Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2021 i Land Rover Monthly

I know life is not sunshine and roses at the moment and we have tried to be mindful of that with what we have produced this month. I hope that the content provides you with an escape, lifts your spirits and brightens up the day, even if it is snowing outside! My first self-drive Land Rover adventure as a journalist was to Mozambique in a pretty standard Discovery 2 Td5 auto with the new headlights. To get to the place we were staying you had to drive through these tidal saltwater mangrove swamps. It was just bloody fantastic and it effortlessly took us four adults and our kit everywhere we dared to try and go on that trip. That was nearly 20 years ago and there is no reason why…

IN terms of the show circuit 2020 was a disaster for the car scene and a let-down for enthusiasts. If you wanted your Land Rover fix you had two options: Indulge yourself in a book dedicated to the marque (or your favourite magazine, of course) or through your vehicle itself – whether that was working on it or getting behind the wheel as and when regulations allowed. While 2021 hasn’t exactly got off to a great start with all four UK nations under lockdown, a new variant spreading more rapidly than the original version and hospitals under increasing pressure, there is hope for the near future in the form of a vaccine (or three!), and so it is with certain confidence that event organisers are now beginning to get excited…

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I don’t know about you but I think we could all benefit from a bit of adventure therapy, after the year we’ve had. There is just something about being in the great outdoors that allows you to escape the stressful demands of everyday life and reduces levels of stress and anxiety. One man who adheres to this philosophy and has made a living out of it is Philip Stallard. He also happens to reside in perhaps one of the greatest places that allows time to reflect and that is on the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry on the rugged south-west coast of Ireland. Philip has always been interested in the outdoors – it is his passion and where he feels most alive – and having simultaneously worked in social care…

ARIO Gauci is a furniture importer, based on the island of Malta. Every spare minute this dedicated family man has, is devoted to the other big love of his life, Land Rovers. Mario has owned Land Rovers since he was 16 years old. His first was a Series IIA and this is when he got bitten by the Land Rover bug. This was followed by a Discovery 1 but then the Maltese authorities decided that youngsters driving turbo'd vehicles should pay in excess of Euros 2500 for insurance! This forced Mario to go over to the dark side. He purchased a Toyota. In 2006, once older and wiser and with a few more pennies in his pocket, Mario returned to the Land Rover fold with the purchase of a Defender…

PLANNING YOUR BOTSWANA SAFARI BOTSWANA is a great place for your first African overland trip; people are friendly and helpful, the infrastructure is well developed and there is an abundance of wildlife. The tracks require a basic level of off-road experience, except in the rainy season when you can make it as challenging as you wish. Wildlife is everywhere, even on the side of the main roads. CAMPING: Botswana has an extensive network of campgrounds (150-300P pppn), see iOverlander. The main private operators ($30-50pppn) in the National Parks are: •Moremi (kwalateesafari@gmail.com, xomaesites@btcmail.co.bw; reservations@sklcamps.co.bw) •Savuti (reservations@sklcamps.co.bw); •Chobe (kwalateesafari@gmail.com); •Makgadikgadi and Nxai (reservations@sklcamps.co.bw, xomaesites@btcmail.co.bw); •Khutse and CKGR (reservations@bigfoottours.co.bw). CELL COVERAGE: It is worth getting a local SIM card, MASCOM has good coverage (3G/4G) in main towns; BTC has better coverage in some…

WITH not much happening on the travel and adventure front due to the pandemic, I have used the time to get loads of bits done to my 110. I had noticed that my clutch was not working like it should and after checking the fluid levels, I suspected that it was the master cylinder that needed replacing. I had replaced the clutch when buying it three years ago. I ordered the new master cylinder and then my friends at Woburn 4x4 quickly fitted it for me. I was good to go, or so I thought. About two days later when I pushed the clutch pedal there was nothing there. A quick check revealed no fluid, I could also see that fluid was dripping from the pipe that went into the…

