2003 Rally Edition

Solihull Society Land Rover Club of Colorado Volume 4, 2003

2003National Rally - Special Edition

7 Mile Rim Flat Iron Mesa Poison Spider Lower Heldorado Importing a Land Rover Part 2 Summit County Wheeler Lake Techical Problems

Solihull Society News THE EDITORS REPORT FROM THE FRONT SEAT OF AN ’88 RANGIE 1.

NATIONAL RALLY – The 2004 Land Rover National Rally will be again be held in Moab next year. Dates have been set for registration on Tuesday 14th September culminating in the Banquet on Saturday 18th September It will be run in a similar format to this years event except that it will be one extra day in length and have an extended vendor showing. Fees for Non-Member driver and vehicle will be $150.00; fees for Member driver and vehicle will be $125.00, passengers will pay $75.00 each. The club website will hold a preliminary schedule of events for the Rally, a copy of which appears on the next page. Please check it out and commit early to the event. Deadline for registration is mid August so get your forms in quickly.

Club consolidation. Representatives from both the Rover Rider Club and our own continue to work through all the issues associated with a club merger. Ask your committee for specific information should you need more details.

Remember all details for a possible merger will be placed before the membership for ratification.

Members had become more literary with many more submissions of trip reports being submitted for the magazine.

Unfortunately trip reports are starting to slow. I need your contributions to make this magazine a success. Please keep those submissions coming in, there have been plenty of trips run with no trip reports submitted..

A video is being prepared for this years National Rally.

Contact Terry Mitchell for details.

Easy Trails. There has been some call for more easy trails and social events. If people are interested in these or interested in organizing them please email your event coordinator Ali Vali.

PO Box 480864 Denver, CO 80248–0864 The Solihull Society is a Land Rover club (Land Rover, Range Rover, Defender, Discovery) serving Colorado and the USA. Membership is open to all Rover enthusiasts.

Annual Dues are $60 and include 4 issues of the newsletter Solihull Society Magazine Copyright 2003 by Solihull Society President – Pat Bickford pbickford@ai–colorado.com Vice President – Mark Stolte marks@alliancecp.com Vice President – Larry Grubbs lwgrubbs@us.ibm.com Events Coordinator I – Ali Vali avali@mho.com Events Coordinator II – Jim Hall jimfoo@purplemountain.net Events Coordinator III – Ralph Brandt rnbrandt@earthlink.net

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I look forward to seeing everyone on the trails both easy and hard.

Good Wheeling Norman Hall

Treasurer – Pam Haigh chaigh@boulder.net Secretary – John Alden JAlden@SpaceImaging.com Membership – Tim & Colleen Clair tclair@gowebway.com Newsletter Editor – Norman Hall norman_p_hall@hotmail.com Webmaster – David Nowakowski david@davidandheidi.com

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2004 Land Rover National Rally Preliminary Schedule:Tuesday September 14th - Drivers Registration and Welcoming Party Wednesday September 15th - Day, Trails and Evening Night Navigation Event Thursday, September 16th - Day: Trails short half day only Vendor Display - Full day and evening Friday, September 17th - Day: Trails; Evening: To be determined Saturday, September 18th - Day: Trails; Evening: Awards Banquet We are always looking for help. If you are interested in helping out please contact the committee.

For those planning to attend: Remember that Bill Burke of 4-Wheeling America often holds events around the same time of the Rally.

You may be able to combine a trip away with Bill and the Rally. For details of Bills 2004 plans go to http://www.bb4wa.com

Colorado’s Premier Land Rover Club PO Box 480864, Denver Co 80248-0864 Application For Membership Names: _______________________________________________________ Address: ______________________________________________________ City,, State, Zip Code: ___________________________________________ Phone Number: _________________________________________________ Email Address: _________________________________________________ Land Rovers owned: _____________________________________________ Occupation: ____________________________________________________ What can you do for the club?: _____________________________________ ________________________________ Signature Date

__________________________

Please photocopy and then completely fill out the above information and mail the form along with membership dues [$60 per year] to the above mentioned address.

Land Rover National Rally – 2003

mountain bikers. This offered the luxury of no delays on trails or obstacles, the best lunch spots and of course a pristine trail to drive over each day.

