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44 Articles

‘Yes, welcome – but farewell too’ No point in building up to it, so I’m sorry to be the bearer of the news that this is the final printed edition of Land Rover Owner International. In common with many other print publications – newspapers and magazines alike – we’ve been hit hard by a number of external factors that have challenged the viability of LRO for some time now. It’s difficult for all of us here to come to terms with it, as I’m certain it also will be for so many of you as you read this. Everyone who’s ever worked on, or contributed to, LRO can look back with justifiable pride on the consistent quality of the editorial product that we’ve put out – first monthly and, for…

LAND ROVER’S SAVIOUR

Sixty!’ Paul’s expression changes slightly – the beginning of a smile, the faintest suggestion of what might be satisfaction. But he’s still listening hard, blipping the throttle fractionally. ‘That, just there,’ he says, blipping again. ‘It’s all been set up, engine, carb... but it’s always best to run them a bit and then set them up again.’ Great, anything else, Paul? ‘Gearbox – not quite right between third and second. It’ll have to come out and be rebuilt again – I could just swap it for a rebuilt unit, but I want to keep this one. Everything else feels good.’ That’s a pretty big statement, considering this is the first time that Paul has driven the One Ten on the road since giving it a complete rebuild. ‘The MoT was…

LAND ROVER’S SAVIOUR

WORLD OF LAND ROVERS

WORLD OF LAND ROVERS

THE MAKING OF LRO

After a 36-year run, LRO has gone to the printers for the last time. Our first issue was published in July 1987 by a three-man team – John Cornwall, Richard Green and Richard Thomas – after they stumbled on the popularity of Land Rovers. Richard Green, who was in charge of finance, admin and retail, tells us: ‘We’d been running a magazine called Van User, which was pretty boring, until John wrote a feature about Land Rovers. That went down well, so the next month we launched LRO. It was new to all of us – we just hit the market at the right time.’ Issue one was priced at £1 and featured Princess Anne’s then husband, Captain Mark Phillips, with a Range Rover on the cover; issue two showed…

THE MAKING OF LRO

DEALERSHIP MAKEOVER

The majority of Jaguar Land Rover dealerships in the UK are to lose their association with Jaguar cars and become devoted only to Land Rovers. Full details are yet to be disclosed, but it is believed that the radical restructuring of the dealer network will see Jaguar represented by only 18 dealerships nationwide – rather than the current 88 – over the next two years. According to Car Dealer magazine, many JLR dealerships – which collectively invested £1bn to meet JLR’s ‘Arch Concept’ – will be forced to write off millions in losses as a result. The move is part of JLR’s strategy to ditch its agency model in favour of a direct-to-consumer method.…

FAMILY FUN IN PERTHSHIRE

The second annual ‘Under the Stars’ Trek Weekend, hosted by Land Rover Experience Scotland, will take place on 10-11 June, and promises to be even bigger and better than its popular inauguration last year. This is a rare opportunity to combine off-road driving in your own vehicle with other activities in the beautiful hills of Perthshire. The route leads guests on to private tracks through some of the UK’s finest scenery and then to the LRE Scotland centre in the historic village of Dunkeld. Vehicle challenges, bushcraft sessions, delicious food and family activities will all be available, and most guests will spend the night wild-camping under the stars. Expect campfire sessions in the evening, with a relaxed atmosphere, live music and fire pits. The event is charged at £250 per…

FAMILY FUN IN PERTHSHIRE

Bowler Motors has created this one-off Defender 90 in celebration of the 100th commission of its ‘Fast Road’ conversion. Sourced from within JLR (Bowler’s parent company since 2019), the Defender received a major refresh by the Bowler Works Team, as well as a major package of upgrades, and is available to buy for £78k+VAT. Wearing bespoke graphics, specially commissioned ‘artisan’ badges, and dubbed the 100th Edition, the TDCi has been upgraded with Bowler’s Stage 2 engine package, which includes a modified ECU with a race-spec intercooler and exhaust. Bowler’s ‘Big Brake’ kit is housed within 18in alloys with 286/60 tyres, the brakes are upgraded to ‘Fast Road’ spec, and the roll cage has a bespoke cross to mount the spare wheel internally. In addition to a pair of Lazer ST4 lamps,…

