And so it ends! The final leg of the journey:
Despite a dicey start, the Stagea performed flawlessly throughout the 1662.6km north from Christchurch to Auckland via Motueka, Picton, Wellington, New Plymouth, and Manawaru.
I picked up:
- The mighty RB powered Stagea
- A left wing mirror for the Starlet
- A set of old Volvo wheels for the caravan/drag racing the 740
- A J160 Altezza 6 speed for the Starlet blacktop conversion
- A set of 15x6" DC2 Honda Integra wheels without tyres for the Starlet
And the Stagea still drove like it had nothing in it. Epic car.
ToxicGumbo wrote:Will this become another vehicle retrieval adventure in social media?
I hope this post, and all prior, have lived up to your expectations of road trip by Fred :-)
Final tweets/pics:
Pretty view:
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 6276537346
Blurry view:
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 2945756160
Mileage te kuiti:
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 5106426880
Consumption te kuiti:
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 8542435329
Getting closer:
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 8369206272
Full boot, home:
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 9801276420
Cleaned up:
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 9000314880
Mileage to home:
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 5536057344
Mileage total journey minus 1000:
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 6289980418
Consumption at final fill:
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 0904331264
Mileage at final fill:
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 2828510208
Dash lights:
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 4873014274
Contrast:
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 6438734848
On my way to retrieve from airport drop:
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 7018750977
Made it through alive on 2 wheels:
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 5503051776
Two wheels fit easily in the Stagea:
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 1792847872
So now she's parked, full of gas, waiting for some lovin'. As soon as finances allow. Or possibly sooner. I suspect I'll miss driving it, despite the slush box.
Unlikely to see many mods anytime soon. Perhaps 2wd switch mod, and some other little tweaks. Speaking of which, stuff that's wrong with it:
- Front strut nuts painted white, yuck.
- Tar spots all over it, easy to remove.
- Bonnet stoppers are worn out and do not stay up, find some on another nissan
- Exhaust heat shield loose, rattles intermittently
- Rear muffler somewhat rusty/worn out, hopefully sneaks through WOF
- A bit grubby inside, partly due to me, partly already like that
- Rear headliner is looks and hanging slightly
- Missing some clips along the bumper below the tail gate
- Some plastic bits in channel between windscreen and bonnet (called?) are loose/missing
- Some clips on the seal strip along the back of the bonnet are damaged
- Oil has done its day, and should be changed, but I want to put some lifter cleaner in, possibly in with fresh new oil, HPR10, this time, 10 tenths next
- Interior light switch is dodgy, and lense cracked, get replacement, replace.
- Left rear seat rear handle does not work, so you have to open it through the left rear door, instead of from the back, 1st world problems
- A few minor dents on the sides here and there
- A nasty but small dent below the tail gate window that may be tricky to fix, seal not in original condition in the same area
- Weird surging in the 2800-3000 RPM / 110kph region with just the right throttle, less or more and it goes away, VVT switch point? Broken rubber mounts? No idea.
And finally, the trip would not have been what it was without the involvement of various people! So thank you to all of the below, in rough chronological order:
- John 10/10
- James
- Bearded friend of James
- The crew at Surfab
- The old man that was too slow, but told me to buy a lotto ticket
- The random guy on a bike that called my phone and helped me find it in the grass
- Chris the wheeler dealer in Motueka, and his mum
- Alex and his mrs
- Sarah 10/10
- Jenks
- Charles and his weasel and very loud dog
- Drunken man, his mrs, his sister, and his young daughter
- Nige and his mrs and kids - 10/10
- Jess, wheel girl
- And later, my wife! :-D
Great trip, great car, great people, great fun! Thanks to everyone :-)
Fred.