Author: Nigel Ferguson

So we were heading south and home – first stop Inverness via the A9 – an interesting drive in places.

Inverness was much larger than I recall, but then it has been a while, I had to wander about a bit to get my bearings. We had lunch and then moved on as it was raining!

Sadly it was not the best day to see Loch Ness – on a good day it is a beautiful and in my view eerie place – today is was misty and the water choppy.

The road down the side of the Loch was not that busy, so I could take in the view, to a point. We missed the best lay-by’s which were at the northern end of the Loch. Whilst there were plenty of others, trees and vegetation prevented a good view.

We had driven around Fort William at the beginning of our journey, when we branched off to Mallaig. This time we decided to call in. A reasonably sized town with a fair bit going on – it actually had a Cinema. We had a standing joke all holiday that we would find a Cinema and catch the latest James Bond Movie, this was the first we had seen and it was showing. Not until later though and I suspect no tickets.

We had to back track a little towards Spean Bridge where we were staying. We had seen a Hotel and figured we could get a drink. There was a huge Car Park next the the Hotel with 3 or 4 coaches in the Car Park – and we wondered what could be that exiting.

It was not the Hotel – Closed.

It turned out to be a simple shop that was selling, well tourist tat – they were very busy though. It was the first proper commercial venture that we had seen on the trip.

Onto our accommodation for the night, which was disappointment to say the least. The host was to say the least, terse – answering the door and demanding the use sanitiser immediately. Without a word we were shown to our room which had no TV. Benita asked if there was a TV or one she could watch and the answer was “No”. Our host then whipped out a notepad and asked for our breakfast order – no menu. Very odd.

Luckily the internet was good and we could watch TV on my Laptop – the bed however was well past its best. The cocktail cabinet bag was pressed into service once more. We left as soon as we could the next day heading for our last stopover near to St Helens.

This part of the journey was uneventful, but took longer than expected to get to the border. This was the only part of the journey where I measured economy for just one section. Granted it was an easy drive at about 55 mph – but we did 30 mpg – I was surprised.

The Travelodge for the night was easy to find with a nearby Pub and petrol station.

We decided to re-fuel on arrival, rather than in the morning. I filled up as usual, jumped back into the drivers seat, turned the ignition key and – absolutely nothing.

I knew it had to be something simple, the first thing I tried was the battery isolator switch, we had left the key in it and it had simply vibrated towards to off position, choosing this moment to close the circuit completely!

The next day was again uneventful and we were back home by about 2.30pm.

So no, it didn’t need a breakdown truck!

Overall it was a good trip, the two issues, the injector pump adjuster and clutch were just things that could easily be fixed and were really minor irritations; even if they did not feel that was at the time.

Average fuel for the whole trip worked out at 24mpg over the 1900 miles which I consider reasonable, especially as a large part of the journey was stop start on small roads, the rest of the time pushing it a bit on Motorways.

The transmission was not as bad as I thought it would be, but the 65 mph and 3000 rpm is a little high and it would be more comfortable if this could be lower by 10% or so. Regular readers will know that this has been discussed before – but now something that will be tackled before any more long trips.

The fuse seems to have failed again on the cooling fan – obviously some sort of spike here when the fan turns on, so the fault needs to be located.

The mister fan also seems to have stopped working, i didn’t bother looking whilst we were away, but need to check this out as well.

The other annoyance was that the radio kept switching itself off. This seems to be a loose connection in the new fuse box – Hopefully i can fix this as i am loathed to swap out the whole box and there a 12 connections running through it.

Benita is also struggling to get in and out and had a painful hip by the end of the trip. I will have to figure a solution to this, maybe a folding step on the side step – we will see.

My left (clutch) leg had also started to hurt towards the end of the trip and seized up completely on our return. This was down to the high number of gear changes on the trip, not helped by the difficulties when the engine was running fast. I have not driven much over the last 18 months, so not match fit; so I blame the lockdown.

I plan to edit up a short video, once I have figured out how to do it and will post eventually, along with a link to few more Photographs.

Thanks for reading…..

Nigel & Benita

The next day we were back on the NC500. On the way up to Durness there was a sign for Cape Wrath. I have never been and I wasn’t going this time either as the ferry was not running.

Durness was a one horse town so we kept going to Tongue, which was the same – the roads and the views though were fantastic, thats why you take the time travel this far.

On the way around the coast we diverted off to Portskerra and the Beach. Well off of the beaten track but lovely with some very modern housing starting to appear.

• 

• 

• 

We then continued our journey past Dounreay to our destination for the day – Thurso.

Now Thurso is quite a large town, the most Northerly in the UK and has seen better days; I guess the Dounreay money is now leaving, or has left. Much of the housing was built by the Nuclear Authority for its employees.

There was obviously much industry along the river Thurso in the past, but this has almost gone as well. A perfect location for a TV play about deprivation and teenage angst.

The good news is we found a bar – the Y Not Bar, it looked a bit suspect from the front – like an old drinkers pub. But inside it had been modernised, although a few few of the old loud drinkers remained, it did not go quiet when we walked in. The barman was clearly gay, so I guess the clientele had changed with the times. Stella Artois was off, but I forgive them for that, it was a nice place and we returned the next evening.

I managed to drop my debit card on the floor when I paid for the drinks and a guy returned it to me; well he asked in a loud voice was there was a “Ferguson” in the bar……maybe the name did it.

We left the bar on the first night and I said to Benita that we had been in Scotland for a week and i still had not had decent Malt. We turn around the corner and there was a Morrisions, time to top up the carrier bag cocktail cabinet and get a Malt in – not exactly my plan, but needs must.

