The vehicle is a 2000-model-year Range Rover P38. It is the Vogue, with the 4.6litre V8 engine. Chris has converted it to run on LPG to try to keep the eye-watering fuel costs under control.
It is a very comfortable vehicle to travel in, and should make for quite a civilised challenge
It has recently had an engine rebuild to repair the cracked liner issue that all these engines suffer from
And here is a Youtube video of some mild off-roading in Wales
This is the vehicle when we purchased it:
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And here are some photos of the vehicle as preparations take place for the challenge:
5th January 2014
I took a Discovery roofrack and substantially modified it to fit the smaller (and hidden) gutters on the Range Rover. I also changed it so the bars run front to back rather than side to side.
Roof-rack before
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Modified brackets
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And on the vehicle
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The roofrack is to mount some side and rear facing lighting for some of the 'hidden numberplate' stages. I looked on eBay and found some nicely made bike lights with a single LED. I negotiated with the supplier in Hong Kong and purchased 12 sets, without the battery / charger / accessories. All I needed was the lamp assembly itself.
The lamp is rated at 1200 Chinese Lumens which translates to an actual rating of 1040 lumens according to Cree who make the actual LED.
The lamp assembly as supplied to me:
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And in bits. I don't want any of the electrickery as I will just hook 3 of these in series with a suitable power resistor. Less to go wrong! and the alternator on the vehicle is a 150A alternator, so saving a few amps isn't worth the bother.
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Stripped down to give just the parts I need:
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And reassembled:
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I will just run them at 2Amps instead of their maximum of 3A. Gives me a bit of headroom in case things go wrong.....
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Now mounted up in groups of 3 with 2.2Ω power resistors to set the current.
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And finally mounted to the roofrack and wired (with mains flex) into the car
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We plan to sleep inside the vehicle, so I have made a frame from angle iron. This attaches to two of the rear seat attachment points, and at the other end locks underneath the spare wheel access cover (now containing the LPG tank). This frame gives room underneath it for two spare wheels and all the assortments we'll need for the journey. And somewhere commodious to sleep!
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