My first and foremost Landrover is Bumpy, a 109" Series III Station Wagon who was named by my kids shortly after I brought him home. First he was 'The Bumpy Car' derived from the expression 'Oh No! We're not going out in the Bumpy Car are we? Can't we go in your proper car?' often used at weekends by my son, Alexander. His sister, Samantha, then took to referring to the car as Bumpy, and so it has stuck. Since that time, Bumpy has loosened up somewhat and does not offer such a harsh ride but the name has stuck.
This is an excellent picture of Bumpy taken by my friend John Brown during a greenlaning trip around Braintree in September 2000. If you want to see more pitures of this excellent day out, then click here. If you mail me, I'll send you details of the route.
I have added various 'extras' to Bumpy over the last few years, including front recovery point, CB, tachometer, spot lights, General SAG tyres and most recently opto-electronic ignition which has made a tremendous difference to the performance of my 2.25 litre engine. My current project is to fit a snorkel, but I am stuck on the design of a connection between my air filter and the air inlet pipe. I think I am going to have to ditch the original oil bath filter and put an in-line one in its place.
My latest aquisition is Mabel. She is a Series IIa who has been 'resting' in a garden close to my home for the last 10 years, collecting moss in her window channels and green slime over her green paint. I have only just purchased her and have yet to recover her and get her back for a thorough going over. In conjunction with the decorating at home, she will be a winter project with a goal of getting both Tax and MOT in Spring 2002, just in time for her 40th birthday.
When Mabel is roadworthy, or before perhaps, I intend to remove her Safari to and have her open to the elements, or maybe put a truck cab on as the mood takes me. Under the litchen she's in really good nick, so I don't think I'll be doing any severe offroading, but I suspect that the lure of an RTV or TYRO may be too much to withstand.
A couple of Sundays ago, Mabel
was 'rescued' from her garden resting place and was taken over
to my long suffering Mum and Dad's place to start the programme
of restoration. The first job, naturally enough, was to subject
her to a thorough jet wash and scrub. I'm sure you will agree,
the results are impressive. Hopefully, there will soon be room
in the barn for her and I can start getting the wheels off and
working on the brakes. All in good time.
As Mabel gets sorted out, I plan to put more pictures up here as a type of diary of my progress. So if you think you'll enjoy seeing a Landy come back from being a haven for insects to taking her place as a living piece of motoring history, bookmark this page and call in occasionally.
Breaking news: The brakes are now completely refurbished. There is new oil in the front and rear diffs, new oil in the swivels, new oil in the transfer box, main gearbox and overdrive.
Breaking News. The 'big tow' happened this weekend past, and Mabel is safely on my drive waiting for attention in the engine department. I have received a new ignition switch from Matt Savage and I'm trying to sort out the pin-outs to get it electrically connected. While I was tinkering at the weekend, I wired Mabel up to Bumpy just to pass some electricity through her cables and was pleasently surprised when the headlamps worked, the sidelights lit and the fan run. When I get the ignition switch on this coming weekend, I may even try and turn the engine over using the starter motor.
We live in interesting times!!
Here's some pics of the 'Big Tow'.
Useful Landrover Links:
Essex Landrover
Club - See how its done
The Gear Shop - Landrover
clothing etc.
Matt Savage - Loads
of parts at excellent prices
Cheap Petrol - this site
is offline at the moment
Newtronic
- where I got my electronic ignition system from
Landrover Enthusiast
Magazine - great Forum for getting queries answered
Difflock - everything for
your Landy on-line
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