Need a lift? Devon 4x4 has become the sole UK importer for XLifter, a Czech provider of aftermarket suspension controllers for the Discovery 3 and 4. The XLifter 2 (£598) enables precise ride-height adjustment, compressor temperature monitoring, self-levelling and a ‘trailer assistant’ mode. ● devon4x4.co.uk New Moroccan tours With post-Covid travel demand still picking up, Atlas Overland has added an extra Moroccan tour to its 2023 schedule. The 11-25 October journey will involve new routes in the Atlas mountains, including the waterfalls that feature in Land Rover’s adverts for the new Defender. ● atlasoverland.com…

VINCE COBLEY LRO’S OFF-ROAD EXPERT Make the most of your Land Rover on an adventure with the experts at ProTrax The LRO Adventure Club is led by one of the UK’s top of-froad experts, Vince Cobley. With decades of off-roading experience, he and his knowledgeable team of guides and instructors will get the best from you and your Land Rover. Please be aware that previous experience suggests many of the overseas trips listed on this page will fill up quickly – if you want to find out more about them before making a booking, give Vince a call, sooner rather than later. VINCE’S TIP: DON’T GET CROSS, GET EVEN Driving potholed ground looks easy in a Land Rover with high ground clearance, but beware of getting cross-axled. This is where…

NEIL SAYS There’s an enlarged Storm Awn too, so you’ll stay cosy even if poor weather sets in. 400g CANVAS ROOF TENT £3495 tuff-trek.com To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Tuff Trek has taken its Overland Mk2 and made it bigger and stronger, and fitted it with a double-layer 400g canvas, which should be perfect for the UK climate. The insulated hard shell features a new, easy-open handle and is supported with upgraded gas struts. It has a lower mounting system and a 75mm mattress. FREELANDER RAISED AIR INTAKE £230 muddymods.com This sleek raised air intake, available for all models of Freelander 1, is made from three-inch stainless steel tubing. The kit includes all you need to fit it: snorkel tube, flexi-hose, jubilee clips, rivets, trims and the template to cut…

ODYSSEY PC1500 34/78 EXTREME £316.80 l devon4x4.co.uk Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Ireviewed the Odyssey PC1500 in LRO a few years ago. Amazingly, this is the very same battery, still going strong. It’s flippin’ heavy and not cheap, but the price tag isn’t so bad when you consider how long it lasts. To be honest I took the promised three-to-10-year lifespan with a pinch of salt. But I was wrong, and I’ve really come to appreciate having a beefy 850 CCA (cold cranking amps) on tap and lots of reserve capacity – very handy for engines that are difficult to start, especially in winter. It started life as the leisure battery of the 300Tdi Disco 1 ‘adventuremobile’ that we built in 2014/15, and it’s been my 2.25-litre Series IIA’s…

‘As it turned out, our last Peterborough show and our last issue of the magazine have almost gone hand in hand’

It’s truly hard for me to get my head around the fact that this is the last ever printed issue of Land Rover Owner International, and that these are the last words I’ll ever write for this magazine. I’m also sure that many thousands of Land Rover enthusiasts around the world will be equally saddened at the news. Launched in July 1987, LRO has been a mainstay of the Land Rover community over the past 36 years. We’ve reported on and appraised the latest Land Rovers and Range Rovers, we’ve featured countless amazing restorations and ingenious modifications that you readers have carried out in your sheds and on your driveways, and we’ve inspired you to get out and use them on UK greenlanes and around the world. We’ve also helped…

‘As it turned out, our last Peterborough show and our last issue of the magazine have almost gone hand in hand’