The 2003 Land Rover National Rally organized by the Solihull Society has just finished and was again a resounding success. Day 1 The event saw vehicles from 19 States and 3 countries.

Everyone met in the car park of the OSTA lined up behind the Official registrations commenced at 6 pm on Wednesday 11th Trip Leaders for the various Trails that were being run this day.

September at the Old Spanish Trail Arena [OSTA], which is It was an impressive sight seeing so many Land Rover vehicles located on the southern outskirts of Moab. This was to remain [and 2 Jeeps but enough about them] with such a variance of the main staging point for all trail departures throughout the lineage and type. There were Range Rovers, Defender 90’s, event. Organizers had been gathered at the OSTA since the Series trucks, 109’s, 88’s, Defender SW’s, Discoveries, a 101 late afternoon getting everything set up and arranged for the and various hybrids purposely built by their owners. expected influx of attendees.

Any event like this cannot hope to operate without the participation of generous sponsors. We would like to thank the following organizations for their generous support as Primary event sponsors: -

Land Rover North America Rovers North Land Rover Flatirons High Country Performance 4x4 Motorcars Ltd Boomerang Adjusters International

Attending vehicles covered a broad range of the Land Rover stable, namely: Defender 90’s, Defender 110’s Defender 130’s Discovery Series I, Discovery Series II, Discovery Series IIa, Range Rover Classic, Range Rover HSE, Range Rovers Current, Series 88” and 109” and yes we again had a few jeeps along to join in the fun.

Unlike last year when we held a wine tasting, to close off a successful first day this year we held a Night navigation Event.

Vehicles were required to locate a number of Grid points in the “Behind The Rocks” area using just a GPS and grid coordinates expressed in UTM. Both a Touring and a Challenge Route was offered to those who want to participate. Tom Cryer and his two boys in their Discovery were the eventual winners after some extremely good navigation on their part.

Given the large number of trails in and around the Moab area considerable reconnaissance work was undertaken by the various trip leaders in order to determine that we were able to Day 2 present a good mix of trails and difficulties which would satisfy the needs of the numerous participants. In the end we settled To give everyone a break and chance to socialize a Vendor on the following trails: night was arranged for the Friday night. A more extensive sotry appears elsewhere in this issue.

Pritchett Canyon, Kane Creek Canyon, Behind the Rocks, Strike Ravine & Lower Helldorado, Fin’s n’ Things, Cliff Day 3 Hanger / Amasa Back, Steel Bender, Flat Iron Mesa, SevenMile Rim, Golden Spike, Rose Garden Hill, Dome Plateau, As a finale to the event a Dinner and ceremony was Held at the Moab Rim, Top of The World, Hells Revenge, Arches / Moab Valley Inn on Saturday night when all participants were Klondike Bluffs, Poison Spider, Gemini Bridges, Metal Masher invited to attend. The evening was full of exaggerated stories about obstacles overcome, brilliant driving skills and off courses the things that went wrong. It would be safe to say that Whilst the list of trials contains some pretty impressive and nobody let the truth get in the way of a good story that night. A intimidating names, many were named after natural features of catered BBQ was provided for all including delicious salads, the trails as opposed to their difficulty. The most popular of beens of various types and some very tender Beef, Pork and these trails over the course of the event were Pritchett Canyon, Chicken that one could hope for. All the food was ably washed Behind the Rocks, Golden Spike and Dome Plateau. Due to down with a selection of beer and soft drinks. the large number of trails involved we were unable to run every one every day with at most 14 trails being lead on any Following the awards a large number of Raffle prizes were particular day. On most of the trails our Rally participants were issued. Again without the generous assistance of the Awards the only vehicles out enjoying the countryside, other than Sponsors listed below this would not have been possible:-

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Land Rover North America Adventure Team Challenge – James Merriam Great Basin Rovers – Bill Davis High Country Performance 4x4 Rovers North Boomerang – Jessica Flynn 4 Wheeling America - Bill & Rachael Burke in conjunction with Superwinch Land Rover Flatirons Cross Roads Media – Terry Mitchell Atlantic British Rover Hardware – Michael and Julene Judd Pangaea Expeditions – Nathan Hindman & Graham Jackson

The committee has already met and settled dates for next year. Bill Davis on the right Note your calendars for registration starting 14th September 2004 culminating with the banquet on Saturday 18th Given all the different activities arranged for this years event it September. See you then! was decided to hold the Vendor night on the Friday starting at 6.00pm through until 9.30 pm. As many Rally participants had been out on the trails around Moab for the full day the vendors put on free drinks and Pizza for all those who attended.

