As space was tight the packing was reduced to the minimun and we managed to get everything we needed into the back of the car, out of sight under the tonneau.
It was a bright warm sunny day as we set off just after 1-0-clock for a gentle run across the North Yorks Moors., planning to have an easy afternoon finding the start point and more impotant, our B&B.
Unfortunately, Numbum had other plans for us and about a third of the way into the trip I suddenly found I couldn't engage any gear. All I could do was get the gearbox to create some grinding noises.
Thankfully I was able to coast to a gateway and get the car off the very busy A171 to investigate. It soon became apparent that the adjusting nut on the clutch adjusting rod was right at the end. As I'd noticed some notchiness in earlier gear changes I assumed that it had vibrated down the shaft. No problem, I thought, I'll just readjust it.
No such luck. It adjusted all right but as soon as I pressed the clutch pedal, it slipped back along the shaft. Hmmm. This is not good. Inspection revealed that the nut threads were looking well past their best so I decided to try something else. A couple of cable ties should do the trick. No they didn't. They couldn't take the strain and kept unzipping.
Whilst this was going on a good friend happened by and stopped to offer assistance but as he couldn't do any more than I was, he headed off on his way.
Rather stuck at this point my wife rang the RAC. Whilst she was on the phone I had a brainwave and looked for a nut of suitable size that wasn't attaching anything too important, and found one. The threads weren't exactly right but I managed to get it on far enough to have a workable clutch. It was right at the bottom of the travel but good enough. I managed to finish the job just as the RAC finally answered the call. We cancelled the call out and headed off down the road about an hour later than planned.
We eventually arrived in Scarborough about 5-o-clock and found the start point.
It was a lovely place. The clean warm room and good food made it an enjoyable stay but we should have researched things a bit better. Saturday night was live music night. The band was only average and intake of alcohol didn't improve them any. We eventually retired to our room and distance from the band didn't improve things either.
The car was snugly wrapped up for the night and we soon dropped off to sleep once the band stopped.