Our B&B, The Manor House was in a quiet part of Town on the River and run by Leo, an amiable Irishman who came from the same Town in Ireland as Benita, and may have even been related to her. The Manor House was recently renovated and we would recommend without hesitation.

Leo was a great host and could talk the hind leg off of the proverbial Donkey. His bar needed some decent wine though. As it was Saturday we retired to our room with the Cocktail Cabinet and watched Strictly – sad, but true. Afterwards we decided that Fish and Chips would be good, i headed out to the shop that we had seen earlier – of course, it was closed – at 9pm!

There was a Chinese opposite which may have been the only thing open – the menu was a mile long. I called Benita who ordered Chilli Beef – I had Fried Chicken which was recommended by a regular waiting for his order, it seemed a safe option. During all of this I made a”bum” telephone call to my friend Carlton who thought I was calling him in an emergency – he clocked me ordering Chinese and figured all was OK!

On the way back to the B&B I passed a nightclub (in Thurso!) called Skinalski’s – it was full of flashing lights but empty of people – but , it was early.

The next morning we had a great breakfast courtesy of Leo, on the next table there was a group of youngsters (everyone is young to us now) who were doing the NC 500 the other way around, Turns out they had visited the most westerly Nightclub in the UK, and had been to Skinalski’s the previous evening as it was the most Northerly -apparently it got a bit lively at about 1am – I was glad that we were not there.

On the way out there was another conversation with Leo and an old guy who was a regular who said that we should visit the Castle of Mey, the Queen Mothers place – I must admit, I had forgotten that it was near. We passed by on the way to John O’Groats – it was closed.

It was a grubby day, misty and raining so we could see little as we travelled the north Coast to John O’Groats. We did the tourist thing and grabbed a selfie at the sign. This was good for us as we had visited Lands End in 2020. Maybe we should do the most Easterly and Westerly points as well?

• 

• 

Coffee and cake next at a lovely cafe, Benita bought a picture of Highland Cattle – the real thing had proven elusive so far on our journey; she added some Scottish Gin to her purchases as well. I look forward to sampling that.

Heading back to the car we found another Land Rover 110 parked up next to us, like us, decked up as an expedition vehicle, he wound down the window and gave us a thumbs up. Benita had a chat with him and told him it was a Perentie – he shouted 3.9 Isuzu, we said Yes, we had laugh and we were on our way, heading for Wick, through the driving rain.

Now Wick is deprived………..very tatty and the once industrialised Quayside derelict. There was a sign to the Pulteney Distillery which we followed. In the end we had to resort to the Sat Nav to find it and then we passed it twice before seeing it – it was closed.

We parked up for a while as it was still raining. I had been to Wick many years ago when I was a child and we had visited the Caithness Glass Factory and Visitors Centre. As it was raining I suggested to Benita that we pay them a visit. I did a search and the web site said that it was Open. I hit the “Get Directions”button expecting it to be 10 minutes away – it actually said something like 186 miles and 4 hours – they had moved to Perth in 2007!

We did not want to retrace our steps so we went South on the A99 calling at Lybster on the way. This was once a major player in the herring fishing world, although not for many years. Nothing much going in there but a nice feel ,also the widest High Street I have ever seen. The weather still bad we headed back to Thurso on the A9 and to the Y Not Bar.

After a drink we head back to the the B&B but passed another Bar on the High Street that I has seen the day before. We peered through the frosted window and it looked OK. We went to enter but had to ring a bell! The door was answered and we were ushered into what was a Sports Bar – with a Scotland Work Cup qualifying match on the TV…………Ooop’s.

We were marched to a table before we could escape and were instructed fill in the Covid form, we then told where the Loo’s were and the route to the exit. It was an experience especially when Scotland scored, and they were still loosing. We didn’t stay long, but at least the drinks were cheap.

We were as far North as we could go and our thoughts were now turning to the journey home.

I suggested that we went via Inverness along the side of Loch Ness to Fort William, and find a stop off in that area, then getting down to near Liverpool the following day. We considered going across the Cairngorms and South but decided to cover this area another time.

At least the Perentie had been running well and not causing any problems during the last few days. The diesel heater on those cold days worked well, even when driving and especially when we stopped for a while. As the de-mister was not great, the heated windscreen turned out to be a good investment.

With the Perentie running well again, we headed for Uig and the ferry terminal, we were running early so we thought we would at least get to Uig and then decide what to do.

Well, we got to Uig and, there is nothing much there (not surprisingly)- and that was closed apart from a small convenience store.

So we decided to drive around the headland around the Quiraing Nature reserve towards a place called Staffin – I was hoping for a lovely challenging narrow road – I was not disappointed! Although to start with they were nice and wide like the one below.

It was a lovely day, the day before had tainted our impression of Skye, but it is indeed beautiful. There was a quick shower and then – a rainbow!

• 

• 

Skye can be nice!

We eventually wound our way around to Staffin and then had to head back to the ferry. There was an even smaller road cutting back to Uig from Staffin, but we decided not to risk it.

The Perentie revs had risen again by the time we got back to the terminal, so I again adjusted the bolt, this time managing to jam the second locking nut a bolt tighter. If it does it again, i will breakout the spanners and do it properly.

A quick cup of coffee and we join the queue for the ferry. Check-in is a high viz man in a van. Despite the fact that you get strict instructions to print all of your tickets/bar codes/boarding passes etc (not double sided) on the web site – they had no scanners and just take the paperwork from you and tick your name off the list!