‘I was looking at what I later learned was a IIA Forward Control; and after that first sighting all other vehicles paled into insignificance’

In our April issue, Rob McCabe posed the question: ‘When did you first see a Land Rover?’ Nowadays, most of us have grown up with Land Rovers as part of the scenery, so trying to remember when one was first sighted would be a bit like trying to think of when we had seen our first bus, or our first tree. They were just there. But way back in the late 1940s and early 1950s, there really would have been many occasions when someone would consciously clock a Land Rover for the first time. We’re talking about people who were kids or teenagers or very young adults then, and who are now reaching a considerable age. But I’ve heard some answers to Rob’s question; voices speaking from a bygone era.…

‘I was looking at what I later learned was a IIA Forward Control; and after that first sighting all other vehicles paled into insignificance’

‘I realised that, in my knackered state, I’d asked the guy in the workshop to fill each tyre with chicken soup’

Tyres are always a source of discussion among travellers. Many folk have their favourite brand and tread pattern, and woe betide anyone who questions it on social media! Sometimes this is a case of ‘first-world problems’ – after all, if you travel in the developing world you realise that for many folk, tyres are just tyres, whether they are driving on rocky mountain tracks, deserts or through mud. You don’t find Bedouin stressing that they can’t find BFGoodrich! It’s also very apparent that as you travel through more remote settlements, or less monied countries, there are very viable alternatives to the established western brands – just up the road from me here in Fujairah there is an outlet for very good Chinese copies of the Michelin XS desert tyre at…

‘I realised that, in my knackered state, I’d asked the guy in the workshop to fill each tyre with chicken soup’

‘I’m not sure I need any of the awful pot-boiler books written by those who have also churned out histories on other marques’

The turn of the year seems like a very long time ago now, but I’m going to ask the question anyway. How are your new year’s resolutions going? Mine? Thank you for asking. I’m not doing too badly so far, actually. Every year I have promised exactly the same thing to myself – tidy the workshop. Not only does this allow me to find all the tools scattered to the four corners, but it also gives me the impetus to re-arrange things to free up some more space. Yes, I know I did this a few months ago, but since then I’ve dragged this and that out of the corner and set-to in a flurry of activity. Usually, this would mean that all my good work would be overturned in…

‘I’m not sure I need any of the awful pot-boiler books written by those who have also churned out histories on other marques’

the LRO Adventure trail

The UK has some fantastic roads for us to drive. Many are greenlanes, allowing us to get away from regular traffic; others are joyous tarmac ribbons that snake over hills and across wild moors. In every instalment of this series we’re visiting sections of what will join up to make the massive LRO Adventure Trail – a 3800-mile, family-friendly route through England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This month we’re going from Ripon to York via the fabulous North York Moors. PART 26 HEARTBEAT LAND DISTANCE 140 MILES TERRAIN HILLY, FORDS AND FIRM TRACKS PLACES OF INTEREST: MUSEUMS, STEAM RAILWAYS, TV HISTORY, STATELY HOMES RATING ★ ★ ★ ★…

the LRO Adventure trail

We climb on to Little Moor on a gravel unclassified county road (UCR) blessed with fantastic views, before dropping off the moor to the A19

Looking at our route for the LRO Trail, we had rather painted ourselves into a corner when it came to North Yorkshire. We’ve already covered northern England from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Ripon, and that’s not a million miles from York. But we hadn’t included the fabulous North York Moors so, while this instalment makes zero sense if you’re driving a linear route around the UK, it does include all the elements of a great adventure: fords, technical greenlanes, fantastic scenery and great driving roads. Well worth making the detour for. We’re kicking off in Ripon and because it has been raining steadily, I choose to ignore the ford on Priest Lane – I don’t want to come a cropper before we get started. I’m in the rebuilt LRO 300Tdi auto Defender…

