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Sept 11, 2016 11:41:47 GMT
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Day 2:This was our first full day in Scotland and saw us travel from just North of Inverness on up to Durness via John O' Groats, some fantastic roads and scenery on that leg of the trip. Our first stop was the Glen Ord Distillery as we'd stayed in Muir of Ord so it made sense, we just had a quick walk around the shop etc. and didn't bother with the tours as none of us drink whisky and obviously were all driving so couldn't / shouldn't drink even if we had done the tours.  After that quick stop we headed on up the coast to Dunrobin Castle which was really cool, fantastic building, views, garden and the falconry was great too!     A little video of 4 of the cars (including mine) passing the camera as we left the castle, mine is louder outside than I expected. With a castle under our belts we headed on with our travels enjoying the views and slowly making our way as far North as you can on the mainland but first we stopped off in Helmsdale as the sea view looked great which in fact turned out to also have a cool bridge so we got some photos of that too.   After lots more driving and a couple of other stops we arrived!      We were taking photos of the cars below the sign and got chatting to a biker who said we should just drive up to the sign and take photos as the people there don't mind, unlike at Lands End where they'd had to ask really nicely to get their bikes by the sign. So obviously we put the cars by the sign and got lots of photos, I only took a couple but friends got quite a few. From John O' Groats we had to then drive on to Durness, via the Y Not Bar & Grill for a fantastic burger.  We took the A836 West from Thurso and stopped at a parking / viewing spot near an observatory or something for some pics and the views.   Further along the A836 I spotted a modern Clio in my rear view going at some pace, let him pass and he then carried on and took the rest of us and drove the A836 to Tongue really rather well and quickly. I was at the back but could tell he knew the roads when I saw him approaching then he lead the others off at rather a brisk pace, I however didn't want to go flat out and then met the sheep in the video I posted before so dropped right back from everyone. We saw the Tongue Causeway and decided we had to stop for the view and sunset pics, the Clio carried on but as we were parking up he returned and parked up with us and we had a chat. His car was a Clio 200 and he was a local, saw that the evening weather was nice so decided to go out for a drive, then met us and showed us how to drive the roads. Top bloke and always great to meet people that know the roads and are interested in cars too.     Shortly before our final stop for the night I saw the first proper cow of the trip.  Once in Durness it was a case of chilling out for a couple hours then bed, all of this was our longest full day in Scotland with us covering 190 miles over upwards of 7 hours engine running time (thanks MFA  ).
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Sept 11, 2016 11:42:09 GMT
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Day 3:We were all up fairly early and ready for our drive from Durness to Gairloch but first we figured we'd stop by Smoo Cave as it was close by. It's a cool little cave with a boat that you can go in for a little tour but we left out the boat / tour bit. The walk down was nice and easy although the walk back up to the cars wasn't as fun, much steeper than it seemed when we'd gone down.    We didn't stay for too long, just wandered down and around for a bit then back up to the cars and on to our next stop...    Best. Hot chocolate. Ever. From there we drove on to Kylesku Bridge which is fairly famous from car mags and the like, pretty cool bridge and it's where we filmed the fly by video.   We also then stopped off at the Kylesku Hotel which was a lovely little place tucked away but right on the water's edge, they even have their own boat and fisherman! Stunning views whilst we ate out delicious locally caught fish and chips, quite honestly, it's the best I've ever had, light and crispy batter, soft and succulent fish, delcious chips and home made tartar sauce.    From Kylesku we headed on along the coast via Drumbeg and Clachtoll down some very tiny roads with "No caravans" signs on them...didn't seem to stop people mind.  A quick stop for some tea and a wee at Lochinver.  Back on the road again and this time we took some larger ones on towards Gairloch with a couple more stops on the way to admire the country...one such stop wasn't too good for Bryan, he got mobbed by midges...nice views though.  Slightly further down the road and yet another stop, for some beach views (and a few more midges for good luck). This was at Second Coast, along the A832, fantastic view and beach.  After that we pretty much just pushed on to Gairloch for the night where we had a decent meal and relaxed for some time in the lounge, despite the rather loud German group.
