driving round ireland, any advice?

[seatofmepants]

last weekend i was drinking with afew mates.
we ended up talking about our summer holiday (this usualy involves picking a country at random and getting into trouble for a week)
i stupidly said my capper would be running and insured by summer time.

so now we're traveling round ireland for a week in july in my imaginary car!!!
me and my stupid, alcohol lubricated mouth

i dont know the first thing about long haul classic car runs.

if anyones done this sorta thing before and wants to give us afew tips to keeping a car ticking over on a 1000 mile round trip then id be grateful.

also if anyone's got any recommendations on good spots or roads round ireland thatd suit the tastes of three 21 year olds thatd be great aswell.

cheers folks

[Dave]

Personally I just take an RAC card and a mobile phone.
Give your car a good service and off you go.
Without making light of things too much, a 1000 mile trip is feck all and I wouldn't worry about stuff. It's not like you are leaving civilisation and heading off into a remote desert or summat. The only issues you are likely to have is from a car full of people/luggage and the crap roads in Ireland.
Sounds great fun and wish I was doing it.

[Craigorypeck]

Dont make the maiden voyage your trip. Get a few hundred run in miles on the clock and iron out any problems you may have. I used to carry round an entire tool kit in the boot and every gasket for the engine, even a spare head gasket! Fan belt and various other things like compression tester... very paranoid after my first time changing a cam.. As you have a Stock built engine I dont think you'll have many issues. As for driving round Ireland just mind the potholes, make sure your rear suspension can deal with a full car load, and be prepared to pay 6euro for a bottle of beer in Dublin.

[Capri_Andy]

Sound like fun. Do it. If the car is used daily, then it wont even notice 1000miles. Wont hurt to take a toolbox though.

In '08 me and Beakster did 4000miles with our capris. France, Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar, Ibiza and back in 17 days with only a couple of minor issues. Then in '09 I took my capri to ibiza for the summer and racked up 10,000 miles away from home. It did break though. The power steering sprung a leak and the gearbox mount got ripped off on a speed bump. Its all fun.

[seatofmepants]

cheers guys, confidence inspiring stuff.

il definetly get acouple o hundred miles under the belt before i go anywhere toury in it, and a toolbox, aa card and set o gaskets all seem like good precautions.

if nothing else havin a holiday depending on me finishing the thing has gotta be the best incentive to get my arse in gear and start working on it

[capri87]

Where in Ireland are you thinking of going? I was in Killarney Co. Kerry over the weekend. Probably the nicest spot in all of Ireland. Some great roads too!

[capri87]

Some inspiration hopefully

[billymagfhloinn]

Go from Dublin to Dingle, then next day on to Killarney and take the road to Glengarriff via Kenmare. You will not be disappointed.

[capri87]

The road from Kenmare to Killarney is incredible. I suppose you will be starting off in Dublin. If you had more time you could head west to Mayo/ Westport and head south from there. Here is a useful map. All beautiful places

http://radio-weblogs.com/0117154/storie ... eland.html

But don't mind the text, it's american and not accurate

Actually forget that, check this one

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&m ... d01fc4b429

[Major_Tom]

Lots of sound advice on here already.. but personally I'd make the car as "self sufficient" as possible.. unusual or hard to find spares, gaskets, tools, fluids... things like tyre puncture aerosol goo stuff.. car phone charger.. drinking water.. Obviously the more people you have in the car, the less room there'll be. Chances are it'll be fine and you wont need anything, they're not temperamental cars, but imagine how much better it would be if you didn't have to walk several miles to a main road to flag down a man to use his phone to order a part from a Halfords 15 miles away and then get towed all the way there then endure a 24 hour wait for the part just because the dizzy cap centre electrode has burned out.

But most importantly, do NOT drive into the sea. This is the single most vital piece of advice I can offer.

[drtdgg]

I dont know much about ireland, but if it were me, i would be taking the basic tools (small socket set, common spanners etc) a large bag of mixed cable ties, gaskets or silicone gasket maker, a soft headed hammer (came in handy for me a few times) etc etc. After the first few hundred miles i would be checking engine mounts, bellhousing bolts and just giving it a general check over.
But the most important thing is.. HAVE FUN!! and drink plenty