Henry Webster

Indeed Milner and Rakeway do reverse rotation transfer boxes in the UK, which is the easiest and best way. Otherwise you are into flipping and cutting and shutting axles! H

Take a trip to any off road racing event. AWDC, NORC, BORC or Hillrally. Lots of rear engined specials in the racing world. The trick in many cases is to ditch the A-Frame and replace with a panhard rod and radius arm system like the front. H

Not sure looks a bit modded to me. I like the Austin Gypsy screen, the front tow points and looks a bit like he has Quaife or Ashcroft strengthened halfshafts. What do you reckon - Tdi conversion?

My suggestion is that you start by buying a ready (or nearly) prepared car for the sort of thing that you want to do. This is much the cheapest way to start and you can refine what you want to use it for after you've done some events. Its also a great way to learn, because you can bite off a build in smaller chunks and get the benefit of being able to use it in between. Each sort of competition needs a different emphasis on vehicle build and spec. Cheers H PS. I'm with Jules on the comp safari thing, but then I would be, wouldn't I!

No, not sure of torque. I know John Cockburn was running one in his Range Rover with the 5 litre griffith engine in it, but I don't know how long it lasted. Thanks for the tip off about the link - I'll fix it. I don't know about the entry fee - I hope it'll be no more 'cause I'm planning to do it. H

My front axle is std, but I don't have much problem with turn in, apart from very slippery slow corners. What I do have, though, is a viscous centre diff, which helps significantly with reducing understeer. In fact I hadn't realised quite how much difference it has made until I drove my tow vehicle in the snow recently (locked LT230) it just wanted to go straight on everywhere - quite different to the racer. I guess the fact that the ride height is standard on the racer helps. My driving tip of the day is to use a little left foot braking if the car is understeering on faster corners, especially if you've got a little space to play with. H

I'm not sure it was, Steve. I think that is a std RRC chassis, but with Disco II axles. However Richard Hopkins latest Discovery is Disco II chassis with Disco I body! H

Land Rover - it is a genuine part. Alternatively you can cut the central slot out of a std 300 grille and back with mesh. I've got a tatty s/h home made version here if you're interested! H

I believe that you may be confusing two odd-ball Land Rovers here. I think that the B40 engine was only ever fitted to a handful of 81" series 1s for a military trial, wheareas you are right to say that the 2wd series 1 was built as a production vehicle for the Royal Air Force and Navy for towing around airfields etc. I was under the impression that these 2wd's were fitted with the standard 2 litre petrol engine, but I am happy to be proved wrong. I have a 1958 (ex-RN) one that was converted into 4wd with an early front axle and transfer box. Regards H

Just what I would have said. I'm not a big Peter Lloyd fan, but he is often very good on price. My last couple of extinguishers have come from him at the Autosport Show. In fact I think he was doing them for £25 this year! H

Why leave it out for AWDC events - I do all the Hillrallies with it on display - its only illegal to use and as long as you have the obligated AFFF as well then they shouldn't mind. Comp spec AFFF's can be picked up for £30 so it seems silly not to have at least something in the car. I've now put one in my commuting car as well! I don't find Gold Top all that good for putting out fires, must be the fat content!

No shortage of projects then Bob! I'm trying to work out how I can afford to do the Scottish Hillrally and the suspension to allow me to do it justice! I can't go any faster on that event as it is. Oh and I'm rebuilding the engine because it divested itself of oil in the middle of last year's event! H

Thoroughly agree with this statement. I've got 2.5 plumbed in AFFF another 2.25 handheld and a n other fire extinguisher for actually putting fires out. The EP90 dispenser sounds a great idea, might well have a crack at that. Thanks for that one! H

Does solder not move with vibration. I'm not a wiring expert, but I would imagine it would be safer to use heat shrink crimps or proper connectors with crimped terminals. I have tried heat shrinking the whole assembly which is good, if a little inflexible (not too bad) but it does stop abrasion. The downside is you are building it not to fail so if you then have a failure it makes it more difficult to fix without running new cables. Just some thoughts.

Here we go, here are a few from her racing heyday and I'll put some more on my Flickr page for those who are interested. My Flickr account Peter's Pit AWDC comp circa 1990 Long Valley 2-day AWDC comp 1990

Spot on for you Jules - I just want to stay in the Super Production classes. Good point about Nikosil liners though, it could get a bit pricey if you bought a dud-un. Good value power if you get it right though. H

Have you been reading Practical Performance Car Mag then and their in-line 6 article for small dosh! Personally reckon the Jag V8 supercharged engine would be a nice swap - toyed with the idea of doing it to mine, but it would currently put it in the Proto classes. You can pick them up for approx £700 and they have more than 400BHP as standard. Bit heavy and a bit big, though. H

Just checked with some old photos - it's definitely the same vehicle. Indeed it was a ratty old blue ex-farm HCPU when we bought it and immaculate comp safari truck when we'd finished building it up. We painted it bronze green and when Mick Wolfe bought it he painted it yellow. It was originally a V8, but we put a balanced 3.5 efi in it. Latterly it had Ashcroft internals in the front axle and a four pin diff. I'll try and scan some photos of it at the weekend in its comp safari guise. Unfortunately I don't have any of the build. The cage was designed and built for us by a chap named Clive Hobley who used to build off road racers, he did a cracking job, I reckon - looks like you've proved it too! Unfortunately Clive no longer does any fabrication of this sort. Hope this is of some interest. Its certainly nice to see that its still being used for fun, it had disappeared off my radar for some years! H

What are you like!

I don't have any specific companies to recommend, but a serious local bodyshop might be worth approaching, though given insurance companies penchant for writing things off, I guess not all will do this. Alternatively speak to a commercial vehicle repairer who may be better placed to help. A quick google came up with this http://www.westendgaragebruton.com/index.p...al⊂=jigs in Bruton, Somerset. Any good for you? You may well get someone to do it on the cheap if the car is already partially stripped and they don't need to bother with any of the bodywork or mechanicals! Anyone else have any recommendations? H

Have you looked at getting a quote for getting your chassis straightened (1/4 chassis perhaps) and professionally rejigged, if your not confident to do it yourself. If it is possible it would probably run out much cheaper, be 100% legit and its all new metal anyway being an 04 plate! And you already have all your components bolted to it. Which ever way you look at it a chassis swap is quite a big job and always expensive once you factor in all the nuts, bolts and parts that you end up having to replace. You'd be amazed at what can be done. H

That looks like my dad's old racing 110 Hi-cap. I can't remember the exact reg no, because we always had a personal plate on it, but I recognise the cage. Do you know anything of the history of the car? I'll check my old photos when I get home to confirm. Mick Wolfe bought it from my Dad (hence the yellow paint job! In fact the first time he raced it at Sidbury the paint was still sticky!). Cheers H

That will be the BorgWarner viscous coupling box as already intimated. I love them and have one in my Discovery racer. The faults as far as I remember come down to spline wear and the viscous coupling locking up. If you are not exhibiting wind-up or too much slack in the transmission then it should be fine. It has a few advantages over the manual diff lock set-up, none less than you can't 'forget' to lock the diff! H

Haynes manuals definitely have a similar number of anomalies, if not more as they are often written from the 'official' workshop manual. That being said, I often find it handy to have the Haynes as well as the official workshop manual as the photos, diagrams or text sometimes give you a different perspective on the same job. H

I'd certainly be interested - is there a catch? H