The ferry to Tarbert is a proper big ferry, and spotlessly clean. A calm crossing and time for a snooze. In retrospect we should have taken time to look around Tarbert before heading to Stornaway, part of us thought we might get back the following day – but it did not happen.

• 

• 

It took longer to get to Stornaway than we thought – lovely undulating road with some tight bends.

We were staying at the “Stornaway Bed and Breakfast” it must have taken them ages to come up with the name. Again, lovely place and great people – made us very welcome and they even left a bottle of Prosseco in the room for us and a card – very thoughtful. This too had a shared area with a kitchen, TV area and comfy seating, It was over the road, but no issue.

There was more going on in Stornaway than the other places we had visited so far – but not a bar that was open on that Monday evening. We were now used to this and we had a carrier bag cocktail cabinet that we would take to the room with us. The fridge in the Perentie kept the beer and the tonic water cool, so it all worked perfectly. We had a quick walk around to get the lie of the land, knowing that we had more time to explore on our last day, as the ferry did not leave until early afternoon.

Fish and Chips was dinner that evening, from the Chippy 5 minutes away run by some Chinese people. It makes you wonder, the Steam Inn in Mallaig was run by Portuguese people.

• 

• 

The next day it was time to explore the Isle of Lewis, so we went North West out of Stornaway towards Barvis to get to the coast.

Benita wanted to get some tweed whilst on the Isle; I was thinking mini skirt, she was thinking jacket or handbag? The internet told me that there was a Mill and Factory shop in Carloway, so after reaching the coast, we headed south following the Sat Nav to the Tweed place.

You may have second guessed us by now, but there was no Tweed place, the Sat Nav took us to a dilapidated barn. Never mind, on to the famed Callinish Stones. Now there are a few sites where these stones can be found but a visitors centre is based on the site of the one in Callinish itself.

Now this place was not big, but busy. I suggest that the reason for this is not the Stones themselves, but the fact that this is the only place with a Cafe and a Toilet for miles and miles!

We did enquire about the Tweed place – closed years ago…………..

No we didn’t pay to visit the stones, they were a sort of Spinal Tap version of Stonehenge.

We then wandered for a bit, finding the Blackhouse Village, old low profile Crofters Cottages with double stone walls. Initially we thought that this was a Museum, but they actually rent them out.

Then on to Dalmore Beach, which we found by accident and which was probably the most beautiful Beach that we have ever seen. There will be more pictures of this when i edit my main pictures later on.

• 

• 

• 

Then it was off to Great Bernera accessed by a bridge over the Atlantic, they are just building a new bridge but the old one is still in service at the moment. If you keep on driving at the North of the Island is Bosta Beach which is up one of the steepest narrowest roads so far in the tour.

They have the smallest petrol station that we have ever seen on the Island, one pump next to a small shed for the cashier – it was closed!

The day was still reasonable young, so we decide to go around to the next headland and to Ardroil Beach, this took ages (it didn’t look to far on the map). we kept seeing the Beach but you could not get to it, so we kept on going………..

Eventually we arrived and parked up next to a small Camp Site. We went for walk on the huge flat beach, the sea could hardly be seen in the distance. Then back to the Perentie for a brew, before the rain came.

Then the long drive back to Stornaway and after raiding the Cocktail Cabinet carrier bag it was time for fish and chips and a big sleep.

The next day was our last on the Isle, so in the morning we went up to the most Northern Point – Port of Ness. Again not much there, but a beautiful Bay that was difficult to access.

This place is really remote, we passed a man gardening in the way back to the car, he bid us good day and assured us that the weather was always beautiful there – really! You do sometimes wonder why people choose to live in these places.

Back in Stornaway, we still had time before the Ferry and Benita decided to renew the search for Tweed, with a couple of places showing on the map.

The first was disappointing, this was a weaver and maker of Tweedy things – it was closed – for how long we were not sure? – Although it did say open on the door.

Two more places to try just down the road, the first sold tat, but the second looked better option as at least it seemed to have clothing in the window, and was open.

Benita really wanted to spend some money and whilst they did have some made up items in the store – none fitted. We tried to order a garment only to be told that they sell the cloth only, you then have to find a maker – too much like hard work.

So off for a coffee, after a search we found a lovely Artisan coffee shop before heading for the Ferry and the trip over to Ullapool.

Again a lovely big and exceptionally clean ferry for the longish trip over to the Mainland. A couple of Dolphin Pods tracked us part of the way – Benita was delighted.

Ullapool is a small traditional fishing town with the Port as the main focus. We stopped off for a drink in the Ferryman Pub and debated the sense in camping next to the Sea Loch in the pouring rain. It was getting late, the Ferryman had no rooms, so we headed for the Campsite before it got too dark.

It was busy campsite, they had no facilities in terms of eating or anywhere to get a drink and they had apparently lost our booking, even though they had e-mailed Benita that morning to remind her of fact that we were staying! Eventually we were given a pitch number and we went and set up, just before the rain started again. The carrier bag cocktail cabinet was again in service.

It was the perfect place, the view over Loch Canaird was Fab, only the weather let us down, however, it was Scotland in October and there were no midges.

That day I had realised that I had a little more play in the clutch than I should have. The pedal was moving down couple of inches before I got engagement. As we were now heading for the Highlands this had to be resolved before we went much further North. I kind of guess that it was the adjustment in the push rod at the slave cylinder and a message to my Friend Darren confirmed this.

