My New Ride...

After selling Myrtle I had given some careful consideration as to what my next purchase might be. I have always liked the look of the Abarth 124 Spider, having actually only ever seen one on the road, when travelling into work in Newcastle.

So I began researching the car, the usual stuff , insurance group, mpg, any recalls and what to look out for fault wise on the Abarth Forums.

The cars have a few small issues the first is that the drivers seat bolster wears quickly and that the soft top can catch the back of the roll bars causing wear. Other than that the usual things you get with most cars, oh and because the cars come with a valved Record Monza exhaust, the valves are prone to seizing.

I scoured the interwebs for a couple of weeks looking for my perfect potential car. At first I wasn't keen on the Blue, also known as Azzuro Isola d'Elba 1974 Metallic. However finding a car with the extras I wanted was proving difficult. I really wanted the Visibility pack, and the Bose speaker system. I wasn't too fussed about the Heritage kit, it's just a matt black bonnet and tailgate, I mean who can polish them right lol.

Abarth 124 Spider Isola d'Elba 1974 

I noticed Motorpoint down in Derby had a 2019 model in, and it had what I would like, but it was blue.

Anyhoo after going to view a red one, which was absolutely filthy and way over priced. I decided to take a punt on the blue one at Motorpoint. I went to the Birtley Branch and paid the £149 to have the car transported up.

To cut a long story short on Friday I traded my 2019 Abarth 595 Competizione for the Blue Abarth 124 and I love the car, and actually really like it's colour.

I was a bit gutted to discover the car didn't have Sat Nav installed, easily remedied with a 2023 map pack on SD card from Amazon at £55.

  

Abarth 124 Spider Think ~I'll cell her LoLA

The drivers seat is a little worn in the usual place, but I can live with it, and the soft top has a scuff as it has rubbed on the roll bar cover. I'll sort that. Oh and yes the valve is stuck on the exhaust, so a job for Ern and me.

The car sounds awesome and drives sweet as a nut. It's a bit cramped, especially with me having my stoopid prosthetic leg, and when driving it, it feels huge to me, there is this like huge long bonnet in front, something I'm not used to.

Iv'e even thought of a name for her...

LoLA = Loud,Obnoxious,Little, Abarth

Abarth 124

Now as anyone who knows me I can't just leave a car un-modded. In fact I have already started gathering bits, so far I've bought: 

Eurocompulsion V4 

Bonalume pop of spacer

 

Go Faster Bits Diverter

Rotiform LAS-R wheels 18x8.5 4x100 ET 35

Decided to return the Rotiform LAS-R's the black wheels just didn't suit my car. The car has  graphite colured wing mirrors and the windscreen pillars are the same colour.

Opted to go for 18x7 OZ Hyper GT HLT'S in a graphite colour with Michelin Pilot 4S tyres 215/35/18.

OZ Hyper GT HLT

OZ Hyper GT HLT

I have also bought some Autoglym products to clean the car including her roof.

Oh and I saw these on Facebook Market Place and the lady very kindly accepted my offer and I received them today. Can't believe how expensive they are new, saying which when they arrived they are a lot sturdier than they look in the images and have a little bit of weight to them. They are original Fiat cup holders, not sure if the Abarths came with them as standard, but they are a nice addition and somewhere to pout a cup or two now.

Cup Holders

Future mods when I get some wonga saved.

A crossover pipe, and you know I mentioned that the valve on the Record Monza is stuck, well Ern and I had the backbox off and it is well and truly stuck, so a future purchase I would really like is one of these, however at almost £2k it's a canny outlay.

Ragazzon valved Backbox with 4x102mm tips

Then there are

Alpha Romeo 4C coils

Get her remapped oh and big money as I fancy her on Air Ride .

Mid Life CrIsis

 This is a bit of a sad post, as I let Myrtle go this week. Both my dad and myself had put so much work into that old 65 Bug and I guess part of us feels like it's lost. Even my dad I think was a bit sentimental about Myrtle, he actually drove the car more than I did in the time we had her.

  

Bye Bye Myrtle

I can't believe how much money I had invested in the old girl, so when her bodywork was the next stage I had a tough decision to make, and decided to allow someone else to care for her.

Within days of Myrtle going, and with me being off work, I took some annual leave, because I've had this goddamn cold for going on 5 weeks, well I found myself looking at other cars  " No Glenn you don't need 3 cars", so I kind of agreed with my inner voice and we came to a mutual agreement that maybe two is enough.

That saidI think I'm going through some sort of mid life crisis, as I began looking at convertibles, Yes even bright RED ones. Things got so bad I even checked out a few Porches, second hand with a few miles on them.

I then got my mince pies on an Abarth 124 Spider, they have stopped making them, Ooh! a future classic. Trawling through the interwebs, there was only about 45 for sale, and of them about 18 or so automatics.

