Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2023 i Land Rover Monthly

EVER since my last London jaunt, all has not seemed right with the internal workings of the Lightweight. Initially manifesting as the engine sounding kind of bronchial, each subsequent local trip has highlighted further deterioration. A noticeable power loss, rendering getting up even modest inclines a herculean task, is the final straw. The Fella suggests I try his new Watford mechanic. Russell is a one-man show, which means there’s a few weeks’ wait, but at least he says he’s happy to work on old Land Rovers. When D-Day rolls around, the Lightweight struggles to start, like it’s saying: “Really? Must I?” I pause for a few minutes, stroke the steering wheel and whisper, “C’mon sweetie, please.” Like a miracle, it starts. It is a short drive, but a loud and…

EARLIER this year I was feeling a bit tired and run-down, with a persistent shoulder injury that I was just about keeping on top of with a shoulder brace and strong painkillers. It occurred to me that I had not actually taken a holiday since a four-day mini-break in the summer of 2019. I worked all through the Covid pandemic and have been working six days most weeks ever since. I usually treat public holidays as an opportunity to do one of the more mechanically complex jobs (such as engine or gearbox assembly) without being disturbed by the telephone. I am not complaining: I love my job. But the human body can only take so much, and so my wife and I decided that we would rent a holiday cottage…

I had a 1998 Defender come in needing new front springs and shock absorbers. On all the coil-sprung vehicles the front shocks sit inside a conical tower which is attached to the top of the spring seat with four nuts that screw onto studs. Not for the first time I found that someone had been there before me and mashed M8 metric nuts onto the imperial studs, stripping the threads so that three of the nuts would not unscrew and had to be cut off. The retaining rings (into which the studs are pressed) had to be replaced which meant dropping the axle until the springs cleared the top mounts. This would have been all the more annoying if I hadn’t needed to remove the springs anyway as part of…

I met Eddie Grinstead for the first time when he and some of his fellow members from the Surrey & Sussex region of the Series Two Club paid a visit to the Dunsfold Collection, bringing with them the club’s Children in Need fundraising bonnet to get a Dunsfold sticker and a donation. I took a shine to Eddie’s V8-powered Series II 88in truck cab, all the more so when he told me he’d bought it in 1984 at the age of 16 and has owned if for almost 40 years. I thought LRM readers might appreciate the story as well, so Eddie and I arranged to meet for a longer natter and a photoshoot. At that first meeting, Eddie told me how reliable the Series II had been after he’d dealt…

I’D stated earlier in the year that my aim was to do one job per month on my Range Rover and, broadly, that has happened. First on the ‘to do’ list was to clean the car, check it over, then actually use it. Which I did, running around in it for a month or two, breaking it in gently to give a chance to spot anything that may have arisen. In terms of work, there are a few jobs to do. The air con needs a re-gas, there’s a very slight blow from an exhaust manifold gasket, a couple of brake pipes I’ll change to cupro-nickel, and it could do with a full service. Nothing too horrific for a 27-year-old car after a lay-up. The tailgate is just starting to…

WHEN I bought my 1992 Range Rover Classic late last year, I already knew it was rusty. That was the reason it was taken off the road in the first place, so I was under no illusion that it’d need at least some welding to get roadworthy again. And, as the last MoT it had failed was back in 2014, there would inevitably be perished rubber, seized bolts and sticking brake calipers to deal with, and the engine would need at best a full service – but realistically there would be a whole lot more to do. The quick look underneath when I’d unearthed it and dragged it kicking and screaming from the back of a mate’s barn clearly hadn’t been thorough enough, because when I closed the driver’s door…

18 PAGES OF EXPERT ADVICE Irreplaceable A star of the recent LRM LIVE show at Malvern, and simultaneously the elephant in the room, was the Ineos Grenadier. Conceived from a love for the original Defender (and presumably, commercial considerations), with the intention of recreating the Land Rover’s spirit, seems justification enough for the huge interest shown in this vehicle by visitors to the show. We’ve all mourned the passing of the original Defender – how can we not acknowledge an attempt to bring it back in some reincarnated form? I had a good crawl over, under and inside the Ineos Grenadier and loved what I saw. The whole thing shouts adventure, and it appears well engineered with none of the constructional compromises of the old Defender. But it’s not a…

