|
I guess somebody paid a lot of money for this Range Rover in 1972?
Corny name? well it is black, is V8, and gets uglier every time I work on it.
Rosie is seen here putting the modified range-rover through its paces on a trials section in Wales in the mid ninety's.
Its not road legal, and doesn't get as much use as our other vehicles, but gets 'changed' a lot more........
The aim here is a simple vehicle thats good fun. Most of the 'development' is geared around repairs and putting
things right that were a bit rushed during the initial build. During its fifteen years with us its only done 300
miles! (The hardest 300 miles you can imagine though) It must average three hours repair for every hour spent off
roading. (until the engine went)
| Buildwas |
|
Between the time Rosie launches it off a slate face and the above picture I go to university for a masters degree. This stops
me offroading for a bit, so it's August 2007 before we finally get the beast to an event!
This time around it's gained a front winch.
We have an excellent time and test everything on the vehicle. We even have to rush off to Wellington for a set of plugs
half way through the day!
| Broseley |
|
Pictures above and below ;
That's the early snorkel, which got left half finished as it worked
okay.
About this time we realised you need a strong rear winch and a seperate
high power battery to run it for this sort of vehicle abuse. We chose a 12,000 lb pull winch and glass fibre gel battery.
| Donnington Castle |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Modifications
The winches have a page to themselves, but there are other simple changes that have made the vehicle that bit easier to
use and operate.
Below is a captive engine mount, which allows the engine to move and vibrate as normal. But limits the overall travel by
a 'pin in a sleeve' filled with rubber. If the rubber fails, the engine cannot easily escape.
Not an easy picture to work out at a glance. You are looking from the front left hand wheel, backwards to the rear right,
and underneath. To the right are the radious arm anchors, and down the middle is the tubular 'ski'. This lets us winch and
drive over obstacles that could snag chassis or transmission parts.
| Latest Paint Job |
|
A video view from the passenger seat while Dave Ellard drives.
One major mod has been the dry-sump. This is part of the engine rebuild work, as 2011 saw the vehicle
spread all over the workshop (again) with a worn cam shaft and warped block.
The dry sump fixes the problem of a poorly designed oil pump and relief valve and also addresses the issue of plug
fouling by engine oil at steep angles. It now keeps above 30psi all the time, without smoke, at any angle that the carbs can
work. And we now carry 10 litre of oil so it only has too work half as hard :o)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
