At the beginning of March, while tidying up the workshop, I landed on my Land Rover Camel Trophy 1988 Sulawesi. 7 years without taking it out (I had a lot of other things to think about), I
tell myself that it would be good to try it again in order to take it out and have it roll again. It's still full of dried mud from its last outing in 2014.
After having brushed it and looked a little, he gives me some parts: a gimbal, which I had lost while making the vehicle cross a river; and the shock absorbers, which simply disappeared I do
not know where. I plug in the batteries, there isn't a lot of juice coming out ... even after 4 hours of charging. But there is enough left to realize that everything still works, despite
some hard points. The gallery is a bit damaged, but a few dots of glue should be enough. I order the parts I am missing as well as a new battery.
A few days later, everything is fine. It's time to take the Def apart and check and re-type everything!
After an afternoon, in stream, to dismantle and check, grease the mechanical part; fit the new shock absorbers (G-made Piggyback for the rear, that's the best!); open the bridges and re-grease them too (the grease
had dried); glue the gallery and charge the new battery, head for the garden to test this (and adjust the shock absorbers a little while the glue dries for the gallery):
Sounds pretty good to me! I go up the gallery as soon as it has finished drying and on my way to the Parc des Perrières to take some pictures!
I take advantage of the sunny weather for that, the place is pretty and big enough. In summer after the rain it has a tropical forest atmosphere in one of its corners.
I make a few twists and turns, and I quickly reach the level of a large mound of sandy soil with a sort of drop of 3m (for the Def, it's huge!). A nice descent on the side that I decide to take
with the Def and ... big fall (filmed, it's at the beginning of the video)! With breakage: the gallery is torn off and in pieces. I pick up what I can and before leaving, I decide to put the Def
on the ledge to take a nice photo. But wrong manipulation, I press the throttle and the Def goes into the void. I rush to try to catch up, lack of luck, I miss and in addition I fall ... on the
def! It is complete !
Well ... I think it's best to go home before another disaster happens. I realize that the remote control has no more batteries ... I will give way to the video while I repair the Def!
I went a little further than just the repair during these 3 weeks of working on the Def.
I didn't know if I was going to remanufacture a gallery or if I fix mine (once again) and if I rebuild it, do I stay on styrene or I go on brass? I ended up modeling and 3D printing beefier supports to hold the gallery,
reinforce it and 'glue' it to the roof instead of having 1.5cm of space.
But I also remodeled the whole interior, with a beautiful well decorated dashboard (on the right side!) And painted the characters which will now be 2. I take advantage of the complete disassembly of the interior and the chassis
to open the steering servomotor and add 2 small resistors in order to increase the steering angle and thus turn more easily / quickly. Because the turning radius of 4m is not practical. Now 1m50-2m is enough! There are also new
hooks for fixing the tensioners (which are used to protect the windshield from branches, but also to dry the laundry on mine). Full of new material to fill the gallery (beer keg, crates of equipment, new markings of the previous
crates), a new gas hatch which corresponds to a Land Rover 1988 (and no longer `` Defender 90 '', even if I continues to call it `` my Def '' out of habit), redo the windows, wipers, the floor at the back, make a support for the
spare wheel on the hood, redo bungee cords to hold the equipment on the roof, make a ladder at the back to access the gallery, license plates (from XM to Grandpa), move the main ON / OFF lever so that it is easier to reach, detail
the snorkel, store the desilting plates in the trunk, add ropes, winching straps and other various details and a little hacking to better secure the cables in the frame.
In the end, a lot of work to have a Land that is closer to what I want. There still remains to be done (standardize the rims and tires, change the color of the snorkel, wire (finally) the winch and add some additional details),
but already, he has a good head!
Some tests in the garden, new settings of the shock absorbers. I think I'm not bad at all this time! The gallery's fixing points are a little more massive, but it's not too annoying.
Well, it's time to try it again!
Because the last time, I rode barely 15 minutes, in terms of spotting for a trophy, it's light! Back to Les Perrières on April 19 to do the scouting as I wanted (see which places are interesting to ride, which passages a little
more technical, muddy passages, viewpoints for photos, etc ...). It is hot, dry and the trees are far from having resurfaced. It does not matter, it will be a more desert theme!
In the tall grass, the Def continues to lay them down as if nothing had happened. It must be said that it weighs 5.8kg in running order!
Further on is full of bumps and jumps for mountain bikes, some allow a good photo point while others are very steep to climb. But he manages to go up after some hesitation and skating.
A beautiful stump to turn around and show the tip of his nose at ground level (photo that will end up in the background!).
Back in the tall grass and the flowers (do not go to the high heeerbes!) For a very nice rendering and a bucolic atmosphere (but the passage is really not wide for me, the Def will just have to go only !).
The def ended up falling on a risky attempt on my part, to do 4-5 rolls and end up on the side ... without loss or breakage! Well, it seems that the gallery holds up much better like that, that's perfect!
After a rather leisurely big ride since there was no mud at the moment, I found two nice bumps close together and high enough to have fun with:
It's time to try again the sheer drop from the last time ... 2 ascents and descents, no worries! I even try a steep descent directly, the engine brake is useless, you just have to drop, and
everything goes well I take out a mini French flag that I had tinkered for that, and proudly plant it in its supports on the bumper!
It is a success ! And the Def proudly takes the pose at the top of the ridge.
Back home, the def full of dust, a few extra scratches, but no breakage or loss. Everything stays in place, and the center of gravity having been lowered slightly by reducing the height of the
gallery and adding a plate at the rear floor level makes it slightly better on climbs. The shock absorbers are set as it should be, the next ride is on!