ALL the service points in the previous Defender-based service feature apply to the Td5 Discovery 2. But the D2 requires additional work, some of which is obvious, such as checking rear seat belts, lubricating the rear door locks and catches, and in the case of an auto, using the specified automatic transmission fluid. Others, including ACE and air suspension, need special mention to complete your Discovery 2 service. Active Cornering Enhancement (ACE) Valve block 1 On the right-hand side of the chassis, lightly clean dirt from pipes and flange nuts, and lubricate to prevent corrosion. Remove mud between valve block and chassis. Filter swap 2 Replace the ACE filter every 75k miles. Thoroughly clean the underside, then remove the plug. Screw an M6 bolt into the base of the filter to pull…

BACK in the workshop after my holiday, and to the usual routine of vehicles coming in for a basic service, and turning out to need rather more, I had a Defender 300Tdi booked in. It is very much a working vehicle and spends much of its time off-road in muddy conditions. Last year it needed some fairly major chassis welding, which involved lifting off the rear body to repair the big crossmember just forward of the rear axle. I was not expecting to have to do any more welding this year. Sure enough the chassis was nice and solid, but I did not especially like the look of the brackets on the rear axle which support the bottom of the springs. They looked a bit crusty so I poked them…

ONCE upon a time… In a galaxy far, far away… All the best stories have distant beginnings. In that vein, my journey to our head-turning cover car didn’t start this morning, but rather last year, 30 October 2022, at LRM’s Malvern Spares Day. The magazine’s Associate Publisher, Steve Miller, spotted the car whilst setting up. The lights weren’t even on in the Avon Hall, the car was on a trailer, but from a distance, in half-light, the 90 shone. Steve could tell already it was one day destined to be a cover car, and he wasn’t alone: throughout the day, there was a bustling crowd around this chic, eye-catching Land Rover. Which explains why I’m now in rural Worcestershire, standing next to the immaculate 90 in glorious spring sunshine. An…

WE enthusiasts already know the attractions of owning a Land Rover of course, but over the past ten years it’s safe to say that companies such as Portugal’s Cool ‘n’ Vintage, Brooklyn Coachworks from the US and the Dutch company Heritage Customs have attracted new customers into the Land Rover fold. An iconic shape, some funky colours and the promise of adventure are irresistible for the lifestyle buyer. Over here in the UK, Northamptonshire-based ACH Classic specialises in high-end rebuilds and restomods that are built to customer order. “Our customers come to us with an idea of what they might want from a vehicle, but it’s only after spending time with them and learning why it is they want a Land Rover, and – more importantly – what they want…

LAND Rovers have always been a big part of my life. I was strapped into an ex-RAF 90 at just a few weeks old and, like many others, I remember those countless journeys to and from school throughout my childhood. I learned to drive in one, learned how to fix them and they are what started my fascination with engineering, design, fabrication and mechanics. When I was 15, just before my GCSEs, I bought my first Land Rover, a 1952 Minerva 80in TT (Tout Terrain). The 80in Series I was always the staple Land Rover of my childhood with my dad, Julian, having owned many over the years. He had also owned a couple of Minervas. Minerva, by the way, was a Belgian company that built these distinctive 4x4s under…

THE Lincolnshire Land Rover Club’s first Cross Country Vehicle (CCV) trial of the year was the much-anticipated annual Barrie Murdoch Memorial Trial. This year would be the ninth such trail remembering a long-standing member of Lincs Land Rover Club, Barrie Murdoch, who tragically lost his life and who is missed by all who knew him. This trial is the perfect way to commemorate him and one which we know he would have wholeheartedly approved of. This year’s Barrie Murdoch Memorial Trial was held at Wickenby Airfield close to Market Rasen, which has some very challenging terrain perfect for a CCV trial. The trial would be a great start to the 2023 LLRC’s calendar. The clerks of course this year were Elliot Graham and Matthew Daubney – both being new to…

