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1969 Fiat 500F Restoration Resolution
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colwyn500



Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 1745
Location: Nairn, Scotland

PostPosted: Mon Mar 16, 2015 10:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

http://www.unique-cottages.co.uk/cottages/west-coast/hebrides/ah6-boreray-cottage

Can't post internal since these are copyright of my employer but I can lead you to the website.
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kevin2306



Joined: 01 Jul 2013
Posts: 1359
Location: nr Llangollen, north wales

PostPosted: Mon Mar 16, 2015 10:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

colwyn500 wrote:
http://www.unique-cottages.co.uk/cottages/west-coast/hebrides/ah6-boreray-cottage

Can't post internal since these are copyright of my employer but I can lead you to the website.


Gonna try and get wifey interested in a week there
Thanks for the link

Kev
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D4B



Joined: 28 Dec 2010
Posts: 2083
Location: Hampshire UK

PostPosted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 8:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

kevin2306 wrote:
colwyn500 wrote:
http://www.unique-cottages.co.uk/cottages/west-coast/hebrides/ah6-boreray-cottage

Can't post internal since these are copyright of my employer but I can lead you to the website.


Gonna try and get wifey interested in a week there
Thanks for the link

Kev


Will she be traveling to there in style and comfort in your lovely Singer, or with the wind in her hair pillion style on the R80?
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kevin2306



Joined: 01 Jul 2013
Posts: 1359
Location: nr Llangollen, north wales

PostPosted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 5:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

D4B wrote:
kevin2306 wrote:
colwyn500 wrote:
http://www.unique-cottages.co.uk/cottages/west-coast/hebrides/ah6-boreray-cottage

Can't post internal since these are copyright of my employer but I can lead you to the website.


Gonna try and get wifey interested in a week there
Thanks for the link

Kev


Will she be traveling to there in style and comfort in your lovely Singer, or with the wind in her hair pillion style on the R80?


Most likely very quickly in the bmw 520 lol.
Be a nice drive in the singer tho, worth considering actually

Kev
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colwyn500



Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 1745
Location: Nairn, Scotland

PostPosted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 10:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd be the last to discourage you going in a classic, Kev, but that's a really long drive for you....even in a modern.

My journey wouldn't have been a success without me getting back home again, and I have done.

I woke up for the Harris ferry to a beautiful sunrise:

DSC_2447 by peterthompson, on Flickr

The dampener on the morning was a dopey woman who didn't put on her handbrake on the slipway to the ferry whilst rooting for her papers. I was outside the car and saw it happen from a distance. She was oblivious to my shouting. The bumper got flattened a little.Evil or Very Mad It has sorted the ends which curved in too much due to the past owners' misdemeanors. I don't know what to do, live with it as usual, try to straighten, claim on insurance or just ask her for the cash for a new one Rolling Eyes

DSC_2746 by peterthompson, on Flickr

The scenery was as epic as ever. Even when I stopped here, in the middle of nowhere, a very friendly local man stopped to admire the car.

DSC_2464 by peterthompson, on Flickr

I had quite a drive up though the hills that separate Harris from Lewis. There is a major set of roadworks to widen this very narrow twisty road. It's a sign of the calmness of the place that such huge earthworks including rock-breaking on a massive scale doesn't need traffic lights or a convoy system. A man just calmly put up his hand and made me wait. So quiet is it that I was able to stop in the roadworks for a photo...incredible.

DSC_2478 by peterthompson, on Flickr

I made it to the ferry just in time but got the prime position. The ferry guy joked, would I make it up the ramp? Another conversation with someone referred to a 500 which had been by the roadside near Stornoway last summer, For Sale. I wonder where that is now?

DSC_2751 by peterthompson, on Flickr

In all I did over 340 miles in the two days and used about 35 litres of petrol.
Confidence in the car is at 100% and more trips are planned.

I made another of the regular videos of a short section of typical road in Harris. http://youtu.be/X4X85TB1f6M
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kevin2306



Joined: 01 Jul 2013
Posts: 1359
Location: nr Llangollen, north wales

PostPosted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 10:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Poor murph!
I'd make her pay up for a new one and hang it in the garage for the day you decide you can't live with the altered item (which looks ok in the pic)

Stunning pics

Kev
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vitesse



Joined: 03 Jun 2013
Posts: 561

PostPosted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 1:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oh wow I am jealous those look like perfect roads for a little 500 to buzz along and amazing pictures and video.

Who'd have thought sat nav in a 500 and wifi in that little cottage. I trust you slept in the four poster bed. That beach looks beautiful.