The event was held inside the Spanish Trail Area, our main meeting point for the entire event. This gave us access to an all weather venue. The Following companies were represented at the vendor night showing some of their products:

National Rally - Vendor Night The Solihull Society Committee decided that the 2003 Land Rover national Rally should allow vendors to present their products to Rally participants in the best possible light. Bill Davis of Great Basin Rovers [ www.greatbasinrovers.com ] volunteered to take over the organization for the Vendor night for the club. We never imagined just how good a job he would do.

- Pangaea-Expeditions - Summit Machine - 4-Wheeling America - RoverTraks.com - Tawayama.com - LandRover Centerville - Stephen Heredia - NeverSummer Off Road - ARB - Great Basin Rovers - Mike Slade - High Country Performance 4x4 - BCB Off Road - Simex Tires & Second Air [Washbrook.net]

The High Country Guys showing off recovery equipment Due to the overwhelming success of the night, the Solihull Society Committee has decided to extend next years Rally and run the Vendor event as a whole day event on Thursday 16th September 2004. Whilst some of the shorter trails will still be run that day, we want to give everyone the opportunity to catch up with their favorite land Rover Specialist to barter for that great deal. We have already received several calls expressing interest so look out for next year.

7 Mile Rim and Wipe out Hill

by Jim Molter Trail Rating: Difficult Trail Leaders: Jim and Mary Molter Defender 90

Trail Participants: Steve Heredia – Defender 90 Scott and Stacey Launer - Discovery 2 Julene and Michael Judd - Discovery 2 Greg and Andi Chernushin - Defender 110 Jurgan Bahlo and Friend - Range Rover Nick Weede and Brent Griswell - Discovery 2

camber tract that took you up and around it’s back side and down to the top of Wipe Out Hill. This is a challenging experience for anyone especially for the people that had never driven it before.

After everyone was down safely some drove back up and down again. Jurgan ask can I do it in the stock Rangy? I told him give it a try, and away he went. He was spinning some tires when he crested the top but he made it. Good for him. From the bottom we followed the bluffs on the right that lead out to highway 313 and Moab.

On the first day of the Rally I chose to lead the 7 Mile Rim and Wipe Out Hill trail. The trail starts north of Moab off highway 191. Shortly passing highway 313 you take the first dirt road to the left that heads up the hill then hangs a left and follows the rim.

Halfway through the trail an optional trail to the right takes you to Uranium Arch. Returning to the main road we continued along the rim, which provided everyone with great views. Soon we were heading off to the Monitor and Merrimac Buttes where we had lunch. After lunch the fun begins, We were heading for Wipe Out Hill. To get there we had to skirt the Merrimac Butte on a off

Flat Iron Mesa

By Jim Molter Trail Rating: Difficult Trail Leaders: Jim and Mary Molter Defender 90

Trail Participants: Greg and Andi Chernushin - Defender 110 Julene and Michael Judd - Discovery 2 Bill and Friend from Las Vegas - Discovery 1 Chris Rice and Amy Freeth – Defender 90 Bob and Pat Lohman – Defender 90

a twisting rock formation. Easter Egg Rock, so named for the multitude of colors from body paints of trucks that ventured too close will want you to chose your spotter with care. The last thing that gets one’s attention is where you have to drive your truck between a large rock and the 900ft drop into Hatch Canyon. I had a great time at the rally and all the people that were on the trips with Mary and I were great, and I look forward to seeing them again on another trail.

2003 National Rally Videos Terry Mitchell of Cross roads Media productions is compiling a video to record the 2003 National Rally. Orders for the video can be placed with terry by emailing him at tmitchell@aol.com The price is $25

Importing a Land Rover.

By Todd Vess. Part 2 of 4 parts.

