Indholdsfortegnelse for October 2024 i Land Rover Monthly

IN the – perhaps unlikely – event that you find yourself in Kosovo this summer, a nice old armoured Land Rover Defender 110 has been rolled out as part of an exhibition celebrating the country’s 25th anniversary of liberation. The cream-coloured Defender is owned by video journalist Vaughan Smith, known in the media world for founding London’s Frontline Club – a club, restaurant and charity championing freedom of speech and freelance journalist safety. He bought it in Serbia back in 1994, had it up-armoured in Kevlar by a company in Oxford and used it to protect himself and freelancers working for his organisation, as well as renting it out to other media organisations working in war zones. “This one has been shot 11 times. There’s only one bullet mark left…

I had a call from a customer with a recently acquired Ninety which had developed what sounded like a terminal gearbox fault. He had selected third gear: it had gone in with a nasty crunching sound and he was now unable to select any other gears. The gearbox had been rebuilt by a very reputable specialist a few thousand miles previously, but several years had elapsed since the ’box was fitted, so there was no prospect of making a claim under warranty. I suggested that he have the vehicle recovered to my workshop so that I could remove the gearbox and send it away for overhaul. The vehicle arrived on the back of a transporter and I set about removing the transmission tunnel and floors. With the gearbox exposed I…

In for a major service, an expedition-equipped One Ten, still with red dust clinging to the underside from its last African adventure. One of the rear wheel bearings had a bit of play. It felt smooth and quiet so I thought it probably just needed nipping up: an easy job once you have pulled the halfshaft and flange off to get to the hub nuts. To my surprise the flange bolts were only finger-tight. Earlier Defenders used spring washers under the heads of these bolts – in the early 1990s Land Rover changed to using Loctite to stop them coming undone. It is not uncommon to find loose bolts where the flange has been off and refitted without any threadlocker, but I haven’t seen bolts this badly stretched before. I…

WHEN I arrive at Brendan O’Neill’s house in south Derbyshire after a four-hour drive from Hampshire, I’d already seen a few photos of the vehicle I’ve come to look at, but nothing prepares me for the stunning sensory overload of seeing it for real. I turn off the lane and into the farm, and there it is, parked outside the garages in the bright sunshine of what is set to be the hottest day of the year so far. A Half-Ton Lightweight. But this isn’t just any old Lightweight. It is the last-off-line and the last of the batch of 53 that made up the final Tri-Service Series III Half-Ton contract in 1985. And it is painted in eye-searing Signal Red with a white roof, white flashes down both sides,…

MY name is George Le Gallais, I live in Jersey, and I subscribe to Land Rover Monthly. Obviously! My son Valentine has been hassling me to send you some pics of our Lightweight for the Readers’ Rovers section in the magazine for ages now, and today I promised to do so. So here they are. I bought my beloved Series III Lightweight about ten years ago with no intention of keeping it long-term – I had the idea of giving it a tart-up and flipping it for a bit of pocket money after the summer. Needless to say, I got bitten by the Landy bug and never let go of the old girl. I have even owned three other Land Rovers in the meantime, a classic Range Rover, a 110…

16 PAGES OF TOP LRM EXPERT ADVICE MAINTENANCE and repair of our Land Rovers is not only about ensuring reliability, it’s also about preserving them way past their designed life expectancy. Vehicles are built down to a price and specification that keeps them viable for as long as is necessary to maintain the manufacturer’s reputation in respect of reliability, perceived quality and residual values. After that, it’s down to us to defy the laws of nature and engineering in keeping our trucks on the road. The traditional ladder frame chassis plan used from Series I through to the last TDCi Defender is no great design innovation, rather it was a standard type used throughout the motor industry. But it’s the reason why we’ve been so successful in preserving utility Land…

THE Adventure Overland Show was first held in 2012 and over the years the event has been a trailblazer for the off-road and 4x4 scene, bringing together everything from adventure motorcycles and tuk-tuks, to Land Rover expedition trucks of all shapes and sizes. The show has huge appeal – a hit with Green Oval enthusiasts old and new, adventure junkies and wanderlust travellers alike. It has become a proper generational family affair that spans all walks of life. An event that fostered many lifelong friendships and fabulous memories, it comes as a bitter blow to hear of its demise. Due to spiralling costs that make it very difficult for independents to run a major national event, this year will be its last. Hosted at its prestigious home venue – Stratford-upon-Avon…

