Ah. Had the opportunity to rebuild the original engine with new barrels and pistons on Sunday and we had cylinder-head issues on the one side which prevented the engine from starting. Was getting pretty late and the daylight failed, so my friend had another look when he got home from work yesterday and it should hopefully be fixed by this evening. Well I hope so as I'm heading home on Friday.

2CV's back on the road with new 9.0:1 pistons and barrels on the original engine. On the way back from Warwick an hour ago I kept the speed down to around 50-55mph and as I approached the bottom of Hopwood Bank on the M42 I increased the speed to about 60mph and floored the accelerator on the incline. For the first time ever the car actually increased its speed on that hill! It has always lost momentum on Hopwood Bank. There was also no detectable evidence of any pinking too, (the main reason for flooring the throttle on such a steep hill). Well chuffed.

Umm,
guess you're not bothering with running in those new barrels and pistons, then?


Running in.IMG by slcchassis, on Flickr

Yes, as stated on that piece of blurb "do not exceed 55mph". I did 50 to 55mph and gently touched 60mph for a very short 20 to 30 second push to see how it managed on that massive hill, then back down to 50mph or so. No high revving with me. I'll be leaving Worcester before 5am on Friday and gently pootle my way back north to Aberdeen at around 50mph.

Although i wouldn't dare to question your knowledge, i seem to recall that it's also very important to constantly vary the load and RPM

Jonathan already seemed to be doing that, didn't want him to 'overdo' it by attacking every uphill drag at full throttle on the road back north...

It's fine really as an indicated 60mph on the car's speedo actually shows as 56mph on the Nav. I've been travelling along at mostly 50mph on the motorway. (Whether I wanted to or not due to the worst journey I have ever had to endure today). Left Worcester at half two this afternoon and a journey to Tebay Services that normally takes around 3hrs at 5am has taken over 5hrs! The M5 and M6 are the world's biggest roadworks at the moment. Just relaxing in The Cross Keys Inn in Old Tebay now, just a two minute walk from the b&b I'm staying in tonight. Heading back to Shetland tomorrow night.

That's a relief. I'm running the Ami's engine in at the moment, and it's impossible to avoid varying the load and RPM here in the Peak District!

Have arrived at the ferry terminal in Aberdeen and waiting to board the MV Hjaltland.

Boarded ferry and left Aberdeen at 6:45pm. Very smooth crossing so far, but likely to lose connection soon. Arrive in Lerwick around 7:30am.