Saturday 30th November - The Triumph goes into storage and fuel gauge issues with the Zetec

 Due to lack of car parking at my place I was able to find a space to keep my Triumph over the winter while I decide whether to keep it or sell. At present, it looks like I will be selling it, but prices are down at the moment, so I'm better off waiting a while until the time is right. 

So early Saturday morning I made the journey up the A12 to the North Essex/Suffolk border where the car is going to be stored. Once warmed up it ran well and I had a good journey. I have to say though, it's just not doing anything for me at the moment. I just don't get a buzz from driving it like I do the Cortina's. 

I had a lift back from Essex/Suffolk from good friend Colin Wake who was also coming to my place and try and sort out the fuel gauge on my Zetec Cortina. 

The gauge on the Cortina has never been right and will only read just over half even when it's full. It's something to do with the fact that it has a Retro Ford injection fuel tank fitted and the sender unit isn't compatible with the fuel gauge. 

I had been made aware of a device called 'Gauge Wizard'. Its a small device that fits in between the sender unit and the fuel gauge, so I purchased one. You can alter the settings to empty, quarter full, half full, three quarters full and full. 

To be able to do this though, you need to empty the fuel tank completely and then measure the resistance at the sender unit at each point. So basically, the tank holds eight gallons, so once empty, we then measure the resistance at empty, then put two gallons back in and measure that as that will be quarter tank. We then put another two gallons in and measure for half tank, etc.etc. 

I recorded the figures on my garage wall, in case I ever need to use them again. With the fuel tank now completely full, Colin then set about programming the device to be compatible with the fuel gauge. 

The gauge wizard instructions are somewhat more confusing than they need to be, but Colin sussed it out in the end and we finally managed to get the gauge reading 'full' with a full tank of petrol. (It had never done that before). I wont know if it's completely right until I start using it and start using up the petrol, but the initial signs are good. So hopefully, that's another job off of the list.

Thursday 21st November - Oil problem cured. Hopefully!

 Due to my recent new problem of my engine oil splashing out of the dipstick tube having me perplexed, I decided to ask for reasons of a possible cause on a couple of Cortina Mk1 and Ford Crossflow engine facebook pages. I don't normally ask technical questions on social media pages, because you tend to get about 20 different answers (and some totally irrelevant) and you still don't know what the right answer is at the end of it all. 

The main answers I received were what I expected and mainly all doom and gloom i.e blown piston rings, cracked block, cracked head etc, however, my engine is in fine fettle. It doesn't rattle, it doesn't produce fumes and it doesn't burn oil, has good oil pressure and good compression, so I discounted all of these. 

One of the questions fired back at me was 'Have you fitted an electric fuel pump and removed the manual fuel pump recently?' Which, of course, I had, so this question piqued my interest. Once engaged in conversation with the person who had asked, I discovered that the flat blanking plate I had fitted to cover the hole in the block left by the manual pump could be causing the issue. Apparently, Burton Power products manufacture one with a 'deflector' plate on which stops the oil splashing up past where the manual fuel pump used to be fitted. 

I have to admit, I was a little bit doubtful at first, as my dipstick is on the nearside of the engine and this plate would be fitted to the offside rear of the engine where the manual fuel pump was originally mounted, so I couldn't see how this would affect things. However, I then had to concede that I had only had this problem since converting to an electric fuel pump, so it was very possible. Anyway, to cut a long story short, this does indeed seemed to have cured the problem! I no longer have engine oil splashing up the dipstick tube and covering the inner wing, alternator, front axle and starter motor! A very good result, and well done to Burton Power Products! Such a simple design, but very effective. 

Sunday 17th November - North Weald Breakfast Meet.

 The weather wasn't looking too bad today, so Gavin and I decided to give this breakfast meet a go. I'd been here once before about two years ago and suffered a broken ball joint on the way home, so hopefully I wouldn't suffer the same fate this time. 

We met up at half eight and took the old A130 to Chelmsford, then the A414 towards Harlow. It was a good drive and didn't take long. I think it took nearly as long to drive all the way round the outside of North Weald airfield it's so bloody big! 

We parked up and grabbed a coffee and a bacon bap before the queues got too big. There were some interesting cars there including not one, but two Vauxhall Carlton Lotus's. 

There were some other 60's cars there as well, but not many as this is just a 'car meet' rather than a 'classic car meet'. It was a morning out though and good to get out of the house. 

