If I understood Mr. Wolf correctly, the three doors on my truck can all be locked from the outside, but not from the inside. Which means I can stop worrying about locking myself inside the truck. On the down side, car jackers won’t have to come up with elaborate ruses to get me to unlock the doors. They just yank it open and drag me out.
Now that the truck is getting some kilometers on it, Mr. Wolf decided to give the truck a bath. It looked so nice he brought out the drone for a little fly around. Nice. Watch on YouTube.
We’re finally entering the farkle phase of the Land Rover project. According to the Urban Dictionary “The word is generally accepted to mean a combination of “function” and “sparkle”, hence, farkle. Motorcycle enthusiasts may install accessories, called farkles (also spelled farkel), to customize their machine.” Today Mr. Wolf added a grill muff to my truck.
From the Rovers North website: “Dramatic increase in your heater’s output, quicker warm-up, reduced engine stress. In the snow-belt, this simple accessory will make a big difference in a Land Rover’s winter performance. By controlling the airflow through the radiator in freezing weather, the engine can run at its optimum operating temperature. This means reduced engine wear and increased heater output. We have developed this radiator muff exclusively for our customers and we believe it is the finest one you will find. Made of heavy Cordura® Nylon with sturdy fasteners for a secure fit and long life.”
I’ve seen these on big trucks and even recall seeing people attach a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator. So they must work (or Mr. Wolf wouldn’t have brought it up). Only $50 and the small (2.25 liter) diesel engine in my truck doesn’t like the cold. As for heating the cab of the truck… imagine a large dog breathing on your feet.
UPDATE: I’ve moved this post up from last week to use the new photo. The Spanish license plate adds a touch of Euro-exotica and the Santana badge proclaims my pride the in Spanish heritage of my truck. Olé!
When the topic of Series Land Rovers comes up (almost never) someone is sure to point out the trucks are a little hard to drive, they’re noisy, and they’re slow. Top speed around 55 mph.
Last night Mr. Wolf shared this photo of my truck’s speedometer cruising nicely at 50 mph. I’m hoping to hear more about how the car handled on the highway and I’ll update this post. One more thing almost everyone says about Series Land Rovers: They are fun to drive. Again, Mr. Wolf:
On two separate occasions someone slowed from 80 mph, moved all the way over from the fast lane to pull up next to me and give a very emphatic thumbs up. First one was a Porsche Cayenne Turbo, second one was a Tesla Model S P90D
This sounds like he was on the freeway — something I won’t be doing — but nice to know the truck can cruise at a decent speed.
The Rover gets its first real road test today when Mr. Wolf drives it down to San Jose (40 miles). Doubt he’ll be on the freeway but doubt traffic on secondary roads is much slower. Eagerly await his report. A brief summary of latest fixes:
If you’ve been following this story you might be wondering about the quality of the restoration. And rightly so. I was warned from the beginning that a nuts-and-bolts, frame-off restoration isn’t the end of the process. There will be problems that just can’t be spotted until you put some kilometers on the truck. That said, Mr. Wolf has found a lot of careless mistakes. And he’s fixed them. He’s still fixing them.
Buying a restored vintage vehicle is risky business. Even more so if you have zero experience. My salvation has been having someone who can spot and fix the problems. By the time my truck is done I’m confident it will be as close to perfect as a 40 year old truck can be.
Would I do this again, knowing all that I know now? I would. If you are in a hurry and easily pissed off… this isn’t the route for you. And if my new/old Land Rover stops running a week after I get it, I’ll sit in it and drink beer in the back yard.