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Sept 11, 2016 11:42:27 GMT
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Day 4:This day promised to be a pretty good one as we'd be heading to Skye via the Applecross pass. As always, up fairly early (for a holiday), breakfast then cleaning the windscreens of all the dead animals we'd picked up the day before, oh and Andrew losing his wallet, looking everywhere apart from his hoodie...then finding it in his hoodie. The route we took to Applecross would see us travelling inland to Kinlochewe and then back out along the coast and stopping off at the inn for a bite to eat at the bottom of the pass. Lots of fun roads on the way there and some great views too, I think the below pic was between Kinlochewe and Torridon.  Then a bit further along the A896 there was a nice parking spot so another stop for some photos...  On to Applecross itself for a snack and right outside the inn was this amazingly clear water and view.   Next stop, top of the pass. The way up from the inn is a fairly gentle climb, just the one switch back and not all that steep really and we didn't meet much traffic so the passing places weren't used a huge amount which was nice. At the top there is parking on both sides of the raod so natrually we stopped, it was rather windy up there but not all that bad really.    The way back down the other side is much steeper and has a couple of switch backs and despite not being slammed or anything and taking them as wide and gentle as I could, I still scraped my splitter on them. It's good fun to drive but there can be lots of traffic and when there is a queue of you (not just us, other people mixed in between us too) that can get really annoying for passing. At one point I had to basically force an X5 to reverse down for a good while because there was no way the queue of about 6 vechiles behind me could get into one small passing place, don't think he was pleased. I managed to get away from the main group shortly after that and surprsingly the traffic coming up cleared up too so I could press on and have some fun. The Golf took the down hill twists in it's stride and didn't fuss or anything, I am glad I've got fully vented discs and decent pads on it mind, not sure I'd have enjoyed getting the brakes toasty on the old ones. Once at the bottom I found a perfect parking spot and pulled up to wait for the others.  I was genuinely there for about 10-15mins before they caught up.  We had a few more stops on the way to Dunvegan on Skye but only a couple, one just because I was leading and spotted a waterfall...which after I walked towards it I realised you couldn't get very close so I didn't end up with a photo od it, not a good one anyway. The mountain opposite it was quite impressive though!  About 10mins before Dunvegan we found this view..   Once we'd eaten and relaxed for a bit we headed out (around 10-11pm) to get some photos of the night sky which turned out to be a perfect evening for it. The sky was almost completely clear and there was no light pollution so we could see thousands of stars with the naked eye, including the galactic core. We'd only gone about 5 mins by car from our B&B so we popped back and decided we should find the above location with the island and water again for some more photos...once again, brilliant night for it and I got this one of the sea, a lighthouse and the galactic core.  I was then messing about taking some photos of Andrew's car and saw something green on the screen after one exposure. Wasn't 100% if it was what I'd thought so I took a few more and one of the others then looked at a pic and said "you know what that is?!". Northern Lights / Aurora Borealis! After a while of eyes adjusting you could see the faint whisp of green with your eyes too, we got very lucky with our choice of night time photos! 
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Sept 11, 2016 11:42:43 GMT
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Day 5:Day 5 had much less stopping and rather a lot more driving so there aren't as many photos or as much to say about this one really. We drove from Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye back over the bridge and headed East towards the Cairngorms. Our first photo stop was just after the Skye bridge though which did have some brilliant views.   The next stop was Eilean Donan Castle as it basically had to be done whilst so close and passing, very cool little castle but I didn't get as many pics as I'd have liked, I think on a return trip to Scotland I'd stop by again and spend more time there walking around it all.   We then got stuck in traffic due to some rather inconsiderate drivers, namely coaches doing a max of 40 on all roads which was a shame but did allow me to get some photos in the car. Rock, Paper Scissors whilst sat in traffic does pass the time.   We got to our place near Aviemore in the Cairngorms and went into Aviemore itself for the brewery and some food. Awesome burgers at The Winking Owl.  We also happened to be there when there was a Harley Davidson event going on which meant the place was full of bikes, new and old and there was a mini show of them outside The Winking Owl, not much else to report from the day aside from Peter is heavy and breaks things.   
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Sept 11, 2016 11:42:59 GMT
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Sept 11, 2016 11:43:14 GMT
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Not an amazing video but it'll do for showing some of Scotland...