We left around lunch time and had a good drive home. However, on arrival at my place I was disappointed to discover that once again, my car was leaking oil. It appeared to be coming out from around the dipstick area. Removing the dipstick with the engine running found that the oil was spraying up the dipstick tube like a fountain! Obviously something not right here then, so some investigations need to be carried out. Bloody old cars eh? 😟

Saturday 9th November - Billericay breakfast meet and Burton Engineering.

 Good friend David Harvey was visiting from Derby this weekend. When Dave visits it's normally to help work on one of my cars, but there was nothing much to do this weekend, so we were just having a chilled out time. 

We were both up and about early Saturday morning, so we decided to visit the breakfast meet at Billericay. I decided to take my Green Cortina today to make sure the electric fuel pump upgrade that I had done the day before was all in order. 

Our other friend Gavin was there in his Triumph, Keith was also there in his Mk1 Lotus Cortina and Martin was there in his Mk1 Cortina GT. There was a good selection of cars there and we sampled the breakfast there too, which was, I have to say, very good. This will be a good meet in the summer. 

Around lunch time we made a move, but instead of going home, we decided to pay a visit to Burton Engineering in Gants Hill. (Or Burton Power Products as they're known now) Dave had never been there before and I had other business with them.

 When I had purchased a set of Magnecor plug leads from them a few weeks previous, they arrived when they should have done and I had fitted them to the car. However, a few weeks later, another set arrived through the post which I hadn't ordered. Obviously an error has been made somewhere and these are not cheap, (£140) so being the decent and honest chappie that I am, I returned them to them. Now, a few people may think I'm daft giving them back, but Burton's have always been very helpful to me whenever I've been there, so I could see no reason to take advantage of their mistake. 

They were very grateful and appreciated my honesty. In fact they were so grateful that when I bought a new set of windscreen wipers for my Cortina, they gave me them for nothing. 

So, all in all, it was a very good day out and included a bit of a feel good factor by doing, and receiving a good deed. ☺

Friday 8th November - Electric fuel pump upgrade for the Cortina

 A little while ago I decided that I would replace the old manual fuel pump on the Green Cortina. There is nothing wrong with it, other than it being in a really awkward place to get to and would be a nightmare to access if you had to replace it at the side of the road. 

I had in stock a Facet electric fuel pump and a filter king pressure regulator that would be a perfect upgrade. I decided to mount the pump on the redundant battery tray under the bonnet. (The battery is located in the boot) I had already used this space for the ignition coil though, so the first job was to relocate the coil to underneath the battery tray where it was originally. 

With this done I then mounted the fuel pump onto the battery tray. Luckily, the two holes that I was left with from removing the coil were an exact fit for the fuel pump mounts, so no drilling was required. With the pump in place, I then mounted the pressure regulator/filter on the inner wing for easy access for if ever I need to change the filter.

Once satisfied that everything was in place and looked good, I then removed the old manual fuel pump. This leaves a rather large hole in the side of the engine, so I fitted a blanking plate to cover said hole and therefore not spray engine oil everywhere. 

After that it was just connecting fuel lines and wiring up the pump to an ignition live and I was done. An electric fuel pump is always a good upgrade because as soon as you turn the ignition on it will pump away and fill the carburettor up in readiness for starting, whereas with the old manual pump, the engine will be cranking away on starting for as long as it takes for the fuel to get from the pump to the float chamber on the carburettor. 

I was pleased with my days work and a few people that have seen it since have said its a tidy job. Nice compliments to receive. ☺

Sunday 3rd November - Test drive!

Not much going on this weekend, so Gavin and I decided to have a run out to Latchingdon and have breakfast at the 'On the Latch' cafe. 

I hadn't test driven the Green Cortina since putting the engine back in and having all the issues with the ignition system, so this would be a good run out for it and to make sure it was on point.

We met up at around 9am and had a lovely traffic free drive through the country lanes over to our destination. The weather was quite mild as well, so it was a good day for a leisurely drive. 

I have to say, I was really pleased with how the Cortina drove. The power is good for a 1600cc engine and it runs nice and smooth as well. I might even take it to the Billericay meet next Saturday! ☺

Saturday 26th October - Billericay Breakfast Meet.