SERIES WINCH PLATE £199 Website: maer.com.pl Fitting Series Land Rover bumpers, this winch plate will beef up your front end and improve your recovery options. Made from 6mm steel, it’ll accept most winches with the standard footprint (254 x 114.3mm), and bolts to the front of the bumper as well as the top. It also has holes for fitting, lifting and towing D-rings; you’ll need to buy longer bumper bolts to fit it – and obviously, you’ll need your chassis to be in top condition to take the loads from the winch. 45L COOLER BOX £350 Email: steffi@melvillandmoon.com This stylish cooler is practical in a couple of ways. Not only does it have a 45-litre capacity, but it also has a soft canvas seat top. Its size – 645 x…

WHEN will it be finished? I have been asking myself this on a daily basis over the last couple of months as I prepared my 1950 80in for its Queensland Vehicle Safety inspection. In all honesty it has been a hard slog getting it finished. Amongst all the headaches, the brakes and panel alignment have been particularly irksome. In my opinion, one of the marks of a well restored car is how well the doors sit and how straight everything looks when you stand back. That gap between bumper and lower leading edge of the front wings must be uniform. I can’t be doing with droopy Land Rovers! Getting mine consistent meant removing the driver’s side wing and manipulating just about every anchor point. I now have a new appreciation…

THE five-door One Ten Station Wagon has to be an all-time design classic. These vehicles are incredibly versatile, with the folding second row seats, five doors and big flat load area. They do however have one weakness, namely the mixed steel/aluminium construction of the rear body. The structure is very poorly protected against water ingress: the steel side frames tend to rot out around the base of the rear door pillars (“C” posts) and the aluminium body tub turns readily to crumbly white powder wherever aluminium meets steel. Usually when someone asks me to take a look at the body structure on a Station Wagon it is because it has failed the MoT, the C pillars are no longer attached to the chassis outriggers and there are holes everywhere. One…

“IT all started back when we had loads of snow a few years ago,” explains Keith Elliot, the owner and builder of this behemoth Discovery. “The Disco had been sat on a driveway for about five years prior while I did up a house, but because I couldn’t get around in my work van as the weather was so bad, we decided to go and get it. We reconnected the battery and it fired up on the second crank, buried in four feet of snow. The brakes dragged a bit but soon cleared up. It was like it had never been sat. Driving it again made me remember why I like it so much, and I was determined to do something worthwhile with it.” Keith, a joiner by trade and…

THERE is an indisputable fact in the old car world: the number of genuine examples still in existence – of any model and from any marque – is only on the decline. As they fall out of use, are considered uneconomical to restore, or simply fade away out of sight, it becomes ever more important that those examples that can be saved, are saved. However, while the obvious temptation is to restore to the original, factory spec, that’s not always the most suitable option. For owner Mark Black, having his 1955 86in Series I restored with absolute originality in mind was not the preferred approach – not because he didn’t recognise that as a viable route, but that he knew full well that it would probably result in the Land…

EVER go to an event so different from the norm that it stays with you? That’s exactly what happened last year when I was lucky enough to be invited to the inaugural Lucas Classic at the Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb in Worcestershire. The combination of an incredible setting (the oldest motorsport venue in the world, incidentally), great weather and the sights, sounds and smells of all sorts of classic machinery blitzing up the hill at full chat is something not quickly forgotten, so I jumped at the chance to return for this year’s event. The Classic differed for 2024 because it was open to the public, rather than just to guests of the organisers – Lucas, Britpart and Jaguar specialist SNG Barrett. This made the atmospheric event better and the…

