The Nitty Gritty Bits for Land Rover Nutters

Land Rover Defender 110
2.5 litre Diesel engine (reconditioned)
Heavy duty suspension - coil sprung
Long Wheel Base
C Reg (1986)
Initial cost - Ł3,80
How in hells name did we get this far? Before owning 'Truck', neither of us had ever owned or worked on a vehicle in our lives (Charlie did admit to owning a Lada once, but that statement has since been retracted). Neither of us knew a coil from a leaf sprung vehicle or for that matter, where the damn windscreen wash was meant to go, so understandably we began to get a little concerned as to whether this was a good idea. Then we met Phil from Muddy Trax in Aldershot, UK. Phil, our Saviour, soon set us on the right track: Africabound. His patience and words of wisdom helped Mark to get to know the ins and outs of the vehicle. Our roles during the preparation for this trip neatly divided themselves. After initial mucking in together on all jobs to do, we soon realised that the only way we would get anything down was to separate the tasks out. Mark was happy to continue on 'Truck' while Charlie went to town on making route plans, designing this web site and playing accountant. A Wreck to a Bloody Gorgeous 'Truck' - This is how we did it: Working from the base up Mark and Phil put many hours into making this truck into the dream machine it is now. Since then Mark has formed a somewhat worrying attraction for Halfords and his new socket set!

	Stripped out any military add-ons not wanted. Rust-proofed the chassis.
	Charlie (Mark's Dad)installed side lockers to accomodate 4 fuel jerry cans using the dead space behind the seats. Bought some comfortable seats and a lockable cubby box.
	Stripped back the Dulux magnolia colour paint favoured by the previous owner. Swapped the old headlights for the brighter Halogen ones.
	Took the lid off so as to enable work on it in the garage. Fitted sound deadening panels inside the cab.
	Fitted a double burner which could be used inside or outside the vehicle. A special locker was fitted to accomodate the gas bottle.
	Designed and built a locker system in the back (having taken guidance from other experienced overlanders (Thank you so much, Neil and Sun) which will not only accomodate all our gear neatly, without anything bouncing around too much but...
	...also transforms into a double bed! Once that was finished, we put the 'lid' back on. Into the roof, we fitted sidelights and removable sunroof (so we can photgraph game easily), extra strip lighting, carpet and finally cargo nets on the sides (for sleeping bags/towels etc..)Fitted a Raised Air Intake to lessen the chance of dust and water getting into the engine. We exchanged the single battery for two with a split charger system to run all our ancilliaries (lights, fridge, stereo etc) without fear of ignition faliure.
	A long awaited respray. 'Mark are you sure 'YELLOW!' was a good idea?'.... Phil's fault, just because the Muddy Trax logo is yellow. Sorry Phil, I think you're going to get the blame for everything once we're in Africa... yep, if we get cold on a dive. Phil's fault!
	A huge thank you goes out to Daryl at Elite Signs in Datchet for doing an absolutely blinding job on the side panels. We sat and watched nervously while Daryl whizzed about the print shop, played with a few machines and voila, in no less than an hour, the empty yellow voids on the side of truck had been filled with the beautiful words.....
	Oh go on then Unc, I suppose you want your photo and a mention on our site too! Thanks to 'Uncle Bryan' who introduced us to Daryl!
$Roofrack$	Phil sorted us out with a heavy duty roofrack, "the same type as I used to have that carried 1 and a half tonnes of coal...", "alright, alright, we'll have one of those then, Phil shall we! While Ellis (another saviour - actually, Mark, what are we going to do without any of these guys?)fixed our electrics and solved simple but alarming questions like, "Why when I turn the stereo on, do the wipers work too?!", Mark fitted the stereo and speakers, extra lighting, sockets for running various ancilliaries and a compass.
	And we're off! - Departed Englefield Green 16th August, 1999

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