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Last Edit: Sept 11, 2016 12:17:02 GMT by finaldecap
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79cord
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,617
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Sept 14, 2016 9:02:46 GMT
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Some great photos Of a great tour, but you've now made me hungry.
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Visiting my parents this weekend so thought I'd have a play with my cameras doing video... Not done any work on the car for ages really, just been driving and abusing it for the last few months. I need to give it a service though, it's been a couple of years and had some abuse so could do with fresh oil and plugs so I'll probably get on with that next week, for now I'll just be abusing it some more in Devon. |
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Oct 22, 2016 11:48:49 GMT
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Figured it's been a couple of years and an abusive few thousand miles so I should change the spark plugs and oil. Picked all the bits I need up from ECP earlier which was fine, got home and my space is blocked so I can't really change the oil. Did the spark plugs anyway as I was able to do that easily. Old, not looking too bad really (given I'm sure it runs rich)  New, not sure why Bosch have 4 nodes.  Did two of them with no issue, third decided to be a turd...   End of the HT lead stayed with the plug, looks like I need new leads too now. I've had to park in an awkward place which means getting out of the car park is a pain now and I can't guarantee I'll get my space when I get back so I'll just have to leave it for the time being, probably order online and get delivered to work then change them one evening. Thankfully I could stuff the broken bit off and get the lead on and it runs ok but it'll be using a weak spark on one cylinder so I'd rather not use the car unless I have to. Also just realised I forgot to check the dizzy and rotor so haven't ordered them... |
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Aug 13, 2017 22:00:20 GMT
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Been ages since I updated this but as it's RRG next weekend and I'll be on the Mk2 Golf OC stand, might as well chuck an update on here. Since the previous post I've changed my oil etc. gauges so I no longer have a clock and instead have an oil temp (also changed the gauge holder pod thing):  I also found the car liked to have a wee quite often:  So due to that I pulled the water pump out:  Then found some pipes weren't really ideal:  But rebuilt it all:  The fixing of the leak ended up taking about 3 months. I changed the pump and fixed the hose which seemed to help but then I found it was still leaking and it turned out that the new thermostat housing doesn't sit flush with the waterpump and as I'd binned all the old bits I had to eventually end up sealing it with ATV stuff. In March I went on a train:   I went to France and Switzerland on a 'mini' road trip and ended up doing something like 1800miles over just under a week. Car didn't skip a beat though, happily soaked up all the miles. Then in May I had the annual "what do I need to fix" test:   10 days later:   I then made the car sound slightly less chavvy: New exhaust sooted up on one exit (despite even split for gasses) so I bought some autosol recently and went at it:   As the car sits now:  So yeah, done some stuff to it since last update, mostly maintenance and driving it though...I've racked up 18k miles in this car since Dec 2013 which isn't a great deal but you have to remember this is my odo reading ad the engine is original (as far as I know/can work out):  |
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Aug 14, 2017 23:25:27 GMT
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I love this, mk2 Golfs are my favourite cars. Sounds great too! The Scotland road trip looked awesome, definitely some amazing roads up there
Cheers,
Drew
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2001 Mk4 Golf - Not retro yet but getting there
Some cars I've owned:
'91 Renault Clio 1.4 RT
'96 Peugeot 306 2.0 XSi (the one that got away)
'96 Vauxhall Astra Euro'96 Gold edition
'97 Renault Laguna 2.0 RT
'98 Mk3 Golf GTI Colour Concept
'00 PT Cruiser
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tristanh
Part of things
Routinely bewildered
Posts: 990 
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Lovely write up, I bought a mk2 a couple of years ago while on the rebound from my ex, I'd rebuilt hers nut and bolt, and had fallen for the way a good one drives.
Mines an 8v too, over 190k on the clock, with TT w'bone bushes, 280mm fronts, bilstein B4s/Eibachs and mk3 top mounts.
Like you, more power is in the future!
I'd suggest changing the bush/bearing at the Base of the gearlever if you haven't already, and swapping out the relay lever ball for a cylinder that's a snug fit in the relay gate.
Oh and an uprated headlight loom, I made several for mates, one in particular reckons his mk2 now has better lights than his mk7 Golf R!
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Whether you believe you can, or you cannot, you're probably right.
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was8v
Part of things
Posts: 46
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Mint these cars just keep going.
