Helensburgh to Skye: Glencoe and the Ferry

Sunday

The planned run is north, past the Faslane submarine base, Glencoe and on towards Skye.

Day 2 - AM - Towards the Green Welly
Cars: Joined by Callum in the Sylva and the Porsche

Easing us into the highland roads, the path north along the A82 winds and bucks like a roller coaster, mostly two way roads and perfect to blow away cobwebs/wake us up and shift like only a 7 can...

Route on Google Maps

The hotel carpark becomes our makeshift pits & assembly point; long shadows betray the 8am hour.

Most of us checking oil/coolant etc.

Before all the wraps are off Dan is already at work, Camshaft in hand!

Timing issues and oil leak issues meant it needed removing and re-installing; problem was lack of tools to re-set the timing. Ultimately through team effort and help from Andy/Keith amongst others the appropriate torx bit was secured (Sunday morning) and Dan was running again...

All ready to run at about 11:00; Dan encounters more teething problems with the 'fixed' engine but eventually all heading north:

Blue skies here to stay & mirror like water you only see in Scotland (ok, I've only seen in Scotland), this is from Inveraray

We meet up again at the Green Welly for lunch: sandwiches & ice cream.

Day 2 - PM - Glencoe and on to Skye
Cars: Joined by the Ferrari who promptly vanishes with the Porsche (somewhere)

A82 - sweeping fast road through the spectacular Glencoe, this year the mountain tops all have snow but the air is clear and fresh;

Route on Google Maps

I think this is Glencoe... could be wrong...
Its possible the parascender, look carefully for the red smudge centre frame, a couple of hundred metres up is the only person with a better view than us about 6" off the ground..

Kinlochleven village at the end of the loch is another chance to pause; 

hmm, Terry's bonnet open a sign of problems to come...

The stops are a chance to wander away from the cars for a few minutes relax and take in the scenery:

The road on the North side of Loch Leven, I started with the fast group, then change my mind, hang back - decide to take it easy and grab some photos. Cooler on this side in the lee of the mountains:

Fort William is the next meeting point to re-group and wind down with some selfie silliness, then fuel stop and provisions stop:

 

Tyre stop

Then to the Glenelg Ferry; fast run past Ben Nevis up the A82 and A87 then a winding road to Glenelg. Split into two groups again by this point - but arrived on Andy and some others part way to the Ferry. He had ripped a 2" gash in his offside rear tyre!

Tyre weld wasn't going to fix it - but my car, the only one with a spare, was not far behind and since both our running gear was Ford Sierra based a quick swap and he was up and running.

The Glenelg Ferry 

The ferry takes 7-8 cars at a time and usually stops around 18:00; luckily the first group being already part way across sent it back for us. To our shame we didn't do the same for Simon & Andrew behind us, we assumed they already took the Skye bridge route after waiting 10-20 minutes. Sorry Simon & Andrew.

The ferry was new to me - a turntable on deck means its us, with the cars, that spins around rather than the barge - care taken when loading to balance everything while the turntable is at right angles.

Andy's new toy - selfie stick - helps to capture the mood: John, Derek, Callum, Andy, David & Me:

Dunollie Hotel in Broadford Skye:
Fantastic location & good bar, the rooms are pot luck and range from loch views to little more than the size of a bed - but hot showers and simple, good, food here!

This evenings puzzle: how to fit the cars in the corner of the small carpark..

Evening meal - 

  Left front to back   : Simon, Dan, David, John & Stuart

  Right back to front : Mark, Andy, Terry, Me(Hidden), Keith, Andrew & Callum 

  (Paul taking the picture)

There was even talk of northern lights, I think we managed about 5 minutes looking for them before retiring to some well earned sleep:

A long day; some great roads, all looking pink now from the sun,  tomorrow will be the most demanding leg - Sky & Applecross passes!

(Maps are not entirely acurate due to blogger/google maps embedding, some pictures courtesy other members of the trip)

Heading North: M1 J29A to Helensburgh

Saturday

Day 1 - AM - Meeting up and Lambretta Motorcycles

Cars: Me, Andrew, Dan, David, Keith, Paul, Simon, Terry

First day of the run proper, we meet at M1 J29A, Ferrybridge and Boroughbridge services.

First glitches of the trip worked around - David's starter button decided to ignore requests to start the engine (I push started him at the hotel) & Dan had issues generally with engine setup & brakes which he would he would wrangle with the whole trip but ultimately overcome:

Heading up through the Yorkshire Dales and Lake District for an impromptu lunch at a fuel stop just outside Keswick. A local RhoCar club member drove across from Scotch Corner to meet us & accompany part of the way on.

Great country driving, but competing with what must have been a national outing of Lambretta mopeds through the Dales - they seemed to be everywhere belching 2 stroke oil and some surprisingly nippy! Frustratingly they also tended to ride in groups and long lines making overtaking challenging.