We climb on to Little Moor on a gravel unclassified county road (UCR) blessed with fantastic views, before dropping off the moor to the A19

WHILE YOU’RE THERE

EDEN CAMP Eden Camp’s history starts back in WW2, when it was built as a prisoner of war camp. The huts were erected by Italian PoWs and, supplemented by tents, could house 1200 prisoners. The camp was bought in 1985, with 35 huts being in roughly the same condition as when the last prisoners left in 1948. Now the huts have been re-equipped to tell the story of life in Britain between 1939 and 1945. edencamp.co.uk FLAMINGO LAND There really is something for all the family – no matter how old they are – at Flamingo Land. There are thrill rides – including Sik [pictured], which opened in 2022 and includes a corkscrew and loop – for the more adventurous, smaller coasters for those wanting something more gentle, play areas…

WHILE YOU’RE THERE

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

GREENLANE CODE Please follow these guidelines when driving byways or UCRs (unclassified county roads). ● Only drive those greenlanes that have known vehicle rights. ● Don’t ever be tempted to drive on restricted byways, bridleways or footpaths. ● Avoid tracks that are badly rutted or sodden. ● Don’t be tempted to stray off the defined track. ● Stay under 12mph and always stop for walkers or horses – switch engines off for the latter. ● Don’t travel alone, but be sure to keep to a maximum of five vehicles (four on greenlanes within the Lake District and Peak District National Parks). ● Leave gates as you find them – they may have been left open on purpose. ● Don’t damage trees or hedgerows, except for…

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

Okay, this Disco 2 stands out particularly well in its bright yellow – a reminder of its first life as an airport worker at Heathrow – but the Discovery 2 stands head and shoulders above its peers of the same era when it comes to doing everything people want it to do. ► SIMPLY CLEVER The Discovery 2 took all the best bits of the Disco 1 (apart from its more rustproof chassis) and turned it into an altogether better vehicle. The engine was more powerful, the seating was more comfortable and the ride was smoother, but it was still easy to work on. It was the last new Land Rover with beam axles, so these days it also has classic appeal. ‘I had a Discovery 1,’ explains owner Andrew…

Take a typical reliability table optional TV screens in the back. You feel very and, sadly, Land Rovers often safe driving it – there are plenty of airbags languish towards the bottom if anything were to go wrong and it is very of the list, but the Freelander comfy on longer drives. And while the satnav 2 is often called the most is out of date, it always gets me there! I also reliable Land Rover ever made. like the rear privacy glass and the adaptive It was the first Land Rover headlights – they’re great on night journeys. to be built at the ex-Ford ‘If you want an everyday, no-worries Land Rover, I would highly recommend it. And Halewood manufacturing plant, and is just a good, solid British vehicle.…

There’s no doubt about it: you certainly get a lot of car for your money when you buy a Discovery 3. They’re big and imposing on the outside, and big and accommodating on the inside. Most UK models are seven-seaters, so they make the perfect family wagon, with room to carry the kids’ friends, or masses of luggage. ► HIDDEN DEPTHS That’s what Gary Gaynor has found with this, his second Discovery 3. ‘Whenever we go camping as a family, I can put anything in it – on the roof, in the back. It swallows all the camping gear that we have. Sometimes we’ll think, “Where are we going to put all this?” but we always manage to find somewhere for it to go; pillows will slot between the headrest…

I first met Larry Leong in 2007, just before he set off on his first of three epic overland drives between London and Singapore in a Td5 Defender 90 hard top. He’d joined a group of Malaysians who were celebrating the country’s jubilee, and drove from London to Kuala Lumpur with them, before continuing on to his home in Singapore. In 2015, Larry planned and led – with his wife Simone and their five-year-old daughter Lucy – the SG50 Singapore-to-London expedition, marking Singapore’s 50th Independence Anniversary, in the same Land Rover that he bought new in 2000. In 2019, Larry was the most experienced overlander of the team that accompanied ‘Oxford’ the Series I from Singapore to London on the Last Overland expedition: as well as his 90, there was…

