Otly Update!

Phew! What a relief. Otly has made it to Switzerland without embarrassing me and it sounds like Christopher Robin has already started in on the same list of things that I would have done much more slowly.

Here are the edited highlights of his and Alice's trip as sent to me just today:

Day 1 (Thursday 16th October)
Short trip to Huddersfield. Check-in to hotel and do a little shopping

Day 2 (Friday 17th October)
OTLY's big service day.  The poor old Land Rover was subject to 16 man
hours of servicing (2 mechanics @ 8 hours).  But at the end of the day
he was sounding like new!

Day 3 (Saturday 18th October)
Left Huddersfield and drove to north Wales. Why North Wales? Well, we
were not progressing fast enough to reach our destination (Breacon
Beacon in mid-Wales) so we stopped about 1/2 way.

Day 4 (Sunday 19th October)
Drive to LLanerchinda Farm in Mid Wales. Great hotel run by a fantastic
host family, serving amazingly good food.

Day 5 (Monday 20th October)
We enjoyed a long walk/march through the forests and countryside and
"trundle" in OTLY around the amazingly narrow, winding and
steeply-rising-and-falling roads.  The Devil's Staircase for example had
an incline, and then shortly afterwards a decline of 25%

Day 6 (Tuesday 21st October)
Set of for Southampton. Met up with my parents and my little sister and
her boyfriend for an evening meal. Drove to Portsmouth and boarded the
ferry to Le Harve

Day 7 (Wednesday 22nd October)
LONG drive to Paris, around Paris and on to a little town called Nitry.
This has to be THE best kept secret in France. Our hotel was a lovingly
restored monastery - and the owner had spared no expenses. Each room has
its own theme and we stayed in the Millers room.  Very special and
rather romantic.

Day 8 (Thursday 23rd October)
Another LONG drive, this time close to Lausanne where we checked into
our hotel (my usual hotel when I'm in that neck-of-the-woods on
business) and then off to meet up with  friends for an evening meal in a
great hotel with stunning views of lake Geneva, over to Evian in France
and the entire surrounding area (large parts of which were designated
World Heritage Sights!).

Day 9 (Friday 24th October)
The last leg of our standard journey (just 250Km) home.
And, ..... YES! He fits in the secure underground parking!
Thank goodness

Day 10 (Saturday 25th October)
Started doing a little work on OTLY. Removed the rear seats, along with
the rear seat belts (don't worry they're going back later) and started
to clean, remove everything that's not "essential" and cover all
surfaces with a tough carpet! (Mainly to keep the noise levels down and
make him look a little tidier)

Day 11 (Sunday 26th October)
1 hour drive eastwards to a mountain town near St. Gallen in order to pick up our dog. As you probably remember, the dog is called Guinness. She's a 5 year old
bulldog. Guinness appreciated the carpets, and seemed to approve of OTLY as she
jumped in without any help! Not bad for a dog that's only knee high!
Alice got to drive OTLY - she's still beaming

Day 12 (Today)
20 minute drive to work. (Close to the airport).
My workmates love OTLY and they are now more convinced than ever that
I'm fully mad.

So, there you have it. I always fancied that accoustic matting stuff. Good choice!

Fin.

It seems a long time since I got Otly...probably longer that it really was. It's been good in places, wonderful in others and a bit of a struggle on occasions. Put all in all I've enjoyed it. I've learned a lot and met some great people and I can't honestly say that my career in Land Rovers is over; far from it I suspect.

But, for now, the sun is setting on Land Rover ownership. Christopher Robin and Alice came this morning and drove Otly away...although slightly later than anticipated as they forgot to set their alarm. Anybody would think they were on holiday or something! Anyway, I wish them both the best of British (and Swiss) luck on their new adventure.

What time do you call this?

I've no idea what I'm doing here in front of the PC; I should be in bed!

Issy and I have just been out to dinner with Christopher Robin and Alice. They are a lovely couple and totally mad. Chris has jumped into Landy ownership at the deep end by manfully sporting a LandRover badged fleece. Good for him!

They've seen Otly and waxed lyrical about it (or "him" as then insist) despite it's being pitch black outside. They were also very taken with the Swiss flag which I had whittled from a few scraps of cloth yesterday and mounted on the front wing in a handy hole.



Tomorrow they come to take Otly off to its new life in "a better place". But before it gets there it has, apparently, an appointment in Huddersfield for a complete engine rebuild! How cool is that? Mind you, I wouldn't trust my mechanical skills either.

But for now, it's time for bed as I have to get up at the usual horrible hour of the morning to take Mutt and Geoff to school. Hey ho! Life as an international playboy isn't all laughs.

It fits!

Well, full marks to Burlen who's diaphragm kit for the Zenith 36IV fits like a glove. Quite why nobody else's does I do not know.



This is where you'll find the so called "economiser" (also known as a 'power system')on top of the 36IV. It's the little round hatch with the three machine screws holding it down.

Inside you'll find a rubber diaphragm which is pushed down by a spring under the lid. There are a couple of gaskets on either side of the diaphragm. Like this:



This system basically uses the pressure in the inlet manifold to vary the fuel/ait mixture according to the engines needs; cruising or power. No, I don't really understand.

So, I shall have to take Otly out for a tripette to see if it's fixed the popping on the overrun. However, any trip is going to have to be in the next couple of days as time has flown. On Wednesday this very week, Christopher Robin and Alice will be ariving to take Otly away. Now I'm a little bit sad about this but still convinced that it's the thing to do.

For now though, I must go and make a pizza and then collapse in front of the roaring fire downstairs.

TTFN!

I'm in the money.....