WE quite often show how to repair rust on Land Rovers in the Tech pages of Land Rover Monthly, be it on the chassis or body. And while we’re happy to provide such a sterling service, by the far the least stressful and most cost-effective way of dealing with rust is to stop it from taking hold in the first place – which is exactly what the team at Dinitrol is here to do today. Associate Publisher Steve Miller’s Defender 90 Td5 is a smart, tidy example, but since leaving Solihull in 2002 it hasn’t received any extra rust-inhibiting treatment on top of the miserly dusting of black paint that was applied at the factory when it was built. Despite this it has remained in remarkable condition, with no structural…

WITH just a week until they’re due to race, Reece and Sean Mathieson are, it’s fair to say, flat out. Time on the project has to fit in around day jobs, so the evenings have been fuelled by lots of tea and biscuits as they work late every night, pushing to get the car finished in time. With the vehicle now welded solid and the main conversion work taking in the engine, transmission, interior kit and bodywork completed, the duo are now pushing on to all the lesser jobs that remain. Largely, this is snagging work, fitting final components, picking up on issues after test driving the car, or simply testing to confirm systems work as they should. This isn’t ‘straight-ahead’ repair work. Instead, every task is different, needing different…

MORE AT LANDROVERMONTHLY.CO.UK/EVENTS/ August 15-18 THE BRITISH MOTOR SHOW Farnborough International, Farnborough, Hampshire thebritishmotorshow.live August 17 NORTH YORKS MOORS LAND ROVER TOUR Great Broughton, North Yorkshire uklandroverevents.com August 17 CCV TRIAL Kidlaw slroc.co.uk August 18 YORK LAND ROVER SHOW Selby Road, York yorklandrovershow.co.uk CCV & RTV TRIAL Thorns Cross, Exeter, Devon cdlrc.com LAND ROVER TRIAL Frocester, Stroud, Gloucestershire ccroc.club 4x4 RTV TRIAL Helmsley, North Yorkshire yorkshireoffroadclub.net PAY & PLAY DAY Dersingham, Norfolk mudmuncher4x4.co.uk NORTHUMBERLAND CLASSIC & PERFORMANCE MOTOR SHOW Tyndale Park, Corbridge, Northumberland greatbritishmotorshows.com CUMBRIA CLASSIC & MOTORSPORT SHOW Dalemain Mansion and Gardens, Penrith, Cumbria wigtonmc.co.uk/ccw August 22-26 WWLRC CHALLENGE – TYRO, CCV, RTV & TIME TRIAL Hafod Y Dafal Farm, Abertillery https://spanner.wwlrc.co.uk/rallies/r/22 August 23-26 AVALANCHE ADVENTURE Market Harborough nottslrc.co.uk August 23-27 NWLRC ANNUAL GATHERING Brynteg, Benllech, Anglesey, Wales nwlrc.co.uk August…

A few months ago, I wrote about the rumours that JLR was planning to build a new vehicle in China with its partner of some 12 years standing, Chery Automobile Company, using the latter’s highly respected E0X electric vehicle architecture. The story originally broke in the Chinese media and the scheme was allegedly confirmed by a company representative whom Reuters quoted, although within hours of it appearing, Chery’s chairman Yin Tongyue told another local media outlet, Yicai, that stories regarding JLR adopting his company’s platforms were emphatically not true. Well, it turns out that they were indeed true, and Chery’s 50:50 joint venture with JLR, which is known as CJLR, is going to produce ‘an advanced portfolio of electric vehicles based on Chery’s architecture, exclusively under the Freelander name’ which…

I still see quite a few ex-military Land Rovers running the old 12J naturally-aspirated diesel engine. Over the years I have converted many of these to Tdi power but not everyone wants a modified vehicle, so from time to time I find myself carrying out major work on a 12J. They are simple, robust engines although somewhat lacking in grunt, and I have a healthy stock of second-hand parts so I can usually salvage all but the worst examples quite cheaply. Most of these engines have been rebuilt at least once during their military service. Rebuilt engines are painted a bluish-green colour all over, original ones will have a terracotta block with a black cylinder head. The quality of the workmanship seems to have varied depending on which contractor did…