I quite liked the look of either a red one or a grey one, thing is none of them for the money had the visibility pack, or the higher spec'd Bose sound system.  The only car that was pretty much fully loaded, apart from the Heritage pack, which is the Matt black bonnet and boot lid, a throw back to the rally cars of the 70's was at Motorpoint in Derby, and it was metallic Blue, called Isola D'Elda Blue 1974.

Abarth 124 Spider Isola D'Elda Blue 1974

Mmmmm!  Not sure, checked more images on line, 

Mmmmm! Still not sure.

  

Growing on me

My dad and I then went to check out a red Abarth 124 Spider at Birtley and Ronald Clark. I had a sit in the car....I fit..... It actually felt massive. The bonnet feels very long. That particular car wasn't for me.

Record Monza Exhaust Sounds Great

More looking a blue 124's on my return, oh and of course potential mods, what can I say but Petrol Head. So far even without the car I've spec'd up around £10k of stuff I'd like to do.

One of the things on my wish list is air suspension. I just loved the look of Myrtle slammed.

More looking I think I'm coming around to Blue. So a trip down to my local Motorpoint, a valuation on my wee Abarth 595, which if I could also afford to keep I would.

 

I now have a deposit down to get the car up from the Motorpoint in Derby, so maybe by next week I'll be driving an Abarth 124 Spider.

Tomorrow is Make or Break Time for Myrtle.

As many of you will know Myrtle is my beloved little 1965 VW Beetle. I have had her going on 3 years now and in that time only been out in her a handful of times. This has been due to a number of things. When I bought her I couldn't drive her due to my amputation, and Myrtle being an old school 4 speed manual gearbox. Plus upon buying Myrtle and getting her home she struggled to get over our large speed bumps, as she was on static suspension. Upon checking her suspension set up, well let's just say it was horrendous. Im then spent a fortune getting an Airlift Air Ride set up installed and for around 2 years, we were on constantly taking apart her suspension, measuring and then rebuilding back up. Myrtle just never drove right. It wasn't until the Airlift manifold stopped working that we discovered it had actually been broken from brand new.

 

Myrtle sitting pretty

Anyhoo long story short I got a new manifold and eventually got a semi auto clutch adaption fitted and I was able to take Myrtle out for a few drives. I love driving the wee car, I mean she is very underpowered, as she only has a 1200 cc engine, so I constantly felt like I was thrashing her, but the driving experience was great.

Semi Auto Clutch Motor Hides under the Back Seat

Recently Myrtle began having problems starting and ticking over. I stopped driving her, as every time I went to pull away her engine would bog down and stall. It takes a bit getting used to the semi auto clutch. 

I had the wee car for a service at LVH Engine and Resto's, the great guys who had fitted my Air Ride. When I went to pick her up, Paul the mechanic informed me that Myrtle had very low compression. Following Ern home as he drove Myrtle I could see every time he changed gear, puffs of blue smoke coming out of her exhausts, Not Good.

Oh and whilst Myrtle was sitting in our yard Ern came up with the bright idea of re-routing the brand new wiring harness and airlines inside of the heater channels so that they were hidden from inside of the car. This was okay as the heater channels are no longer used due to the Airbags being fitted and I couldn't run heater exchanges. So Ern began doing this job when I was at work. He had been on a couple of days re-routing the lines and wiring, then I came in from work one day to discover he had been hacking bits off Myrtle. He had gone and literally hacked off the end of the heater pipes where they come out from the inner sills. I can tell you I wasn't best pleased and we are still having heated arguments over it. I mean come on the car has survived 57 years, only for someone to come along with... well not sure what he used a chisel, electric saw or a grinder and starts butchering my wee car. It's a total mess. Ern's way of thinking "Don't worry no one will see it, it's under the back seat". If ever I wanted to put heat back into the car, it's now impossible, without major reconstruction.

  

Myrtle and her hacked heater channels

Poor Myrtle's been attacked

That is not the end of my woes with Myrtle. During the Summer I was on giving her a polish and the plastic vinyl body strips that someone had put over her roof guttering came away.The glue keeping them on had heated up under the sun and the sticky residue was melting all over. As the passenger side strip came off I discovered a huge split between the guttering and roof. Awwww man! It now has me totally stressed. I mean my plan was always to have Myrtle restored, but this looks like a major repair job.

Awww Man!!! 

Drivers side starting to crack Too!

With Myrtle standing out during winter other areas have started to appear, that need attention. She desperately needs a Resto job. I have so many new parts for her in the house. New Front Windscreen and deluxe seals, pop out rears. A new deck lid, rear wings and exhaust apron. New headlight surrounds, Chrome blade bumpers, under my bed, rear light surrounds and a new VW logo Badge whose price was extortionate. 