On the third day of the rally we went south on highway 191. A couple of mile past the Hole “n” the Rock house we dropped off to the right and down through a wire fence gate to start the trail. This trail is very scenic, following the rims of canyons and dropping down washes. Along the way there are drop off and rock ledges to test the driver’s skills. The majors obstacle such as Tilt-A-Whirl will get a tire or two in the air as one descends

It was about 7 p.m. on a Sunday at this point, and the roads were pretty much deserted. We decided to take a different, less winding way back to London. About five miles into the journey, the trailer began to sway and fishtail. We pulled into a petrol station and checked the tires. One was low and very hot, so we filled it with air. On the road again, and as soon as we hit 35 miles per hour, the trailer began to sway again. We pulled over at another petrol station and decided to better assess the situation. We loosened the straps and moved Annie further forward on the trailer, but the weight didn’t seem to make much of a difference. I then un-strapped the canvas hood and looked in the back of the truck. I knew Glenn was throwing in the extra set of tires, but forgot that a spare tranny and two axles, complete with brakes, swivels and tie rods, were also part of the deal. He’d also thrown in an extra cab roof, rear bulkhead and about every part that had come off the truck during its restoration. We simply had too much weight in the back.

So, we began to unload the back of the truck and transfer as much as we could into Peter’s 110. It was tempting to leave much of the stuff at the petrol station, but in the UK there are video cameras everywhere, and we didn’t really want to spend the night explaining to the local constables why we were leaving large chunks of a vintage Land Rover behind. We managed to get everything except the tranny and axles into the 110 and were off again. The weight transfer made a world of difference and we were once again zipping along the English countryside at a whopping 40 miles per hour. We pulled into the same Break Station and again filled up on coffee and a Danish. I realized that all I’d eaten in the past 18 hours were two Danishes, but excitement must have been overriding my

hunger. In about an hour-and-a-half we were pulling onto Peter’s street. We stumbled into the house and I fell into bed.

EFFIE The next morning we woke early and unloaded Annie into Peter’s garden, which has two massive gates and a zillion Land Rover parts scattered around.

We decided to skip breakfast and hit a café along the way where we could get a proper English Breakfast. About two hours later, we pulled into a small road-side café and I got my first taste of real English cooking. It wasn’t bad. Even the Blood Pudding was tolerable. It certainly filled me up. Of course, at this point I’d probably eat anything, as my last full meal was about 48 hours ago.

We got back on the road and headed north. I didn’t have directions to Bob’s house, just a phone number and a map of England. When we were about a half-hour from Attleborough, I rang up Bob. He gave us directions to meet him at a pub just off the motorway. Soon I heard the unmistakable sound of a Land Rover engine coming down the road. Like a bat out of Hell, the white wagon came flying around the corner and into the parking lot.

We exchanged pleasantries and I hopped in to take Effie for a spin. This was my first experience at driving in England. Even though I was chanting “stay to the left,” I almost pulled into the wrong lane exiting the pub. I drove a few miles into town, turned around and headed back. Peter had the 110 lined up in the parking lot and I drove Effie right up onto the trailer. It was much easier to do this in the daylight than by the light of a dim torch as we’d done with Annie.

Bob had all the paperwork and a bunch of spare parts and books back at his house, so we headed into town. After a cup of tea, we were back on the road.

magazine’s technical experts, specializing in Defenders and Td5s. After a quick tour of the shop and of some of the vehicles he has in various stages of repair and restoration, we headed out back to look at Peter’s Forward Control Fire Truck. It needs a lot of TLC, but is mostly original and will make a nice vehicle when restored. Steve wished me luck on my adventures with the Landys and we headed out again.

Peter wanted to stop and introduce me to a friend of his, also named Peter. After a cuppa, Peter I explained we had to get a move on so we could get the LPG system out before dark.

Intrigued, Peter II tagged along, which, we later found out, was a godsend.

We stopped at a petrol station in the heart of Attleborough to fill up the trailer tyres and put diesel in the 110.

We got back to Peter’s place and after another cup of tea, began the task of taking the LPG system out. We removed the bonnet Peter II began to check out the entire system, starting from the tank in the back up to the front. Like a hunter, he scoped out his prey. It think he was making a mental map in his mind of where everything went and how best to take it apart. I wanted to just start ripping stuff off, but Peter II was a bit more sensible, suggesting that we begin from the back and work our way forward. I decided to listen, as he was one of the engineers who helped design ECUs for the V8 Range Rovers.

After much debate over how much LPG was actually left in the tank, we decided to disconnect it from the system. Thankfully, the safety valve worked and the only LPG we released was that which was in the lines. After that, things began to move a bit faster, with the tank coming out quite easily. Removing the bits from the engine was far more complicated.