 The weather was supposed to be fine today, so a few of us decided to give a new Classic car breakfast meet at Billericay a try. I decided to take the Zetec Cortina as it hadn't been out for a while. The only down side was that as soon as I got it off the drive, it started peeing down with rain. I rang Keith to see if he was still going, but it wasn't raining where he lived in Wickford! 

So, I set out and after getting petrol, I met up with Keith in his Mk1 Lotus Cortina and Gavin in his Mk2 Triumph 2.5 Pi at a BP petrol station in Wickford and we travelled down to Billericay in convoy. It looked a bit odd though with my car soaking wet and theirs bone dry! 

Shortly after we arrived Martin made an appearance in his Mk1 Cortina GT, and it was quite unusual to have three Mk1 Cortina's all in one place.

There wasn't that many cars there to be honest. I think that's partly because it's new and word hasn't gone round yet, plus it's held on a Saturday and some people work Saturday mornings. It was a good morning out though and the coffee and bacon rolls were good quality, so it's got potential! ☺

Wednesday 23rd October - The Triumph is back on two legs again!

 With the arrival of a replacement suspension leg, I was able to build all the supporting bits up and get the car reassembled and back on its wheels. 

I had already prepared the supporting bits and made them either nice and clean, or all greased up depending on what they were. I clamped the suspension leg in the workbench vice and used my spring compressors to compress the spring before fitting the insert, a new gaiter and then the spring cup and the roller top bearing. Once this was all assembled I was able to remove the spring compressors.

I then had the usual fight of refitting the suspension leg to the hub and inner wing. I find it usually puts up a bit of resistance, but as long as you make sure you disconnect the track rod end, it's not too bad. (The track rod end, if connected, stops the hub from reaching the angle it needs to be to mate with the suspension leg.)

With this all back together, I put the wheel back on, lowered the car onto the ground and performed a 'bounce' test. (Pushing up and down on the front wing) I'm pleased to report that distinct lack of 'clonking' noise means that I had cured the problem. Another job off the list before it goes up for sale! 

Sunday 20th October - Triumph suspension issues continued

 Me and a few mates were hoping to go to the Battlesbridge breakfast meet this morning as it was the last one of the year. However, storm Ashley was playing its part in the proceedings and we decided not to bother. Plus it had been raining most of the day on Saturday and the field would have been a quagmire. 

So, in my bored state I went into the garage to continue working on the Triumph. I still had the bottom ball joint to replace in the lower suspension arm and this can be a tricky job. However, having a 20 ton press in my garage certainly makes life easier and I had this done in no time at all. (It was the easiest one I've ever done actually!)

The suspension arm was then bolted into place and the drag strut and anti roll bar were reattached. I did consider lifting the hub back onto the ball joint and tightening that up, but that would leave the hub hanging at a funny angle as I can only support it from the bottom until the replacement suspension leg turns up. 

So, I left the hub assembly sitting on my stool and will leave it until I get the other parts. 

I then pottered about doing a few other things, like putting tools away and stripping a manual fuel pump ready for rebuilding. I then left the fuel pump in soak in the parts washer as by now, the lack of breakfast was catching up with me and I went indoors for some food. Hopefully, the suspension leg will arrive soon and I'll be able to get the Triumph back on its wheels again. 

Tuesday 15th October - Triumph suspension issues

 For some time now I've had an annoying 'clonk' on the offside front of this car. It didn't seem too serious and you wouldn't notice it on motorways or 'smooth' roads but you definitely noticed it on pot holed and bumpy roads. (Which there are a lot of now!)

My line of thinking was that it was the bottom ball joint on the driver's side, so seeing as I was home from work sharpish today, I set about removing the bottom suspension arm so that I could get to the ball joint and replace it. (These have to be pressed in and out)

With the car up on axle stands I removed the bolt that connects the bottom arm to the drag strut, and then disconnected the anti-roll bar. That should have let me lower the suspension arm down so that I could lift the hub off of the ball joint, but it wasn't for some reason. So, I removed the main bolt holding the suspension arm and to my surprise the whole lot, i.e. hub, brake disc, calliper and suspension leg came crashing downwards and onto the garage floor! Now this shouldn't be possible because the suspension leg would normally be held up by the three bolts that would secure the front spring mount to the inner wing, and this would secure the shock absorber insert to the suspension leg. 

For some reason, the shock absorber insert had come undone and completely detached itself from the suspension leg. (That would explain the clonking then!)

Further investigation revealed that the thread on the suspension leg that the insert cap screws into was severely worn. This would have caused the cap to come loose and eventually undo itself. 

