7 minute read
HOW IT ALL BEGAN PT.3
Pt.3 - Two Lollypops Later
A.K.A. My Destination Towards Financial Ruin!
Last month I regaled you with my experiences of living with a ’73 Land Rover Lightweight, and looking back that old thing was an integral part of my life with so many funny and life changing experiences. Sadly I sold her to a colleague who lived in Leeds and I never heard of her again.
My next car was another vehicle that I had hankered after for a long time, a Moonaker Blue V8 Rover SD1. It made me smile - a lot. Despite only having it for a year or two, it still invokes happy memories, and I was driving it when I first met Muddy Madam, back in 1993. For that reason alone it deserves to sit high on a pedestal.
The SD1 was great fun, but I yearned for the smell of burning clay on a hot exhaust, so the inevitable happened, Muddy Madam and I began our search for another Land Rover.
I knew my next 4x4 had to have a V8, and I had (and still have) a thing for Lightweights, so Muddy Madam and I looked at a few V8 Lightweights, but none took our fancy. Then a chance purchase of Auto Trader found a little advert for a 1974 Range Rover with only 78,000 miles on the clock, and only 3 owners from new. “Hmmm this is worth looking at” I thought, so off we ventured to Marple, near Stockport.
Owned by an accountant I seem to recall, he used it to take him and his family to their holiday home in North Wales. Looking over the vehicle I was impressed. Now I’m no expert, but she looked like a fine example, no clunking from her transmission, chassis was solid, headlining and tailgates first class, and so a deal was done. We owned a Range Rover!
The day we collected her was a revelation - the power, the comfort, the space and the thirst! I seriously didn’t think anything could be thirstier than my SD1, but I was wrong.
Arriving home and sifting through the pile of old MOT’s, tax discs and service record, we found out that BVU (pronounced Beevoo), was first sold by Terry Richards Ltd. of Turnpike Garage, Helston, Cornwall on the 1st August 1974. Back then her registration number was SRL 101N (I think), and going by her service history she spent many hours on the motorway travelling to Scotland. She ended up living in Stockport with her third owner, a butcher, who decided to steal her identity and gave her a new one - BVU 967N.
The first fault I noticed was a cracked off-side wing mirror, or a lollipop as I was led to believe they were called. “Where the hell would I find one of those?” I thought, about it and my first call was to Bartrams in Accrington "no problem, on the shelf, £7". Excellent (this was back in 1993, don’t forget!)
An oil change and service was completed, then two weeks later we were off to the ‘94 ARC National Rally at Belper, and her first off road adventure on the event’s off road course… where we got stuck, twice. It was all down to the tyres you understand.
The second time I had to be towed out backwards, and the steering stabiliser hit a very sturdy and stubborn rock, nay boulder, and ended up resembling a banana. Thankfully the Land Rover parts stall was on hand, so BVU got a new stabiliser.
Shortly after the National, a friend of Muddy Madam’s Dad had acquired five Wolfrace alloys, shod with almost new 31-10R15 BFG All Terrains. He owned a scrap yard and said that they’d had just parted company with another Range Rover that had been written off in an accident. Would I like them? Only £250. Daft question.
Now, as most people will realise these tyres are a tad bit big for a standard Rangie, so after a quick rummage through all my Land Rover magazines (no Facebook back then!) I learnt that the way forward, or upwards, was to fit some heavy duty springs. Unfortunately they didn’t do much for the height, or the ride, but I decided to live with them as I wasn’t planning any off roading for a while.
My next little hitch came a few months later during a routine oil check, I was surprised to find the dip stick almost falling out and covered in oil. Out with the Haynes manual and a quick trip to Bartrams in Accrington for new flame traps and air filters, problem solved.
Not long after that, during a day out Muddy Madam’s sister mentioned that BVU felt a bit wobbly compared to her Mercedes G-Wagen. Further inspection revealed worn bushes, so a cheque was sent to Bearmach, and BVU received a new set of polybushes, and as I was feeling generous, a pair of halogen headlamps and a gaiter for the front prop shaft which still lives unused somewhere at Muddy Towers 26 years later! Whilst I was underneath replacing all the bushes I figured I’d replace all the brake pads, too.
In February 1995 I decided to take Muddy Madam to Hawkshead in the Lake District for a romantic weekend, so time was booked off from work, BVU was cleaned, and off we went one unseasonably clear and warm Friday afternoon. I do remember being slightly unnerved at spending a whole £40 on a full tank of petrol (ahh, those were the days!)
After a lovely fry up on Sunday morning I spent a good hour with my head buried in my OS map looking for interesting roads, and I came across Wrynose and Hardknott Pass. What actually caught my eye was the Roman fort at the other end, so after lunch we filled the flasks, got the camera, stuffed the glove box with chocolate, refilled the fuel tank and off we set.
Eventually we found ourselves on a single track lane that would lead us to Wrynose Pass, and as the road began to climb patches of snow appeared here and there, and I was feeling confident. Then suddenly, without warning, the road vanished under a carpet of snow about one foot deep! I came to a stop just before it and jumped out of the lovely, warm driver’s seat. I could just make out tyre tracks in the snow which continued up for a further five or so metres, then at what looked like a passing point, performed a three point turn and headed back down.
As Muddy Madam and I couldn’t actually make out where the road was, we decided to do the same, so I slipped BVU into low range and edged our way forward. For about two metres everything was going to plan until we began to slide sideways towards the edge of the road and a fairly decent drop.
This really wasn’t a good time to find out that BVU’s difflock wasn’t working, either! Okay then, into reverse and gently on the throttle and… sideways, again! The air was blue, and this had nothing to do with the temperature!
Having read many different 4x4 mags since the early eighties, I knew that if I ventured anywhere in bad weather I should be prepared, and prepared I was. I added another layer of clothing, put on my hat and gloves, dug out my old army folding shovel (no pun intended), and began clearing the snow away from the front of the tyres. It was at this point I noticed that I had actually slid off the road and onto the grassy verge, so it wasn’t just snow, I had mud underneath both nearside tyres!
I cleared snow from about ten foot in front heading diagonally across the road to the other side making sure I was nowhere near the edge. Satisfied with my efforts, I jumped back in BVU and fired her up. My effort worked, the BFG’s found traction and we slowly edged our way back onto the road and to safety.
Not wanting to risk it all over again, I abandoned any thought of attempting a three point turn as all we could see was a blanket of snow, so we reversed back down the road until it was safe to turn around.
Once home I checked if the diff-lock bulb was working, but I broke it. A new bulb was bought and the diff-lock still didn’t work, so bought two vacuum pipes, they didn’t fix the problem either, so I bought an actuator, and it worked - yay! As I was fitting the actuator I decided to adjusted the hand brake, and consequently lost the sealing plug.
