Small road trip to Glen Etive

 so yeah a couple weekends ago there was a wee run out with some fellow Mustang owners up to Glen Etive and hopefully a photo opportunity at the James Bond Sky Fall location. Aye well the weather combined with my terrible picture taking ability meant no pictures exist but it was a fab run out. Easy driving using the torque of the Coyote and just casually bend swinging it was pretty cool. Quite a bit of the road has the vultures aka average speed cameras covering the route so overtaking even the slowest moving traffic was pretty pointless, especially when said slow moving traffic tended to hoof it down any straight section of road. Pretty darned annoying on any other open road but with avg speed cameras, meh.

Glen Etive is lovely, never been before though have driven past it a hundred or so times while heading up  / down from North so it was nice to make the turn instead of going straight on. Weather was so so all journey up and was actually at an ok state as we neared the turn off. Naturally as we got closer to the spot it all turned into a mist of soaking rain and yep cameras were at risk from drowning along with operators. So after 10 minutes tops of sitting in a handy offroad area we turned around and came back. Was still worth the trip for sure.

Trip home was interesting as it got dark long before the worst of the roads were completed so yeah in the rain, dark and 25W HID's. How exactly did anyone think 25W HID's were acceptable in any car headlight. reversing lamp yes? Driving lamp yes. Headlight? Fck no. They are pish. Utter pish. Fine in perfect weather though still crap but any kind of mist / dust / want to see any distance at all, pish. Luckily that torque we spoke about earlier came in handy and with both hands on the wheel i just followed the car in front and let the engine do the work, from 35ish to 50ish mph 5th gear is surprisingly useable. Not like it's gonna set your pants on fire out of the corner at those speeds but plenty enough to keep the pace going. Anyhow, hopefully next trip out will be in sunshine and daylight would also be nice.

Wow, new look

 but likely same rubbish content being posted. I do have things to tell you about, variable exhaust fitted, oil cooler delete and maybe a fancy pedal cover. Maybe.

Road trip!

so yesterday was a sunny day and I had a couple of sill plates to give to a mate of mine who stays at the top of Great Glen. So while cash wise it would have been cheaper to post the sills to him I wouldn't have got to catch up with him and it's been 2yrs since i last saw him. Lockdown is also lifted for leisure travel anywhere in Scotland though you can't stay over anywhere. No problem, que 350mile round trip for no other reason that I could. Mustang did the journey nicely, fuel consumption actually wasn't that bad but what a drive. 

The engine produces enough torque over the rev range than it was left in fifth and I could just apex to apex and make good progress without bogging the engine or getting all messed up with braking and downshifting. Truly a lovely feeling. Obviously if slower traffic dictated the pace then down to fourth sometimes to stop the engine lugging, yes some folks do actually drive at 40mph and with no overtaking space, everyone else behind then is stuck at the same 40mph! 

I didn't buy the car for its economy but knowing it does make good mileage means the 61L tank actually has a decent range in it. Put it this way, fuel consumption on yesterday run was far far better than the commute to work which is a ix of 60 and 30 zones. I was relieved more than impressed if I'm being honest. Road trip up North is just waiting on facilities opening up.

The new car - Gen6 GT V8 Mustang

finally I post an update to the blog. I bought a V8 5litre Ford Mustang GT and holy moses it's a big beast but first let us travel back a bit to understand the journey of how we got here.

Years ago I watched the movie Bullitt and ever since then I've wanted a Muscle Car but never thought I'd ever own one. Couple of reasons for this, firstly they are usually very expensive and perhaps more importantly the steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car! Turns out with the gen6 Mustang neither are true, well they aint cheap but they are RHD so that's a major issue resolved. No point having a powerful car if you cant see anything when trying to overtake the camper van in front of you.

The MR2 had rusted through and was BER, the 350Z replacement didn't work out so I started looking to replace that after a mere 7 months of pain. Flitted between getting a boring commuter car and then maybe once things had settled, getting a second car that would be the sporty one. Then discovered the wonder of PCP and that lead me to Finance in general. Looked at an pre registered M2 and it was nice, fancy paddle action gear shift and the twin turbo (dual turbo?) straight six. Then I saw the Mustang.. Drove an auto box one, meh wasn't so good but turns out you can flick it to Sport Mode and it behaves like the fancy M2 box but a 6 speed manual was my choice. Drove one and then that was it, had to have it. The fact it is the same body and wheel colour as the MR2 was is a mere coincidence but it did seal the deal. One owner from new, 15k miles on and i was sold on it. Fast forward seven months of ownership and then Covid hit..

Not a lot been done to it. Badly washed but it has had some miles under it. Hopefully maybe later this year we'll be allowed out again otherwise it's gonna be another long hard year of nothingness. Anyhow, a picture of the barge

The current steed

so I've traded in the Z and bought something silly and fun but a car I've always wanted to own, well a type of car I've always wanted to own. Something very different but all will be revealed in due time once I have a bit more time to do it justice. For now, just a little teaser

The 350Z episode -

so I bought the car above a 350Z HR GT s a replacement for the now rusted to beyond economical repair MR2 and yeah it didn't work out so well. Basically it was never far away from having yet another fault that required some garage work or latterly some serious garage time.