The trip back to London was pretty uneventful. We stopped and got some more coffee and another danish and continued in. Peacock Avenue was a wonderful sight. We pulled onto the sidewalk and locked Effie up before heading to bed.

ONE STUBBORN ROVER It was now Tuesday, the day we’d planned on spending a few hours taking the LPG system out of Effie. Since we figured that would only take a couple of hours, tops, we headed across town to meet Steve Seals, who runs a garage specializing in Land Rovers. You may also recognize his name from the pages of Land Rover Owner International. Steve is one of the

OFF TO THE SHIPPING COMPANY It was now a quarter to noon and we had to get the trucks to Phoenix. Peter II put Effie back together as she idled away on the new petrol. Peter I and I got Annie out of the garden. I

quickly washed up and changed my clothes. Within a 10 trucking company was going to be picking them up on minutes I found myself winding through the suburbs of London Tuesday, March 18. I could expect them 7-14 days after that. following Peter and Peter who were in the 110 with Effie in tow. Annie ran beautifully; much better than I’d expected a End of Part 2 30+ year old vehicle to run.

When we arrived at Phoenix, I hurried in and got the paperwork started. We unloaded Effie from the trailer and parked both of them next to a bunch of cargo. Within minutes, workers were measuring the dimensions of the trucks and taking notes. I snapped a photo of the trucks and hopped in to the 110 with Peter and Peter. It would be a week before they shipped out, and several more before they were home.

Summit County August 2003

By Jim Molter Trip Leader: Jim and Mary Molter 1995 Defender 90 Participants: Bob and Pat Lohman 1995 Defender 90 Mike Arnold and Vic 1994 Discovery1 Bill Collett 2003 Discovery

As the Rovers weren’t due to land in America for two weeks after I got home, things were rather uneventful. The only Land Rover related item I did was email the shipping agent to verify that they’d made sure the Rovers were free of mud, as the US is apparently still on high alert for Mad Cow disease. I had to fill out a bazillion forms on the plane explaining that I’d not been on a farm in England and that I’d brought no soil back with me. Unfortunately, the shipping company’s idea of how much dirt was acceptable and the US Department of Agriculture’s are different.

Saturday morning Mary and I met up with the group at the junction of Hwy. 9 and Tiger Rd. After airing down and a bit of chit-chat we headed up the middle fork of the Swan River.

This trail is rated moderate but very scenic. We came out The Tai Shan landed at the docks in LaGuardia, New York on above tree line and followed the road across the tundra to March 9. I’d sent in all the power of attorney paperwork and Radical Hill hoping to see the mountain goats. The weather all seemed well until that Wednesday. At 6 a.m., the phone was a little cool and breezy which usually means the goats will rang. Lisa answered it and handed me the phone. It was stay down on the ledge below the open tundra and this is what someone from the shipping company. The trucks were happened today. Radical Hill is the Adopt-A-Road of the supposed to be released this day, so I figured this was the call Rover Riders Club and is rated difficult. We needed to do just letting me know that my Rovers were on their way home. The a little spotting to make sure Bill did no damage to the front news was not so good, though. The Department of Agriculture spoilers of his new Discovery. Had a nice lunch by the Snake had seized the pickup due to the mud on it. The only solution River. Afterwards Mike and Vic had to cut out. The rest of was to hire an environmental cleanup company to go to the the group completed the loop back to Tiger Road by way of docks and have it disinfected. Several phone calls and $400 Sts. Johns and down the north fork of the Swan. A beautiful later, Annie was cleaned.. The trucks were finally released day out in the mountains.

Friday morning and by afternoon I was informed that the

met at 10AM at the Texaco station in Fairplay. The group consisted of trail leader Ali Vali in a 93 rangie, Dave Thomas in a 95 rangie, pat and Laura lee Bickford in their 97 defender, Scott Launer and family in their 97 defender, Eric and Cathryn in their 97 defender, Jacqueline and Craig Davis in their 96 and 97 disco, Tim Clair in his 2002 disco series II. To say the least, we had a good group to tackle Wheeler Lake.

