Hey guys,

My friend is over from England for 3 weeks and I'm thinking the best way to enjoy the experience is to get out of Melbourne and head for better weather up North. I'm thinking of doing a road trip upto the Byron Bay area stopping along the way. So roughtly 1600k each way

My 1302 was serviced in Dec and running like a dream, but i'm wondering what I should do to her in preperation to make sure that she makes it with minimal issues.

Also what essentials should I order in to keep in my car just in case things decide to die, I do have my "How To Keep Alive" book in the boot!

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Spare points if your still running them, rotor, spark leads & plugs, fanbelt, petrol, check the spare tyre,

take some oil, also check the oil level again, clean the air filter, adjust the brakes if your running drums, take some spare globes for the headlights and some electrical fittings etc..

Check wipers and blades, lubricate all chassis points, ensure tyres are infalted properly

Ensure the throttle return spring is working properly

stretch your ankle and ensure its ready to sit on the accelartor for hours! and off you go!

But I mean really 1600km x 2 shouldn't worry a stock beetle in the slightest.

Hope this helps a bit; there would be other things others could add too, all the above sort of covers things i encountered on driving my bug as a daily for 7 years.

Cheers

Shaun

a list of people along the way to help if you break down. or at least the number of another member on here that can post, where you have broken down and roughly whats wrong so we can point you in the right direction

Awesome, thanks for the info, ringing george for supplies

Hi

A spare clutch cable, clutch pedal and accelerator cable would be useful.

Steve

The minium i would do is change the oil and check the tappets, you do not say how many klm's it has covered since the last service in December, by the time you get back it's more than likly you have exceeded the service interval for your car, i do my service's on my two beetle's at 3,000 KLM's, always remember the cheapest part of your engine is the oil.

Yes, an extra 4 or 5 PSI of air in the tyres will add a bit of an edge to the performance (I usually go 10 extra on MichelinZXs) - you will have more of a load on board than usual and your average speed will be up compared to normal tootling around the burbs.
If you hit some rain, just remember that the tyres are a bit harder and not as grippy.
x2 spare fanbelts is the golden rule.
Adjust you rear brakes up.
Pump the spare up to 40 PSI - you can always let it down a bit if needed.
A small piece of masking tape over the HighBeam Light, if night driving.
Throw the back seat out for less weight and more storage - the drawback of doing this, it will ensure that you will definitely see a pair of gorgeous blondes trying to hitch - if you leave the seats in, you won't.

Go back and review that string about Favourite Roads (a couple of months ago) and see if you can schedule a couple of them into your journey.
A roll of rubbish bags for the coke bottles and chip wrappers.
A FlashLight, a ground sheet, handwash and paper towels - if you don't take these the Dub will definitely breakdown.
Window spray for the sunset windscreen bugs - also keep an eye out for roos at sunrise and sunset.
Also, mobile radar traps are to be expected 5 kms either side of small towns.
Get some free TripMaps from your local RAC etc.

Checkout the Sponsors on the site - some interesting VeeDubbers up that way to call into and have a cup of coffee.


Don't forget to sample some Fish 'n Chip takeaways up toward Byron - your English friend will love it!

Pack the condoms!!!....and some decent travelling music.

Enjoy the adventure.

Oboy! Your'e gonna have so much fun!

lol i agree, the cables i can understand(if they havent been changed in a while), but the pedal is a bit extreme...lol, if you like, bring it by my shop for a free check up along the way, always keen to help a fellow enthusiast.... we are litterally about 1.5 km off your route... and as for thingd to bring, most of the posts have covered it....give me a call on 0401 55 40 49... cheers adam (raw auto werks)

You may want to carry a spare fuel pump, unless you're still running the original rebuildable type, then all you'd need is a kit and also a carby kit.

All you really need is oil and a fan belt. Everything else is an unnecessary extra. Would I take spare points? No, a small screwdriver and a nail file or a scrap of emery cloth will do just as well. Even then, I haven't touched my points in over a year. If you check them before you leave then they should be fine. Spare fuel pump and clutch cables?! Completely unnecessary unless you don't maintain your car and don't trust it.

One thing which I actually would take which nobody has mentioned yet is spare fuses. I keep a good selection of spare fuses in the ashtray at all times, because you never know when one might pop!

It seems that the more you take, the less you'll need. Bit like taking an umbrella so that it won't rain.

duct tape, cable ties

fencing wire

I drove my '70 from sydney to darwin in 1990. engine got a bit warm but loved it. No problems at all.

im with steve...they are getting old and the local servo wont stock the things mentioned

Its not a bulky nor heavy list of spares yet

You should see the gear we take with the race car! Spare turbo, assembled axle, berg shifter, drive flanges etc!

yeah rusty but there is a big difference between keeping a daily running and a full blown mechanicals and all resto where all these "known" faults are taken care of at once

Like a bit of rust in my daily led to a decent but quick repray...it looked good but was the same daily drive underneath. Sometimes the car needs to be used regularly and repairs/mods done as time allows...so break downs occasionaly happen

Points condenser cap rotor, fan belt and Minties..... don't forget the Minties

I used to drive my S about 1000km a week and I can pretty much guarantee you that yours is in better condition.

I'd say take a roll of some heavyish gauge electrical wire, a coffee tin of nuts, bolts bits and pieces, fan belt, canned food, bottled water and sleeping bags. Oh and a container of oil.

Check all your fuel line before you go.

I drive about 1200km most weekends at the moment to go home to Port Macquarie from Orange and back.

I carry a spare tire (with air in it), spare fanbelt, oil, and my car's tool box which has basic tools as well as things like fuses, wire, electrical tape, and a lot of small goodies like that.

About 6 weeks ago, my clutch went slack, and I thought it was the cable on the way out. I adjusted it, and it has been OK ever since, but I did grab my spare clutch cable from home and I am also carrying that in the car at the moment. Having said that, I have driven heaps of K's with broken clutch cables - no problem on the highway, but no good if you have to come to a complete stop too much. You can start it in gear, or roll or push it fast enough to get it into first, but you wouldn't want to do it to much.

I have also wired up broken accelorator cables quite a few times.

Interestingly, when my eldest daughter was at TAFE (doing Carpentry & Joinery - or whatever it is called now - she was the only girl in the class), she broke an accelorator cable in her 74L bug as she drove out the TAFE driveway at lunchtime (she was a bit early - she is a smarty). She rang me to bring the spare cable over to Wauchope to her. I described how to wire up the cable, so she saw the storman for wire and pliers, and was just fixing it as the boys came out for lunch. They offered to call the NRMA, but she said she was OK, finished the repair, then started it just fine. Apparently they were pretty impressed to see a chick do that. lol

1/mobile phone
2/ a good breakdown service policy (racv,nrma.racq)
3/ have fun and don't run with scissors