Love the view from above on the ferry.

I would make her cough up direct out of her pocket rather than go down the insurance route. The stainless steel ones that AG sell are top quality and I am sure she would be happier to settle for £65.

That MPG is pretty good and the reliability. It is about the same as our modern 500 does.
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Bitumen Boy



Joined: 26 Jan 2012
Posts: 1733
Location: Above the snow line in old Monmouthshire

PostPosted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 10:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Settle up for the damage if you can, or else swallow the loss. Claim on the insurance and you'll end up paying about ten times the original amount in increased premiums for the next few years, even though it wasn't your fault. The insurance industry seems to look on Dick Turpin as a role model these days... Evil or Very Mad
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colwyn500



Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 1745
Location: Nairn, Scotland

PostPosted: Mon Mar 23, 2015 10:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've calmed down now and I have devised way to put the bumper right which involves G-clamps and some scaffolding tie-bars. I don't really want to change it nor do I want to create ill-feeling if I don't need to.

A photo of my car has sneaked into one of the promotional images for a cottage on Harris. I think it enhances the scene no end Laughing

http://www.unique-cottages.co.uk/cottages/west-coast/hebrides/aj4-sgeir-achais?searchId=ee33c037-d192-43c1-828a-8b614f918dfb

With a bit of luck I might be off to Braemar tomrrow which involves some very high level and challenging roads. I might even pop in at Balmoral on the way back.

I smell another video in the offing. Wink
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Peter_L



Joined: 10 Apr 2008
Posts: 2680
Location: New Brunswick. Canada.

PostPosted: Mon Mar 23, 2015 10:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Remember it is Maa'm as in Calm, not Mam as in Jam and don't let the Corgis chew your upholstery.

Smile
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colwyn500



Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 1745
Location: Nairn, Scotland

PostPosted: Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, I did make it to the gates of Balmoral but herself wasn't in...something about "by Royal Appointment".
DSC_2954 by peterthompson, on Flickr
On the way we passed The Lecht Ski Resort which was quite a climb.. It was interesting for me as this is the first time I have driven the car on any road on which I drove my original 500 back in the 80s. I don't remember feeling that it was such an achievement in my younger days. This stretch of road always gets the first mention on the radio of being blocked by snow..Cockbridge to Tomintoul.
DSC_2761 by peterthompson, on Flickr
A bit further on and 500 feet lower is Corgarff Castle.
DSC_2769 by peterthompson, on Flickr
Today's journey was about 160 miles there and back and was definitely the most challenging drive for the car yet. There are several slopes stated as 20% but I would say are a bit steeper on the bends. It certainly put strain on the brakes and at one point I was just a few revs away from needing first gear.
The clutch cable is needing tightening after recent exertions and I tracked down a rattle in the rear to the dipstick getting caught under a heat shield......5 second fix.

Where next?
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kevin2306



Joined: 01 Jul 2013
Posts: 1359
Location: nr Llangollen, north wales

PostPosted: Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great use of a classis.
What's the heater like?

Kev
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colwyn500



Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 1745
Location: Nairn, Scotland

PostPosted: Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The heater is fab Kev. Pure (har-har!) hot air diverted from exiting the engine cowling after it has passed over the fins of the piston barrels.

There is a simple flap behind the driver's seat whose function is more or less, on or off. This takes the heated air through a central tunnel in the cab. It really gets hot and with the roof open, heater on full it's perfect. Very Happy
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vitesse



Joined: 03 Jun 2013
Posts: 561

PostPosted: Tue Mar 24, 2015 10:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You really are clocking up the miles. I was wondering about some of the steep hills in the 500 you must have been almost doing about 10mph on some of those really steep hills if you were thinking about changing down to 1st. Must be quite an art double declutching to change down on the really steep ones.

I have just noticed you have the newer L type badge on the engine lid, was that always there?
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colwyn500



Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 1745
Location: Nairn, Scotland

PostPosted: Tue Mar 24, 2015 11:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

[quote="vitesse" Must be quite an art double declutching to change down on the really steep ones.

I have just noticed you have the newer L type badge on the engine lid, was that always there?[/quote]

I was really crawling at one point. I find you just have to take the car up to the limit speed on the red mark on the speedo in third gear and push as far as possible. I can easily get into second on the move, crunch-free, but I would have to come to a stop to get into first.

I'll edit out a part of the videos I made showing me attacking a relatively "mild" hill and link it here: You can see how the camera got rolled about.
http://youtu.be/pWSMmImTcL8
The badge on the engine lid is the one that came with the car so I think it's correct.
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