For me the biggest annoyance of the Z was the throttle response in city traffic, roundabout exit or general low speed low rev driving. The drive lash was huge and it was like stamping off and on the throttle and made pulling away from standstill messy or noisy if I used plenty of revs to keep it from bucking. really poor experience but apparently all part of the HR experience. Now I had done a fair amount of research before buying the car and i thought I had all the issues noted and knew what to look for but sometimes you only find out things by researching a specific known fault. Problem of course was I already owned the car so it was too late to find out about this issue.

The oil pressure sensor broke and then due to a silly design of is being on a raised boss in the sump (mid sump plate), this of course broke during removal which is a common issue. usually it breaks by over tightening the replacement but no mine split the sump on removing the old one. Bad enough but to the replace the sump you need to remove or at least raise the engine enough to get enough clearance underneath. That's a full days labour and of course wasn't cheap. It was the final straw for me and aftera mere 7 months of ownership I traded it in against something slightly different. 😀

Holy Moses it's been awhile since I updated!

well, what can I say other than it has been a fair few years since I updated this space. Whats happened, well a couple of car changes for start so lets start at the beginning or rather finish off where this was left before.

Many many miles have passed under the bridge and as many smiles during the motoring experience. Can't remember adding any more modifications to the car, it was where it needed to be and it was just maintenance that got carried out with occasion repair for rust or seized bolts / worn out parts.

Late 2018 the MR2 succumbed to the dreaded rot that blights our shores- rust. Rear arches were rotten all the way through from the inners to the point where you could look from the boot straight through the floor into the wheel well and see the tyre underneath. It was a shocking discovery and one that signalled the end of the ownership. 15 years, 172k miles (org turbo) 112k miles under my ownership and the end was nigh. No more money was going to be spent as the rust had one and nothing I could do was going to prevent it coming back, well a spaceframe chassis would have done it as most of the bodywork was good if faded but realistically not an option.

So onwards and upwards I moved to stripping the car  down and getting the bulky bits sold off. The engine and gearbox etc went to Germany for an engine swap but not before a power run to see the health of the engine. Now, bear in mind this engine was original turbo unit, ceramic turbocharger (exhaust side / intake side I can't remember which) and at 12psi it did 220hp at the hubs! Sadly it was heat soaking on the hi boost runs but still managed 232hp at the hubs. Not bad eh? Sounded good doing that lot too heh heh. So with those pictures and videos of the dyno run the engine was sold as a healthy working unit. It will live on chasing Porsches down the autobahns, I like to think so anyway.

So with that bombshell we shall move onwards to the next stage. The replacement, another 2 seater as it turned out and another Japanese model. In black, with a meaty V6. Stay tuned :)

collect car tomorrow -

 after the sills have been replaced.. Kinda nervous about how it looks but dont have time to be. MOT booked Monday so it's all fingers crossed and then onwards and upwards. Well, maybe more sideways with the way the weather has been.. snow, ice and general freezing conditions. Oh and rain, did I mention the constant rain :(

er it's been a while..

 and the new layout is shocking! Why change things that don't need changing into something that's a mess! grrr

Anyways, MOT looming so list of things
new windscreen - done
new rear tyres - fitted tomorrow Falken 453's - couldn't afford anything better, see below
new sills - Saturday car goes in to the garage for that one :(

weather is terrible but still made it out -

for a wee hurl in the car. Got up nice and early to get petrol only to discover I still had half a tank in the car, woo hoo result! Drove straight to the hand wash place, got the car done and off for a wee jaunt I went. Not the greatest weather but I still had some fun and it gave the car a run. Did I mention the weather is shocking :(

128k miles -

 still raises a smile to drive it, hopefully get a good summer out of the car and then we'll see what happens MOT time November.

motoring part 2: Ford RS Focus -

so having a wee run this morning and a white RS Focus with a private plate pops out in front of me. At first I thought he was just putt putting about but then he went for it and I thought game on!

So, in a straight line I was able to pull a little back on him and into the braking areas I was really on him, though I suspect he was being more cautious and I was using him as my braking marker so easier maybe for me? He was pretty quick out of the corners and gained a bit which I then pulled back under power and again into the braking. Neither of us were going to overtake the other as that would be silly speeds and so not worth the risk on a road that wasn't suitable.

No idea what his car was running other than a private plate with 300 in the reg, big exhaust and gleaming white. Was a nice car I have to say and it certainly shifted ok. He didn't leave me behind either so I'm happy enough. When I turned off the road I gave him a flash of the lights and a wave :)

vtec.... snigger hehe

 now don't get me wrong, VTEC is a wonderful engineering masterpiece but it's not the silver bullet for every possible motoring situation. Take today, Civic Type R 56 plate and he's motoring along til gets held up by slower traffic. So I'm behind him patiently waiting my turn to overtake the Sunday driver and suddenly Type R goes for it. I follow straight away and keep my foot in it. Type R stays on the other side of the raod and doesn't pull back in, I'm now feathering the throttle as I've caught him up. Type R pulls over after a gear change that frankly I'd be ashamed of and I plant the throttle again. Result - I pull clear of him and fire some VPower at him on my gearshift (one of my better ones!)