IT doesn’t matter what Land Rover you own, at some point in the vehicle’s life it will likely need a weld repair. Welding is the process of using heat to join two materials together, using a filler material to create a joint. In all the welding processes used, be it gas, arc, tungsten – and even with plastic welding – the filler material ultimately stands proud on the joint. Some people are happy with that visual appearance and accept it, but there are areas on a vehicle where obvious joints are cosmetically unacceptable, like bodywork, or on restorations, where a flawless or original appearance is a primary focus. We’ve demonstrated the discreet weld technique here on a chassis, partly because, if you want to strive for an invisible finish, the…

LAND Rover has strong ties with Dakar Rally after a Range Rover won the inaugural event in 1979, before triumphing again in 1981, so it’s only fitting that its latest and toughest product should be providing on-event support for a team’s two drivers, medical crew and support staff across the gruelling 13-day, 12-stage, 4751 mile event. The two Defender 110s will support ambitious new Dakar Rally and Prodrive-backed team, Bahrain Raid Xtreme (BRX). Negotiating extreme conditions, traversing desert dunes, mud, camel grass and rocks they will carry vital supplies, crew and equipment for the team and drivers. BRX’s driver line-up is impressive to say the least and includes nine-time World Rally Champion, Sébastien Loeb, from France, and two-time Dakar Rally winner, Nani Roma, from Spain. The two Indus Silver models,…

THE six-cylinder petrol Series vehicles were never big sellers for Land Rover. The 2.6-litre engine did not offer a huge power increase over the standard four, drank rather more fuel and was not quite as simple and robust. It was a technically intriguing engine, with the exhaust valves mounted in the engine block, inlet valves in the (aluminium) head and specially shaped pistons to create a combustion chamber close to the hemispherical shape considered ideal at the time. I see these engines very rarely, and until now have never been asked to rebuild one. When I was asked to try to salvage a partly-stripped, damaged straight-six from a Series III my first question was "will I be able to get the bits"? Most parts are still available, but at a…

WELCOME to LRM Classics. This month we feature two more Series Is from the amazing collection of Ike Goss of Pangolin 4x4 in Oregon. They are both exceptionally original and interesting NADA (North American Dollar Area) vehicles that were built at Solihull specifically for export to the USA or Canada. Beautifully photographed as usual by Nick Dimbleby, it is fascinating to see early Land Rovers in such bright and attractive colours. In the UK at that time, such colours were all but unheard of, unless you were ordering a fire engine or an AA patrol vehicle! Our second feature this month relates the story of how Mario Gauci finally took the plunge a bought a 101 Forward Control sight unseen from the UK and had it delivered to Malta, where…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Greg King is Mr Defender. He started at Solihull in 1993 as a 16-year-old Land Rover-mad apprentice and went on to work on the 50th anniversary 90, Storm Defender, Tempest (Disco 2), second-gen RR Sport, the Paul Smith Defender, 2 millionth Defender and Defender Autobiography. He then moved to start with JLR Classic on Land Rover Reborn and Defender Works V8. AT the end of 1989 the Discovery was launched, along with the new Gemini turbo diesel engine, better known as the 200Tdi. With the engineering teams so focused on the launch of Discovery, the traditional Land Rover models – the Ninety, One Ten and the Special Vehicles-converted 127 – were left largely untouched for the 1990 Model Year and had not yet adopted the new Gemini…

PAKISTAN was one of the last countries in the world to import Land Rovers, but it sure has been making up for lost time. The Pakistan Land Rover Club was founded in 2008 and today has members throughout Pakistan, as well 4500 worldwide followers on the club’s Facebook page. Land Rovers were not officially introduced to Pakistan until 2004, when a local entrepreneur started assembling CKD (Completely Knocked Down) kits. But the nation’s 4x4 enthusiasts were already familiar with the versatility of the marque thanks to the many leaf-sprung Series workhorses used from the early 1960s onwards by contractors brought in to build the country’s irrigation infrastructure. Others arrived with a variety of UK and European-supported development projects, social development organisations, and academic institutions. At that time there were few…

THE oldest Land Rover that I own is a 1957 88in Series I 2.0-litre diesel pick-up. I purchased it in 2015 from a friend of mine, based in Dublin, Harold McMillan. The Series I was partially dismantled during a stalled rebuild attempt, so it was trailered home to Belfast in kit form and stored in my barn. I had always wanted to own one of the earliest Land Rovers and with prices steadily increasing, I decided to buy this particular one from Harold before the cost got completely out of reach. I remember unloading the Land Rover and associated parts at the barn, thinking to myself that I had brought home what looked like a load of scrap metal, which I had paid €3000 for! I learned within a couple…

