Dave W

For me it was the spring of 1989, approx 2PM one Sunday afternoon. I was sat in the back garden of a friend's parents having polished off a BBQ and had a few drinks when there was some noise and commotion coming from the disused railway line that ran near the house and in particular the old railway tunnel. being in a remote location we went to investigate and as we headed toeards the noise this beat up wreck of a Land Rover came bursting through the undergrowth. it turned out that the estate my friend's dad worked for had agreed to let something called the "ARC National" take place next to his house. I was a keen photographer so took full advantage of this opportunity to watch motor sport and take photos whilst sat in the back garden with a BBQ, in the process I got hooked on these seemingly indestructable vehicles, they would roll them on their roofs, marshals and spectators would descend on them, roll them back on their wheels and they'd set off again as if nothing had happened ! As soon as I could afford one after that I bought my first Land Rover and they've been an obsession ever since.

First off road event I competed in (as opposed to play days) was a CCV trial with Pennine LRC around 1992. Prior to that I'd spent a few years messing around at P&P days but not competed. It wasn't until 2001 that I did my first challenge event (the Bulldog Trophy), should have been Ireland but foot and mouth put paid to that. There's a write up of the event and pictures here... http://www.yorkshireoffroadclub.net/index....amp;event_id=44 It was a bit of a voyage of discovery as the friend who had persuaded me to have a go at challenges (Steve Maddison) had been killed at the end of 2000. I was determined to have a go anyway although without his guidance we were pretty clueless as to what a challenge event actually was ! that was the year of the Optima challenge series when the Off Road TV programme was filmed. At one point they were doing a piece to camera as Brian was explaining how all the vehicles were short wheelbases... just as Matthew came crashing through the trees behind him in the full length 110

Have you raised the fuel tank breathers and blocked the filler vent ? If not you may well have water in the fuel.

If he's using an old fashioned hydraulic former to produce the bends then it isn't unusual to get a small amount of flattening on a 90 degree bend.

For anyone interested in marshalling on the Muddy Truckers there is a registration form available now on the event web site: http://www.muddytruckers.co.uk/marshals.html thanks Dave

Rather than using Megajolt, you could use Megasquirt and hook the lambda up to that. That way you get an easy way to display and log your AFR using the standard software.

Assuming it's an electronic distributor (sounds that way) it will depend on the model. A number of designs have been used but the most common and latest version uses a small amplifier mounted on the side of the distributor which is where the 2 wires would originate. If that is the case then one of them may well be connected to 12v inside the loom and you need to identify which one and connect it to the +ve terminal of the coil. The other wire than connects to the -ve of the coil. If the wires still have their plugs on the end then that makes life easier as they can only go on one way as one will be male and the other female to match the coil. If you connect the wires up and turn the ignition on you should get 12v on the +ve of the coil, if you don't you will probably have to run a new feed, ensuring that it comes from a switched 12v that is also on during cranking. It's best to check it with the -ve of the coil disconnected, otherwise you can get 12v from the wrong side of the coil. If the distributor is an earlier one it may have an internal amplifier or may require an external amplifier that is normally mounted under the coil. "All" the amplifier does is take the signal from the sensor inside the distributor and mimics the action of a set of points electronically, setting the dwell and triggering the coil at the correct moment based on the signal from the sensor inside the distributor. The advantages are a far more accurate dwell (better spark) and more consistent timing without all the problems inherent with a mechanical points/condensor system.

Thanks, I'll be at Donnington on Sunday BTW if that makes it any easier to get the trophy back ? cheers Dave

We now have a full entry list for the 2009 Muddy Truckers Trophy. Any additional entries will be treated as reserves unless the maximum number of entries is revised. Current entry list is available here: http://www.muddytruckers.co.uk/2009_entrylist.html If you're on the list and have no picture, please send something suitable to the address at the top of the page, PM me with any issues. cheers Dave

I didn't think he'd been prosecuted for the modifications themselves. I understood that the modifications were viewed in a dim light because some of them were really badly done but at the end of the day he was prosecuted for bad driving and driving a vehicle he knew was defective. The two primary causes of the accident were excessive speed and the failure of a radius arm mount that failed at, for his family, the worst possible time. On the more general theme modifying a vehicle from it's type approval isn't illegal, only selling a new vehicle that's been modified is. As an example, certain TVRs had to be type approved with plain wheels because the wheel was needed to reduce the exhaust noise in a specific direction. Dealers sold them with the wheels used for type approval but all dealers then would offer the "aftermarket" option of fitting TVR's alloy wheels to the vehicle. All vehicles get modified away from type approval, just changing the tyres to a different make would be a modification from the type approval, never mind changing the tyre size.

