Donna Buang cruise 17-Oct-2010 - First post updated Oct-15

[LibJam]

just make sure you leave *those* horses at the track...

I think I also wouldn't be quite safe to drive after the missus' 30th bash...

Will

[MH3.0R]

Very nice morning today, so I went for a drive, to Warburton (I luv the C411 ), then up to Donna Buang, just checking out our intended stops and route.

Heasville to Donna Buang road is open (at least from the top end) and also from Warburton.

The proposed route to Fernshaw has a section of gravel. You can imagine that after the recent weather, that the road is not in its best state. There are sections where maintenance has been done (smooth) but lots of loose gravel, sometimes, mid corner, and that is not so good for cruising. Also, some of the pot holes are considerable and due to the sun through the trees, some are hard to spot. So I crept through that section of 10 kms of gravel.







Once I got passed the 10 kms section of gravel, it was a beautiful sweeping downhill drive following the Acheron River. Notwithstanding, I would suggest that we consider to modify the cruise to remove this leg. I do not mind driving this myslef, but I know several other would not enjoy it and it would need to be a reasonably slow pace with consideration given to the distance between vehicles due to the dusty loose surface. I enjoyed by myself, but if there were 20 vehicles, and I was not at the front, it would be a different story.

From Donna Buang, I would suggest that we go down to Warburton, then up the Reefton Spur to Marysville. Then we can all choose our route home, Black Spur or reverse run on Reefton!

Then Again, if there are some diehards that want to do the gravel section regardless, we can always meet in Marysville!

[Kekotic]

Yeaah not a huge fan of the gravel section, please change the route.

Thanks for taking the time to test out the route Mark.

[Kekotic]

Bit off topic here but semi related to the cruise...

Who would have thought an STi oil filler cap could cause so much of a hassle

Took out the oil filler funnel today to see if I could spot any defects as to why my STi oil cap won't fit properly, but it all looked fine, so then I had an idea to take out the oil filler funnel from my dads 2.5 Impreza to see if it would fit my Liberty, and the final bolt has this huge metal thing sitting above it that you need to take the entire thing off to get the bolt off, way too much effort to try do.

So I have one last idea if anyone would be willing to help me out if they are coming on the cruise. The plan would be for me to swap my oil filler funnel with someone else at the cruise if my cap fits your thread. My funnel takes the stock cap perfectly so your not getting a dud or anything, just for whatever reason the thread on the STi cap gets too tight after about half a turn, but the cap itself fits my dads Impreza

So if anyone would be kind enough to do a swap so I haven't wasted $200 on an oil cap I can't use, let me know. Might take maybe 20 mins to change them over, could do it during our lunch BBQ.
Otherwise I have to order a new one from Subaru and it has to come from japan, and if it doesn't fit the cap I still have to pay for it

Thanks.

[MH3.0R]

Hey Kieran,

We all go thru that frustration at least once with some parts. And the catch cry from the forum is............shoulda talked to the Phat man!
He knows his parts and will always get stuff that fits your model/year/build.

[Kekotic]

Mark the part is from PHAT...
Genuine STi cap from STi Japan.

[as_shandy]

wtf $200 on a oil cap!!... u lost ur mind?

[Kekotic]

It's somewhere around $300 from Subaru Australia.....
The way I see it, I saved $100...

[as_shandy]

powh.. it would wanna be looking the goods.

[Sentinel]

GRAVEL?!?!?!?!?

Um, I'll pass if that's the case..

[Ric]

Yeah, we thought there might be some gravel, and a few people mightn't like it, which is why Mark went for a test look first.
That's a pity, as the run from Fernshaw to Marysville looked interesting, but we'll reconfigure it to avoid the gravel section.
I think we may have to visit the summit on our first pass, and relocate the end of run bbq to somewhere else. Maybe come back down the Black Spur to the Maroondah Reservoir park.

[mihai]

wtf $200 on a oil cap!!... u lost ur mind?

LOL! I could think of ALOT better things to spend $200 on.

[Ric]

GRAVEL?!?!?!?!?

Um, I'll pass if that's the case..

Hang on a mo. You're not on the "likely starters" list anyway!

[Sentinel]

Huh? Ah, when did I drop off the list??

[castek]

hmm gravel and pot holes cant be good now i've got the car lowered, and i dont want to scratch the new wheels already haha

would be fun in a paddock basher though :p