steve200TDi

Hi, I've attached a sketch (which is pretty lame!), but bear with me and put your visualizing hat on! If you removed the two radiator mount brackets off the top of the front crossmember you should have a large flat area to put the winch in. If you made up two caps that bolted to the existing bumper mounts (two each side) and the recovery eye/jate ring hole. I can't find a picture of what I did, but to have the tie in plates for the recovery/jate rings I trimmed the little wiggle bit that sticks out between the chassis and the front jacking point that you were mentioning to cut off. This idea wiuld still fit around those or you could trim them off. The winch plate can then be welded to the front two mounts. I think I remember someone previously bolting the back of the winch tray to the back of the front crossmember too. Hope this helps and you understand it all! Steve

Ah, I see I'm getting confused there. I thought Simon Crowe and RedLineMike were the same people for some reason!!

That's what I thought happened roughly too! That's why I had my GoPro on for the first lap last weekend as neither of us had ours on at DttE yes, we'll check next time to see who's going! Steve

Haha.... yes I remember a comment on Facebook: James saying; We were chasing him when he rolled, my co drivers comments were " go on, get him, faster" .... "no, no dont get him, BRAKE!! " Maybe see you at a future DttE event. Also what was your take on what happened as to start with I couldn't really remember as it happened so quickly! Steve

Ok, I guess! I didn't actually get to meet you, but I saw you had fun in your new polaris style buggy thing! The damage was thankfully minimal and has highlighted that not crashing doesn't incur fixing time!!

This was me in action on the first lap. The course, even though it was a 'short course', was quite long (approx 3 miles) and very bumpy with lots of tight and twisty sections. But the following three laps did not get completed as we stopped at varying point on the lap and had to get towed back to the pits. I got to know daveturnbull quite well as he was the chief marshall/my personnel recovery service for those three laps! We reckon it's a fueling issue. The symptoms were coughing and spluttering and then dying all together. On the last lap I was racing round with my foot at a certain position, but I could hear and feel the engine loosing power and regaining continuously as if it was loosing fuel pressure and gaining it again. Once it died I got it started again and was able to rev it to 3000rpm and it would run fine, drop it to 2000rpm and it would do the surging thing again. So I'm going to check there's no debris in the tank, remove the second spare pump from the system as you could switch between two pumps, delete the switch so it has a permanent live feed from the ECU and go from there. Any other pointer would be greatfully recieved, It's running ok at idle so you could rule out the ignition system. Further improvement will include overhauling the wiper system, greasing the belt mechanisms up and adding some mudflaps amongst other things! But again it was a good day, dryer than DttE and I enjoyed it!

After swapping to full Comp Safari spec and doing a little straightening on the front wing I was ready for the last Comp Safari of the year for the Southern Counties Offf Road club at Slab Common. The weather was dry! And Chris offered to tow! - I do have my trailer test booked for December! There were lots of interesting car there. If I wasn't competing I would have gone over and had a nose around! Me on the start line. Me in action!

It must be time for an update, it's been a busy and eventful couple of weeks! So after a busy couple of months sorting the racer and trailer out, testing, purchasing helmets, sorting a co driver out it was finally time to leave for Driven to the Edge. Graham kindly volunteered to tow and Chris (GBMUD) came along to marshal and to support as well as Si (SimonR). We knew the weather wasn't going to be the best, so we packed gazebo's and waterproofs! We arrived late afternoon and set up camp alongside Tim Jones motorhome. Saturday morning came and I unwrapped the car to put it through scrutineering, thankfully it passed with only the corners on the cars numbers needing radiusing. Me and my co driver got suited and booted and we were soon waiting on the start line after attending the drivers briefing. We took the first lap steady tackling some rocky sections, some bumpy sections and some wide open sections. There were punch areas to enter and collect a punch, but we decided not to do these as we were only there to get a feel for the car in a comp safari situation even though it had the simex style tyres on and a front winch, plus the weather was horrendous!! Wet and blowing a gale and cold too! We managed to complete the first lap after a slight wiper issue caused them to jam and blow a fuse. For the second lap we removed one of the wipers and this may have been the cause of the next problem! We could see a lot better now so we may have been going a little faster on this lap. Also there was a car behind us so the racing instinct (if I have any!) may have taken over or not as the case may be and managed to put it on its side! Thankfully we were both ok with only minor neck ache incurred by the co driver. We put out our SOS board and watched for the next car to come round the corner to slow down to get help. The SOS system worked well and the marshalls were on the scene sorting us out! The damage was two tyres off the rims, which I later found out aren't punched and hold air, a bent panhard rod (a standard item) and some front body work damage. So a relatively easy repair. As the weather was wet and miserable we decided not to try and sort it out ready for Sunday and go home early Sunday morning. The weather was turning worse with the wind picking up so the decision was taken to put the Gazebo down before it blows away! We spent the evening in Si's van and then Tim's motorhome in the warm and dry! On Sunday I washed the car off, loaded up and we were off, stopping at Cardiff services for a late breakfast. It was a shame that I put it on it's side as it was a great opportunity to race round Seven Sisters/Walters Arena and being my first speed event I still enjoyed it and want to do it again! I had already penciled in the diary the Comp Safari at Slab Common, so I would access the damage and see if I could get it ready for then. In the mean time I had to get the Red 90 ready for Winter warmer back at Seven Sisters the following weekend. Fortunately the weather was nice and dry and just a bit cold. A great weekend was had at the last J33P event of the year!