I have a real soft spot for Mk2 GTIs, I have had a few "more doors" when they were "just an old car" to the general public and you could get a nice but unloved 100k car for £300.
I had a '90 spec royal blue 8v on BBS RA, minted that up. Hated cleaning the wheels.
But my favourite was an atlas grey (like yours?) small bumper digifant 8v with no power steering and 14" teardrops. I put Corrado seats in it (sit a little lower) and loved that car.
Ironically I sold both for Corrado VR6s (the first for an aqua blue, the second for schwartz black).
I still have the fondest memories of the small bumper car.
I always thought my perfect mk2 would be a small bumper 2 door no PAS car with a 2l 16v ABF from a seat dropped in, some nice dampers and no other mods.
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Last Edit: Aug 15, 2017 8:34:06 GMT by was8v
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Aug 15, 2017 12:02:17 GMT
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Mega road trip round Scotland! Really want to do that at some point too.
Very tidy little car that, really taking a shine to MK2 Golfs atm... Hmmm... Dangerous thoughts.
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Aug 15, 2017 18:38:15 GMT
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I love this, mk2 Golfs are my favourite cars. Sounds great too! The Scotland road trip looked awesome, definitely some amazing roads up there Cheers, Drew Mk2s are good fun and at some point I may do a another video once the engine is warm of the exhaust now it's had a good few hundred miles put on it. It was a great trip and the roads are indeed amazing, I hardly covered them in my write ups really and really need to go back and do more of the roads and views. Lovely write up, I bought a mk2 a couple of years ago while on the rebound from my ex, I'd rebuilt hers nut and bolt, and had fallen for the way a good one drives. Mines an 8v too, over 190k on the clock, with TT w'bone bushes, 280mm fronts, bilstein B4s/Eibachs and mk3 top mounts. Like you, more power is in the future! I'd suggest changing the bush/bearing at the Base of the gearlever if you haven't already, and swapping out the relay lever ball for a cylinder that's a snug fit in the relay gate. Oh and an uprated headlight loom, I made several for mates, one in particular reckons his mk2 now has better lights than his mk7 Golf R! I've done the TT wishbone bushes and fresh rubber bushes all round a couple years ago (or there abouts), AP coilovers with Mk3 top mounts front and fresh ones rear and then the 280mm G60s with drilled and vented discs and Yellowstuffs pads. Along with the crazy thick OMP brace the front end is really quite stiff but not uncomfortable. I wouldn't mind a thicker ARB on the front along with a rear upper brace and thicker ARB.   I've done all the gear shift bushes and the cup & ball as it had failed so it went straight into reverse and first was essentially lift to avoid reverse when selecting. I've also got the mk3 weighted rod, a short shift arm and all metal link rods. Little bit of play due to the ball on the relay lever but it's much better than stock on feel and throw.     I don't really need to do an uprated loom...   Dipped:  Full:  Custom/home built HIDs with projector units and LEDs in the centre spot lamps. Mint these cars just keep going. I have a real soft spot for Mk2 GTIs, I have had a few "more doors" when they were "just an old car" to the general public and you could get a nice but unloved 100k car for £300. I had a '90 spec royal blue 8v on BBS RA, minted that up. Hated cleaning the wheels. But my favourite was an atlas grey (like yours?) small bumper digifant 8v with no power steering and 14" teardrops. I put Corrado seats in it (sit a little lower) and loved that car. Ironically I sold both for Corrado VR6s (the first for an aqua blue, the second for schwartz black). I still have the fondest memories of the small bumper car. I always thought my perfect mk2 would be a small bumper 2 door no PAS car with a 2l 16v ABF from a seat dropped in, some nice dampers and no other mods. This is Atlas Grey yup and it originally started off as a small bumper car when it was purchased as a company car in London. As far as I can work out, it's done most of it's miles in the early 90s and only really done around 6k a year in the 00s and 10s. I'm unsure when it got converted to big bumper but it was certainly prior to me getting it, most likely the previous owner or one before that and it wasn't done all that well so I've had to redo some bits of it. I'm quite fond of the PAS, having driven a couple without I've seen just how helpful and nice it is to have. I've been umming and arring about ABFs and 20vTs but figure I'll run the PB until at least the moon if I can stick it (238k roughly) and have mostly focused on handling with a little bit of style. Mega road trip round Scotland! Really want to do that at some point too. Very tidy little car that, really taking a shine to MK2 Golfs atm... Hmmm... Dangerous thoughts. Scotland is totally worth doing, especially if you catch the weather well like we managed to do. There are a few areas we missed out and due to driving pretty much all day every day we didn't really get to sped time and experience Scotland properly so I think my next trip would have to be over a slightly longer period / focus on certain areas and spending a couple of days in places like Skye etc. Unfortunately (for buyers) they are on the way up in price so the sooner the itch is scratched, the better for your wallet.  Edit: Oh and if anyone is at RRG, swing by the Golf Mk2 OC stand as we've got quite a few cars line up to be there and I'm sure I'll probably be about etc.  |