Route on Google Maps

As we ran through villages the party split into two groups; I saw the four cars ahead get stuck in local traffic and my satnav was showing an alternate - so I followed it with David, Simon and Andrew, continuing the run until a likely spot just after Hawes:

Tried to get in touch but typically no signal on mobile phones - so after some garbled texts and attempts at conversation; headed onwards to attempt a re-join at Kendal.

Arriving at Kendal we started to wonder where to meet. Kendal has a one way system around/through the town with no obvious meeting point, then coincidence struck as our group of four cars pulled almost directly behind the others in the high street - a sign of the luck to follow as issues tended to resolve themselves on the whole trip.

Day 1 - PM - The run into Helensburgh

After lunch heading north again; the party split up as some of the group ran into technical issues, their focus changed away from scenic to direct routes to get to the destination at a reasonable hour.

A few texts to check if I should wait or continue resolved I should continue, so kept moving on the original planned route taking me through Dumfries and Kilmarnock. Navigation errors, read driver failure to take notice of the satnav, taking me through the centre of Glasgow meant I also ended up behind Simon.

At the outskirts of Helensburgh Andy and Jon were waiting & after we worked out the remainder of the group took the main road in we four arrived last at the hotel.

Route on Google Maps

Travelodge is basic, but clean and good showers; right on the front so excellent views across to Gare Loch and across the Clyde. Time for a pint & food in the pub next door with talk about the journey to come:

Can't complain about the view from my window:

Numbers would be complete in the morning with Callum & a couple of Andy's friends arriving for the drive.

(Maps are not entirely acurate due to blogger/google maps embedding, some pictures courtesy other members of the trip)

Here we go - goodbye Kent!

Friday

Packed, Fuelled, oil & coolant checked - its time to make a move.

Starting around lunchtime to try and avoid commuter traffic I'm heading north - a couple of hundred miles will put me within minutes of the start and meeting with the others in the morning.

Motorway driving - but a good final shakedown of the car

Route on Google Maps

Found the hotel, and by the time I checked in David pulled up in the carpark too.

We are off & all set for the morning!

Radio Headphone circuit

Still faffing with the radio; which isn't audible through the speakers over about 40-50mph.

The head-unit has separate amplifiers on +ve and -ve speaker lines & with headphones taking a common ground it needs a little workaround. Connecting left and right -ve or +ve lines will upset the head-unit amps.

The solution, cribbed from googling and reading through various forums is a current limiting and AC passthrough circuit wired into the +ve side of the speaker feeds and the common ground from the headphones back through the chassis ground:

I'm also incorporating a simple double pole single throw switch which isolates the speakers when not in use. I can't use the normal automatic switching 3.5mm jack socket due to the requirements of the circuit.

Decided on a small aluminium bezel for the components:

...and in situ:

Works well enough while stationary; test will be whether its any better when moving and through speakers added inside my helmet.

Update - doesn't like iPhone headphones - the vocals almost always drop out, better response on the helmet speakers though. I suspect the circuit needs some audio quality capacitors and/or some adjustment in capacitor value. If the radio is outputting certain freqs. on the -ve vs +ve speaker lines then its a whole other problem.

It's probably the issue of having to use chassis ground in the first place - at a probable completely different potential to the audio outputs.

Update - in the process of replacing this circuit with a specific amp.

Update - re-created the bezel in formica so its non conductive and can use a metal case socket.

Scotland 2015 - Preparation

Preparation and now the countdown to the Scottish Highlands run:

Hotels are booked, time off work booked, route being finalised by other club members and I'm in the process of designing the group sticker/badge.

This year's badge style is along the lines of a band tour shirt:

and on the car...

and on the satnav splash screen...

The sticker only tells half the story, I'm starting in Maidstone so have another 942 ish miles on top to get to/from the start line. The group will build as we head north, meeting up at services local to each driver & we take a scenic diversion through the Lake District on the way.

Touch wood the car is running fine, should be just a fluids and pressures test then heading north.

GBS Run Out

First excuse of the year for a run & back to GBS for their 2015 run out.

Headed north on Saturday, overnight stop in Retford in time to see the last 6 nations Rugby match at the The Galway Arms then met up for approx. 118 mile run on the Sunday. Finishing at a The Plough in Cropwell Butler for (in my case) steak pie and chips.

Tea and biscuits laid on at GBS, time for a chat and to digest the printed route plan:

The map shows only my round trip; the middle part between GBS and The Plough was the run itself - 14 cars and a fantastic convoluted route along A & B roads which certainly tested my driving.

Route on Google Maps

A few pictures en-route courtesy GBS

The Zero behaved itself - cooling not a problem, although the horn stopped working at some point (entirely possible it wasn't working all weekend, I think the only time I use it is to 'toot' goodbye at the end of meets)

Returned home about 9pm on the Sunday evening - best part of 500 miles all in ODO now showing 6,136 miles. Good shakedown for Scotland at the end of April which will be more like 1,400 miles in total including the north/south legs.