Wheeler Lake is classified as a difficult trail in the wells book because of about 3 obstacles and the last portion of the trail, which consists of a hill with loose/wet rocks and boulders along with the obstacle at the waterfall, which used to be much more difficult until last season. The Forest Service had blown the big boulder up at the waterfall due to excess accidents and people damaging the trail. The views from the lake are absolutely beautiful.

Wheeler Lake – July 2003

By Ali Vali It was a beautiful Saturday morning in the wonderful Rocky Mountains. Dave Thomas and I drove from Denver to meet up with our group to run the wheeler lake trial by Alma. We

It took the group 20 minutes to get to the trailhead by Montgomery Reservoir. We all lined up and aired down for about ten minutes and on the trail we were. After a short distance the first obstacle was upon us. Here one can take the difficult route by going over a large rock or take the left route.

The folks with the more modified rovers took the more difficult route with some good spotting and the rest made it up the left

with no problem. A little ways up the trail and we reached the second obstacle. There were 4 jeeps on this one along with two US Forest Service folks. They were actually riding with the jeep folks and surveying the trail for damages, etc. They were actually doing some maintenance along the way and right before the lake. Here you have three ways to get over. One is to the left where there are some big rocks which you need to negotiate, the middle, one had to come straight up the rock and because of the angle of the rock, it wanted to throw you to the side, and the right consisted of the V shaped rock. Ali, Dave and Scott took the far left obstacle. Jacqueline took the V shaped obstacle with the help of couple spotters. She taught everyone how to do long wheelie in a rover. You had to be there to see it. Pat Bickford was up next on the V and showed off his excellent driving skills by crawling with no issues. Craig Davis also took the V shape and came up with no issues. Tim and Eric took the middle route, which was quite interesting on its own. This is where I smashed my middle finger by stacking rocks. We got both of them up after couple of tries. It was seeing the traction control go to work on Tim’s Disco.

TECH PROBLEM EMAILS

By Hanz Schulze Solihull Society invites comments that can be submitted to Norman Hall for publication in the next issue concerning this problem or submit a post on http://www.solihullsociety.org/ click Forums then click Technical.

My stock 95 D90 with 125K miles has had an intermittent stalling problem the last two months. Sometimes it stalls when it is cold other times when it is hot. Sometimes it will not start again, sometimes it will. Brought it in to my local reputable non-dealer LR mechanic when it was not exhibiting symptoms and they could not get it to stall. So when after a trip it stalled and I brought it back and they said 50—50 chance it is fuel pump or electronic modulator. Fuel filter is new. They replaced the fuel pump ($675) and on my way home it stalled again and I drove back. They took a few minutes and installed the electronic modulator ($150+). Was able to drive home OK Along the trail we came upon couple more rock ledges, etc. but on Monday the car started stalling again and I had to have and a little mud pool that you had to cross until we got to the it towed back. No “check engine” lights have come on. Now last hill climb, which takes you to the waterfall and the lake. that the truck is stalled at their shop they will be running tests Here we had a delay due to one of the jeeps, which had on the circuitry. First, with an intermittent problem have my broken down on the hill. After a quick diagnosis, he was up mechanics been approaching the problem correctly given I and running again and so was our group. This hill has some semi large boulders, shale, and rocks with water running down have paid over $800 and the problem is still there? Secondly, anyone else who has had a similar problem or educated the hill. The rear locker really helped here with traction.

Jacqueline decided to leave here disco down at the bottom of guesses as to what the problem is? Thanks for any input. the hill after several tries right at the beginning. She knows she I just went through an issue with my truck that is needs new tires. Most of the group crawled slowly up towards the waterfall and the lake. As we got to the lake, we somewhat similar (also a ’95). My problem was related to the fuel injection, specifically the relay and wiring for it. got a call on the CB that pat had thrown a bead on this tire.

The truck mysteriously turned off, with no restarting. Fuel They fixed it and came up to the lake with no problems. As pump had no power, but neither did the ECU or the were eating lunch, we noticed pats front right tires losing air. injectors.

The sidewall had been damaged and the tire was going flat.

We managed to change to the spare. At the same time Craig Davis noticed his tire had sidewall damage so he had to change One good hint my non-dealer LR mechanic asked was if the ‘check engine’ light came on when the key was first his tire as well. We ate lunch, told stories and talked to the other folks. After about an hour up at the lake, we decided to turned to the ‘on’ position. If not, either the computer itself has a problem or it is not being powered. Knowing make descend from the lake and head towards the trailhead.