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Last Edit: Aug 15, 2017 18:43:49 GMT by finaldecap
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tristanh
Part of things
Routinely bewildered
Posts: 990
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Aug 15, 2017 19:08:18 GMT
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Sorry dude, I didn't mean it to read as what I reckoned you SHOULD do, it was more than I was saying mine was similar spec in what both of us had done with brakes and suspension. I saw you had the gear linkages done, but strangely most don't bother changing the cup at the Base of the stick. Re the relay lever, this is what I was rabbiting on about, getting rid of the loose Golf ball, for a barrel or cylinder. I wasn't sure if you've done that already.  Re the uprated loom, I admit I forgot you'd HIDs. Any issues with Mot? |
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Whether you believe you can, or you cannot, you're probably right.
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Aug 15, 2017 19:48:03 GMT
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Ahhh gotcha, I wasn't too sure if that's what you meant or what I'd posted previously (I lose track of what I've posted and where...plus reading it all back is effort  ) so figured I'd cover it all off. I actually replaced the cup and ball first before I did any of the other bushes, it is a massive PITA and I get why others wouldn't bother doing it. I quite quickly got fed up of having to lift for first and being unsure if I was in first or reverse so did it and left the main bushes for a few months. I swapped that ball arm thing for another one despite the old one not being worn or loose but haven't thought to change it to a cylinder as per your pic. If it removes the remainder of the play I've got I think that it's probably worth it. I know that swapping the plastic ended rods for those all metal ones has removed some play and so helped improve the shift. I basically did one of these kits initially: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/220783472995Then when I kept losing the plastic end off the longer metal rod I went with one of these kits too: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162569619122MOT...weeeellllll...I happen to have a spare set of standard units... In theory it should actually be ok as I've made sure the alignment is correct and regulations state that you don't need washers, levelling etc. just that if fitted they need to work. The problem with that though is all testers interpret that bit however they like so usually it's seen as "HIDs need auto levelling and washers". |
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tristanh
Part of things
Routinely bewildered
Posts: 990
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The inside of the ball can have almost a mm of play in the shaft, and the outside is about 33mm when the gate is almost 35, so it certainly helps! I have the barrel as an interference fit on the shaft, and outer machined to 34.8. It's snug, on a couple it needed a bit of clearanc-ing but tightened things up nicely.
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Whether you believe you can, or you cannot, you're probably right.
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Aug 16, 2017 15:56:05 GMT
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Fellow Mk2 GTi 8V owner here, nothing worthwhile to add other than really enjoying your thread!
What camera are you using to video out of interest?
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Aug 16, 2017 17:55:07 GMT
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Fellow Mk2 GTi 8V owner here, nothing worthwhile to add other than really enjoying your thread! What camera are you using to video out of interest? Generally I use a mix of a Nikon D5100 (with a RØDE VideoMic), SJ400+ action cam and an iPhone 6. The better quality video (and pics) are from the Nikon, with the camera on/in car stuff being the action cam and then a random smattering of the iPhone when I'm being lazy (also use it for a lot of pics, again, laziness). I tend to prefer to use the Nikon for photos and video but I don't have a proper mount for it and don't really want to risk sticking it to the outside of the car. My skills with the Nikon leave a lot to be desired although I am slowly improving them, it's a case of mostly being used to photography and deciding to get into video a bit more. Nikon video: SJ400+ video: iPhone 6 video: |
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Last Edit: Aug 16, 2017 17:58:17 GMT by finaldecap
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).
) so figured I'd cover it all off.