LAND Rover split doors are predominantly associated with Series models up to the end of Series III production. They were also fitted to the first One Ten production of 1983 and 1984, albeit with an improved design of the removable door top and continued to be used on military Land Rovers, including the Wolf. The later door tops are easily identified by the sliding glass window panes, which are angled to the same degree as the front window frame, where they overlap. Converting Land Rover doors from the modern push-button one-piece doors to the earlier split doors is popular because they are cheaper than new push button doors, they are simpler with less to go wrong, and are easier to work on. Companies like SP4x4 Panels in Liverpool offer replacement…

NEED TO KNOW TIME 3 hours DIFFICULTY MODELS All petrol model Land Rovers using Lucas vacuum advance. TOOLS NEEDED Screwdrivers, mallet/hammer, drift, old (sharp) screwdriver, grips, wood tools for form-making, drill, thread tap, instant glue, spanner set, pliers. PARTS USED Nitrile rubber sheet £3.13, eBay and most rubber and gasket suppliers. WORK SAFELY • Use the right tool for the right job. • Never take risks with electrical wiring. • If in any doubt, employ an expert to do the job. • Take extra care using hammers in close work. A fully functioning ignition system is vital for a well-performing petrol Land Rover. It is often said most suspected carburettor issues are actually caused by the ignition system, and it is partly true. Ignition components are required to work in…

I’ve just had my Td5 Defender MoT tested and it has passed, with no advisories. The garage did point out a brake pipe that is getting a bit rusty; it’s the one that runs up the front of the bulkhead from the chassis. They also pointed out that all the bleed nipples on the calipers are very corroded and the spanner flats rounded off to the extent that it may not be possible to bleed the brakes when that pipe, or any other, is renewed. Are there any tricks to getting the bleed valves open? The garage measured the brake performance using a brakeometer placed on the floor in the cab, which gave an acceptable reading. However, during normal driving I’ve noticed that the brakes work okay when first applied,…

AS you know, 2023 is Land Rover’s 75th anniversary year. Five years ago, on 30 April 2018, JLR celebrated the marque’s 70th anniversary in spectacular fashion. The company’s press release issued that day announced what quickly became recognised among enthusiasts everywhere as World Land Rover Day. It promised a global online broadcast to mark the launch of the Land Rover at the Amsterdam Motor Show on that date in 1948, a broadcast that would ‘tell the story of how Land Rover grew from a post-war utility to the world’s favourite 4x4 with more than 7 million sold’. Land Rover fans around the world could watch the broadcast on YouTube at 8.00pm, and the film included a recording of a superb event at JLR’s Ryton facility that had taken place that…

THERE is an old country song by Johnny Cash called One Piece at a Time and it’s about a guy who goes to work on the Cadillac assembly line in Detroit. Over the next 20 years he manages to ‘liberate’ enough parts from his employer to be able to assemble his own Cadillac. The only problem is that the parts are from every model made between 1949 and 1970, so nothing fits to anything else. Despite this, the narrator somehow manages to get his car built, driveable and registered. His life would have been much easier if he had been on the Land Rover production line in Solihull: I sometimes wonder whether anyone there managed to steal sufficient parts to put together their own Series I/II/IIA hybrid, Johnny Cash-style. I…

THE last time I was sitting in a Land Rover, poised to drive what is probably the best greenlane in Wales, I was behind the wheel of my 300Tdi auto Discovery 1. I can’t believe that was four years ago – and it might have been longer, had a message not popped up on my Instagram feed asking if I wanted to join a classic greenlane run. It was sent by Adam Everall from West Wales Greenlaners and the trip was just a couple of days away. The weather looked favourable – so why not? I guess the ‘why not?’ could have been the fact that I wouldn’t be able to leave Cambridgeshire until 5.00pm, and it was a Friday before a bank holiday weekend and even the M6 Toll…