The 15p head has an external fuel return pipe. Steve

Trailer serviced! One day to go until we leave for Driven to the Edge at Walters Arena/Seven Sisters, so I'm rushing around sorting out the last few things and getting everything packed! Steve

It's a lovely little site with technical and open areas. You may even see a steam train too! Unfortunately I'll be Comp Safari'ing down at Slab Common that day with SCOR 4x4! Woop Woop first Comp Safari Steve

For a third brake light I've used one of these type of lights: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Red-14-LED-12V-Car-3RD-Third-Brake-Tail-Light-High-Mount-Stop-Universal-Light-/181745398064?hash=item2a50deb130:g:4QAAAOSw3xJVVLfk I think I may have gone for 20LED's, but I've no trouble with them, they're reliable and none of the LED's have blown. I have a set of these too: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LUX-LED-Hamburger-rear-light-lamp-Trailer-Truck-Kitcar-140mm-UKs-Best-Cheapest-/390923304849?hash=item5b04d83f91:g:PEEAAOSwnDZUBYUH They're IP67 rated and very bright! Have a look at the build thread down below! But I appreciate that they might not be to everyone's taste! I can also vouch for the Standard WIPAC stop lights as Western has mentioned, they're definitely brighter than the standard units! Steve

As part of Slindon Shakedown I also found that the trailer needed some tlc too! One of the trailer brakes was sticking and I later found that it was the brake cable that had seized. I had a look underneath and found that 4 of the cables were in poor condition so the decision was made to replace all 6 cables! Decided to strip the brakes down too and clean, inspect and replace if need be before rebuilding. All parts were ok. Shiny new brake cables (obviously had to go for red DaveTurnball!) only £1 more for stainless cables! Started putting it all back together! Steve

Good to know, as this has happened on the defender 90, but as Mike said it's an off roader. But, as it's not road legal it wont get that much use/weather so it could last longer! Does it just need normal aerosol lacquer? Steve

I thought it would bring the gearing down a bit

So yes, it's been in the garage for a new paint job! Primer then top coat and strips. I used tractor enamal, so yes, it's Massey Ferguson Red and all painted with a 3' paint brush! Now sporting numbers too! Steve

You could be right there, will have a look tomorrow. Well it's nice to keep it all matching

Well spotted, I think there maybe a bit of dodgy wiring, so I'll add that to the list! Steve

As you've probably seen I've repainted the racer in red and I fancied some stripes, so two black stripes down the middle. So the Shakedown was to test pretty much everything! I had fitted a tow bar to the red one. So had to test that out using the new trailer! Tested the trailer out too! And used the new ratchet straps! We noticed that one of the trailer brakes was sticking and I think its the bowden cable, so have ordered a new set of cables as most of the others aren't in great condition. All the lights work, but have future intentions to upgrade to LED rear lights. The 200Litre blue plastic barrel fits in the back of the 90 laying down, so we filled that up half full to see how long that lasted when we came to wash the racer. The racer performed well with no problems, a few small adjustment needed. The steering drop arm I think needs rotating round one notch to even up the steering left to right. I was pleased that the steering box isn't leaking at all!! The wipers will need upgrading later, I want to move away from the defender set up and use a more conventional system. There wasn't any major rubbing to speak of and I could really test it at speed due to the speed limit Next jobs are to add the MSA race numbers and service the trailer. Steve

I'll let the video do the talking and I'll put a more detailed update up later! Steve

It's so lovely http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Land-Rover-Comp-Safari-Rear-Engined-100-Racer-Not-Tomcat-Wildcat-/171973405744?hash=item280a69ec30:g:76IAAOSwT6pVlENz

Oh, he's one step ahead of me! I thought I did post some pic's and I did (for the first link!) Steve

Hi, You could be right about the injectors being in the wrong order, but I wouldn't have thought it would stop it running. I know from previous experience that you have to do a lot of purge cycles and cranking to get it to start, so don't think that one purge cycle will be enough. From what you've said everything seems to be in order, so keep pursuing the purging and cranking and see how you get on. The only thing that will stop the engine from firing is the crank sensor, but you shouldn't have needed to touch that! Steve

Luckily enough it still has all that. Another box ticked! Steve

So what have people bought?! Did Mike and Jon try and off load some rubbish, sorry I mean useful item, upon you?! I had to work today, but I have my radius arms I require so didn't need to go! Steve