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#Post#: 1612--------------------------------------------------
88" Rally Car story updated
By: Landyphil Date: January 7, 2012, 3:34 pm
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In January 1973 Brian Fulton supplied a 1972 88" hard top reg to
the National Trust in Cumbria. They used it for shunting duties
round Fell Foot park beside Windermere.
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It didn't get registered for many years and was put on the road
in the 80's by which is was getting on a bit and shifted on.
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In 1994 a man called Adrian Loxam bought it as 2nd car which did
a lot of laning and offroading in general.
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A pair of Lucas 20/20 lamps, capstan winch and some 7.50 SATS
were all that was needed for good times!
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This is long before the CROW or even the NERC act and many trips
were made up great passes such as Walna Scar and Garburn.
Is was a trip up the Garburn pass that changed all that. Adrian
and and a few others were near the top one winters day and got
out to admire the view and have a chat.
Unfortunately the handbrake in the 88" let go and the still with
the drivers door ajar the landy rolled off the pass and went a
very very long way.
This was the result:
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A team of people recovered it and Adrian did actually drive it
off the pass!
Now a lot of people would have given up at this point with this
motor but Adrian had a background in rallying and liked the idea
of Hillrallying. (He like many had seen that episode of "old"
Topgear with Tony Mason inteviewing Ian Sykes in his mental
leafer.) I'd love to have a copy of that clip but anyway...
The wreck of the series 3 was taken to a workshop and a big
rebuild started:
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A Bettaweld external cage and truckcab were fitted along with a
lot of new bodywork! All the required safety gear of buckets,
harnesses, fire extingquishers went in and then he got to the
engine.....
The 3 bearing block was getting it a bit tired so a 5 bearing
engine was found and put in. I've said before a 2286 engine and
a A series engine are quite similar well it turns out Minisport
were willing to do a balanced crank and super light flywheel for
the engine!
A friend took an old cylinder head and did a nice job of porting
and general gasflowing it. A set of tubular manifolds were
fitted that included a 4-2-1 exhaust manifold onto a big bore
performance exhaust from Roland Marlow.Fuel was fed via whopping
SU carb and a K&N.
Leaf springs were still LR at this stage with Monroe heavy duty
shocks all round.205R16 Stone County diamonds were the tyres of
choice (shame they're all but banned now).
The first event was the 1997 Scottish Hillrally. Things didn't
quite got to plan. It ate halfshafts for breakfast, lunch and
dinner and on the next to last stage it broke one to many and
they couldn't go on. With the overdrive in this to and a quarter
petrol was doing over 60mph while in low box!
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After that came the Welsh Hillrally. A different co driver this
time who unfortunately got involved with a tow rope during the
event and injuring his leg to the point where they had to
retire.
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The 1998 Scottish was up next with another new
co-pilot...driver. Katy Mashiter had been co driving on stage
rallies both Katy and her husband Neil were friends of Adrian's.
Once again things didn't go well. Back then there was a famouse
stage a Clow featuring the "1000ft climb" which claimed the
front diff. This was replaced however engine mountings were
broken the the point where one or more were needing changing per
service.
During the afternoon run round the gearbox kept jumping out of
4wd and Katy ended up holding it for 3 stages (not sure how!). A
return to service showed that all engine and box mountings were
totalled and only the handbrake linkage the yellow knob (with
Katy) and the exhaust was holding it all in! Mounts were drilled
out an M12 bolts were put in and have done the trick since!
The Welsh that year was worse. A hard landing shattered both
front shafts with the bits welding themselves in the stub axle.
The service crew managed to source and change the front axle
overnight but the next day both front shafts broke again and
then the rear broke as well! Game over again.
A Salisbury (with anti tramp arrangement) was fitted to the rear
and the Chandlers Tour of Lincs was entered. This shortlived
event was special in that it was both a Stage Rally and a
Hillrally with some parts of the event being run at the same
place. Even the vehicles got to set of head to head at one
point. The sight of a Group A Escort Cosworth with full anti lag
etc being left standing by a Rivet buggy was eyeopening
apparently!