In the morning I removed the six screws which held the cover plate on and indeed, the adjuster nut had moved due to vibration. You can’t get a standard spanner on it very easily and it is hard to reach so I did my best with Benita working the clutch – a 10 minute fix and we were away.

Having refuelled in Stornaway, we were good to go so we were on the NC 500 at last. We were heading for Scourie our next camp stop. We had time so rather than go directly there, we went west over to the headland and Lochinver where we stopped.

As luck would have it, for once, they had an excellent pie shop which was open. Although it took ages for them to heat it up, I had a haggis, neeps and potato pie which we took to a bench in the local playpark to eat.

• 

• 

• 

The pie shop does mail order and we have the details!

In the afternoon we had planned to go around the headland past Stoer on the way to Scourie. I didn’t realise that we had come off of the main road to get to Lochinver, so when I followed a small road out, I was in fact going South, rather than North. However, it turned out to be a great and in places hair-rasing drive – the road had a 24ft length limit at one point. After a while I did question where we were going but we were enjoying it so much we kept going, ending up in the Brae of Achnaird.

We then had to back track towards Ullapool to get ourselves back onto the main road. Again the weather was turning and after a damp night the day before, Benita was hoping for a warm night in a B&B, and I wanted to avoid getting up in the middle of the night empty water from the awning!

So we were back to trying to find and B&B in the middle of nowhere with very little mobile signal. Eventually we found signal and luckily a B&B not to far away. Again, lucky.

We did drive past the Campsite – I am glad we had the B&B.

The next day we will heading further North.

Before you say it, Yes, we are a little mad!

However, with many travel destinations still on the Red list and the hassle involved in getting to the places that were not – the decision was made to stay in the UK. We decided to use the North Coast 500 as a basis for the trip but changing the route to take in Skye and the Outer Hebrides and skipping the East Coast part – at least for this year.

We will take you on a whistle stop tour with us over a few posts; we also did some video which may appear eventually!

As it was our Honeymoon, we decided to book a few Hotels and B&B’s along the way, reserving camping for a few places in the Highlands.

As you know, the Perentie is as good as it going to be mechanically for now………..I did not admit it at the time, but I was prepared to see it come home on a recovery truck – but did it?

• 

• 

The main preparation for the journey was getting sufficient Diesel as this was the week of the fuel delivery shortages. You will recall that the Perentie has two tanks (good planning!), so we knew if these were both full at outset, then we would be OK, as most of the shortages seemed to be in the South. Anyway, some of the garages were restricting sales to £30 which was not helpful, but eventually after sitting in a couple of queues, I got both tanks filled up. I debated taking a small Jerry as well, but decided against it.

We left home on Friday having booked a ferry to Skye from Mallaig on the Sunday morning. We wanted to make some headway on Day 1, so we could enjoy the drive out to Mallaig on the “Road to the Isles” the next day. So Lockerbie was chosen as the way point- challenging at 412 miles and just under 7 hours according to the AA.

First fuel stop was at Warwick Services with the gauge having moved to 3/4 full, at one point I thought it had broken – fuel supply, no problem, I just wanted to top up. We were doing well, taking the Toll Road onto the M6 which was where (as usual) the traffic started. Basically it was stop start all the way to the Blackpool Junction. I did in the traffic, notice the that the idle speed has increased a little, I put it down to the engine being hot.

We decided to top up fuel again North of Carlisle and by then it was beginning to get dark – I pulled in and took my foot of off the accelerator and the revs stayed at about 1800 rpm – not right, had a quick look, nothing obvious. On the basis that we would not hit traffic now we carried on, arriving at the Somerton House Hotel in Lockerbie at about 7.30pm. We didn’t exactly arrive quietly with the engine revving and a couple of reverse gear crunches whilst parking.

I was a bit worried abut the car, but could do nothing until the morning as it was dark – I thought it may have been the cable loosening off – something basic anyway. In the morning it was pouring with rain, so we headed for a local garage which was showing as open on Google, of course it wasn’t, so we just carried on up the M74 stopping for quick breakfast at one of the Farm Shop based services on the way. Luckily it was Saturday and traffic was light around Glasgow, so our revs issue was not a problem.

We stopped for lunch along Loch Lomond at, ironically an American Themed Diner!

• 

• 

• 

It was a lovely drive across to Mallaig (the first of many) and we checked into the Steam Inn – a night of luxury before the first camp the next day on Skye.

• 

• 

• 

Early ferry to maximise our time on Skye, on the Quay side after a great Breakfast.

So, the two cars in front of us were asked to turn around so they were facing us, this left us wondering if we were having to reverse on the ferry! – we were approached by the guy in the High Viz and placed in the next lane which was for Skye. A very small ferry then arrived and yes, the yellow lorry in the picture and two cars reversed on – they were going to Rum and Eigg. Our ferry was a little larger…………bound for Armadale, Skye.

• 

• 

• 

We were revving a bit going onto the ferry, a little worse in my view – it definitely was not a cable issue – maybe the injector pump – I left it alone as I didn’t want to make matters worse.

Once we had disembarked we followed the only road out of Armadale and soon passed the Torabhaig Distillery which was of course closed. We had promised a friend, Carlton, to pick a bottle of his favourite Malt from the Talisker Distillery, so were hoping that would be open. We then picked up a sign for the Kyle of Lochalsh, we decide to head that way and drive over the bridge back to the mainland – just because we could. An idea to visit Plockton was shelved because of the rain.

• 

• 

Once we were back on Skye we headed for Talisker Distillery in Carbost. By now it was really raining and on the winding road to Carbost water was blowing up the hill.