This might give you an idea how it works... If you're using relatively cheap and cheerful shock absorbers like me they make a huge difference reducing understeer dramatically and getting rid of the "dive" when you hit a hole/bump at speed. The rears are also double up to reduce the kangaroo effect you otherwise get on washboard sections.

Better late than never... You have a few options on the damper. 1) Don't bother with one, you don't need one anyway as they're only there to disguise problems elsewhere. 2) Get a clamp on bracket that goes onto the drag link. 3) mount one on the tracking bar behind the axle as per Discovery. I have chosen option 1 for since around 1993 and never had a problem.

The drag link has a track rod end in it and, as you say, the track rod end goes up through the arm with the nut on the top of the arm. The drag link is longer than a standard Defender one.

My favourite analogy for democracy goes something like... "Democracy is a pack of wolves and a sheep sat around a table trying to agree what to eat for dinner" We are the sheep, trying to negotiate our way out of the inevitable. We can buy them all vegetarian lasagne today but will that help us tomorrow ? Councils already get paid by us via taxes to maintain rights of way but they choose not to spend it. In the same way as our "road tax" and fuel duty goes into funding almost anything except the roads and public transport I fear that some sort of "toll" would simply lead to that money being used to fund the legal bills for implementing a TRO.

I don't consider winching to be extreme, a winch is just a way of covering the ground while keeping damage to a minimum. I'd rather use a winch than try and drive a bad section assuming there's a suitable anchor point or I was certain that a pin anchor would hold. One of the lanes we used to drive before it was closed had a "mandatory" winch and waffle board section over an area of bog. We could get 3 vehicles over the 20 yard section of bog and you'd be hard pressed to tell we'd crossed it 30 mins after. Using momentum rather than a winch would have resulted in big holes and mud flung everywhere. The bog wouldn't be there at all had the route not had a raised section put in by the council for the ramblers that blocked off the drainage. (It was so the ramblers didn't have to walk through a puddle caused by a natural spring, the "contractors" decided that putting a row of wooden posts across the head of the natural drainage channel for the spring and back filling it with compacted soil would resolve the issue). That was a lane we drove annually and nearly every year the land owner would come out and watch and if there were any trees getting in our way he'd cut them back for us with a chain saw. We were normally the only vehicles he saw drive the lane each year and was always happy to see us drive it and give us a hand to keep it open. Show me a piece of evidence that shows where the 4x4 community "showing restraint" has led to a right of way staying open or a ramblers group supporting our right to use a right of way. We could, frankly, be using rights of way to save baby seals from being clubbed to death and the other user groups would still be demanding our rights are removed. The lanes will all be closed eventually anyway, better to enjoy them now than sit on a forum metaphorically wringing your hands about how it looks to people who have no regard whatsoever for your rights or opinions. I regret not using the lanes we had in this area more regularly but I always took the view that if it was too wet or we'd damage a lane we'd turn back and let it rest and as a result probably only went laning a third of the times I could have. In return for restraint, repairing lanes, clearing fallen trees, repairing walls, limiting group sizes, helping lost ramblers find their way, transporting tired and injured ramblers to the nearest town/village, keeping as "low impact" as possible nearly every lane I have driven is no longer a right of way as a result of people who at no point gave a f**k about my views or rights. It's a few years since I last drove a byway myself but those that do still enjoy it should be encouraged to do so while they still can. Don't feel guilty for upholding your right to drive and don't let the rambler drones "win" by stopping you driving them before they can legally close them.