Is my car better, clearly not. His is newer and handles way better but no amount of gearing and clever  valve technology is going to make 140ftlb outdrag 250ftlb when the vehicles in question weigh near enough the same.

cambelt replaced -

 so that's one thing less to worry about. Sadly the sill didn't like the weight of the car being rested on it and it er failed :( I suspected it wasn't repaired properly and it's just proven it so ho hum another job required. The joys of older car ownership.

On the plus side I got the handbrake sorted or at least we established why it wasn't working even with the BBK on. Turns out the wrong handbrake cables were fitted, rev1 instead of rev2+ and the rev1 units are shorter and to get them to fit the return spring was moved and clipped on to the edge of the bracket not into it's slot. The adjuster was also at the shortest point..... you'd have thought that would have been noticed at the time of replacement... oh and the fact the handbrake cables have different colours of bands on them... sorted now lol.

that'll be a new windscreen then -

 a fair sized crack just under the wiper arms, which is my excuse for not noticing it before :( I'll see if it survives til nearer the MOT time as I'm oging to try and get a few drives in this year so no point in a brand new windscreen til after then.

so it's that time of (almost) every cars life..

.. when the cambelt / timing belt needs a bit of TLC and that time is now. 5yrs since it was last done and that means I've owned this car for nearly eleven years! That's a long time for anything to stay the same and I have to say while it's not as fresh as the first day I drove it, dammit it still makes me smile and raises the pulse whenever I want it to!

So I'm heading down to SBits in a couple of weeks for it to be done, 4yrs, 11 months and 2wks since it was last done.. at least Peter can't complain about the last person to do the belt change lol

went out for a wee hurl -

couldn't open the drivers due to frost, managed to eventually get into the car through the passenger side. Trying to get over the centre console into the drivers seat so I could start the engine (and take it out of gear) was not the easiest nor most elegant of maneuvers lol.

Got car started and let it idle for a bit then cleaned off the ice from the windows. Drove off very carefully as the entire street was a sheet of ice..... should have given me a clue eh? Anyways, a wee run up by Strathblane and down via Drymen was completed at a very sedate pace as the although roads were mostly clear, they had about as much grip as a skid pan. 2nd gear + boost = wheel spin, repeat for 3rd and 4th and I never tried fifth lol. Anything like positive boost pressure and the rears just couldn't hold on so I gave up trying :) A nice wee drive in the sun nevertheless.

Stay safe out there folks

sunday afternoon fun :) -

a wee run out with some friends in the typical Scottish November weather. Bit of rain, bit of sunshine and some fog thrown in just for that atmospheric feeling. Bend swinging behind a 01 plate 911 I'm thinking that handles quite well.... as I drift wide and generally have a moment! So with attitude adjusted I approach the corners a bit more focused. Fabby lunch in a typical country pub / hotel and then repeat the trip home.

On the motorway run home briskly pulled away from a roundabout and did everything right, no moments no under steer no drama. Got it nice and straight and then thought yep this is the time. Queue right hoof, 3rd gear, 16odd psi and as it pulls through 50 the back end starts coming round. Funny thing is the 2 cars in front of me were having exactly the same moment! Queue much swearing and opposite lock :) Fun fun fun

MOT passed -

nothing needing work, no attention needed everything ok. Tester looked at brakes and was heard to mention, yep that'll work! woo hoo! 16yo motor 126K miles and still amkes me smile. Still drinks SUL like Oliver Reed on a mission though lol

a wee weekend drive away -

ok so last weekend in July and a cheeky wee drive is on the cards

Friday kick off up through Glen Coe towards Fort William and it's tbars oot and on with the sun tan lotion


Somewhere north of Aviemore I find this strange character following me to Inverness - it is the Jaffa man



Due to leaving late afternoon and stopping off at Gaz's for a Chinese takeaway we were a little late in getting to Ullapool. So after getting the tents up we have a beer to celebrate a simply stunning late evening drive from Inveress to Ullapool and then legging it from the midges (no wind for once at the campsite = swarms of the barstewards)

Sunset at the campsite



Camp fire anyone - it actually didn't scare the midges off the little blighters


I cannot explain this picture though according to my phone it was 215am...


A couple of pics from the Saturday drive up by Durness and along to Tongue, tbars oot again :) A first for the club. A run with only MR2 turbos's, 3 tintops and 2 tbars (oot again and on with the sun lotion and shades)




some more bods arrive on Saturday evening but due to missed calls the tents were up in another part of the campsite however they were swiftly moved over




Another pic of the MX5, this was shot on Sunday after the pissing rain had passed and all the tents were down. Tbars oot again lol







As a complete aside, the car clocked up the 126k mile marker on the way home Sunday at Loch Lomond. Not bad going I reckon