We headed down fairly quick and also got to see Pat Bickford this prevented him from spending time on fuel pump, filters, etc. Since I swapped out a perfectly good ECU with raise his rear tires off the ground on couple of the obstacles down below. He was in full control though. We were down the same problem, we knew it wasn’t my ECU itself, which at the trailhead within an hour. Some of us aired up here while lead to the wiring being the culprit. others opted to go the Gas station. Thank you Pat for tail gunning. Hope to see everyone soon and remember to Tread I would suggest changing the two relay’s under your passenger seat. Dealer will want big dollars for them, I Lightly. used Discount Rover for a fair price. You can also just use a cheap auto parts store 30 amp relay (5 pin I think?) for testing, they are less than $5. My problem was actually a

loose wire, there had intermittent connectivity and it fried the relay. Probably unlikely its the same issue, but worth considering.

Another way to determine if its ECU related is if your ECU doesn’t throw the ‘02’ code when disconnected and reconnected, as its supposed to.

My wife and kids had been supposed to drive over from Denver with my 1988 Range Rover. Due to circumstances beyond my control they had not and I was left without a vehicle for the event. Somehow I had convinced Marc Richardson that he needed a passenger so it was off to run Poison Spider Trail.

The other reason I’ve heard of people getting intermittent Trip Participants: stalling is plugged catalytic converters. This should have been checked before spending $800 for sure I would think. Marc Richardson & Norman Hall - 1992 Range Rover John & Ken Woods - 1979 109 Defender They said 50-50 chance of either the fuel pump OR the Dave Lucas - 1997 Defender 90 modulator?... I personally wouldn’t be too happy with my Tammy Lucas and Jerry Lewis - 1998 Discovery mechanic when it turned out to be neither. Curious, why Robyn & Barry Smith and Galven Runkewich – 1995 Range go with the $675 fix (fuel pump) before trying the $150 fix Rover (modulator)? In any case, I would expect some type of Gil Perry and Keith Starr - 1994 Defender 90 refund/discount on whatever they find, at the very least I Karen & Keith Kreutzer – 1997 Discovery would not be paying for this additional diagnostic time.

Hi all: Thanks for all the good advice. Picked up my truck from the shop today and it turns out it had a bad coil or a connection to the coil. So now that my fuel pump, electronic modulator were replaced for naught, it runs fine now that the coil has been removed and replaced. There goes $$$$$$$$! I guess it shows you to look at the basics first, but the truck always ran fine at the shop until last time when it was DOA. Hopefully with some of the others of you who responded both on and off list with the same problem now or in the future, any do-ityourselfer could replace the coil prior to taking it to a mechanic for further diagnostics for a Lucas coil for less than $40 and maybe the problem is solved or a possible problem eliminated.

These emails have been submitted to you without editing.

Solihull Society it appreciates any comments that could help other members who have had a similar problem.

Poison Spider

By Norman Hall It was the first day of trails for the 2003 Land Rover National Rally. Everyone had gathered at the Spanish Trail arena, breathless with anticipation for what lay ahead. OK everyone was not breathless but there was a high level of interest as everyone started to catch up with friends and looking at the vast assortment of Land Rover vehicles that had gathered.

Daev

Lucas in his new Defender This was to be one of Dave Lucas’s first opportunities to take his new black Defender out for a spin. Apparently his wife [Tammy, ye the driver of the ’98 Discovery] had convinced him that he had to buy a Defender so that they could both drive out on the trials. Where do you find such women, Dave, she’s a keeper! John Woods was back after a long absence from the club and was chauffeuring his father for the day. Whilst Robyn had owned her 1995 LWB Range Rover for quite some time this was to e her first time driving the Rangie out on the trails.

Unfortunately the Air Suspension on the Rangie was playing up which was to cause problems throughout the day.

a hard trail with many difficult obstacles including tight switchbacks, off camber ledges, steep slick rock and areas where one can tip over easily. Traction on slick rock is usually not an issue, well except when you are driving up or down at more than 350 which we had to do on several occasions. The trail is made easy to follow with small flat white 4WD’s painted on the rock to guide you. This is one of the more popular trials around Moab, which is understandable from the fun we all had.