Another heavy landing on the first day bent the front left
chassis leg in two places but fortunately they managed to the
finish (admittedly in last place!)
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The Scottish went a little better that year although conditions
were poor. While trying to tow another racer out Katy manage to
fall off the track not doing her back any good but they carried
on only to run late and miss a re fuel.
Some CB work with the chase crew and Adrian's celebral friend
Simon worked out that if the two and a quarter could manage 6mpg
in the next few stages they'd just make service.
It didn't make it with 200yards to spare. A quick run round with
a can got it going but the next day the weather really turned
with some competitors including Bowlers etc never making the
finish.
While all this happened Adrian was also using the racer on the
road now and again. Adrian had stopped at a little pub the lakes
called the Outgate Inn. As he left he put his foot down and the
noise brought attention to a load of students playing snooker in
a hall next to the road with a large chapel style window looking
onto the road.
One of the students was me. I could only see the top half but
the cage and the spare wheel hinted at something purposeful and
I liked it. Fate it seems, has patience.
Foot and Mouth gave the chance to address some issues. The
Salisbury was proving to be strong so the front axle was
upgraded to a military spec casing and 24spline shafts (+ 11"
brakes) along with parabolics all round with Decarbon shocks. A
homemade snorkel also was fitted (one that could survive the odd
knock!) as the K&N was prone to blocking.
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Fame came when a write up (which made the vehicle appear to be
the Jonah on wheels which it was at the time) was in Land Rover
World on 2001:
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In fact there was enough time to build a 105" coiler buggy but
sadly it never made it past the rolling frame stage.
It didn't matter though as Team "Smut" was up and running well!
Adrian had also done some digging and it now had it's proper age
related plate as it has been a shunter for so much of it's life
moving boats - "OJM946L"
2002 Adrian upgraded the cage and fitted door bars (getting in
and out was a bit interesting to say the least) and by the end
of 2003 the Series 3 had something not a lot of series 3's have
these days. A Stage Rally Log book! It took some doing as those
in command at the MSA viewed it as a commercial vehicle and thus
is banned but some common sense and a lot of cajouling by a
friendly scrutineer won in the end.
The first event was Grizedale Stage 2003 which featured "that
roll":
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I'd started doing road rallies by then and knew Katy and Neil.
When I dug the series 3 that is now my trialer back out the barn
and coverted it from Student transport to off road toy I met
Adrian and Simon as well in "CROC" Cumbrian Rover Owners Club.
Both Simon and Adrian ran range rovers and had done all the
necessary courses etc to be approved LPG installers. One issus
the racer had was that the SU had never really worked properly
and the mixture was always a compromise. An LPG kit solved all
that in a stroke and the compression could be wound up with no
issue of pinking. It went even faster!
In 2005 quite a few stage rallies were entered including the
Malcolm Wilson the Lion Stages and as always the Grizedale.
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Ok it was slow compared to the rally cars but importantly it was
never last either. Being built for hillrallies made it nicely
tough for doing the "smooth" forest rallies.
I was servicing for Adrian on the Malcolm Wilson 2005 and at the
time I was writing the club newsletter.
Imagine in the scene: It’s bitterly cold, windy and beginning to
snow. Simon Hobson, Alex
Cowsill, Neil Mashiter and myself are sheltering behind the open
hatchback of Neil’s car
watching the hard work going on in the car park around us.
To our left an Impreza rally car arrives and expires on the spot
with smoke billowing from its
orifices. To our right a team of lads run round working on a
Metro 6R4 (hmmm 6R4…dribble),
it’s eaten it’s tyres, and the spare which lives under the
bonnet is proving difficult to change.
(Probably because the front end, where the spare lives is
looking a bit dog eared and the front bumper looks shredded.)
