Look what turned up from  Stoney Racing, a full set of Silicon Hoses and i mean a FULL set. Wow! They are even Green to match Henrietta's magnificence. Thanks to them for sending me them. They look like really good quality all i need to do now is fit them. #stoneyracing #overlandbirds #bfgoodrich #goodproject #driverenough

On the way back from Adventure Overland in Stratford this weekend we did something we don't do very often.

We broke down !

To be accurate we ran out of diesel so it turns out my fuel gauge is wrong and has become progressively more inaccurate since Morocco. It was just above the Orange area and we ran out. Now initially I panicked a bit as we were on a main 60MPH single road but only 3 miles from home. Cars were whizzing by us and I was flapping a bit. I took a breath and thought what stops a 300Tdi and applied rule #1 of you've broken down in a 300Tdi....its got to be fuel. I mean what stops a 300Tdi other than no fuel getting to the engine. The cause could be a few things but I switched over to the new reserve tank and after 3 mins she started with a cough and splutter. For those that don't know. Fuel Pump, Stop Solenoid, Timing Belt are common and all do the same. No Fuel.

The main tank is out and the wiring checked. I did spill enough diesel on the drive to enable drilling to start in a few years and I drained out 45 litres and that's the entire reserve tank give or take. The fuel sender is 206 Ohms and should be 270 Ohms on empty or thereabouts. So its a faulty sender. The gauge is good. It also turns out my tank is bashed to hell under the guard so i'm changing the lot.  Its well dented. Presumably by squaddies.

So here I am fitting a Tank only a few weeks after the reserve went in.

Approximately for a Land Rover Fuel Sender the Resistance is as follows.
Full  ~ 19 OHMS
3/4  ~ 38 OHMS
1/2  ~ 67 OHMS
1/4  ~ 116 OHMS
Empty  ~ 270 OHMS

It just had to be done. Question is, have i done it correctly? My welding isn't up to much and hand tools are not really my thing. I can operate machine tools and make stuff but using a welder, mitre saw, hand drill and an angle grinder i made something made from pigeon poop (as welders call it). I'm probably going to add another bolt. Its removable so my Landy will pass its vehicle test (MOT) as it obscures the number plate.

Henrietta has an auxiliary tank. Custom made and exact fit in the space we had. Took a lot of measuring and even a cardboard mockup to make sure it fitted. The professional that made it added a single (unwanted) item which meant it didn't fit so that was quickly rectified in his workshop and the offending drain welded over. It would have been nice to have a drain from the splash bowl but i didn't specify one. Its a proper job and at £200 was a good price. Double baffled even.

You may be wondering how it's plumbed in....maybe not. It's a gravity feed into the main tank breather. The drain is T'd into the breather as close to the main tank as possible and the auxiliary tanks breather is connected to the main tank breather a bit higher up. Gravity and levels does the rest. The flow rate from this tank to the main isn't super fast but in 10 or so minutes the ~45 litres is down across into the main tank. We think it will hold nearer 49 litres with extremely careful filling.

New range is now 670 Miles or 1080 Km @ our shakedown average of 25.5 MPG (UK Gallons). We will also carry 40 litres of backup in 2 standard underslung Jerry Cans.  

Stickers applied....clock is ticking and it's not long till we depart.

Just discovered this new overlanding site filled with reviews and stuff we all dream of getting for Xmas. I mean there's even an article on tent heaters. I didn't know they even did things like that ! I've got a heater in Henrietta but she's a BIG truck. Tent Heaters,,,what will they think of next.

So check out overlandsite.com and take a nosey as some of the stuff. A note to my relatives.....if you buy me anything based on the reviews please make sure its not meant for a tent....we sleep in a car !

Some of you might have noticed my sticker posts. They've been going to the wrong place. Sorry

We have a new business doing country flag stickers. Something thats been a royal pain when we've been travelling. We've had many sets to only have them stolen, picked off and damaged on the road. This time there will be a consistent supply. We have started delivering quality stickers at reasonable prices and they can be replaced individually. We ship all over the world. We already have orders from three continents.