John Wood in his 24 year old Landie

The trail starts off as we climbed up a switchback trail from ground level to the top of the slick rock. After about 2 miles the track flattens out at a section called tie-Rod Flats. Shortly after we entered a canyon and the first major obstacle for the trail known as the “Waterfall”. This is basically a steep steppy ascent followed by a 7-foot tall slick rock ascent of approximately 400 . Whilst we took this first obstacle with caution, all of our group drove straight over in their highly capable Land Rovers.

This was not the end, merely the start of things to come.

Karen Kreutzer was out testing her new Discovery. Apparently they had bought it and then Keith insisted on working on the vehicle fitting new axles and other accessories that he builds as part of his business www.rovertracks.com. Gil was showing off his one of a kind Orange Defender. Apparently back I the mid 1990’s Land Rover bought over this vehicle as a prototype and sold it after they were finished. As a result it is the only one of this color in North America.

Karen Kreutzer easily conquers the Waterfall Straight after the Waterfall there were several other steep ledgy rises to overcome. After a few more miles we came to an Robyn & Barry Smith obstacle called “Wedgy”. This is basically a natural cut through the rock, which required careful wheel placement in order to Trail Background negotiate. Any error would have seen vehicles slipping into the wedge and significant panel damage resulting. Since the rock Poison Spider Trail is mostly run together with Gold Spike and has such good traction this is not a major concern, more a Golden Bar Rim. All sections are rated as being Difficult but psychological concern. are by no means the hardest trails in the area. Poison Spider is

We turned off onto the Poison Spider loop after 5.3 miles.

Golden Spike Trail continues straight ahead at this juncture.

North east from this point is “Pig Rock” so named as it looks like a pig lying down. This rock can be used as a reference point if you get lost in the area. We then headed off to Little Arch which was to be our lunch spot for the day. Little Arch is a very picturesque spot with the arch being carved out of the side of the rock face below the parking area. The whole area over looks the Colorado River and I 279 towards the east.

David Summers and Greg Mederick 1999 Discovery Kyle Kaskey – 1994 Defender 90 Joe Benskin – 1994 Defender 90 Geoff Link & Sheryl Volwes – 1995 Defender 90 Lower Heldorado is a very short trail, probably only a ¼ mile long. It travels up the dry creek bed where vehicles have to negotiate over large boulders, through tight squeezes and on some interesting side angles. Given that the trail is so short I will let the following pictures tell the story of our trip.

After taking lots of photos we continued on the “loop to then rejoin the trail we had drove in on and then back to Moab.

Suffice to say we all had a great day and our thanks go to marc Richardson for his excellent trail leadership.

The Three Trip Troublemakers, Keith, Marc and Norman

Upper and Lower Heldorado .

By Norman Hall It was Saturday, the last official day for the 2003 Land Rover National Rally. Most of us were fairly tired form too much alcohol consumption of a night and long days on the Trail. We were after some adventure but not an overly long day. Lower Heldorado provided just what we were looking for.

Trip Participants: Marc Richardson & Norman Hall – 1992 Range Rover Mark Handlovitch – 2001 Jeep Will Taylor and Josh Lipsey – 1997 Defender 90

Jim Pendleton and his group caught up with us as we finished Lower Heldorado. As they were then going to attempt Upper

Heldorado we chose to park our vehicles at the trial head and watch them attempt one of the hardest trials in the area. The following shows just what they experienced.

Solihull Society 2003 Events Please visit www.4x4trails.net or Charles Wells Trail Books for info on trails and ratings.

Please contact the trail leader before the trail ride dates to let them know you are going.

If you are interested in leading trails that are TBD, contact Ali Vali at avali@mho.com Date 12-07-03

Description

Holiday Party

Contact Info. / Trail Leader Mt. Vernon Country club

This years club Christmas party and get together will be held at the Mt Vernon Country Club, the same location as last year. Unlike last year this years event will be a lunch activity starting at noon and going through to approximately 3 pm. The cost per person is only $10 with the club subsidizing the rest. Drinks are at your own cost. We would like to encourage everyone to join in and bring the whole family. As we need to confirm numbers please RSVP to Pam Haigh at chaigh@boulder.net by November 30th at the latest. This year we are also inviting all Rover Rider Club members to join us.

From:The Solihull Society PO Box 480864 Denver, CO 80248–0864

TO:-