My next adventure

[bob46320]

Good luck Bruce, adding to your list:-
'Pilgrim passport' get it stamped and you get cheaper meals and lodgings.
Phone charger for all those photos you are going to post.
Tie wraps.
1m of garden wire
Those spare inner tubes I gave you and 3 tyre levers.
Bob

[Dave Mann]

   
That little box between the seats is most handy for holding spare fuses, jet key and 1/4" x 5/16" spanner, it also provides somewhere to mount the indicator switch and map reading light. The base of the box is a piece of steel sheet bent to fit over the tunnel. From the photos of your route that I've seen you could drive a Seven along it however the authorities might not be too impressed.

[Bob Culver]

With a few provisos I would be more confident than in a high mileage modern. An alternator failure brings you to a standstill. Ditto any starter problem. A failed battery can wreck the computer. There are still engines with timing belts. And the other belts, idlers etc are critical. Water pumps and thermostats fail. Unless you are a mechanic specialist in the model and with tiny hands and every combination of socket and extension almost nothing can be fixed by the roadside. The fuse panel is bewildering even after you find it. Windscreens are vast and vulnerable. Pressurised hoses a liability. Any cook up and the engine is wrecked. Cannot be towed. Explorations down tracks likely to lead to skirt and underside damage and scratched paint.
 
On the Seven If the rear hub tapers are known to be uncracked then there is no point in carrying an axle shaft as some do. Ideally the large radius on front stub axles should be tested or at least very closely inspected. (Both on my car cracked at 100,000, one half way through the tubular wall). Main spring leaves in particular should be closely inspected for cracks.  And the distr drive gear for severe wear! Carry a kingpin or length of ½ inch bright steel. Perhaps a modern lightweight battery charger then can survive even if dynamo fails. Is the fuel pump diaphragm known to be good? Know how to replace pump on correct side of camshaft. For decades in my 1964 car with difficult access petrol pump I have carried a petrol tin with tap and tube. Can be arranged for gravity feed.
Fuel tank must be sound. Spokes not loose and fretting. Dynamo brushes not near end of travel, or commutator out of round and sparking..
Useable fabric universal
Grease gun
 
I have run and still do very old cars. Do not belong to AA. Do an 800 mile round trip a few times each year. Used toseek out  the roads with grass in the middle. My kit includes
Small snips and piece of sheet metal. Saw handle and hacksaw blades.
A handlamp and wire (which can be used if required).  Round and flat file. Small handrill and drills.
Duct tape. Some old tube rubber.
A few BSF setscrews and nuts and self tappers.
A length of  multi strand clothes line wire (can bind springs and other fractures and unravel for thin wire). A bowl to hold any drained oil. A container to carry water.
Slip joint pliers. A medium pin punch or heavy nail! Some card for gaskets, small scissors, and a small tube hole punch (can also use to punch larger holes. Some effective gasket goo or gasket substitute. Light wood for jack base, and any other use. Some tube in case you have to cadge petrol, or a pipe breaks.
A removable bracket for front of car and a light foldable solid tow link with trailer coupling at front end. (When a few were still alive mates could be summoned for a tow. On remote back roads locals could likely be recruited to tow to civilisation)
 
Although very convenient a socket set is not necessary with a Seven, and the ½ inch sockets are bulky. Open end spanners and the step up style ring spanner suffice. The large nuts on a Seven are a problem; some like the rear wheel bearing nut too big for a heavy 12 inch Crescent. In an emergency can use a very blunted cold chisel. The old F spanners have large capacity and an old one can be hammered. A spare sump gasket as a makeshift replacement with goo risks jet blockage 
Cotton wool for ears to reduce fatigue (but still hear) and raise the rev limit.
 
Presumably more civilised in rural France than here where the natives can be troublesome. Security is a problem with old cars with unlocked bonnets and tanks and removable radiator caps, knock out door hinge pins, and screw retained door handles. Can bog the slots in latter and paint.

[Steve Jones]

As Dave Wortley says, you are slightly mad, Bruce, but he and I have both known you for a long time so we knew that anyway!! Add a length of welding rod and some cable ties to your list. Easy to carry and so useful for lots of things.

The very best of luck and say one for me when you get there.

