Fast Marina Magazine

...so what do I need to bring?

The wife-to-be booked the ferry to France and we had to select a vehicle from the stable to travel in.

The modern stuff ( 2005 Opel Combo and a 00 Astra) are too boring and would be no adventure.

Green'Rina is running like a pig and has more holes than a pair of fishnets

The Spitfire is too small and is quite tiring to drive.

That left MJP ( Now ZV 462), so she's booked to bring us to France. I plan to bring some spares to get me out of trouble should I get into it.

What would you lads bring?

I'm thinking:

Thermostat and housing ( thanks to reading the travels of the red estate elsewhere on the forum)
Head Gasket
Plugs
Bulbs

Some Kneedit? :P

Fanbelt. Can of WD40.

I can't recall my old Coupe ever breaking down, although it was a pig to get started. Carried jumper leads, but always started before the battery went flat (probably just a crook condensor, but I was young and innocent ).

You can get kneedit or similar in B&Q!!!!!
Saw it there last time I popped in and thought of Kilroy!

The things that have caused me to break down - other than self or physically inflicted damage - were hoses.
Radiator hoses, heater hoses and fuel hoses - I've had all of them let go on a trip. The coolant hoses seem to react to a prolonged hot run by disintegrating just when you're looking the other way. If I were someone who was well prepared, I would probably change the damn things beforehand - but I'm not.
I guess about 7 of my 10 Marinas have still got their original hoses fitted - and the car that popped a heater hose ended up getting a used hose from another car fitted anyway. Those curved jobs are impossible to find over here.
When I removed the fuel pump from the red thing today I found that the inlet line was cracked just below the clamp. That was another potential breakdown on the way - but at least fuel line is easy to come by, so I'll change that immediately.
I wouldn't bother taking a head gasket with me - I'd just drive the thing home on whatever cylinders still worked. Chances are, if you removed the head enroute, it would be cracked, or need a valve or something, you just can't cover every eventuality.

On this trip I took two ring spanners and two adjustables - philips and flat screwdrivers, a roll of insulation tape and a tube of knead-it. I used the insulation tape to stop the mountain bikes from rattling together - but that was all.

You have to assume that all will be well - and then it usually is.!

Keep on truckin.



Edit.
This was a fuel line - it was too short to cut the damaged bit off, so I wrapped it up in a plastic supermarket bag - got us home..



This was a heater hose - lucky I noticed the temp gauge suddenly start to soar.! I removed the burst hose, and used the good one to bypass the heater by joining the two pipes together..
We were next to a river, so I used the drink bottle to transfer water.



Those are different cars...

...but the same trousers!!




Thansk for teh advice lads, much appreciated!

Mick

the fuel hose will be ok Mick as it was all new front to back, as for the rad hoses they were nos ones I had lying around so should also be ok, I can't see the electronic dissy giving any trouble and it has brand new rotor arm and dissy cap fitted new plugs and the oil was done just before you got it including the gearbox and rear axle, the exhaust is nearly new also the heater hoses were original so might be worth taking some spare hose but they were in perfect condition which is why I re fitted them, I can't see much going wrong as everything is new, brand new thermostat with new gasket brand new temp sender, all the seals on the brakes and the clutch are new the front calipers were re built with new seals, rear cylinders and shoes brand new,clutch slave is new, all new fluid......all I can say is bon voyage.....

Thats very reassuring Stu, thanks!!





All I have to do now is put the steering wheel over the other side..

I had a hacksaw here somewhere...

Have fun mate

Wont get much use whilst it's there so it should be ok

Is the back seat fixed securely? Those clips can be troublesome..........

hahahaha




Thanks lads!

Never fitted a radio, but she thinks it'll be nice to have "time to talk"...



I'm off on Sunday lads, will fill yis in if there're any Marina disasters!

M

Good luck, and have fun!

Good luck - we'll expect a full report with pictures.

1200 miles later lads and MJP did not miss a beat!



I'll upload some pics tomorrow

We knew that.

Hope you didn't miss a beat...