Across the car park someone’s straightening the sump guard and
gear linkage on a Peugeot 205
which, like the Mk2 Escort beside it, is missing its exhaust
system and back bumper.
This is the harsh reality of doing the Malcolm Wilson Rally in a
car. Alex quietly surveys this
scene of expensive engineering destruction and says: “If I was
going rallying I’d definitely use a
Land Rover”. Never a wiser word spoken!
Given the cost of an entry fee for a stage rally why on earth
would you do it in a £30,000 car that
will do it’s best to self destruct by the first bend? OK Adrian
Loxam’s Series 3 wasn’t the fastest
thing through the forests, (or the slowest, I might add) but I
get the impression Adi and Katy had
fun and of course the slower your motor the more competitive
driving time you get. Last year I
worked out that competitive driving time on the Cumbria Classic
Caper rally cost me about £8.50
a minute. (yep I thought “ouch” too) But if you were in
something quick it would be over a
tenner!
Anyway all this got me thinking about that old saying about how
Land Rovers are so versatile.
Not just as work horses but in motorsport in general.
CROC, like North Lakes 4x4 maybe primarily a trialing club but I
think we should never ignore
the other fun things you can do in a Landy…… Steady now, all
those with depraved minds……
The green (or black) oval is obviously common in Winch
Challenges, Comp Safari’s and Hill
rallies. But as well as this they often appear in every sort of
rallying created. I can’t think of any
vehicle that in near standard form has competed in so many
different motorsport disciplines.
Especially one that was originally designed for use as a small
tractor!
It’s quite ironic, that given the media hype surrounding modern
“form over function” softroaders:
If you set out to own a genuine ”Sport Utility Vehicle”……..
……..You should really be buying live axled Landy!
After that Adrian had an accident in his daily driver (A 3.9
range rover) and yes he was fine and in true style as the rangie
was a cracker prior to the crash he started work on building a
Range Rover rally car. Having seen it in progress it's going to
be loud and surprisingly light!
But that meant the Series 3 had to go. I couldn't buy as I'd
just rebuilt my series (again) to go historic rallying in (which
was to be turned back into a trialer in the end) and then bought
another house and so it went back into the magazines and it
passed into dark hands.
The doors bars were cut out to aid access and it was used as toy
by someone who wasn't really well versed in these things. It
was spotted around and about getting slowly worse.
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#Post#: 1613--------------------------------------------------
Re: 88" Rally Car story updated
By: Landyphil Date: January 7, 2012, 3:35 pm
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When it began to missfire plugs and leads were changed and it
was driven until it literally stopped under a tree in a village
near Kendal. And that's where it stayed. The overdrive had been
taken out as well.
2 months passed by which point it was out of Tax and MOT and 1
week away from being taken by the police and scrapped. It's
last week before the reaper came was the week was the "Car's the
Star show" which I like goto with the club stand Simon was there
and I heard that Katy Mashiter had been rung up about this land
rover abandoned (it still had her name on the side).
Katy was the show organiser so after getting the details I went
for drive and found it. Trouble is the owner was now missing and
no one knew where he lived. I got to do "The Prisoner" line in
the nearby pub when the barmaid asked what I'd like and I could
reply "Information....."
The owner was desperate to get rid especially when it wouldn't
even fire up to clamber onto my trailer. I gave him some pocket
money notes and off he tottered. I didn't care that it looked in
a bad way and didn't run I HAD TO SAVE IT!
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Once home I found the chassis to be pretty good (only where high
speed stones have chipped the chassis were there any issues and
these minor) Bulkhead was fine. The engine however had an inch
of head gasket missing between pot 3 and 4!
I rebuilt the head and cleaned everything up and put it back
together. It runs like a dream! Admittedly a very cammy/no
torque at tickover/twitchy dream but smooth none the less.
The cage was rubbed down and galvafroided straight away and
shortly afterwards I put some new wing outers on to tidy it up a
bit more. The back axle needed a full rebuild and the rear prop
was shot to so a normal series 3 back axle with pegged diff has
gone in as a temporary measure along with some new rear shocks.