So, until I can get another suspension leg, there wasn't really much I could do, so I left the hub, disc, and calliper etc. supported and called it a day. At least I definitely know what was causing the clonking now. 

Sunday 13th October - The Green Cortina finally leaves the garage.

 With yesterdays work being very successful, it was now time to evict the Green Cortina from the garage so that I could get the Triumph in there. 

Although the Triumph completed the recent 10CR successfully, a couple of little niggles became apparent on the run that need to be addressed. (Especially if I'm going to sell it) I've had a great time with Triumphs over the past fifteen years, but I've got to say, it's got to the stage where I feel I've done all I can events wise and I'm now looking for a new direction. 

Up to now, I've taken part in 7 RBRR's, 5 10cr's, 10 HCR's, 3 C2C's and countless other events, including numerous rallies in Scotland, Wales and Holland. I've also won the Club Triumph national points championship twice as well, so I've done my fair share of supporting the club. (Which is also why I don't expect to be spoken to like a piece of shit by the main 10CR organiser at the end of the last 10CR)

My exit from Triumphs isn't set in stone though and I'm currently looking for somewhere to store the car for six months or so in case I change my mind, but for now, my interest in the car or the events just isn't there and I'm having more fun with the two Cortina's. (They're certainly a lot easier to work on!)

So, this morning's task was just to move all the cars around so that they were all where I wanted them. I also took the Green Cortina for a test drive round the block and it ran perfect, so that's a relief. 

The Zetec Cortina needs a run out next as I can't remember the last time I went anywhere in it. I think there's a show on Canvey Island in a  few weeks time, so I may well take it to that. 

Saturday 12th October - Success!

 Gavin came round this morning to help with getting this bloody Cortina running properly again. Some (very expensive) Magnecor spark plug leads had arrived during the week and also a (very expensive) 'Flame thrower' ignition coil. 

With all this top quality equipment fitted, we were severely disappointed to find that we had the same problems as the Saturday before. For some reason, no matter what we did, we just couldn't get a spark at number one spark plug. This was even after changing the distributor cap, rotor arm, plug lead, spark plug and adjusting the timing. 

I then decided to remove the distributor completely (Which had been fitted 180 degrees out) and set the engine up again from scratch. So with the engine set to the compression stroke on number one cylinder, another distributor was fitted and this time set in the correct position. We also swapped the Pertronix electronic ignition module out of the old distributor onto the replacement distributor. (These cost about £180, so I wasn't going to discard it.)

With everything in place and set up as per workshop manual, we also replaced the spade terminals on the electrical connections just to be doubly sure. 

We then started the car up to find it running a lot better and almost as it should. The next move was to fine tune the ignition timing with a strobe timing light which then had it running perfect. 

This car has been a pain in the arse for the past couple of weeks, but it now seems to be running as it should again. All in all, a very good mornings work. 

Saturday 5th October - Rough running

 After putting the engine back in the Cortina I was subjected to it not wanting to run right for some reason. While it was out of the car and sitting on the garage floor, It had fallen over and smashed the distributor cap and bent the oil pressure switch as well. 

I bought a replacement distributor cap, but fitting this made little difference. Good friends Gavin and Peter were both visiting this morning, so they both chipped in with ideas as to why this damn car wouldn't run right. 

Whilst investigating we quickly decided that ignition problems were the cause here, which was strange as this engine was running fine when it was removed and I hadn't disturbed any of the ignition system while it was out. 

What we did discover was that whoever had fitted the distributor before I owned the car, had fitted it wrongly and had set the timing 180 degrees out. After a couple of hours messing about and trying different things, I decided to call it a day and order some new spark plug leads and a new ignition coil as well. For some reason it didn't want to spark properly and just didn't want to run properly either. 

While I had some help present I decided to refit the bonnet as its a lot easier with two people doing it than my trying to do it alone. So at least the car was looking complete again. Investigation continues!

Saturday 28th September - Cortina engine back in.

 With the new sump gasket in place, I decided to put the engine back into the Green Cortina. Whilst it was out I decided to replace the clutch as well as this didn't look in the best of health. 

I also replaced the inlet manifold gasket and the exhaust gaskets as well. I had no help today, so I cracked on as best as possible and by late afternoon all I had left to do was re-fit the radiator and the starter motor. (I refitted these on Sunday morning)

It's now more or less the end of the car show season and there will be plenty of free weekends coming up with not much to do, so I decided not to rush it and take my time. 

