Larry - the Xmas Special

Larry is secured in Dar Es  Salam while we do the hard yards on Zanzibar, however, it would be cruel not to turn our minds to the plucky little Brit who has taken us 9,000km into Africa.

It has not been all plain sailing, and whilst Larry has always got us to our destination, we have had a few quality dramas. All of the problems relate to the appalling road conditions, and Larry’s age. We have done over 2,000km on the worst dirt roads you could imagine. Some of the ‘bumps’ have been so bad I think we suffered from concussion!

What has broken:

Engine a little hot after huge hill climbs-                              Welded new spot light mounts above radiator to improve low speed air flow.

Gearbox oil leak-                                                                     Pull down and repair upper selector housing.

Damaged oil cooler line-                                                        Patched steel hose and re-routed to avoid steering arm.

Cracked ball joint, dented sump, bent drag link-                   This was our pot hole disaster, pulled sump dent out, replaced tie rod end, straitened drag ling, string and tape measure wheel alignment.

Leaking thermostat housing-                                                  Stripped, filed all faces and sealed with master gasket.

Damaged radiator core and thermo fan-                                This was when the fan tore out of the radiator. Removed radiator and soldered damage. Welded steel struts to mount fan to (now very nice!)

Cracked chassi-                                                                       Gas welded crack, then ark welded a 3mm patch plate over entire section. …seems to be OK!

Cracked Air cleaner mount-                                                    Manufactured new steel one out of 2mm plate.

Cracked expansion tank mount-                                             Manufactured new steel one and mounted to radiator support mount.

While this seems like a fair bit a damage, Larry has really impressed me. We have driven up clay and
rock tracks that I seriously thought we would need to winch up…. without even coming close to being bogged. In sand and mud, he has been a champion.

On the good roads we can easily sit on 110km/hr….but those roads are getting hard to find since we left South Africa. The stiff suspension is our main Achilles heel. Whist it stops us ‘wallowing’ with the extra weight, every bump shakes the hell out of us… and has caused most of our problems. I guess that’s why the new Rovers changed to coil springs. I plan to pull the front springs apart in Kenya and grease between the leafs to reduce the shock. I know it will reduce their load bearing…but I’m good with that.That being said, Land Rovers are everywhere, and they really love them here, especially the old ones. I have lost count of how many offers we have had to buy Larry. Whilst I do like a good Landcruiser, they don’t seem to cut the grade out here. They are too expensive, and too hard to get spares for.