 

Rear wing rust

More rust coming through

Poor Myrtle

At the rear, deckled been catching this built up area.

I actually did a quick paint over on this bit, but its come back through

Tomorrow I am off to a place to see if they can sort Myrtle and at what price. Hence the title of my Blog "Make or Break Time for Myrtle".  

This little slot was where the custom quarter bumpers fitted.

Seat Belt mounts welded in

Doors Been Catching

You see it is not just bodywork and paint, after that I need to also save for a new engine and interior. So Mega Bucks. If it's good news tomorrow of Course I don't mind investing in the wee car. I always had my eye on a bigger engine, and I also had an idea for a custom interior.

So I guess I will know tomorrow, where I go from here.

 

A Little Play Out on The Fatty

I have been on holiday this week, pleased I took a bit time off, as after all the filming the other week I had a sore good knee. I must have banged it or something as it was all bruised and when I was walking up the stairs at work, it felt like something was going to pop.

Anyhoo my knee feeling better I asked Ern did he fancy a look down Beamish Woods, so I could show him the trails I had discovered, and possibly get a little riding footage.

My dad although still getting out and about like when he goes shopping and stuff, is not going out as much, due to us loosing our Baxter. My dad used to take him for daily walks and also from time to time to the "Bully" walks, where both Baxter and my dad made some lovely friends.

So when my dad agreed to come along I was chuffed to bits. I really enjoy spending quality time with my dad, he is so supportive of me. Today he was to be my cameraman and in charge of stopping and starting my new GoPro Hero 11, which I had been gifted by the film crew guys a few weeks earlier. Dragos M, Dragos T, Oren and Cosmin.

Rather than take my Specialized Turbo Levo E-bike I decided to take my Silverback Synergy Fat bike out for an outing. I checked in my wardrobe for some mountain bike attire got ready and slipped on my Bartlett Tendon, then sorted out my camera and bike bits and bobs, just in case I needed to tighten or adjust anything or got a puncture. Everything fitting in my Camelbak "fanny pack" bag.

I made sure I had around 50 psi in my Bartlett Tendon Rockshox Monarch RT3 and also checked my fat bikes shockers.

Looking up the Farmers Trail

I told Ern I would ride to Beamish and meet him down at the Forges and we could enter the woods from there. So I set off from home and took the Farmers Trail, which leads to No Place and then I could drop down into Beamish.

Whilst on the Farmers Trail I took a pic at the start with my phone and then decided to grab a little GoPro footage with my new camera. I am so pleased that a few days earlier I had purchased a protective cover, which came with lens protection as just look at the picture. I accidentally must have caught the cameras standout was placed on, or flicked up a stone as the laminated screen protector got cracked. I have checked and the screen underneath is okay, so well pleased with that little investment.

Pleased I bought this screen protector.

Continuing up the trail `I got a little footage of the changing weather the fields and the trail as it rises up the incline.

I dropped into No Place and decided to shoot a little scene of me riding down some steps. This took longer than I expected as I didn't have anything to place my camera on and hold it in position. The video I shot and then edited is not very long and it is a bit fragmented not telling a real story, I just wanted to see what the camera was like in the settings I had placed on it, and basically spend a bit time messing around, hanging with my dad.

I rang Ern to see where he was and he told me he was just going past the Shepard and Shepherdess, so I carried on down past Beamish Hills, around the round about and down the steep bank, down from the pub. Ern was just pulling up as I arrived and we headed up the tight trail in towards the woods. Ern walking and me riding as far as I could before the trail gets a bit tight. There are loads of nettles and Whinny Bushes, horrible bloody things. 

Saw two lads on motorbikes just the other week in here...Scumbags

Once in the woods my dad and I walked along the bottom trail and then we turned up and I pushed my bike up the steep hill whilst Ern followed. My dad does really well, considering he will be 83 in November of this year. A little hike along the top trail and I then pointed to where the trails began, where someone has purpose built bike drops, jumps and berms etc.

Silverback Synergy Fat Bike

Lots of the jumps and drops are way above what I would attempt. I can't afford to break a leg, or my neck for that matter. It's strange as you get older, you tend to become more cautious, where as when you are young you throw caution to the wind.

I can remember back in the day my friend Carl Walker and I organising a petition and presenting it to our local council. It was for a BMX track to be built. We never thought we would get anywhere, however someone must have thought it was a good idea, as within a few weeks diggers showed up and cleared a site. They then built this what we thought at the time was an amazing BMX track. It was actually on the site of roughly where Iceland is now. I bet some old fogies at the time would have thought "Those idiots will kill themselves on those big jumps", yet there we were attempting 360's off table tops and flying around berms, on bikes which had none of this new fangled technology, so no suspension, or carbon frames and well electric bikes hadn't even been thought about or invented.