Steve

[Reckless Rat]

Most of the people walking the pilgrim trail tend to stay in purpose built stopping off points, which offer cheap accommodation and a hearty meal for about a tenner all in. The problem with that is that you end up having to sleep in a dormitory with a bunch of other people. Whilst all of us may well be similarly fatigued after our day's journey, I don't want to end up losing a night's sleep because of someone farting or snoring all bloody night. I have therefore, selected reasonable quality hotels for my overnight stops, all of which have restaurants and secure parking. They are all pre-booked so I know where I'm headed at each stage of the journey. A decent meal at the end of a long and possibly hard day can then be complemented by a good night's kip in a comfy bed.

Just to point out that most of the pilgrimage route is on waymarked pathways. There's no way I can do that in the car. The plan is just to follow the route (in actual fact there are several of them) as close as is reasonably practicable whenever possible, using the established road network but avoiding motorways and major arteries when I can.

I have invested in a supply of foam ear plugs to dampen the noise a bit. You don't realise how noisy it is in the cabin until you stop.

With secure overnight parking I will sleep soundly. The RP does lock (although that guarantees nothing) and I have a hidden battery isolator just in case. The French seem to be very supportive of old cars in general so I'm expecting a lot of honking, headlamp flashing and arm waving along the way. Once I get past Carcassonne I'll be in uncharted territory so to speak. I've never been to northern Spain, only the costas so that will be quite exciting. I have been through Andorra, but it was a long time ago with my parents in my Dad's MkII Zodiac. Was early 60s I think and I was probably fast asleep on the back seat.

Because most of the route from here towards the Pyrennées is predominantly flat, I shall get a view of the mountains from a long way off. Mt Canigou is visible from as far away as Béziers on a clear day, and my first overnight stop is in Lannemezan, near to Tarbes and right on the edge of the Pyrennées. I have booked evening meal, bed & breakfast (demi-pension) for 56€ which I reckon is pretty good value.

[Malcolm Parker]

Sounds like a great adventure, Bruce.   I always used to carry an old Dunlop footpump with me on long journeys, it weighed a ton and took up a fair bit of space.  Now I have a 12v cigar lighter in all my cars and I use the inflator that I got with my modern Renault.  It is light and compact.  I have two small plastic boxes that are compartmentalised into about 10 sections.  They are filled with things like wheel nuts, core plugs, fibre washers, sump plug, half shaft nut, small nuts and bolts etc.  They live in the space under the drivers seat and have been used to fix all manner of cars including Bugatti Brecia!  Under the back seat I have two flat biscuit tins with things like gasket goo, araldite, coils of wire, petrol pipe, tie wraps etc.

[Reckless Rat]

Thanks for that Malcolm, and everyone else regarding your suggestions. I shall take them all on board, figuratively speaking. To keep things as light as possible I have invested in a small gas powered tyre inflator, which uses the equivalent of sparklets bulbs. I've used a similar gadget during my years of trials riding and they are very good, quick and easy to use, light and take up little space. I've also bought a combined multi screwdriver/torch thingy and I'm currently scouring the garage for my mini grease gun which has gone AWOL. I've got a large picnic basket that I will put on the back seat to carry most of the lighter items - it can be taken out of the car overnight for safe keeping. All the tools and spares will go under the seats, front and/or rear so that very little is on view when unattended apart from a petrol can and some oil/coolant.

[Hugh Barnes]

One of the things I always carry, having learned the hard way, is a gearstick. Pops under the rear seat..

Sounds a great adventure....

[Reckless Rat]

Good point, Hugh. I do have a spare gear lever but it's for a 4 speed synchro box and mine is 4 speed crash - the ends are different. In the event of a broken lever, which I presume usually happens where the circlip goes I will make a temporary repair using a molegrip and then seek out an enterprising welder. In the days to come I might just turn myself up a temporary repair sleeve to use should the worst happen. I will take the lever off and check that it's sound as well!

[John Mason]

Good luck Reckers on your adventure. I am more than envious of you and your journey. As to spares I think most items have been covered by others and I truly hope you don't need to use any. There is one thing for sure if you are unfortunate to have a breakdown the spare you need will be the one left back on the shelf in your garage. That's Sod's law.

John Mason