Sunday 15th September - Breakfast meet, then work!

 It was the Battlesbridge breakfast meet again today and with it possibly being the last one of the year (Weather pending) I decided to go along. 

I took the Triumph as this was at the front of the queue on the driveway and I couldn't be bothered to play musical cars getting the Blue Cortina out. 

It was a good turnout, but the car of the day for me was a very early and very rare 2 door Ford Consul Corsair. Apparently, it had only covered 33,000 miles from new and was unbelievably original. Corsairs are quite a rare car anyway, but the 2 door versions even more so. 

After having a good laugh with some mates, I left around lunch time as I still had things I wanted to get done in the garage. 

Once home I set up my engine stand and managed to lift the engine on to it with the engine crane. This needs to be done as when I fit the new sump gasket, it will make sense to have the engine completely upside down. The sump gasket on these engines is in four pieces, so it goes together like a big jigsaw puzzle. I soon had this done, so all in all, it had been a successful weekend. 

Saturday 14th September - A busy day!

 Before I went off galavanting round Europe in the Triumph, I had parked the Green Cortina in the garage ready to start work on my return. My first priority was to replace both ball joints, so that I didn't have a repeat performance of what happened with the Blue Cortina a couple of years ago. (See below)

With the original ball joints now being nearly 60 years old and very probably never replaced, I made the decision to replace them before they sheared through wear and tear. It can be an awkward job, but on this occasion, it wasn't too terrible and I had them both done by 10.30am. You can see the difference between old and new below. 

With this job completed and it still being fairly early, I decided to crack on with the second phase of my plan which was to remove the engine. My sump gasket has been leaking for some time, so it needed to be addressed. The sump gasket can't replaced with the engine in the car, well not properly anyway, so it had to come out. Unfortunately, I had a mishap when removing the engine and one of the engine studs I had the lifting strop on then snapped which caused the engine to tilt and drop to the floor, which then damaged the clutch pressure plate. Bloody annoying! 

Anyhow, the main objective had to remove the engine, which I had now achieved, so I now called it a day and went inside for some well deserved lunch. 

Monday 2nd September - Sunday 8th September - The ClubTriumph 10CR

 Monday: The long awaited Club Triumph 'Ten countries in five days' was finally upon us. The ten countries being England, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Lichtenstein, Germany and the Netherlands.

Mike Bishop was my co-driver for the trip, so once he arrived we set out for a snack bar not far from Dover to meet up with Richard and Roger who would be piloting Roger's Triumph Stag and running with us all trip. After a quick coffee and bacon Sarnie just off the A2, we completed the journey to Dover to catch our Ferry. 

Our sailing was delayed by an hour, but once we were underway we had a smooth crossing. We had purchased club class tickets, so this gave us unlimited free access to food and drink, so that was our lunch sorted out.

Once off the ferry, we made our way to our apartment in Rouen, but made sure we avoided the 'Ulez zone' that they have around the city. There were no restaurants near our beautiful apartment, so Mike and Roger went and found a Lidl and bought some beer and Pizza. Perfect! 😉

Tuesday: This morning, we went to the official start location to book in and were moaned at for being late. (Even though we weren't!-Chief organiser Ellis likes to moan at people!) We said hello to a few others that we knew and then got started. 

We did start off by sticking to the official route, but after two hours of encountering tiny villages on D roads (Our equivalent of B roads) with 30kph (18mph) speed limits and severe speed bumps, we diverted onto N roads (Our equivalent of A roads) and did some proper driving. Today was a long day with 645 kms and 10 hours 15 minutes to cover, so why we had been plotted onto D roads, god only knows!

Our stay tonight was on a farm just north west of St Etienne. Again, it was out in the sticks, so we found a Turkish restaurant in the town and had dinner before we checked in. We also bought some beers to take with us, although they had some local brews on the farm that we also sampled. The farm was beautiful and also pitch black and very quiet. All we could hear when sitting outside was the sound of the crickets. Lovely! 

Wednesday: We set off this morning after a breakfast of bread, cheese and ham as today was another long drive down to the Mediterranean. We encountered some torrential rain and storms on our journey, and again because of the distance we had to cover we diverted onto to the motorway to make up some ground. By the afternoon, the storms had disappeared and we had made it to the south of France. 