Well, The rest of the money for Otly hit my bank account this morning fresh from the Alps and still smelling of warm ink. So it looks like the sale of Otly is official now. It is soon to have its new life in loftier climbs with Christopher Robin and Alice.

Mind you, I'm unable to leave Otly alone even though it's no longer my concern. One of the niggly problems has been a slight popping on the overrun. It was suggested to me that this might have been caused by a damaged diaphragm in the Zenith carb's economiser (not a word you'd usually associated with Land Rovers eh?). I can't let Otly go without knowing if this is the case so I've ordered a new diaphragm from Zenith specialists Burlen Fuel Systems. I've done this because every repair kit I've ever had from other sources has included a diaphragm that simply didn't fit. I'm hoping this will prove better.

We shall see.

SOLD...to the man in Switzerland

Well, Otly has been sold. It's off to live in Switzerland no less!

My advert on the LRO forum was spotted by an ex-pat Englishman who goes by the alias of Chris. He's been living in cuckoo land for 18 years with his wife and they've set their hearts on owning Otly. They'll be over in October to drive it back themselves and good luck to them!

Meanwhile, Otly has been doing sterling service ferrying stuff backwards and forwards from the DIY shop. I can see that the Saxo's going to have to have a roofrack sooner rather than later.

TTFN.

Robert.

FOR SALE!

Well, this was a short blog, wasn't it?

Otly's got to go. £1,750 if anybody out there reads this.

Try again.....

I'll try embedding that video.....

Help! My brain's working....

I've got to post this video on here. It was posted on OLLR but it's got my brain thinking...which is a very dangerous thing indeed!

So click here to see a real electric Landrover in action.

Wack from the boars!

Typical, isn't it? You start a new blog and then disappear off the radar for two weeks. Well, I have been on holiday! So there!The first week, we hitched up the matching Sankey (ooo, nice), took Mutt and Geoff out of school (naughty, naughty...and me a governor too) and went camping up near Bassenthwaite. It was only once there that we discovered that it is, officially, the wettest place in England. Hey ho!

Given a 109" and a 3/4 Sankey to go at, you can carry a LOT of camping gear and do it in style. I've never been sure about camping but it's growing on me now that I can take the living room and the comfy chairs with me.

One great thing is that many camp sites now allow real fires of an evening.....provided that you buy their wood of course. This is an excellent recycling of old pressed steel wheels if you ask me and make sitting out on an English Summer evening far, far more pleasant. And if you sit in the smoke (and who can't?) it helps to keep the midges away too.

Otly had a few nice days out and about in the country side and, really, the weather wasn't bad at all; just the odd spot of drizzle. Nothing to stop us hardened Northern types.

This picture was taken near Castlerigg Stone Circle, Keswick and looks nicer than the stone circle which was eclipsed by new age OAPs talking about how you could feel the vibes, dude.....or words to that effect.

Then on to Honister slate mines. These are at the top of Honister Pass but Otly went up and down again without batting an wheel arch....and looked quite cool in the carpark at the top.

A good time was had by all except for the Thursday morning when we packed up and left and got very, very wet indeed.

Otly behaved very well although the juddering problem after a long run is still there. I shall have to look at that soon.

The second week's holiday can wait for another day. Right now I have to go and feed the animals who are now on their summer holidays. TTFN.

Chug...Zoom!

In between the more serious "things to do" today, I found the time to come home the long and picturesque way. It's the first time since Otly's been back on the road that I've just been out and driven for the hell of it and, boy, have I enjoyed it. It was wonderful. Twisting up and down the winding moorland roads. I'd forgotten what fun it was. You fell connected to it is a way that modern cars don't manage....it must be all the wind blowing in through the gaps!

Anyway, I must try and video that route sometime, and a few others.

I brought the Sankey home this morning and loaded the camping gear into it. We're doing cushy camping this time. All mod' con's will be available. It should be fun.

That which came before.

So, now that I've got this blog and linked to it from my web pages I suppose that I should write stuff in it.
My name is Robert and I own a 1982 Series III 109" Land Rover. I recently had a revelation that perhaps I was now old enough (pushing the big 4-0) to admit that I was a Land Rover anorak and just get on and enjoy it.

I bought Otly (said Landy) about four years ago direct from the MOD; from the TA reserve to be more precise. She was a 109" 3-door hard-top in green and black camouflage. She's been through a few changes since then but none as big as the most recent. When the UK government changed the child seat laws and the kiddies could no longer sit in the back I did the only sensible thing; I rebuilt Otly as a 5-door station wagon. This has taken some time because of the Guerilla nature of my working in an open field but is finally finished (as much as any Landy project is ever finished).

The "new" Otly was finally unveiled to a waiting world just this last weekend at the 2008 "Leafers at t'Pit" event at the National Coal Mining Museum in Yorkshire......and yes, it IS the same vehicle; even the DVLA believe me now.

We had a fabulous time and what a great bunch of chaps and chapettes they are. Thanks to them all for a fabulous weekend and introduction to the world of anorak rallies. The event was organised jointly by the Series2 club and the Old Leafsprung LandRovers forum; which you should visit for a laugh.

We made it there and back (sometimes at the staggering speed of 35mph on the M62 it must be said) with whits intact and never a flinch from the temperature gauge; the fuel gauge was another story that I refuse to go into.

Since then, the tow ball has been replaced with the NATO hitch ready to tow the Sankey off on a camping holiday this weekend so more tales of LandRovering fun are soon to follow.......

This is the Grotto calling.......

Hello world!

This post is by way of a test of my shiny new blog. Having completed my most recent major job on Otly the Land Rover and been encouraged by a few souls to keep writing drivel about Land Rovers I thought this might be a good way to do it.

So watch out!

My website is here