The Covid rules are still very strict in Scotland, as we were rapidly discovering and although the visitors shop was open, we were marshalled around by mask wearing high viz people. This made for a experience not conducive to buying so we didn’t. Especially as Carltons favourite tipple, 57 North, was no longer available. We were also told off by trying to exit the wrong way, the correct way was a narrow iron fire escape, in the rain. I had to hold on the Benita to make sure she made it down in one piece. Nice cup of coffee in the little coffee shed opposite though – best of the whole trip!

Next we were off to Portree the largest town on the island – nothing open – now in need of lunch – didn’t stay there long!

On the way out of Portree we spotted what looked like a visitors centre for something, it looked a likely candidate for food, so we pulled into the busy car park. It turned out to be the AROS Centre where you could learn about Skye in a large cinema room – which, they rent out to some religious crowd on a Sunday. It was busy with loads of kids, very Mormon-esque and strange. We queued for the Cafe and after giving full personal details including inside leg measurement for the Covid form, we were ignored by the servers – so we left.

We then headed off to take a look at the camp site at Kinloch, which Benita was increasingly not keen on because of the inclement weather. The site to be fair would have been beautiful on a good day, however, it was busy and everyone was packed in good and tight. An executive decision was made to find alternative accommodation, in a remote part of Skye, on a Sunday, when it was very busy………………..with little phone reception? Anyway, Air bnb came up with a B&B just down the road from us.

By now the revs on the car were up to 2500rpm on tickover and whilst engaging 1st and reverse was never easy on the Perentie, the others were now becoming tricky – I was glad not to be driving much further that day.

On the way to the B&B we saw a sign for Dunvegan Castle and decided to take a look, it was the wrong road but we did spot a reasonable sized garage, exactly what I needed for the following morning – good fortune for once. The Castle was of course closed.

The accommodation was a lovely place with a few rooms only, but with a huge shared kitchen, lounge and TV space. The door was left unlocked for us and our room key was on the table – so trusting. Only one other couple were staying, we saw little of them so had the place to ourselves.

There was a proper full sized bath, so Benita had a soak!

• 

• 

The next day dawned with Sun in the sky and I headed for the garage, arriving – not so quietly.

They looked busy, but the guy on reception had heard me arrive and knew I had a problem. I explained the issue and told him that the Air BNB owner had recommended him! “Is it a TD5 mate” he said – “no” I replied “its an Isuzu 3.9 Turbo”. Looking somewhat confused he said he would be about in a few minutes to take a look – I think he was intrigued.

After a bit of poking around the revs suddenly dropped back to normal – I was relieved. The adjuster on the injector pump had vibrated inwards, increasing the revs (you would have thought it would have gone the other way). So it just needed moving back out agin – I should have figured it really – but it was just a rusty looking bolt – which I thought was holding the pump in place. Anyway – sorted He was not going to charge me, so I gave him the only fiver I had for a beer 0 he was grateful – and so was I.

Back to collect Benita and then off to the ferry from UIG to Tarbert on the Isle of Harris!

If you remember right at the beginning, the Perentie had what I call a front roof rack.

Secured to the guttering it projected out above the windscreen; one of the first jobs we did was to add support to the front wings so that it could bear stop weight and also to stop it from moving.

You can see it before the supports were installed, in this early picture – below..

The roof rack was not in the best condition and was removed early in the build as the gutter fixings were in the way when we fitted the side awning.

It sat in the garden for over a year rusting even more…………

As we were reaching the end of the build I started to consider what to do with the rack, it was heavy and rusty and needed some TLC. I could get an aluminium one made which would be lighter, but more expensive.

I had mentioned this to my friend Neil at Read Fabrication when we made the changes necessary for the heater. The rack was big and heavy, so Neil offered to come over with his van to take a look and if needed take it back to his workshop.

Neil said that he could cut out some unnecessary metal from within the rack to reduce the weight, shorten the gutter mount so it did not foul the awning and make a couple of other small repairs. Neil would also weld in a couple of brackets for some different lights. It would then be powder coated – This was in May .

Neil did his part of the job quickly and kindly took to the powder coaters in Totton for me, along with some other parts of his. The coating company kept putting the job back and it was not until September, after many phone calls that we eventually got the parts back – just in time for our big trip (see later!)

I drove over the Neils and we fitted the rack together, it was then ready to have the lights fitted.

The old LED lights fitted to the side of the rack were fine, but I decided to replace the others as they were quite corroded. I opted to get a pair of old school halogen driving lights and team them with an additional pair of powerful LED’s – should look good I thought.

I had already run cables from the switches in the dash for the LED’s. The Halogens needed more power so I used the last spare feed on my fusebox to power these via a relay behind the main dash – a separate switch was placed in easy reach of the steering wheel. This happened to be a permanent feed, so I can run these lights without the ignition if needed, the other pair are ignition controlled, so a nice option to have.

I used a pre-existing hole on the side of the Alucab top to get the wires outside. I used 1.5mm twin core H0YRN rubber cable for this, job and will use the same to wire up all of the lights. Another scanseal will keep it all watertight.

• 

• 

• 

I pre-fitted Deutche Plugs to the lights before mounting them on the rack – this makes it easy to swap out a light of one gets damaged. I also sourced some weather proof boxes for the connections. It was then a question of figuring the best run for the cables and connecting it all up.

• 

• 

• 

The H0RYN cable is not that flexible and making some of the connections in the boxes was a little tricky, I used wago connectors in one as space was limited.

• 

• 

Eventually the task was completed, all six lights wired in and working.