A few Video Snapshots so a bit Blurry

Coming around a bend

Skidding a Bend

Ern and I had a little scout around and I selected a few lines with appropriate wee jumps and drops, made more for the senior citizen. We then set up the GoPro and had a few takes on each section. Man all the pushing up the hills I was bloody knackered. It felt like we had been down the woods hours. I only managed to get enough footage to make a 1 minute video, by the time it was cut and I edited it LoL.

Playing down the woods

Me

The Ern

On the Fatty

Never mind both Ern and I had a laugh, and it was lovely to spend some time with Pa Bear. Back to Stanley in the car and Ern popped to Cooplands for some sandwiches and coffees. I have been on trying to edit my videos using Filmora and getting to grips with the new Mac Studio I bought. It takes a bit of getting used to. 

My old PC just can't hack editing video footage, especially HD stuff. I think one, maybe even two of the Hamsters that power it have died.

Ooh Ern is going to sort my gears out tomorrow as my chain kept slipping over the largest ring.

Meet The Local Hero

About 6 or 7 months ago, I was contacted quite unexpectedly by a gentleman named Dragos Mostenescu. Dragos went on to explain that he was a producer, writer and actor in his native country of Romania, and that upon discovering my Blog, he and a friend of his, also named Dragos, Dragos Teglas, who is a film director, were very interested in my story.

In further conversation, Dragos mentioned that they already had an idea in place, for a short film, something along the lines of "Meet the Local Hero". Dragos provided me with links to his website and also for the other Dragos, so that I could see their past work and accomplishments, that they had each been involved in.

 

From left to right, Cosmin, Dragos M, The Ern, Oren, Me & Dragos T, plus Joy the dog and Kosher the kitten

Grandma been for a service.

Had Grandma for a service down at Pulman VW at Durham. £215.00 for a check over and to get her oil and oil filter changed. Really I was paying for the stamp in her service book.

VW Beetle GSR

Grandma has only done 400 miles or so since her last service and MOT.

Still love this car, she feels awesome to drive, yeah her un-resonated  exhaust can get annoying, however when I put my foot down and give her some gas, that deep burble is sooooo addictive.

VW Beetle GSR

I haven't bought any more mods for her, she has just been hibernating in her garage. I'm trying to save up to get Myrtle my 65 bug sorted. I need some serious money, so any donations welcome lol.

Just been to collect some pop out windows I ordered from Germany for Myrtle. They were at Parcel Force at Birtley, £101.50 import duty, man you get robbed left, right and centre these days. Nevermind the windows look spot on. I was a bit worried they might be naff quality, but on a quick inspection they look good.

VW Beetle GSR 

Just took a few pics before putting Grandma back to bed lol...

VW Beetle GSR 

Just out of interest I checked Parkers to see how much Grandma might be worth... £9000 to £11000, OMG! parkers is sniffing glue....

AI Art

Ooh just a little addendum...

So it appears Redbubble has decided to suspend my account. Apparently they don't have to give a reason, or even reply to any correspondence. No they just let artists spend hours and hours completing their "unique" designs, and then ban them.

 Reading further into the topic, this appears to happen a lot to people. I guess the folk at Redbubble just assume they are so big that one more person doesn't matter. Ah wel, keep moving forward and screw Redbubble... Lol

Whilst having a gander on YouTube, as there was nothing particularly interesting on TV the other evening I came across a video which was entitled, something like "7 ways to make a passive income digitally". Anyhoo  I watched the first part of the video, and I was pretty blown away when this guy got on about a thing called Midjourney. 

The guy went on to explain that in order to use Midjourney, you first have to download a thing called Discord. Discord is like a chat room type thing and once you have this installed you can then click on Midjourney. Obviously, you have to set up accounts for each thing.

So, Midjourney, is an Artificial Intelligence kind of affair. Don't ask me how it works, let's just say it's magic.

 

What do you do with it? It's really easy, just type in what sort of an image you are after, and the BOT after say 30 to 60 seconds will create an image. The more details you offer, the better the image.

 

Moto X in Space

Liar Liar Pants on Fire

 

Some of the quality is amazing, like a real photograph in some instances.

After I had used up my 25 free goes I decided to pay for a year's subscription, and I have been having great fun designing art which I pop on Redbubble.

 

Beautiful AI Woman

 

Redbubble allows you to put your designs on their site and then anyone who likes them can order various things, everything from clothing to house ware with your design placed on. You then get a commission after the cost of whatever the person has purchased, and Redbubble send off the stuff.

 

Concept Car

 

It's just a case of uploading your work, then not having to do anything, but hope someone finds your designs worthy of purchasing, so a passive income. Cool