I’ve had the Land Rover for four months and just got around to taking Henry for a ride. More of a photo shoot than a ride, really, but we had a good time. I’ll post some of his excellent photos tomorrow
Category Archives: My Land Rover
Brakes adjusted
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The Land Rover brakes have been feeling a little spongy so today Mechanic George put it up on jacks to take a look and he let me watch.
You can adjust brakes without removing the wheels but for this first look George wanted to pull the wheels and drums.
He made some minor adjustments to the shoes and bled some air from the brake lines. Noticeable improvement.
In the photo above George is adjusting the emergency bake. Land Rovers of my vintage have a transmission brake. Works like drum brakes by keeping power from getting to the rear prop shaft.
Yes, I did pay extra to watch.
Max defrost
Everybody jokes about the heaters in old Land Rovers. Mr. Wolf told me to expect the amount of warmth one feels holding a hand over a toaster. It was cold and rainy today but once the the motor got warmed up I had just enough warm air to give me a little visibility. Don’t know how this is gonna work come January and February.
The Truck’s first snow
Not much of a snow (so far) but a chance to try out the defroster. Took about 10 minutes to warm up enough to keep the windscreen clear and the wipers did their job. Not sure I’d want to go far in a real blizzard but that’s unlikely. Four-wheel drive seemed to work fine coming up our hill. Let’s hope the pickup does as well.
Four-Wheel Drive: ENGAGED!
Shortly after getting the Land Rover in late August I discovered I was unable to engage four-wheel drive. There’s a plunger-like doodad (with a bright yellow knob on it) you push down to switch from two-wheel to four-wheel drive. Mine just never worked and I had visions of owning the only Land Rover in America without 4WD (sob!).
My friend (and wizard mechanic) George Tergin investigated and determined some of the linkage in the transfer case (look it up) was worn so we ordered replacement parts. Since some of them had to come from the UK, it took a while but today he fixed the problem. After which we took the truck for a drive on the Tergin Motor Sports Off-Road Test Track (a field behind his shop)
Turns out it was a combination of worn parts, wrong parts and improperly installed parts. And he let me look over his shoulder (and occasionally assist) for three hours, patiently explaining what he was doing and why.
We’ll eventually get a big snow in mid-Missouri and I’m ready now.
Hattie loves the Rover
When I leave it parked in the driveway, she will sit by the truck to make it clear she wants to go for a ride. This is our ritual end-of-day drive.
Hacking the Rover
I love the horizontal sliding windows in the Rover. Now that it’s getting cooler, I’ve tried to “lock” them closed with the little knob thingy but once underway the vibration causes the windows to slide open. There’s probably a way to adjust the knob (or replace them) but I went the broomstick-in-the sliding-glass-door route.
Found these little plastic tubes at Lowe’s and cut them to fit in the groove. The little tape “handles” make it easy to take them out if necessary.
Please note, these are not for security. Just a lo-tec way to keep the windows closed. Sort of. There’s about a 1 inch gap between the two sliding panes in the back but I need that to vent the carbon monoxide. According to google, a diesel engine generates less but not zero.
Back in The Truck!
For the last couple of weeks I’ve been recovering from a little outpatient surgery and my doctor didn’t think it was a good idea for me to be driving a 40 year old truck with power nothing. So I’ve been renting a boring little Chevy which isn’t that bad if all you’re trying to do is get from point A to B. Today I got the green light to start driving the truck and and I took a short drive just to see if anything hurt. Nothing did so in the immortal words of George Costanza, “I’m back, baby!”
First 30 Days
I’ve been driving The Truck for 30 days. 1,172 kilometers (728 miles), averaging 39 kilometers a day (24 miles). Never kept up with miles driven in the MINI but I’d guess it was pretty close to this.
No serious mechanical problems other than the issue with the four-wheel drive. Still waiting on parts from the UK but I’ve been getting around in 2WD just fine.
It was pretty hot the first couple of weeks but much nicer here at the end of September. I can tell it will be damned cold in the truck when winter weather gets here. Assuming we still have winters.
After a month riding around in the loud, bumpy truck, it feels strange to ride in a newer car. Spooky quiet and the smooth ride feels like floating on air. As for driving newer cars, I find I have to give more thought and attention than I do in the truck. Easy to over-steer and brake.
If I can make it till next spring (when the soft-top goes on), I think I can call myself a Land Rover guy.
In praise of truck simplicity
My truck has side mirrors mounted on the front of the wings and one got bumped or vibrated loose so got the cute little set of wrenches my buddies gave me as a “truck warming” present. I repositioned the mirror and tightened the top nut (while holding the other nut on the underside of the wing).
While doing this I was struck by the zen-like simplicity of this simple task. My MINI (which is in a better place now) had the standard electric gizmo that lets you adjust left and right mirrors from the comfort of the drivers seat. Pretty handy. But what, I wondered, would it cost to fix/replace that gizmo if it ever broke?
My truck has become the focal point for my efforts to simplify my life. As of tomorrow I will have had the truck one month. I still find myself looking for excuses to drive it (“Hey, Hattie! Want to ride down to the mailbox?”)