Whilst I had had the forethought to run an earth from the interior of the vehicle, I ended up with two connection boxes. It was either run an earth from one to the other, or create a new one “up top”. I chose the later, at least I knew where it was should there be a problem.

• 

• 

You can just see the supports onto the wings.

---

---

So as we said in the previous post, it was time to bite the bullet and actually get out on the road with the Perentie.

I didn’t want to venture too far for our first trip for obvious reasons! At the time of the trip it was Mid-Summer (Although this is posted well afterwards), everyone was staycationing and everything was very pretty booked up.

However, we managed to find a pitch (via Pitch-up) on one of the many pop up sites in the New Forest – in our case in North Gorley, near to Fordingbridge.

We took our time heading for the site, calling into Fordingbridge itself on the way. Heading into the New Forest from the town I diverted past a number of Pubs that I used to frequent in the 1980’s, The Alice Lisle, The Red Shoot and the rather remote High Corner Inn – no squash court there anymore though!

North Gorley is no more than a Hamlet and the site was easy to find and not crowded. The pitches were neatly mowed into the grass so you knew where to park and there were signs to a cold water supply and toilets.

It didn’t take long to set up, we forget the table so we just removed the fridge from the inside and used that!

It was around the time of my Birthday, so glass a of Champagne was in order, together with a Posh Picnic – rattled up by Benita.

Although it was the Summer the temperature did drop quickly later in the evening, so we had to retire inside eventually. The Music system worked just fine and the diesel heater kept us toasty – a bit too toasty in fact………..

We had taken a walk around the local area after the picnic, the surroundings were beautiful and typically English. We came across a Farm Shop and Cafe, so that was Breakfast sorted.

Overall the trip went well with no issues, other than the Alucab Top caught one of the “upstairs” lights which are on stalks, when we packed it upon and broke the bulb. Just need to be more careful where we place them when packing up next time.

So on that positive note we decided to head further afield next time, and factor in a Motorway drive. Benita wanted to go to Hayling Island, but no camp sites were available, so we ended up near to Pagham in Sussex.

The journey went well with us cruising at 65mph @ approx 3000 rpm on the M27, above this and the cabin noise became uncomfortable, even with the extra insulation that I had added. Despite heavy stop start traffic from Portsmouth to Chichester on a warm day the journey went well.

The site, again booked via pitch-up was neat and tidy and was large which mean’t that the pitches were not on top of each other. There were a couple of toilets, which we avoided and a couple of Yurts at the top of the field.

Once we knew where the site was, we headed off to Bognor Regis which I don’t think I have ever visited. It was typically sea-side and very quiet for the time of year.

We then had a drive around and ended up in Pagham which is an interesting place. The village leads directly to the beach and has seen better days, now is a bit “bucket and spade”, if know what I mean. However there are many properties built on the edge of beach, with many interesting styles of architecture – it has a Dungeness feel about it and kind made you feel like you would like to live there!

We pencilled in the Cafe for Breakfast the next day and headed back to the site for a beer/glass wine, respectively.

• 

• 

We set up near to the Yurts and had a better evening as it was warmer than our previous trip. Some people turned up to occupy the Yurt a little way from us and proceeded to unload from a white van as number of old pallets – these were converted to fire wood over the course of the evening to fuel their impressive fire pit – they were certainly more organised than we were.

After a good sleep we headed off to Breakfast in Pagham as planned. On arrival the “Free” Parking, that we had used the previous day, which was just a piece of wasteland had a tariff of £8 and a young lad sitting on a deckchair collecting the dosh. That would have made an expensive breakfast, not to be deterred and despite lots of double yellow lines, we found a spot to park on a residential street and walked back to the Cafe.

Not the best breakfast, the “expensive” upgrade to Sour Dough bread, was not Sour Dough and it was clear the the staff had no idea what it actually was, and the extra bacon had to be chased up before it eventually materialised.

The morning was spent in Chichester which was beautiful, then we drove South to take a look at Chichester Harbour which again was lovely.

We saw a sign to East Wittering Beach and decided that it would be a good place for a walk. It was a bit of a drive, the end part of which was down a private road – it was clear that plenty of people had the same idea.

A small queue was forming at the car park entrance and then we saw the sign………………..£15 a day to park, online bookings only, show your printed code to the man in the box. Why didn’t they put a sign up miles down the road imparting this vital piece of information? It was a narrow road and some havoc was created as we turned to leave.

Anyway, every cloud; we stopped off at Itchenor on the way back to the main Road, beautiful village right on the River. By chance found a place that sold metal sculptures and a bought Benita a Laser cut Owl – it now sits on top of my Cabin and amazingly, the Pigeons that have been pooing on everything for years have vacated the premises – result.

By late afternoon is was a really hot sunny day. I had noticed that I could not hear the cooling fan when we stopped at Itchenor but the gauge was not showing hot, so I decide to just keep an eye on things for the return journey. It was a hot drive but nothing overheated.

Once home I noticed that the fan use had blown which was replaced, I just wondered what had caused it? Anyway, the good thing was that despite the heat, there had not been an issue, I guess the fact that the whole of cooling system had been replaced together with a new modern core in the radiator, had helped.

So overall, two good trips, everything worked as it should, apart from the blown fuse………..

Now we need to plan something more challenging!

Well after a busy start to the year working on the Perentie, most of the major jobs are complete.

The interior is pretty much as it needs to be, we have heating, hot water, a water supply and somewhere for the waste water to go.

A toilet has been purchased, although not yet tested!