Work continued bit by bit as I was still working on our cottage
but things are looking rosy for it.
A full repaint is in order as well as the colour I started to
use I don't like so much. Back to bronze green I think
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After a repaint (still not happy really but it'll do) it looked
like this minus the number boards:
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Come October sporting a Simon BBC ignition we did the Solway
Historic Rally.
Cracking day although at 120competative miles very long in such
a loud motor!!!
Thanks to my brilliant wife calling the notes faultlessly all
day meant no penalties and so we came 11th overall!
And 1st in class beating the big engined Escorts and
Triumphs!!!! :D
We came in just over 2 mins behind the fastest car and nearly 6
mins in front of the slowest which is nice. Never stood a
chance on any test even the gravel ones but consistancy pays
off!
Some Photos (taken by a kind mate who was at the Rowrah tests)
It was so wet in the morning the wipers were understeering!
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Back in the afternoon:
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After the rally to help with the tighter stuff I fitted a
Detroit Truetrac in the back and I can confirm it does donuts
rather well! ::)
Also thanks to Roland at ACR I got the bits to rebuild the carb
and it now runs on petrol of a fashion certainly well enough to
be used on road link sections should LPG getting low.
It's currently back in the garage for winter and may return for
next seasons rallying. If it doesn't then so be it but it's
ready!
Will try and put up some videos on this new forumness.
#Post#: 1645--------------------------------------------------
Re: 88" Rally Car story updated
By: Swops Date: January 7, 2012, 4:59 pm
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Great write up on the landrover , good to see the history 8)
#Post#: 1650--------------------------------------------------
Re: 88" Rally Car story updated
By: Jackual Date: January 7, 2012, 5:27 pm
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Real interesting history. 8)
#Post#: 1750--------------------------------------------------
Re: 88" Rally Car story updated
By: Landyphil Date: January 8, 2012, 7:04 am
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Right will try and get videos to work:
Solway rally had 120 miles of this....did have a bit of a
headache by the end.
HTML http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b6L4Ndlk38
HTML http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihOJpyzFw5M
HTML http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN85X9TiImM
#Post#: 1756--------------------------------------------------
Re: 88" Rally Car story updated
By: tillmechanic Date: January 8, 2012, 7:25 am
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Slightly OTT, but the quote;
I got to do "The Prisoner" line in the nearby pub when the
barmaid asked what I'd like and I could reply "Information....."
Really brings back memories, do you remember a similar scene in
Danger Man, while getting to the bottom of his
glass, Patrick McGoohan see's the words "You have just been
poisoned" appear bit by bit ... then proceeds to empty the bar
and throw
up.... normal Saturday night then ;D
..... just done some research, it wasn't Danger Man, it was The
Prisoner, episode 6 to be exact, The Girl Who Was Death.
#Post#: 1758--------------------------------------------------
Re: 88" Rally Car story updated
By: Landyphil Date: January 8, 2012, 7:35 am
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I have to admit here that my dad was a big prisoner fan hence me
seeing it at liking it muchly.
But the Danger Man was being broadcast when my mum was born let
alone me!
#Post#: 1764--------------------------------------------------
Re: 88" Rally Car story updated
By: scruffytruck Date: January 8, 2012, 7:59 am
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Loving the sheer glee as you roll first time and the rousing
cheer on the next? Pass as you make it round :)
#Post#: 1817--------------------------------------------------
Re: 88" Rally Car story updated
By: Landyphil Date: January 8, 2012, 11:20 am
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Sadly (!?!) it wasn't me when it had it's yellow roof. That was
the original builder/owner on it's first Stage Rally.
#Post#: 2032--------------------------------------------------
Re: 88" Rally Car story updated
By: Calum Date: January 8, 2012, 4:18 pm
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I love this motor so much! Glad to read the total history of it,
only read bits here and there. Fantastic read!
Have to say, I love it in its green and yellow livery!
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