Barney should have been travelling with the Pyles.
The term "He wears 'a belt and braces'" - used to describe the super
cautious, came to mind after I read Barney's account of his trip back home.
That raises the question:
"What is the ideal compliment of spares to be caried for a long run, in
our favoured cars?"
I've got an interesting book called: "MG TC's - Drive them 'til the Roads
Wear Out" being the story of a 7 month journey around the world undertaken
in 1993
by Deidre and Harry Pyle who in TC 2446 drove 50,727 kms (x 0.6 = 30,436
miles) in 207 days.
These are the spares that they took with them:
In a floor box beneath the driver's side:
18 spanners, 15 sockets and handle, 1 portable vice, 2 screwdrivers, 4
files, 1 pliers, 1 pair of scissors and 2 tyre levers.
In the tool box:
Jack and handle, locktite, glue, thermostat and carby spares, 5 tins of
nuts and bolts, split pins and washers, puncture repair outfit, spare water
pump, hand cleaner cream, oil filter wrench and shoes (maybe they were
going dancing somewhere?)
In the battery box:
Distributor cap, points, plate and rotor, HT wire set, 2 sets of points, 3
plates and points, 1 plate, 5 sets of spark plugs, bottle of Nulon, roll of
wire, muffler putty and tape, 2 tubes of Silastic, electrical tape, tube of
contact adhesive, fire extinguisher, fan belt, plastic windscreen, fuel
pump circuit, tin of Bars stopleak, 2 spanners, 3 pliers, 2 screwdrivers,
points file and spark plug spanner.
Under the car (wired):
2 leaf springs (1 front top and 1 rear top)
Under dash (passenger's side):
2 battery charging leads, 1 torch.
Floor box rear (passenger's side)
2 petrol pumps, 9 engine valves, set front wheel bearings, 30 spokes, set
engine core plugs, radiator hoses and set of oil lines.
Side screen box:
6 oil filters, 2 tow ropes, engine gasket set and first aid boxes.
Diff box:
1 spare tube, gear box oil, 2 rolls electrical wire, brak efluid, coil.
These are just the spares. In addition they had a tent, food etc., etc. The
subject of a further posting a some later time as will be a list of the
modifications they carried out to the car before they left Australia.
Paul
|