The Radio/CB/sub woofer and reversing camera works as does the dash cam that records traffic coming towards us and also traffic coming from the rear.

All of the 12v DC power works as it should and the Solar is keeping the leisure batteries and starter battery topped up. The inverter gives us limited 240v power when required.

Mechanically, everything planned has been done and we will see how that holds up. For the future we need to be looking at the drive train, we need to be able to travel at about 70mph and at somewhere between 2000 and 2500 rpm (I think) and we are only achieving about 55mph at the moment. As the clutch will need to be replaced before any major trip, it is likely that we will swap out the transfer box to give us some higher gear ratios at the same time.

I have changed all of the fluids apart from the main engine oil which was only done last year. The oil change on the gearbox enabled me to replace the drain plug from where oil was leaking – it looks to me time the wrong one has been fitted. Also the thread looks damaged on the old one.

There is one more oil leak the source of which is not obvious. I have cleaned everything down in and around the engine, so it should be easy to spot the source once we get back on the road.

I am just waiting for the front roof rack to return from the powder coaters, I can then install this and add the additional driving lights and LED scene lights for use when camping – then I will do some exterior pictures of Perentie and maybe a walk around video.

The project now is the shake everything down and get some miles on the clock in order to get the brakes bedded in. Oh and of course, to see what stops working, leaks, blows a fuse or makes an unusual noise!

• 

• 

• 

• 

The next couple of weeks will be interesting…………

At the end of the Interior Heating post, I was considering using the Eberspacher Easystart Web App, so that we could control the heating without having to access the control panel which is in the rear of the Vehicle.

Initially I was put off by the cost – £389 for the Module and the Connection loom + an estimated 2 hours Labour at Krueger to install. I couldn’t see how difficult it could be, as I was told that it simply connected into the main heater loom. So I went ahead and purchased the module kit.

This is the point where you discover that it is not so simple, well I guess it would be simple, if you had access to all of the relevant information!

In the box, in addition to the module, was a sensor which I was told I already had, and a switch for testing the App which needed to be installed. Also present were a couple of wiring looms, some spare plugs and connectors and a booklet about how to set up the Web App.

First problem was that a dealer needs to set up the registration of the module before the App will work. Second problem, there was no wiring diagram!

This was the weekend, so I could not ring Krueger, so I interrogated Google for the wiring diagram. The result was bona fide as it was from the Eberspacher web site, I followed the instructions which initially went well with the connections to the module being made in accordance with the diagram. I then wired up the connector for the switch playing VERY careful attention to the wiring diagram and picture of the connector, to ensure the wires were in the correct order.

Then, at the final hurdle, the connector on the loom/flylead referred to in the instruction, would not fit the spare connection on the existing loom………..

• 

• 

• 

Well, by now much used to frustration with these things, I waited until Monday and called Sam at Krueger, I needed to speak to them anyway, to get the App set up. I explained the wiring issue and Sam arranged for to to visit the workshop straight away to get the installation sorted – very efficient.

Once at Krueger I met with Owen who did the original install for me. It turned out that the instructions that I had found referred to the old way of installing, and the old loom/fly-lead was still supplied in the box with the modules. This was why I had to purchase another loom part which effectively splits the main wires in the existing loom to being in the web Module. You had to unplug the main control unit from the main loom and use the new loom part to connect the control unit back in and bring in the web module.

Easy once Owen had figured out that my carefully wired connector for the switch was done incorrectly – this was because even this has changed in the new set-up and i was following the diagram for the old.

The additional sensor was required despite the fact that I already had a sensor inside the vehicle; this was so the module knew the interior temperature. Anyway easily solved and the system was soon up and running.

I must admit that the final stage of authorising the App, getting the module to connect to the cloud and for it to actually control the heater was more than a bit of a Faff. Anyway we got there in the end and setting up my own account via the Eberspacher Web Site and getting the App to work on my phone was relatively straightforward.

A final issue was that it costs £32 pa for the web service, something that I did not realise until I had downloaded the App…………….

Anyway, it all seems to work so we will be able to control the heating from the front of the car, in fact from anywhere. It is also easy to set up the required interior temperature and how long the heater is on for. Also, you can set up programs so the heating comes on automatically; these I may use in the depths of Winter to stop the car getting damp and cold.

I will report back…………..

I had completed a few short trips in the Perentie, just around Hordle and to New Milton a couple of times with no drama. Planning a longer drive to speed up the bedding in of the brakes, I headed to the Fuel station at Ampress in Lymington, to top up the Diesel, as I was about 1/4 full. I had added fresh fuel during the Spring via a Jerry Can.

I started filling up and noticed the Diesel was £1.40 a litre and that was not the posh stuff! I stopped at £20 and decided that I would head for Tesco in New Milton to complete the fill up as it would be cheaper……………….I needed to go for a drive in any case.

Anyway, out on to the Main Road and I sensed a lack of power, then very quickly it started to stall as the revs dropped. Lots of revving got me over the roundabout but it still stopped on the main road. I would start but stall as the revs went on.

Its never a good time to breakdown, but it was school pick up time and busy, I was soon causing a traffic jam. Luckily 2 guys in a Discovery stopped and with the car half starting and spluttering we managed to get it off the main drag onto a service road. It was clearly a fuel problem, so I decided to bleed to system through to see if that cured it – luckily I had stacked the emergency tool kit. However, manual pump on the (new) fuel pump had seized and there was no way I could loosen it.

