Classic Le Man trip: advice

Hi

I'm going to take my newly restored (done about 1.5k miles since rebuild) Mk1 to Le Man classic this year and wondered if anyone has advice what to pack to help with any issues that might come up on the way?! 

Not been on the site for a few years so looking to get back posting again! 

Dan 

You mean in case of potential breakdown, etc, or something else?

Hi Dan,
I take my early Mk2 Golf to Europe a lot and it is a good idea to pack the obvious spares like alternator power steering belt, plugs and if its a dizzy engine (?) a set of points and a condenser, spanners tools to change these, rags, tyre weld, bit of oil and mixed coolant, plastic gloves and hand wipes, set of fuses, set of bulbs and warning triangle (compulsory EU)  and obviously make sure theres a  jack and spare wheel , if fitted, is pumped up.

Other than that just enjoy the drive!

Your car should get a lot of plenty of attention, but to avoid the wrong type a (small) Disclock is piece of mind.
Lastly take a few Michelin type maps as sat nav's fail sometimes.



 

typ_53b said

You mean in case of potential breakdown, etc, or something else?

Yeah breaking down really! 

Daytona said

Hi Dan,
I take my early Mk2 Golf to Europe a lot and it is a good idea to pack the obvious spares like alternator power steering belt, plugs and if its a dizzy engine (?) a set of points and a condenser, spanners tools to change these, rags, tyre weld, bit of oil and mixed coolant, plastic gloves and hand wipes, set of fuses, set of bulbs and warning triangle (compulsory EU)  and obviously make sure theres a  jack and spare wheel , if fitted, is pumped up.

Other than that just enjoy the drive!

Your car should get a lot of plenty of attention, but to avoid the wrong type a (small) Disclock is piece of mind.
Lastly take a few Michelin type maps as sat nav's fail sometimes.



 

That's a great list! Will get cracking with that, thanks! 

A spare bulb set makes sense (and is compulsory in some countries), and probably oil and coolant, as Daytona suggest, in case of minor leaks. A spare wheel in case of a puncture, and a basic set of tools. If my car's been to a garage (which doesn't apply to my Scirocco), I always slacken the wheel bolts and retighten to the correct torque, as garages often overtighten, leaving them impossible to undo with only a standard wheel wrench.

I'm a bit sceptical about anything beyond that, really, if you have confidence in your car, as it's impossible to predict what you might need in a breakdown. The three critical faults I've experienced have been due to a missing alternator bracket bolt (on my 250 mile journey home from the seller, which took the recovery company 4 hours to resolve at their base!), a wax stat on the carb leaking coolant (delay of a week awaiting replacement, now obsolete) and an intermittent bind on a brake shoe (requiring frequent stops to cool down). None of these could I have prepared for, other than by prior preventive maintenance.

So my advice would be, make sure you have good European breakdown cover, including recovery back to the UK, as otherwise recovery could work out very expensive.

In terms of what else to take, high vis vests for all vehicle occupants, a first aid kit, headlamp beam adapters, warning triangle, driving licence and V5C are all compulsory, as far as I know. And watch out for low emissions zones, which require a colour-coded disc to enter, something your car is almost certainly not going to qualify for

Happened to be on an overnight ferry once with about 90% of the cars attending Le Mans classic. The sound of all the cold starts in the  low level car park in the morning was amazing 

Good suggestions above, but I'd add a couple of essentials.
Tie wraps and duct tape!
You'll be amazed at what you can fix with those items.

Enjoy the Classic, it is a great event, not been for a good few years but definitely want to take the Golf at some point!

J