• Wear thick protective gloves when working with sharp edges, grinding, cutting and using an angle grinder. • Hold the angle grinder with two hands to control torque twist and kick-back. • Wear eye protection when grinding, cutting, wire brushing, sanding, releasing springs and clips, when opening fluid lines and working on overhead parts. • Wear a particle filter when removing rust and cleaning brake parts. • Wear steel toe-capped work shoes that will protect against falling objects and ensure better grip on slippery floors. • When welding, wear specialist welding protective gloves, clothing and mask, and ensure appropriate fire-fighting equipment is available close by. • Never work on a cooling system, nor remove the filler cap, until the engine and coolant are fully cooled; and then always remove the…

AS Alisdair points out in his Discreet Welding feature (p108) blended weld repairs are an option on chassis welding, having greatest importance when restoring a vehicle to look just as it did when originally built by Land Rover. But when it comes to body repairs, hidden welds are essential if the finished panel and paintwork are to look anything like acceptable. And with the thinner material of body panels, skill and ingenuity are again the order of the day. A few months ago I reported on a minor rust repair I’d made on the rear wheel arch of my Range Rover Sport using a dab of filler, rather than welding. I was delighted with the final paint finish, achieved with good quality aerosols by Jayco. The paint match was perfect…

“ Bored? How can I possibly be bored when I've got the Defender's rear step return spring to strip down, inspect for damage, lubricate and replace…? ” IAN WEST Ian’s been driving Land Rovers for over 40 years and drawing for LRM since issue 2. He lives on the coast of East Anglia and drives a Freelander 2 DISCLAIMER: The views expressed by contributors and advertisers are not necessarily those of the publishers. Every care is taken to ensure that the contents of the magazine are accurate but the publishers cannot accept responsibility for errors. While reasonable care is taken when accepting advertisements, the publishers cannot accept responsibility for any resulting unsatisfactory transactions. They will however investigate any written complaints.…

CALLING on over four decades of designing and developing innovative improvements and solutions for Land Rovers, JE MotorWorks is pleased to announce that its most recent initiative enables owners of pre-2016 Defenders to clean up their act. We’re not talking about changing the way they behave of course, but an upgrade for their Land Rover, which passes the stringent Euro-6c emissions standards set in November. Its popular Ford 2.3 GDiT petrol engine swap, which it’s offered customers since 2018, has now successfully achieved the necessary fine emissions performance (including allowances for deterioration). This makes it the cleanest-performing combustion engine conversion offered commercially in a traditional Defender. In fact, the upgrade is so effective it allows these vehicles to be used in some low-emission zones without having to pay any charges.…

IT sometimes seems like the world’s gone crazy. A Defender 90 Td5 that cost a quarter the price of a Range Rover in 2003 will now be worth four times as much as that same Range Rover. Meanwhile, a Td5 Discovery 2 from the same year can be picked up for next to nothing, despite the fact it was far better appointed than a Defender with the same power unit. Who would ever have expected secondhand Defenders to become fashion icons, snapped up by collectors and fetching silly money, while Discoverys of the same age are languishing in the automotive world’s bargain basement? But if this is beginning to sound like a bit of a lament, forget it, because canny enthusiasts are taking advantage of this topsy-turvy situation. Discovery 2s,…

BRITAIN in the post-war 1940s and '50s is acknowledged to have been a pretty drab place. Wartime food rationing continued until 1954, while the austerity left over from the war years coupled with our renowned damp and grey weather meant that things in the UK were pretty dull in the early 1950s. Admittedly, most of the film footage that exists from the era is in black and white, but even if we take this into account, I think it is safe to say that the general perception of life in 1950s Britain was pretty boring. Things were on the up, but at the start of the post-war decade things would definitely not be termed as colourful. The conservative Rover Company did little to spice things up. Its post-war saloon, the…