Now this is where a shakedown is critical…….preferabely near home! My phone was running low on battery, no problem I thought, plug it in to the onboard USB. Didn’t work, which was odd as I had tested the sockets – later it turned out that the lead I had got from an authorised Apple dealer would connect to a computer, but not charge……………

So I called Benita who came to rescue me, lucky I was only a few minutes down the road. Double lucky as I had just changed my insurance and thus the breakdown cover; and although I thought I had, I had not programmed the number into my contacts on the phone, so i couldn’t call the breakdown anyway.

Back at home, I charged to phone a bit, and called the breakdown. In the meantime I called Darren at Milford Motors to say that I was dropping the car down, only to be told that they were closed for a while……….Oh No!

Ever helpful, Darren gave me the number of Arron at AJH Motors in Sway, a mate of his. Arron said I could drop the car down and come down with the keys the next morning.

Luckily the breakdown called out was Forrest Rescue in nearby Milford on Sea, so we got the car to Sway and I was back home in less than an hour – just in time for a G & T.

Although I could have tried to sort the problem, the small print on the insurance company paperwork, basically said that they would take a dim view of a call out for a similar issue, if you could not prove that you had taken steps to sort the problem. i.e. they might not come and get you! So I needed proof.

I called to see Arron the next morning and ran through the issues, making sure he knew about the hidden filter in the fuel line Banjo bolt in the inlet side of the fuel pump. Luckily, Arron said he look at the car immediately.

The diagnosis was water in the fuel, Arron cleaned the sedimenter, cleaned the hidden filter, which did have some debris in there and changed the fuel filter. I assumed that the water had got in during the winter, often the bonnet was open when it was raining, as I was doing other jobs. Odd though, that I had completed a few previous journeys with no problem.

A few days later with the Perentie running perfectly, I saw Neil Reid in New Milton when I was getting my heater sorted. He asked how it was going and I told him of the breakdown, but not the reason. Anecdotally, he said that he too had had an issue a few days previously as well. He had topped up with diesel at Burley Services and had stopped a mile down the road with symptoms the same as mine.

He had got a Mac Donalds at the services so he just sat for a while and enjoyed his food. Then his van started, no problem and he drove home. These stations are near and any delivery truck may well have visited both – dodgy fuel anyone!

The Electric Diesel Injection Control is basically a motor that controls a fuel on/off soledoid, that prevents the engine from being started accidently.

The motor operates a wire which turns on the fuel when the ignition is switched, you can hear a re-assuring whirrr……..when it is working correctly!

You may recall me mentioning this in an early post, when we had problems getting the vehicle to start/run correctly – it turned out that the valve was not opening fully, thus restriciting the flow of diesel and was the cause of those issues.

Back then, we tracked the fault to a dodgy and very badly wired relay. In fact subsequent investigation uncovered wiring that was so poor, the entire vehicle was re-wired!

During the re-wire we provided a new fused permanent feed to the EDIC along with a new fused ignition feed, again via a relay. Everything seemed OK and when we were stopping and starting the vehicle during the re-bulld everything worked fine. That was, until we actually started using the car again on the road.

After a couple of runs, the engine either struggled to stop or refused to stop altogether. i.e. the solenoid was not closing off the fuel, so this had to be done manually. Sometimes, it would just “hunt” cycling between on and off. This time I knew it was not the wiring or the various relays – it had to be the EDIC motor itself………….

• 

• 

Extremely annoying as I had replaced all of the other engine ancillaries and had been working around the EDIC motor for months. More than once, I thought I should replace it, but it was very expensive, had to be imported from Australia, and Hey – the one I had was working! – I should have known better.

I had to bite the bullet and ordered the part BYG9369 and associated wiring from Brad at KLR in Australia – A$586 + A$90 shipping and 20% duty on arrival in the UK – Ouch……….

On a positive, the package arrived in a week with the motor looking very smart in its white vinyl bag to protect it from the elements. My original had no such protection.

Fitting, at least initially, was relatively straightforward despite it all being a tight fit, now the clutch slave cylinder was back in. Annoying I had to remove some of the carpet that I had just fitted to get to the main bolts., but that done I just had to connect the live, ignition feed and the earth.

A quick test confirmed that the motor was working correctly.

The next job was to connect the Bowden cable to the fuel cut of switch on the engine. The cable on my existing motor was less the 30cm long and went directly to the switch on the engine, the cable on the new motor was in excess of 90cm which I thought odd.

My friend Darren checked his Perentie and it turns out that the cable should take a longer and more relaxed route to the switch by looping under the fuel pump.

Like everything else on the vehicle someone in the past who did not have the correct parts just made the best of what they had. In this case it was the way that the cable was connected to the fuel cut off switch, via makeshift braket on the engine to hold the Bowden cable in place and a old piece of cable block.

• 

Best way forward was to figure a way of connecting the new cable to the switch. First idea was simply to drill a bigger hole in the bracket for the new cable. However, the “T Bar” fitting on the end would not pass through the adjuster nut on cable, so that was not going to happen.

So, instead I cut a groove in the bracket and solved the problem that way.

The original Perentie set up is different, and has a special bracket to do this job; i have no idea of the part number of even if they are available, hence the work around.

After some adjustments, I found a spot where the engine would start and stop correctly. So I locked it into place. I suspect, the cable may give a little in use, and that a small adjustment might be needed in the future.

In an emergency, I can just disconnect the cable and allow the switch to stay in its default “On”position so the engine will still run. Turning off will require lifting the bonnet to pull the switch back by hand.

In reality the EDIC is a motor that simply moves a cable a few centimetres when the ignition is activated; i am not expectig to replace this again!

One less thing to worry about though.