Oil Change

5,638 Miles Oil & Oil Filter change.

More an annual ritual than needing it; allowed another check on Oil quality/quantity coming out, no signs of water in it from the overheat.

All set for the summer now.

Helmet & Skirt

With Scotland 2014 being 'sun burn' weather and the other long trips over the last 18 months having the luck of the weather the law of averages means I am bound to encounter some bad weather this year...

Preparation for getting wet in the car and a little comfort on the long motorway runs to/from events will now consist V2 Sport crash helmet enhanced with this morning's project: a skirt to stop the wind whistling around my chin and neck. Designed purely for road use I am not trying to meet any track standards.

Out with the sewing machine: simple band of waxed cotton, hemmed, lined in the front and 10mm velcro on the top edge to attach to the helmet. The fabric doesn't stretch so I left the back open/velcro close to ease donning and removal:

Test fit seems to work:

..of course a little nod in the design to James Hunt, I don't have the long blonde hair to go with it anymore though :)

Acid test will be whether it flaps too much in use and how long the self adhesive velcro on the helmet stays in place.

Update - 50 mile test drive, so far so good - the skirt removes the 'air blade' effect at my chin. Success.

Timing belt change

Haynes recommends approx. 100k miles to renew the timing belt & elsewhere on the web I've seen recommendation of anywhere between 75-100k miles and 10 years whichever is sooner.

The car only has around 5,500 miles on the clock, but the engine was manufactured in 2004 - so, partly for the sake of  a challenge, I decided to replace the belt.

For reference - the one that came off had no signs of wear, no cracking when folded on itself etc & the idler and tensioner looked brand new.

I'll not describe the whole procedure, I used a Haynes 2004 Ford Focus manual for the main reference , a couple of youtube videos and some chatting on RhoCar before starting.

Things to consider on this process/learned checklist:

• An impact wrench makes things much easier (possible even) - cam sprocket bolts are T55 torx
• The cam sprocket holding tool I had was not designed to hold the crank pulley too (protruding lugs too large diameter)
• The timing tools to lock the cam shaft & the crank are a must have
• Cam sprockets and crankshaft sprocket are held on by friction/correct torque on their respective  bolts - no woodruff keys
• The water pump pulley does have to come off because the middle cover plate has a torx bolt behind it.
• The alternator bottom bracket has to come off to allow the belt middle cover to come off - fiddly due to lack of room even on the wider GT chassis
• Never loosen anything with the timing cam lock or crank pin in place - any torque on them and things can bend/brake, but at the same time be conscious too much movement will cause damage to the valves.
• Always turn the crank clockwise (see exception when turning back 1/4 of a rotation mid job)
• The cam locking bar might not 'slide in' with the original belt in place - a little movement flex in the belt means it could be very tight to slide the bar in at this stage - in any event its not needed until later

Parts

• The timing belt kit for the 2.0 Blacktop: SKF VKMA 04214 this includes the belt and replacement pulleys.
• Cam cover gasket search for: Ford Focus 2.0 Gasket kit (eBay).

Covers off reference shot - it was at this point I discovered I had no chance of getting the crank bolt out with a breaker bar and settled on impact wrench approach instead.

Intermediate stage - cylinder 1 @ TDC, intake valve just closed exhaust not opened yet - i.e. compression cycle. Double checked with a dowel(Paintbrush through the plug hole) & the cam locking bar offered up and visible at the back of the engine on the second shot.

Loosening the sprockets with the impact wrench, & spanner on the cam shaft flats. 

Cam lock bar & crank pin is removed. At this point I rotated the crank 1/4 of a turn anti-clockwise, thus if anything moved while loosening the sprocket bolts there is no force on the locking bar, and no chance of a valve hitting a piston.

Lots of steps not pictured (theres nothing to see), its a reasonably straightforward process, with crank turned clockwise against its timing pin and camshafts locked on their bar - pulleys & new belt back on, torqued then careful 2x turn of the engine by hand to ensure everything still lines up & the tension pulley in the same place, 2x manual turn again as a double check, then re-assembly and good to go!

Bottom belt cover

I had a plan re the bottom pulley which didn't quite pan out. I ran into issues tring to remove the crank/pulley nut (before I obtained an impact wrench, 115nm torque) so instead removed the bottom belt cover with the pulley in place. The intention was to reuse at least the top half of the cover - but in the end pretty much destroyed it during removal.

Plan now will be some ali floor just under the pulley to reduce chance of any debris ingress, + restore at least the top half of the bottom cover.

Update - new bottom belt cover installed

Test run

Just back from a test run down the motorway/back roads & everything seems to be fine!