CAMPERS and traders flooded into the Three Counties Showground in Malvern on the Friday; before nightfall the campsite was a sea of all types of tents, caravans and camper conversions, with barbeques lit and visitors enjoying food and drinks around their pitches. The sun rose into a cloudless sky on Saturday morning, and the smell of bacon, eggs and coffee filled the air. Day visitors descended and got their bearings, while the Land Rover auction, run by HJ Pugh & Co auctioneers, geared up for kick-off at 10.00am. With just under 20 Land Rovers of all shapes, sizes and ages, as well as stacks of parts and upgrades on offer, the auction got rolling quickly and the hammer dropped on over 200 lots throughout the morning, with some real bargains…

A complete – or ground-up – rebuild of a Land Rover is a daunting task, but a truly satisfying one when the vehicle is complete. I define the job as one where the Land Rover is completely stripped down into component parts and built back up on a repaired, or brand-new chassis with a repaired or new bulkhead. I have carried out several of these on a commercial basis over the years; there is currently a severely accident damaged 110 Double Cab in my workshop, which I am about to begin work on. Is this sensible or viable? Certain owners believe so – the owner of this particular 110 wants me to rebuild it to ‘like new’ condition, even though it would be financially beneficial to purchase an alternative Defender.…

TAKING on your Land Rover’s annual service yourself is one of the most rewarding and fulfilling jobs you can do – not only will it save you a few pounds, but you’ll get to know the vehicle’s mechanicals and their condition first-hand, and keep on top of any other things that you otherwise may not have known needed attention. The Defender and Discovery 2 Td5 are ideal for home servicing. The filters are readily available and relatively simple to access, you only need basic tools, and there’s no online-only service history or complex service interval indicator to reset. If it’s your first time servicing a Land Rover yourself, set aside a day and take your time to work methodically through the items listed here; we’ve left out replacing the coolant…

ED EVANS REPLIES: It is intended that the rear drive via the Haldex should pre-engage or lock up when starting off from a standstill, so the problem here seems to be that the Haldex is not disengaging when under way. Oil from the Haldex’s sump is drawn through a filter to a pressure regulator and also to an accumulator. The pressure regulator, which is a solenoid valve, supplies hydraulic pressure to a piston which compresses a multi-plate clutch pack, which then transmits drive to the rear axle to give four-wheel drive. This valve operates gradually to apply the drive progressively. When rear drive is not required, the valve closes and oil diverts back to the sump, relieving the pressure from the clutch pack. Drive will remain to the rear axle…

Fri 23 – Sun 25 June HOMELANDS INTERNATIONAL RALLY Great Packington, Warks lrsoc.com/web Sat 24 – Sun 25 June WELSH BORDERS TOUR Leominister, Hay-on-Wye 4x4adventuretours.co.uk MOORS AND DALES GRAND TOUR Ulverston, Cumbria trailsandtracks.co.uk EAST YORKSHIRE 4X4 TOUR offthebeatentrack4x4.co.uk FAMILY GAMES WEEKEND Kewstoke, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset saslrc.co.uk TWO-DAY CCV TRIAL Warslow, Buxton, Derbyshire panddlrc.uk SLROC RTV & CCV TRIAL TBC, Scotland slroc.co.uk SUMMER SISTERS Neath, Wales shirelrc.com CLUB EVENT nottslrc.co.uk TWO-DAY OPEN CCV TRIAL Warslow, Staffordshire badlrc.co.uk Sun 25 June RTV & TYRO TRIAL Hapton, Norfolk brecklandlrc.com BIRTHDAY SOCIAL AND RTV & CCV TRIAL Harlech, Wales nwlrc.co.uk LAND ROVER DAY Knaphill, Surrey wokingminiaturerailway society.com LAKES AND DALES ADVENTURE TOUR offthebeatentrack4x4.co.uk RTV & CCV TRIAL Haggate, Burnley, Lancs sites.google.com/site/somersetandwiltshirelrclub RTV & CCV TRIAL Aberdulais, Neath, Wales sites.google.com/site/somersetandwiltshirelrclub SWATON VINTAGE DAY Thorpe Latimar, Swaton…