A Few New Bits On Order And I think My Camera is Buggered

I have had to wash and polish LoLa my wee Abarth 124 Spider yet again. Ern said he heard something on the news about sand coming over in the atmosphere all the way from the Sahara, so that would explain the horrible dirty and gritty appearance of her Thursday morning.

LoLa nice and clean I decided I would try and get some pics of her, as I wanted to see a couple of photo comparisons of her wearing firstly the grey mirror caps, tow eye and lower bumper trim and then the new red parts I had added. I am still on the fence. I have never seen another Blue Abarth 124 with red bits, well in truth I have only ever seen 3 of these cars in the flesh, the one I mentioned in a previous blog, going over the Redheugh Bridge and I can't recall it's colour, another Red one I had a sit in at a local dealer, and of course Lola my Blue car.

 

Abarth 124 Spider LoLa

I had had my Pentax K30 camera battery on charge. Wow this camera is now about 10 or 11 years old I haven't used it a great deal. Although I love photography I am no photographist and as such the technical stuff on a camera, well its beyond me. I would say I have a good creative eye, however I am more of a point and shoot guy... hey that Rhymes Lol.

 

Abarth 124 Spider LoLa

So this morning upon getting up I firstly went and put a few quids worth of petrol in LoLa, man it's dear £1.66 a litre for Super unleaded. I only popped £15 quid in her, as I will pop to Costco later as it's a bit cheaper.

Abarth 124 Spider LoLa

Following putting petrol in LoLa I drove over to the Stream Valley, the condensation having dried off so I could pop the hood down. I love the sound of this car. If I drive sensibly she is quieter than Grandma My VW Beetle GSR, who drones at all speeds. However if I boot LoLa she gives of a throaty rasp which is pretty loud and obnoxious. The car is quite addictive and a real pleasure to drive.

Abarth 124 Spider LoLa

Abarth 124 Spider LoLa

Arriving at Stream Valley and the small carpark I retrieved my camera from LoLa's boot. I began attempting to take shots, varying from automatic, to manual and changing settings with then idea "well at least one or two shots may come out good". Finished a quick shoot I drove home to see what I had captured.

Upon popping the images on my Mac I was most disappointed, they were either way too dark or dark and blurry. I had experimented with the camera the evening before and had not been able to get a good shot and upon reading on line about the Pentax K30 read, that some cameras can experience what is known as aperture block. As my camera was/is shooting everything dark, no matter the lens I thought that it might be that and tha it was buggered.

Ern and I had a look at the camera and I asked him to try and find the recommended settings for the model. We then took the camera back to factory settings and began tweaking from there. I took a few basic shots just around home inside and outside and the camera appeared to be working better, so I will give it another go soon. I bought this camera in 2012, for when I went to America. I am pretty sentimental about things so hope it is ok and going to behave.

Of course I have now already been looking for a replacement. I quite fancy a mirror less camera, something I can change lenses on, but again something simple. I just can't be doing with having to learn all about f.stops, ISO's and EV levels. I just want to press a button and get an awesome picture then feel good at my results.

Back to LoLa... I have been spending a few pennies on her since buying her. I am now awaiting a set of OZ Hyper GT Hlt's to come from Italy, courtesy of Wheelbase.

OZ Hyper GT Hot 18's

Oh and I am waiting for a set of Yellow Speed Racing Coilovers, having thought the air ride was just a bit pricey for what I needed. They are coming from ID-Workz

Yellow Speed Racing YSR DPS Coilovers

Also on the recent purchase list and also coming from Italy, courtesy of Balance Motorsport is a Ragazzon Quad 120mm tipped Valved exhaust back box. Its gots a remote control twin valve system so I am excited to get this on and see how LoLa looks and sounds

Ragazzon Valved Backbox

I had been waiting for a Bonalume Adjustable Pop off spacer from Tuning Art, which I paid for via PayPal £164.95 however when the item didn't arrive and after contacting Tuning Art via email, telephone and their Facebook page and not getting any response I got in touch with PayPal and there is now an open case to try and get my money back. So Tuning Art gets a negative score from me and I wouldn't recommend them as a reliable company, they don't mind taking your money, however nothing arrives, then they totally ignore any communication. Basically robbing fatherless company.

Further to above PayPal has resolved my case in my favour. I got a message this morning. So for anyone reading this beware of the company going by the name of Tuning Art 

I have since ordered a Bonalume non adjustable spacer from 500 Madness in the US, at least I know they deliver their stuff. So looking forward to a "Whoosh" sound.

 

Bonalume spacer "Whoosh"

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