Athlone meet Irl

As the title says anyone up for aa meet in athlone at the hodson bay hotel during the summer?Im good for most weekends,say sometime in around mid june?
Alan

sounds good to us.. count us in.

We're putting a Club stand up at a show on the 13th of June at Ballymena and you all would be more than welcome to join us.

Hi All,

I would definitely be up for one. Missed the last few and should have car lookin well in a few weeks.

Regards

CollieD

mid june is good for me, car getting there slowly but surely

Count me in

Athlone is a nice spin for me so fingers crossed I can make it!!! As long as the fcukin car behaves haha!

Acutally can any of you guys help me need a back box ASAP?!Even a second hand one would do as the pipe and tip went awol over the wend and i dont wanna have it go up in flames on me :-( Oh and the heater controls stopped working on sat too...

I'm a possible.

What's the hotel like, is it expensive...Is there any night life close by, any festivals etc on in the area.What's the local talent like.

Yes I know its a car meet, but I aint driving to the centre of Ireland to look at other cars that look like mine without some sort of added attraction

Fccuk me this boy wants it all.!!!

What can I say Joe, my blood is part irish part russian...I never stood a chance. Knowing how to drink and party is in my genes

Hotel is really nice, located on the banks of Lough Ree. was there for a wedding 2 weeks ago and the rooms are very nice, if your booking one make sure its in the new part. room was €115 the first night but I ended up staying for an extra night and only cost €75 for some reason. As for talent I didn't see much,but I never made it into the town. its a 10min drive outside the town. I hadn't thought about an overnight but hmmmm, maybe your on to something there boy whose good at organising stuff??

So it's a pretty expensive hotel then.
Def out of my price range at that sort of money. That's a complete set of brake pads or 3 or 4 nights out!

There must be something cheaper in the town, which from a drunken stagger home point of view would be better anyway.

Good too see a bit of interest.
Was thinkin around june 14th if that suits mst of ya??
Id be up for a session too if there a bit of interest

June 14th sounds ok to me !

I'd like a spin down to see some more of the Coupe lads about.

14th June sounds good to me too.

Feeling good today as my Coupe just flew through the MOT test this morning

Sunday June 14th is good for me

Cool sunday 14th it is then.
Hope to be there for 1pm

Ill be leaving celbridge co.kildare at noon,ill be headin down n4 so if anyone from dublin or around the area maybe could meet yas somewere along n4 maybe at the maynooth turn off?

I might be able to make this one. Family home is in Celbridge so could meet you there albertone.

Ill be there too - gives me a chance to have my 20VT ready for road.

Yeah sounds good,we can organise something closer to the time.
Is it you ive seen around in a green coup?

Hi All,

yes June 14th sounds good too!!

I will have to get finger out and get her ready.

Good to see the interest building in this.

CollieD

Yup, looking forward to it, now I have a target date to get everything sorted by and have her nice and presentable :0) Time to put all those nice new parts on and shine her up

Sure is. Used to drive a black CRX. You might have seen that around too. Is your's the blue coup? I passed by it on the road leading from the M4 to Celbridge not too long ago. Gave a nice wave too

Twas me alright,think ive seen your crx around abit too.

Dont think me coop will make this one.Car not well but ill head down on the bike if the weathers good or maybe get a lift off one of yea if its st

You can get a lift from me if you need it. Doubt I'll be staying for the night though...

Sure, let me know

i'll try and be there
bein a while since i saw another coupe

May not be able to make this now. Have a stag to go to. If I sober up in time I might make it

Ah ya lightweight

I've a Black Tie Charity Ball on this Friday, my sisters birthday party on Saturday night (40th don't tell anyone) and driving from Inishowen Donegal!

Hard core?

Wish me luck!!

Karlos,

good to see your up for it. Hopefully it will be a dry day and the cars will be looking their best.

Anyone interested in convoy from Dundalk, daithi etc and also the boys up north that will be coming thru.

CollieD

Con-voooooy!

Yep, I'll be up for a convoy from Fundalk!

What time are you guys hitting the road and what time is the Meet at the Hodson Bay?

Mmmm.. must wash the car. Don't anybody look at the broken front lip or the dodgy paint on my bonnet okay. Viewing from 20ft away only

Hey, I still haven't got my sliders for me new seats and the bumper is off getting sprayed so all my digits are crossed for this weekend coming together as I hope!!

So far as I know the plan is to be there for 1pm,
So that be me leaving @9am then

Oh well I'll bring me camera and only take pics from 25feet then Daithi

Well guys,

My bonnet aint pretty either. Ha Ha.

Checked on AA Autoroute and Athlone is 2hrs 20mins from Dundalk. Therefore I would suggest 10.30 to 11.00 to leave Dundalk.

CollieD

Thought id be the only one there for awhile.

Any up for leaving celbridge/maynooth area for around half 11???

ahh, so its Sunday the 14th at 1pm, Hodson Bay Hotel, Athlone. that gives me a full saturday to give her a full service and a scrub, she won't be perfect but she'll have to do. me and hangover will be there

I should be there for 1pm

Okay, 10.30ish sounds good. Want to meet at the Crowne Plaza Carpark or something so we have easy access to the M1?