AFTER almost a month of solitude, we left the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) with almost no fuel, no water and only tinned food. On reaching the tar road the police waved us down: “Botswana is going into lockdown tomorrow at midnight,” they advised. Having picked up a 3G signal, the BBC World Service painted a bleak picture of the pandemic – things had changed dramatically during our period offline. The only sensible option was to backtrack to the small town of Ghanzi, and refuel both us and the Land Rover. After that options were limited with National Parks and all hotels, lodges and campgrounds already closed. Fortunately we had the caravan. Early the following morning Liz and I started to make some calls. Finally Drotsky’s Cabins, somewhere we’d previously…

Thurs Feb 4 - Sun Feb 7, 2021 BAJA RUSSIA NORTHERN FOREST Igora, Russia https://bajarussia.com/en/home_en/ Fri Feb 12 - Sun Feb 14, 2021 SALT LAKE OFF-ROAD EXPO CANCELLED Mountain America Expo Centre Sandy, America, https://slorex.com/ Sat Feb 20 - Sun March 7, 2021 CAMEL TROPHY ROUTE RE-TRACKED SUMATRA 1918 TRIBUTE Sumatra Utara – Jambi, Indonesia https://landroverclubindonesia.com Fri Feb 26 - Mon March 8, 2021 DAKAR RALLY RAID Paris http://rallyedespionniers.com Sat 26 to Sun June 27, 2021 BILLING OFF-ROAD SHOW Grange Farm, Little Houghton www.thebillingoffroadexperience.co.uk Sat April 3 - Sun April 4, 2021 EXTREME E DESERT X PRIX Sharaan, Al-‘Ula, Saudi Arabia https://www.landrovermonthly.co.uk/events/ extreme-e-desert-x-prix/ Sun April 4 - Mon April 5, 2021 BXCC ROUND 1 Pickering, North Yorkshire http://crosscountryuk.org/ Fri April 16 - Sun April 18, 2021 THE LONDON CLASSIC CAR…

IS it my imagination, or does my Ninety look forlorn? Thanks to lockdown it has been spending far too long standing idle – most likely the least it’s been driven since it rolled off the production line at Lode Lane, Solihull, in 1984. Unlike mere humans, genuine working vehicles like Land Rovers don’t need a holiday. It’s very frustrating during a period of proper Land Rover weather. My valley has seen the worst flooding since 1998 and the sharpest cold snap for a few years. But I’ve stuck to the rules; my only recent outing being a trip to the other end of the village to tow a trailer and transport a fallen ash tree for my neighbour’s grown-up lads, Jack and Sam Belton, who plan to slice it up…

THERE I was, on a nice Sunday morning and I’d decided to do what many people do: clean my car. Admittedly not many Land Rover owners do this on a Sunday, as we’re normally out driving them, often off-road and getting them muddy. But on this Sunday, I’d no plans to go anywhere. The windscreen was the last bit to get cleaned and it was only then I noticed a crack in the windscreen. Not massive. You couldn’t even see it from the inside but it was there and it wasn’t going to get any smaller. Given it was the weekend, I was more than impressed when someone answered straight my call away. A big tick for AA Insurance. The company they use for screen repairs, turned out to be…

I prefer to remove the Defender body in one largely complete assembly. The alternative is to dismantle it piece by piece which, although more time consuming, may be the only option if suitable lifting gear is not available or if you are carrying out a detailed restoration of every body panel. Removing the body in one piece is faster, with less chance of introducing additional problems and costs. For example, the seals between the roof and side panels are probably fine but, once you separate these panels, they will almost certainly need to be reassembled with new seals. Common reasons for removing the body include renewing or repairing the chassis, carrying out work on the body (footwells can be repaired in situ, but the repair can be more thorough with…

WE all know the symptoms: opening the door, the car smells a little musty. After a few minutes driving the windows start to mist up, only it isn’t raining. After a sudden downpour when the truck is parked, we notice the windows are suddenly misty. All of these subtle pointers evidence the fact there’s water inside our Land Rover. The problem isn’t specific to the Defender and pre-Defender Ninety and One Ten models; Series Land Rovers have similar issues and much of this feature is relevant to them, too. It is an old joke, and an ever-present issue throughout Defender and earlier production, that water will find its way inside the cabin. Principally, this is down to the design based on many separate body panels requiring joints that have to…