OUR Land Rover expeditions started in 1999. My wife and I had been working in Saudi Arabia for ten years and used our beloved 1991 Discovery 1 3.5-litre V8, that we call Rabia, for some wonderful local adventures around the Middle East. But it was time to head further afield. We always devised a specific objective for each expedition, but the journey never seemed to come to a full stop, as new ideas evolved. We were careful to limit our periods of travel to around three months at a time, lest the ‘extraordinary’ become the ‘ordinary’. Besides, crossing continents naturally involves time gaps, selected to synchronise travel with optimum weather; negotiating the Amazon Basin down through South America and circling Australia are good examples. We had a light bulb moment…

LAND Rovers were always designed to be working vehicles and there are still plenty earning a living around the UK. But while Defenders and Discoverys do the hard graft, most Series vehicles are now happily retired to easier lives in the hands of enthusiasts. Unless they find themselves on the famous Goodwood Estate in West Sussex, that is. The home of the Festival of Speed, Revival and numerous other events throughout the year has a growing collection of classic Land Rovers and they are expected to work hard throughout the year. Unless you know better, we think it’s the world’s biggest working fleet of leaf-sprung Landys. The constantly-changing tally currently stands at 20, with most being Series IIs and IIAs. There are ten 88-inchers which are used for Goodwood’s off-road…

LOOKING back at the oily lump that we pulled out from the Series II back in the May issue, it’s hard not to shudder and feel slightly embarrassed at letting it get into that state, but at least there’s a happy ending to the story. Measuring the bores revealed that we needed to go +30 thou in order to get rid of the lip, and the rebore was carried out by a local machine shop. Having dismantled the cylinder head to reveal a burnt-out valve and early type O-ring stem seals that were either no longer existent or hardened to a crisp, they also cut fresh seats ready to accept all new valves. I then fitted new O-rings that were easily obtainable from our friends at Britpart. After that it…

WITH a sold-out camping field, the festival feel was immediate at Billing as you passed through the gates, with loads of visitors already set-up and raring to go on the Friday. A bonus for these early arrivals was the chance to drive the Riverside off-road course, which is only open on Friday, before the Lakeside course takes over for the rest of the weekend. In contrast to the more open Lakeside track, the Riverside run is tight, twisty and technical, which poses a challenge to those in long-wheelbase Land Rovers at points. The hard-packed terrain gets the suspension cycling and there’s plenty of opportunity to open the taps on your engine to crest some of the climbs, before splashing through the muddy sections at the base of the hill. Showgoers…

AMONG the many developments of the Range Rover Classic, the change from the multiple ancillary drive belt set-up to that of a single belt was relatively minor. Rather than individual V-belts for each auxiliary component that required drive, the so-called serpentine belt design uses a single belt, driven off the crank pulley that loops around every driven accessory on the front of the engine. Sometimes called a Front End Accessory Drive belt (FEAD), the single belt concept stems from the increase in loads as the capacity of components increased, such as with the introduction of 150-amp alternators. Compared with a V-belt, the wide, ribbed serpentine belt has a larger contact area, helping prevent belt slippage, thereby ensuring the drive to components wasn’t lost under load. This type of drive debuted…

DEALING WITH RUSTED BOLT HEADS I was about to fit a new set of front brake discs to my 1997 Freelander 1, but have come up against seized and damaged bolts holding the caliper carrier to the hub casting. I think they are rusted on the outside and any spanner I put on just slides off. Can these be drilled out or the head ground off if I first remove the caliper? For now I’ve bolted it back together so I can let a garage do the job. Rich Farrington ED EVANS REPLIES: The first thing in all cases where bolt heads are rusted is to try a smaller size of socket spanner. The smaller size of metric socket is probably too small, but try the next Imperial size down,…

How long have you owned your Land Rovers? I’ve had my Series III ten years, and the Defender three years. But I’ve owned Land Rovers since I was teenager; my first car was my 1974 Series III 88in. What made you want to buy this particular Land Rover (or Land Rovers)? I’ve always had them since I was young. Series’, Lightweights, Defenders, Discoverys, Range Rovers I’ve had them all over the years. But I always seem to prefer Defender 110s. What’s the story so far? I’m eight years into to my Series rebuild. I know, bad. But kids and life take priority, and I’ve just recently started to get back to it, hence the pictures I sent. I chose this particular Series because it was my first Landy that I…