OFF-BEAT DISCOVERY

Although Paul Jones had owned a succession of high-end performance cars, he had always dreamed of owning a Land Rover. In 2018, he took the plunge and walked into a Land Rover dealer, intent on buying a Velar. ‘My friend, who worked there, said, “You’ve pretty much got one already,” referring to my wife Sally’s Jaguar F-Pace. “That’s what you want,” he said, pointing at this Discovery 5.’ After a full day’s test-drive, Paul agreed with his pal – and bought the D5. Being an ex-Land Rover fleet vehicle, it’s a high-spec HSE Luxury model, with 22-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels that particularly wowed Paul. Paul ran the D5 for about a year as a family vehicle, polishing it every weekend – he even ceramic-coated it. ‘I’m really OCD about car…

OFF-BEAT DISCOVERY

Sleeping beauty

T his 107in Series I made its first appearance on the internet several years ago, in a handful of photos that showed its owner taking it to pieces in preparation for a rebuild. It caught my eye again in 2015, and this time it was listed for sale – in bits. Money changed hands and the seller got the promise that it would be picked up soon, but it was another year before I made the 1500- mile round trip from Melbourne in Victoria to rural Armidale in New South Wales. The return trip caused some entertainment and drew comments from other motorists after seeing the trailer cage full of Land Rover bits. When they heard it was a vehicle, the expression ‘real project’ was used more than once! Start…

Sleeping beauty

FUTURE CLASSICS

An 88-inch Series III and a Lightweight are parked in the middle of a busy workshop, surrounded by a variety of old Land Rovers. Externally they look no different to countless others of their ilk, but underneath they are very different indeed. Different, because where there used to be internal combustion engines, there are now electric motors, lithium-ion battery packs and associated electricals including inverter and charger. And there’s another difference: they’re built by a company that’s converting Land Rovers to electric power for far more real-world prices than some of the EVs we’ve featured previously in LRO. Let’s be realistic, adapting a Land Rover to take an electric motor is an expensive business, and they still charge upwards of £42,000 to switch to zero tailpipe emissions, but it does…

FUTURE CLASSICS

CORSICAN CRUISER

Your great vehicles and stories My 1964 Series IIA started life as a hard-worked Station Wagon on a farm in Yorkshire. In 2016, it found its way into the hands of Alison Hoey, based near Hull. Alison is an off-road enthusiast and with her friend Paul, a mechanic, they started a nut-and-bolt restoration on it in 2021. That was when I came in. I had bought a 1983 One Ten from Alison in 2015. Later, I called for help to get its next MoT test done. During that discussion, I mentioned that my dream Land Rover was a short-wheelbase Series IIA. What a coincidence! They were working on their first major restoration – on this very one – and we agreed on a price that, in retrospect, seemed very reasonable.…

CORSICAN CRUISER

I was born in the city of Beira in Mozambique, and later I lived for seven years in Blantyre in Malawi, so I’ve known the Green Oval brand in Africa from a very early age. I saw them in their natural habitat and as handmade toys made of wire – known as Galimotos. Both aroused my curiosity about these amazing vehicles. When I returned to Portugal, my fascination with cars remained with me so I began looking for the ideal Land Rover – and I didn’t give up until I’d found what I wanted. The ones I went to see all needed a major overhaul, something I didn’t want to get into. My search was long and time-consuming because there were so few of them. And today, it’s even more…

James Taylor’s Roverphile

1966 A PROPER ROGUES’ GALLERY, AND A MYSTERY HALF-SOLVED Why aren’t Rover’s bigwigs celebrating number 500,000? James has found the answer Land Rover has been a great one for celebrating its milestones. As everybody’s thoughts turn to this year’s 75th Anniversary, here’s a lovely photo of a milestone that the company celebrated in April 1966. This is the 500,001st Land Rover coming off the assembly line at Solihull – well, it’s the official 500,001st because I’m pretty sure they’d lost count of how many they had actually built by then. Overseas assembly hadn’t been as well recorded as home assembly… There are two stories behind this photograph. One concerns the large number of Rover Company worthies who turned up for the occasion. The other is the story of why the…

