Text of LRO article 1996

Mike Built

Mike built is the by line on the number plates, because I am proud to say that I built it myself. Having run various Land Rovers over the years ending up with a ser III Lightweight which was the first I had restored to any degree and by far my favourite Land Rover. I decided that I wanted something different, why not combine the macho looks of the lightweight with the power and suspension of the Range Rover I thought. Hence my hybrid was conceived and the rest as they say  (for those of you who have followed its development in LRO over the years) is history.  Development  continued for the first three years HPW was on the road with refinements being added all the time, now however maintenance has started to take up more of  my time.

I still take great pleasure in using HPW to its full capability at club trials in both RTV and CCV competitions. Trialing does add considerably to the cost of keeping a Land Rover on and off the road with regular breakage’s mostly occurring whilst off road, But I would have it no other way. As usual the ARC International rally hosted by the Southern Rover Owners Club at Crockstead Equestrian Centre was the highlight of my Landrovering year. Unfortunately both brain and HPW were in the wrong gear on one RTV section resulting in 28 penalties at the end of the day and putting me one point too high for a  trophy. Proving it takes total undivided concentration to win anything in such a big event.

Having covered an average of  3300 miles per year ( I am fortunate to get the use of a company car so HPW is not needed for everyday transport ) maintenance has been quite low so costs, as you can see from the list have not been too bad. This list covers the four years since construction and includes all service and repair costs, but not the cost of any improvements / modifications. I have carried out a full service, just before the annual ARC  National rally and costs have been kept low by using parts ( often new ) sourced from military scrap dealers. Why the military throw new spares like filters and spark plugs into the scrap bin belies belief. Useful spares are Purchased when seen and stored for future use, some I sell on to other owners. I still have a new unused LHD 90/RR manual steering box, if any one wants it. The centre diff was the area most recently announcing its presence with loud crackling noises. This unit is easily removed through the opening left by removing the parking brake / speedo drive, but as you slide it out a gear drops off inside. The only way to reassemble it is to remove the bottom plate from the transfer box to get a hand inside. I didn’t try to repair the diff unit myself  but opted to pay JSF Land Rovers of Norwich to replace the broken planet gears and pins.

For sometime I have been looking at various designs of adjustable or removable drop plates for towing. None on the market seem to meet my requirement for an occasional, easily removable tow ball at normal trailer/caravan hitch height leaving the NATO hitch in place for recovery and towing my ex army Sanky trailer.  I have now designed and fabricated one to exactly meet my requirements. As you can see from the photographs I took a standard drop plate, welded it to an ex military tow bar ring braced to the chassis with tubular struts incorporating rose joints. To prevent vertical movement a spacer block had to be welded to the ring and ground down to exactly fit my NATO hitch. The tubular struts are threaded into the rose joints to allow adjustment, with another tube across the end to take a bolt between lugs welded to the rear chassis legs ( I have now acquired two quick release pins to replace the bolts ). The electric’s are taken care of by mounting a standard trailer socket on the drop plate connected to a military plug with a short length of cable. It now only takes a minute to convert to towing a standard trailer or caravan, and only requires the chassis lugs to be duplicated at the front for the attachment to be used for front end manoeuvring.

HPW has been very reliable over the last four years never failing to get  me home despite some hard treatment off road, I have rolled it 3 times but being hand painted it is easy to straiten and re paint. The engine has not needed any attention at all and MOT tests have all been passed first go. I can see no reason why it should not see many more years of use and abuse. Although I am hoping it will not be “HPW” for much longer. No I am not selling it, but I have applied to have the original donor Range Rover registration ( NVX 983J) re instated as the J suffix will give me free road tax due to the new 25 year ruling. I have written to the vehicle licensing office and have had a telephone call in return confirming that it will happen pending an inspection. So the next expenditure should be a new set of number plates, I mustn’t forget to have “Mike Built” put on the bottom again. 

Iems replaced over four years of use as routine service or damage / failure

The only additional running costs have been the annual expenditure on MOT test fees, insurance and road tax. Petrol is another matter varying between 12 and 23 MPG depending on how I drive!. 

Vehicle Specification.

Engine.                                  Range Rover 3.5 V8 Carb. ( 2 x Stromberg )

Gearbox.                               Range Rover 4 Speed + Integral 2 Speed Transfer Box

Axles                                     Range Rover

Diffs                                      3.54 to 1

Suspension.                           90 Springs and shock absorbers, Range Rover radius arms

Brakes.                                 Range Rover Discs all round.

Chassis.                                 Range Rover ( shortened )

Wheelbase.                           88 in

Body.                                    Ex Military Lightweight Soft top( The Best )

Tyres.                                    Radial 750 x 16 Michelin XCL on Range Rover Rims

Safety.                                   Full Roll Cage ( External Front Internal Rear )

Optional Extra.

One unusual outing last year was with the Rover Rescue branch of my local club. The occasion was a motorcycle endurance event held in Thetford forest by Diss motorcycle club. Rover Rescue was providing 4x4 support for marshals and medics. RAYNET the amateur radio operators were also out in force providing communications as the course is spread over many miles of forest. I landed the action job of transporting the RAYNET controller and the motorsports Paramedic (he was the only person being paid to be there).  My role was to get the Paramedic and all his equipment to the scene of any injuries guided by the radio operator as navigator. The forest floor is very overgrown with bracken, gorse, and brambles and the motorcycle track is too narrow for a Land Rover. At times the riders pass between trees with little clearance for the handlebars, sometimes with both wheels of the ground (and I thought comp safari drivers were nutters) so mishaps were plentiful. The day was so hectic that I forgot to report an un-exploded bomb that was brought to my attention by a marshal. The end result was three riders being hospitalised (all due to collision with trees) and an interesting day using HPW to plough through the undergrowth, over banks and fallen trees, across ditches, and along forest droves in search of the unfortunate. It was Monday morning on my way to work before I remembered that bomb and reported it to the police.

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