Karlos, can you make it to Fundalk for 10.30am?

Afraid not, I'm going to take a totally different route via Sligo, Boyle & Roscommon.
Cuts an hour off my drive down, though I'll definitely be joining the Convoy back up!!

At least I'm hoping to anyway.

Just drink less on Saturday night Karl. Actually, before you head out, put a chair on your bed, put two Solpadine on the chair and a big pint glass of water. When you come in drunk, you'll be reminded to down the pint of water and the headache tablets, thus minimising any hangover time!

Either that or you crash through the bedroom door, bang your head off the chair, knock the pint glass over and you have to sleep in the wet patch

Sounds like you're speaking from experience there Daithi!!

Hannibal would be proud of that plan, though knowing my luck I'd burst the door down, crash into the chair head first and be in A&E for 10.30 in the Morning!!

Ah to be a student again...

Daithi,

Crown Plaza at 10.30 if fine. Really hope its a sunny day as it will make it all the better.

CollieD

Sound, see you then.

I'll convoy with Karlos from Roscommon, I'm from Mayo

What time do you reckon you'd be in Rosscommon, Karlos?

might make this myself. where exactly is the crown plaza in dundalk?

Hi brand1,

Where abouts are you coming from? The Crowne Plaza is on the inner relief road when you come off the M1 Motorway at Dundalk South. You can't miss it, it's the tall 12 storey hotel sticking out like a sore thumb. It's also beside the Dundalk Istitute of Technology and the huge wind-turbine.

PM me if you need directions.

That'll make it 1 Black Coupe and 2 Sprinty's

Thanks Daithi28
I'm coming from Ballybay thru Cullaville. The problem is I only think I'm coming. A lot of ducks have to line up for me today for this to work

Hi Brand1,

Good to see you might make it. I presume your the sprinty 97 that I spoke with in Dundalk retail park before.

The crown plaza is just on ahead of the retail park headin for Dublin on your right hand side.

Look forward to seein ya,

CollieD

Only gettin to bed now .
Hope to be there
Maybe late

That's me. Bad news first. I won't make Dundalk. But I'm goin direct. Should be there around 2, please God.

Was nice too meet yas all today.
Sorry wasn"t with it at all today,only feel awake now

Hi guys,

Had a really good day today. It was nice to meet you all. I'll post up some pics when I find one or two that are half decent enough!

We'll try and organise a meet up again maybe in Dublin or Carlingford area and get some of the Nordies down too!

David

yeah, good craic today. nice to meet other sufferers of coupeitis, all the cars looked great. Hope you didn't take any pics of my grotty engine bay Daithí

@ albertone - yeah you looked a bit shook today alright, a bit like this actually lol , not surprising as you only hit the hay at 7:30am, fairplay for making it down though.

Well we had glorious sunshine today at the Hodson Bay Hotel in Athlone. The jetski's were out and plenty of boats on the lake. We had 6 Coops in total; three Sprinty's, one Porto, an Inky and my Black LE.

We hung around in the carpark talking Coupe-talk etc and we all had a go driving each others cars to try and confirm who's brakes were the worst

Afterwards we headed for a 40km spin on some nice back roads and ended up in Mullingar chatting for another hour or so.

All in all a nice day was and a nice bunch of fellow coupe enthusiasts

Hi Guys,

just in the door now. Had to drop brother off. Bloody wrecked.

Had a great day. It was great to see so many knowledgable coupe owners. Cars were looking great too.

Chat soon

CollieD

Daithi,

some nice handy camera work there.

Looking well.

CollieD

Daithi, you've got some great shots there.

Nice to meet everyone, we must do it again soon.

thats the first time I ever won anything in my life, I'm so proud

I'd defo be up for a run next month around carlingford. enough time to clean up a few bits and pieces.

good work on the photos lads, must remember my camera next time!

sorry I couldn't stay longer yesterday. but I really enjoyed it.
These things are great for restoring enthusiasm.

A wee bit ashamed of my car yesterday but it'll be pick of the bunch next time

any offers for my framed poster. first €500 secures!

Nice pics.
Im alwayss up for a meet,just say where and when.
And ill be in bed early the night before so opefully ill be able to string some sentences togther.

Ah lads - really wish I could have made it to this.

Loads of things piled together on me, parties and funerals never mind tho.

Next time I'll try much harder to get to the meets.

I've got my bumper sprayed, my fuel cap freshly (professionally) polished along with my Coil packs cover
Oh and gettin my new seats sorted too

Hope every body enjoyed the day, the Pics look like it was a Great day!!

Another trip to Carlingford would be great - sooner than later for me

Sorry I didnt get to talk yo you last sunday,I was the guy who arrived late in the porto coop.
To be honest i wasnt in any state to talk to anyone on sunday.
Lookin forward to the next meet

So are we gonna meet in Carlingford in the next couple of weeks or what??