James Taylor’s Roverphile

A Freelander owner’s quandary

Readers’letters, rants & raves John’s report on the Grenadier was very good (April issue). It was a great pleasure to read about a new vehicle that I might want to buy – something that I have not seen in the pages of LRO for several years. I now feel confident about ultimately replacing our 110 station wagon with a Grenadier. The more immediate problem is what to replace our Freelander 2 with. Not a Discovery Sport, obviously – it’s grossly overpriced, compared with the Freelander 2 that it supposedly replaced. LETTER OF THE MONTH I’m having the F2 serviced at the moment. The garage is going to give it a good looking-at with a view to extending its life. I have no desire to get rid of it, because it’s…

A Freelander owner’s quandary

20 YEARS OF THE PLIMSOLL LINE

Fun, fettling and fixing MARK SAVILLE ASSISTANT EDITOR ‘Never buy the first Series I you see – you might end up with a Plimsoll.’ HOW FAR? 50,001 miles, 179 of them on rails HOW THIRSTY? 20-22mpg OWNED FOR: 21 years DON’T MENTION… The awful plastic numberplates he came with IDENTITY CRISIS When Plimsoll’s reg number was KPR 108 (before I bought him), he was known as ‘Kipper’ I bought Plimsoll in 2002, the year before I joined LRO. I’d wanted a Series I ever since reluctantly parting with my old ex-British Gas One Ten. Eventually, PSL 193 (formerly KPR 108) popped up in a classified ad. The asking price was at the top of my meagre budget, but my wife Julia and I trundled over to the Northamptonshire village of…

20 YEARS OF THE PLIMSOLL LINE

FAREWELL, THE LIZARD OF OZ

MIKE GOULD CONTRIBUTOR ‘It does help if you live on the same continent as your Land Rover...’ HOW FAR? 59,000 miles HOW THIRSTY? 22mpg OWNED FOR: Eight years DON’T MENTION… My unquenched desire to fit a turbo DID YOU KNOW? Perenties can stand and run on their hind legs, and climb trees – and they have a remarkable turn of speed, unlike their Land Rover namesake. The perentie is Australia’s largest goanna. With few natural predators, it roams freely across the continent’s vast wilderness. Perenties can be more than eight feet long, have sharp teeth, massive claws, a robust tail and a venomous bite. They’re shy creatures, but I met someone who had a perentie take his steak supper while he was camping in the outback. It had walked unconcerned…

FAREWELL, THE LIZARD OF OZ

HOME IN THE RANGE

JAMES TAYLOR ‘It’s never over with an old Range Rover.’ HOW FAR? 121,800 miles HOW THIRSTY? 18mpg-ish OWNED FOR: Nearly nine years JOB DONE! Dodgy sensors replaced, soundproofing renewed and rusty corners fixed. DON’T MENTION... The bill ALSO ON THE DRIVE 2004 DISCO 3 I’m still admiring its all-round capabilities, while hoping the well-known foibles never appear... Six years after getting our Range Rover back from its restoration to running condition, I thought it might be time to spend a bit on sorting out some of the problems that had arisen since then. None of them, fortunately, had kept the vehicle off the road. In fact, I’ve been using it as my main business transport since 2018. However, one or two things needed a little tweaking. The main issue was…

HOME IN THE RANGE

DON’T BE A DRIP!