From bitter experience in the Yorkshire Dales NP I'd suggest that the last thing you want to do is start pointing out lanes that need repair or a temporary closure. It won't take very long at all for someone to use that as "evidence" that the lane should be closed for good. For decades we've been pussy footing around limiting numbers in groups, following codes of conduct, worrying about possible damage to lanes etc... and what has it achieved ? It's achieved absolutely b***er all. In return for our efforts we've been handed down closures and nothing in the way of compromise. The ramblers and mountain bikes have destroyed a path, no worries, we'll helicopter in supplies to repair it so they don't get their feet muddy. A 4x4 has left a tyre print, no problem, close the road. Frankly I no longer give a f**k what impression I give to other RoW users because those other users stopped worrying about my rights years ago. Nothing we can do will stop lanes being closed and nothing we can do will keep them open. LARA tried their best but sadly our other representative groups were far too busy threatening each other with legal action to focus on doing anything to fight closures. I'm always polite to other RoW users but I don't worry myself about their view on whether or not I should be there any more. If a route is drivable, even if that means using a winch, drive it and enjoy it while you can. If other users get aggro ignore them or film them and post them on youtube so everyone can see how they behave.

I can't see that engaging the ARB when you're moving is a problem, particularly if you're going in a straight line. The diff will already be running both half shafts at the same speed anyway so it doesn't matter to the diff what speed you are doing. Engaging them whilst spinning one wheel I can see as a problem but not while driving dead straight.

A long way from being cheap but I use two of the Dual gauges from SPA http://www.spa-uk.co.uk/design/dualgauges/ As well as being extremely accurate, having dual gauges saves on space too, I've got one for water temp and oil pressure and a second for fuel level and voltage. The fuel level one can be calibrated at 6 points using the standard LR sender so is pretty accurate even if, like me, you have an odd shaped fuel tank. You can set your own warning conditions on all the gauges and, as well as the built in LED, you can operate external devices too - the water temp gauge can be used to switch your electric fans on/off, for example and you can set the temp for each.

Mine was an auto. The auto version is more efficient than the manual when it's locked up so loses out to the manual around town but gains on the motorway. I once got 22MPG out of my RRC, 3.9 V8 auto because I was following a 200TDi that had seen better days.. that was on real petrol though not this silly unleaded rubbish that knocks a few MPG off. The 200TDi I was following did 18MPG which gives some indication of just how tired it was

Sounds normal to me, think about how the corrugations will effect the half shafts as the wheels are constantly loaded and unloaded never mind the off road use I inspected my front shafts, CVs and diff a couple of weekends ago for the first time since fitting them before the OBC, not a mark on any of them, no twisting, no "chatter" marks, nothing. Mr Ashcroft does make exceedingly good axle bits !

Around 18MPG on petrol, 16 on LPG assuming you don't spend all your time crawling in traffic or thrash it everywhere. With a bit of enthusiastic driving it'll drop as low as 14MPG on petrol and 12MPG on LPG. That's what mine used to do anyway and that had 145k on the clock when I sold it.

An 89 3.5 would be a flapper, the 3.9 came with hotwire in the RRC, unless it's been changed over of course ! If it's a flapper the fuel pump only runs under certain conditions and won't run when you turn the ignition on, unlike on the later hotwire EFi. There is a step by step fault finding guide for the flapper EFi available in the tech archive I believe. The fuel pump should run while you are cranking the engine over.

There's a few places that have sold them in the past, not tried them myself as I went Megasquirt but they might help if you didn't do anything else to the ignition system. Good luck with finding a 9 fingered glove

It would be worth checking the throttle position sensor, they're supposed to provide a clean smooth signal from closed to open but sometimes they get a bit of dirt or a bad track and it causes the engine to hesitate as the ECU thinks you just closed the throttle again. If it's a worn track this can get worse as it heats up although it's unusual to be heat related. Leaks in air pipes as above are a prime candidate, accelerating hard is the point at which you have the highest vacuum in the plenum chamber and warm pipes are softer so more prone to opening up any cracks/splits in them. They allow air to bypass the flapper and the mixture leans out as a result.

I have a vague recollection of a P38 coming into my local specialist place with a distinct lean on it. The owner had changed an air bag and one side wouldn't inflate. They jacked the body up at that side and it sorted itself, something about the sensor going out of range when it had been sat on the bump stops ? By jacking the body up a few inches the sensor sorted itself out and away it went - poor bloke had driven 40 miles at 20 MPH to get it to the garage and all they did was jack the body up which he could have done at home