Im up for that

looks like its just you and me then al

Well guys,

Only seen this now. I will be up for that also.

Will chat to Diathi about a possible route. I would suggest the latter part of August to avoid holidays etc.

See how many is interested.

Regards

CollieD

Sorry, just back from Spain in the last few days. Missed this thread.

Why not just meet up at the NIIMC All Italian Day event in Cultra at the end of the month? There should be a good crowd at that one! The Transport Museum is cool too

BTW my car is up for sale from Sept onwards if anybody wants an LE!

Well Daithi.

very sorry to hear that you are going to leave the fold. Maybe you will change your mind by then.

I cant make cultra unfortunately as I have a wedding that day. Still trying to get me brakes sorted. Got the ABS ECU and am trying to fit is this week.

CollieD

So let me get this straight, your selling your car because your mammy bumped into it don't be daft, I'm sure she kissed it better and then rubbed it clean with a saliva sodden piece of used tissue she took from her handbag!! would you not just get a 1.4 diesel for commuting and keep her as a weekend toy?

Hey Maastif,

Nah the tip to the rear which was very minor was just the straw that broke the camels back. I've spent thousands on the car in the last 14 months and the bills just don't seem to have an end.

For example, tomorrow I am driving a Nissan Primera to work because, yes you've guessed it, the Coupe is back in the garage again because all the coolant pi55ed out of the car at 1.20am on Monday morning, leaving me stranded in the rain by the side of the road in the dark. no damage was done but I have no idea what the repair bill will be . Maybe €20 for a new piece of split hose, maybe a hole in the rad which has happened already about 6 months ago and cost €280 to fix. It's just money money money.

The front end respray still needs to be done too and that’s gonna be expensive because the bonnet has to be stripped back to bare metal. Grrr.

Don’t get me started on the whole 2nd car route. I’ve phoned all the insurance companies and looked at the options and at the end of the day, you can’t use your NCB on two cars. You have to start a second policy from scratch. Tax & Insurance on the Coupe is close to €2k and to insure a lowish group car like a Ford Focus from scratch with no NCB on a new policy is €1,150 fully comp!!!!! (It would be less than €400 fully comp with my NCB). The figures just don’t add up. If Ireland had limited mileage insurance policies like you get in the UK, I’d insure a modern car as the primary vehicle and insure the Coupe on a ‘classic insurance’ policy. But that doesn’t exist. I’m certainly not gonna fork out €3,500 per annum for tax and insurance on two cars!!

At the end of the day I’ve had the car 14 months and in that time the car has been off the road being repaired for 10 weeks!!

I’ve fallen out of love with the car and unless I have a sudden change of heart, I’m gonna let this love/hate relationship run its course.

UPDATE.......

Yeah, that was the Coolant Hose of Death letting go

I feel your pain Dave! The coupe is a heart breaking mistress alright! my coolant hose went a couple of months ago, its scary how quickly that temp guage shoots up!luckily I caught it straight away too.

If your thinking your gonna go for an audi at least get an RS4 you pussy

I reckon the cultra day would be spot on. Pity you can't make it Collie, but I'll go for a spin pretty much any weekend I'm free!

It's not YOUR wedding day is it Colin? I'm sure the other half won't mind if you pop out for a few hours to hang around with a bunch of car-nuts at a museum! Marriage is about compromise you know

Sorry to hear about the hose of death and other hassles Dave
What mileage was the car at when it went?

Hi Daithi,

No not mine just yet thats next year and the coupe will have competition then. Ha Ha!

I would of loved to get to this.

Hope your feelin better about the car soon.

CollieD

It's anyone's guess! The car is currently at 92k but had an engine rebuild at 36,000miles, a replacement engine at 76,000 miles and another replacement engine at 89,000miles .
The pipe could be 92,000 miles old or just 3,000 miles old! I think the pipe was maybe new at 76k (Apr 08). The pipe itself is in good nick. I just think when the pipe was recently re-attached after the engine replacement, the jubilee clip just nicked the end of the pipe causing a small pinhole to form, which spits out the coolant once the system is pressurised.
New pipe was €24.92 from Fiat, ordered at 4pm yesterday and arrived 8.30am this morning! Have yet to find out the labour cost

Jeas sorry to hear about your recent trouble Daithi.
Dont know about the turbo but when mine went on the vis,I had too take the inlet manifold off needing a new gasket which was 75euro couldn't beleive it.

If your stuck let us know and ill do it for ya or give you a hand if the labour is high.

Its not that hard to change. Bit awkward to get at but I did mine without removing half the parts that the "How to" guide suggests. i'll give you a hand at the weekend if you want.

She back up and running again!

You're right maastiff, the garage said it was straightforward enough to replace the hose. They disconnected some pipework to get room to get their hands in but they too didn't have to remove as much stuff as the "how to" guide suggests.

Now to get the front end painted up ready for Cultra!

Daithi,

thats the spirit. Your falling in love again. Ha Ha!


CollieD

Glad to hear she's back on the road.

I've a few bits to do to get mine all pretty for cultra too