RUSS BROWN CONTRIBUTOR ‘Defenders sometimes need reminding not to mark their territory.’ HOW FAR? 210,868 miles HOW THIRSTY? 27mpg OWNED FOR: 28 years DON’T MENTION… My blue language, induced by seized pipe unions ALSO ON THE DRIVE... 2005 Discovery 3 Lately a familiar sight in our workshop pages, thanks to a new raised air intake, brakes, glow plugs and air suspension tank (see p96). My Defender has three power steering pipes connecting the reservoir, the pump and the steering box. Two of them were leaking, so I thought I’d better replace all three of them while I was in there. You need to remove the radiator and intercooler top hoses, radiator fan and cowling, and the fuel pump pulley to get access for the job. Detaching the reservoir from its…

DON’T BE A DRIP!

YOUR QUERIES ANSWERED

GLAD TO HAVE BEEN OF SERVICE! Because this is the final print issue of LRO, we will no longer be able to answer your technical queries. Many thanks to the thousands of you who have written to us with your questions over the years, and to our team of gurus who have kept these pages fuelled with insight and wisdom. DISCOVERY 1 TALL TYRES TROUBLE TIME TESTER Q How much difference will 245/75 R16 tyres make to the gearing and drive of a standard Discovery 1 300Tdi, compared with the standard 205/80 R16 tyres? Tim Jackson A Going up to 245/75 R16 from the standard OE fitment of 205/80 R16 will not make that much difference to your Discovery 1. The engine speed will decrease due to the 245/75’s larger…

YOUR QUERIES ANSWERED

REPLACE D3 AIR TANK

THE EXPERT Russ Brown, who spent 15 years working for the Rover development team, can also boast decades of experience of looking after his own Land Rovers, including his current 90 and D3. Many see air suspension as some kind of black magic, often ripping it out in favour of coil springs. They are actually quite simple systems, offering a fantastic improvement in ride stability and height control options – but they can fail. This vehicle was slow to rise to of-froad height, occasionally throwing up suspension and DSC (dynamic stability control) warnings. Using a diagnostic tool, I interrogated the ride level control module (RLM) to see what it was up to. The error codes C1131-92 and C12A0-64 implied either a dying compressor or an air leak, and live data…

REPLACE D3 AIR TANK

FIX DEFENDER WIPERS

THE EXPERT Dan Padmore has been around Land Rovers for decades. He’s built a couple of fantastic Defenders for himself – both of which have graced LRO’s pages – and is a renowned wiring expert, making all sorts of bespoke looms. See pace4x4.com. We knew there was a problem with the Defender’s wipers way before they failed. Residue of rusty water dribbling down the bulkhead was an indicator that things weren’t right. And the timing couldn’t have been worse when they failed – in torrential rain at speed on the M3. The Defender wiper system is fairly simple and essentially dates back to the mid-1960s when the Series IIA changed to a single wiper motor. The motor turns a gear with a crank, which then pulls a flexible cable, giving…

FIX DEFENDER WIPERS

PROTECT YOUR SWIVELS

THE EXPERT With 35 years’ experience of running Series Land Rovers, Neil Watterson knows which upgrades are worth having. ‘I became a convert to these in 1991 after buying an ex-MoD 109. The chrome is just as good now as when I bought it.’ The pointy end (well, the pointier end) of your Series Land Rover or Defender takes the brunt of all the dirt, grime and stones thrown up by other vehicles. This means that anything in its path takes a proper hammering. While later Land Rover models have lovely rubber gaiters to protect their parts, Series Land Rovers, Range Rover Classics, Defenders and Discovery 1s have their chrome swivels exposed to the elements. If the surface gets pitted, it starts rusting. And if it starts rusting, the seal…

PROTECT YOUR SWIVELS

NOT BREAKING THE MOULD

After battling through the urban sprawl of the West Midlands, it’s a welcome relief to find Charlesworth Mouldings inhabiting a traditional brick-built factory on the edge of green countryside near Sutton Coldfield, next to a historic canal and opposite an old pub. They’ve been on this site since the 1950s, but the business goes back about 100 years. Although the company’s bread-and-butter work isn’t related to Land Rovers, you wouldn’t think it. Managing director Sue Cummings comes to work in a Defender 110; her first vehicle was a Lightweight that she still owns, and her immersion in the world of old Land Rovers is palpable. If you hang around military Land Rovers at shows, you’ve probably met her before. What Charlesworth is probably most known for – in Series I…