If you want some country flag stickers for your car or 4x4 then click the link above.

www.overlandstickers.com

The busy media department at BFGoodrich have made us a video. I'm loving it. Here's to the next installment.

#BFGoodrich #GoodProject #OverLandBirds #DiverEnough

Planning starts and dates are being decided. Got lots to do and preparations to make. We are currently heading to West Africa and then who knows where. I've got to give a shout out to Angela who took some of these (most of them) amazing pictures. 

I'm out of work and funds are now tighter than they should be but as they say (who says this?)....you only live once. As Coen once said, "there is no time only money" and who needs money anyhow? Turns out we all do. Its going to be very tight. I'm going to do another budgets page soon enough to let you know the state of affairs.

Doesn't she look absolutely amazing !
#BFGoodrich #Goodproject #overlandbirds

A little more of a tease and some pictures from the recent madness that was Morocco. The crew all lined up and Henrietta on her best behaviour.

Its works really well when you have your own photographer in the form of Angela and most of the photos are hers. Some Jelly's but mostly Angela.

We had a momumental storm one day and the sand was more like ocean. Luckily we arrived in the flooded parts a couple of days later and so just had to cope with a bit of mud.

Few more fails in the bedroom department....actually in the expensive furniture. A few screws and some choice words were used and i wasn't happy.

We've had some nice camping in some nice Auberge, some nicer than others and some where they really wanted to help. One had a Stork !

We've distributed the #BFGOODRICH stuff we had left to some deserving locals in a garage. We were all greased up and Robin had a swivel seal changed in record time!

There was also a little water crossing.....it was a difficult one and the first after the flood...video will come later. If it were not for our MT tires we would have not made it....seriously. #BFGOODRICH #GOODPROJECT

#BFGOODRICH #GOODPROJECT
Following the directions of a team is probably a bad idea.....if anybody recalls the film in the title you will know what I mean where the directions would have been a lot better if we’d bought a squirrel off Cathy Bates…..

We went a bit "wrong on t" a few times which we now know means "t junction". This was unanimously decided of course so we all went wrong. The track was for the "adventurous" according to the book. It was that.

We’ve all been having a great time. So far,,,,,no Landies were injured in the making of this movie. Well only minor injuries. We almost had a terminal disaster in the form of three loose (VERY!!) fan pully bolts which luckily we found early. A squeek could have turned into a broken timing case and so very bad. We've changed a UJ on Dave's truck, which was a first for him.

We are here in Southern Spain having driven long days to get here. Having a bit of an issue with the blog so no photos....argh. We will cross to morocco in a bit. Weve already lost a team member. More on that later.

#BFGoodrich #Goodproject
​Fantastic weekend at Adventure Overland with great weather and some great company and mother I was absolutely shattered after the weekend spending hours and hours each day in the seminar room as did all the other volunteers who gave some great presentations. The BFG Guy gave a great session on tyres and an even greater session on how to remove a tire and refit it. The Professionals do make things look so easy. Turns out the trick seems to be always to use tyre grease. 

Some more things added to the car. I've added a small inverter so we can charge things up that are mains powered.  Aome maintenance has been done because the wheel bearings weren't very good, indeed I don't think the MOD had ever greased them since the day the truck was made. You can see in the pictures that the bearing race wasn't very good in fact it was pretty rusty and pitted. I had to rebuild two rear hubs. The fronts seemed fineas the grease was still white. The back was full of rust.

A bit of hot air and a bit of fingernail work and I managed to remove the ambulance stickers from both sides. It's left a bit of a mess on the side of the truck as the mod had just painted round these stickers when the vehicle was resprayed. I've tried to sand over the words but you can still see it so I'm going to stick an OverLandBirds sticker right over the top. I can't afford to get the resprayed it's probably going to be £4,000.