We didn't stay long in the Med, as our overnight stop was some 124 Kms away and by now, it was late afternoon. We arrived at our hotel at Saint Julien Du Verdon around 8pm and settled in for dinner. Mike decided on Tripe and pigs trotters which the rest of us thought was disgusting! 

Thursday: The following morning was raining again, so after a couple of hours we stopped for coffee. We were all feeling quite tired at this point due to the mileage we were being expected to cover. Only one day for the whole week was under 300 miles and that was today at 290 miles!

With Coffee consumed we carried on and eventually crossed the border and into Italy. We made a group decision at lunch time to actually stop for a sit down lunch for once instead of eating on the go and stopped in a town called Demonte, just east of Cuneo. Being in Italy, it had to be Pizza for lunch and very nice it was too. 

The sun had made an appearance by now and the day was looking good. We still had quite a few miles to cover, so this was our last stop before heading for our rented house in Dormeletto in the province of Novara. We arrived around 7.30pm and after parking the cars, headed off for dinner. We found an Indian restaurant this time and so enjoyed a nice curry with a few beers. 

The name of the house was called 'Lake View' as it's not far from Lake Maggiore. However, the 'Lake view' was somewhat deceiving! You can just see it in between the buildings in the pic below!

Friday: We left Dormeletto quite late and therefore had to push on to meet our targets today, hence not too much time to take any decent pics. I did get a couple of the lake though. 

Our next bit of driving was over the Simplon pass and up to the Furka Pass in Switzerland. These are great driving roads, but unfortunately, the Simplon pass wasn't as good as it should have been due to the amount of road works going on. We must have a lost a good hour on the Simplon. 

The Furka pass was beautiful though and we couldn't resist stopping for a 'brew with a view' half way up. Also, as two years before at Timmelsjoch, we found that our crisps had inflated due to the altitude! 

With the Furka pass completed, we drove on and by 7pm that night we had reached our German destination in Singen. There were quite a lot of 'Triumphist's' in town, so we were able to catch up with a few well known faces. 

We also managed to find a really weird bar that was playing some brilliant music and stayed in there far longer than we should have! (You've got to have a least one night to let your hair down!) 😉

Saturday: Today was the last day and by now everyone was feeling quite knackered. It was another long day though, so it was a case of 'heads down, lets get it done. We didn't stop for lunch, or a brew with a view, but we were rewarded with a decent finish time at the final location at Rolduc in the Netherlands. We filled up with fuel in the town, so that we wouldn't have to worry about it in the morning. 

After chilling out a bit and having a shower, I went down for dinner and joined the others. I didn't drink much as I was just so tired, plus I wanted to get away early in the morning to make sure we didn't miss our ferry. It was a good night, but we did hear a lot of people saying that the days were too long and the mileage was too high. Will the organisers listen though? Who knows. 

Before the night was through, we finished as we started by getting moaned at again for not signing out of the event, (I didn't even know we had to!) so at least there was some consistency there. 

For the record the mileage for each day was:

Day 1-404 miles

Day 2-355 miles

Day 3-290 miles

Day 4-327 miles

Day 5-340 miles

Sunday: Just a three and a half hour drive up to Calais today, so quite a rest from the other days. We made sure we got clear of the Brussels ring road in Belgium before stopping for coffee. We were ahead of time, so we carried on up to motorway at a leisurely pace and arrived at Calais 90 minutes before our boat sailed. (although customs checks reduced that to about 45 minutes!) At least it still gave us time to get some duty free's! 

The crossing was a slow 90 minutes, but luckily we were the first car off the boat and made a quick getaway out of Dover. Richard and Roger were stopping for fuel, but we had no need to, so we said our goodbyes and separated just outside Dover. We had a clear run home and arrived back at mine at 3.30pm. We then emptied the car while having a good old fashioned cup of English Tea! 

It had been a brilliant trip, but would I do it again? Probably not. I've done it several times now, and I feel it's gone as far as it can. 

As others had said, the mileage was too high and the days were too long on this one, and if I had known how much mileage was involved from the start, I wouldn't have booked the event. (The organisers seem to like to keep the route a secret until the last minute for some reason!)

The scenery was fantastic, the company was excellent and the car performed exceptionally, so I did have a brilliant time, but I've also never felt to so knackered as I did when I got home on Sunday night. I think, for the future, I'll start looking at planning my own run with less countries and less mileage.