NOT BREAKING THE MOULD

PAINTWORK REVIVAL

1 WASH PROPERLY Preventing scratches is easier than removing them. Rinse or blast away heavy dirt with a hose or pressure washer. Don’t get too close with the latter or you’ll lift the paint. Then move to a microfibre wash mitt and two buckets – one soapy water, one fresh. Sud up the mitt and clean a small area, working top down. Rinse in fresh water before re-applying suds. This prevents the soapy water becoming dirty too quickly, and frequent rinsing avoids dirt being scratched across the paint. Finish with a good rinse. 2 DRY THOROUGHLY Use a microfibre drying towel to completely dry the bodywork and plastic trims. Leaving the car to air-dry can allow stubborn water marks to form – especially if you live in an area with…

PAINTWORK REVIVAL

WHAT’S IN YOUR WORKSHOP

You’ve got to admire his bravery! Shaun Morgan bought this 2002 Range Rover Td6 L322 as a project. He’s had to weld the sills and replace the rear wheel bearings, transfer box, and even the engine. Luckily, he says the welding was ‘fairly straightforward’, new parts are readily available and secondhand parts are reasonably priced. Hatching a plan Ignacio Campo in Chile has been eliminating rust from the roof hatches of his 1980 Series III Santana 109 station wagon. This one has been removed and sanded and now awaits a coat of Würth zinc spray paint. Simple crossmember job?Yeah, right... This Defender 110 is undergoing extensive repairs to its chassis, combined with a total restoration. ‘It was supposed to need just a rear crossmember and two outriggers, but the harder…

WHAT’S IN YOUR WORKSHOP

DOOR CARDSS Prices vary The Masai4x4 covered door card product range has been designed to fit Defender 90 and 110 – both double-cab and single-cab models. Door card covers are available in luxury vinyl finishes; there are five colours to choose from, which match with our Flute design seat cover range. Covered door cards are currently available for front and second-row doors. View the full range on our website. masai4x4.com TOYLANDER Prices vary The ultimate toy for intrepid little explorers, Toylanders are superior-quality electric cars that children love to drive. They’re available as kits – so you can have the satisfaction of building your own – or fully built and ready to drive. The best-known models are the Land Rovers, but for something a little different how about our Unihog…

Rob McCabe Driving a Stage 1 V8 up Ben Tongue, July 2005 This 1300-mile adventure took a lot of planning and persuasion – but, boy, was it worth it. Accompanied by JP in his 90, I motored all the way to the northern tip of Scotland in my Stage 1 V8 to drive up the same mountain that the Top Gear TV boys had famously featured on their coverage of the then-new Discovery 3. We’d been advised to take a couple of bottles of whisky for a crofter, whose land we had to cross to reach the summit – one bottle for the ascent and another for the way back, in case he’d locked the gate in the meantime. We never saw him on the way down, and I’ve…

WATTY’S WORLD

TIPTOE THROUGH THE, ER, DAFFODILS I don’t often display my Land Rovers at shows – preferring to leave space for others – but when a request for vehicles for the Thriplow Daffodil Weekend came through, I signed up. It’s a proper spectacle with lots to do, and the flower-filled Cambridgeshire village attracts 10,000+ visitors each year. CELEBRATION RUN I’m trying to decide what to do at the end of April. Firstly, we’ve got Drive-it Day on 23 April, where owners are encouraged to drive their classics. Then the following week, we have the 75th anniversary of the first Land Rovers being unveiled at the Amsterdam motor show on 30 April. By the time you read this, I’m sure that loads of runs will have been arranged – maybe I’ll see…

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