at 30mph Peter (Bigvtwin Peter, not Nairn Peter)I would suggest that something is not set up correctly.I regularly drive my 500 at 65-70, occasionally well exceeding that and it feels fine. My target with the '650' engine was 80mph, which it can exceed---when I eventually get my '695' engine fitted, my target is 90mph, and I see no reason why a 500, if it is set up correctly, should be fine to drive at that speed.
 
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