Compressor - Clarke Hunter 50

Acquired from Freecycle.

It wasn't working. It seemed like an electrical fault. First thing was to check the plug and the fuse.

Someone had put a Spanish plug on it, so I disconnected that and put a three-pin plug on it. As the compressor is designed for live, neutral and earth it wouldn't work without the earth wire.

Still didn't work, but at least it had current - it didn't before the plug was changed.

Removed the cover of the interruptor switch, put on a test screwdriver, and it fired into life. The noise frightened the life out of me and I nearly went through the store backwards. I hadn't expected the motor to work.

The next step was to look for the parts to put it right. As I was busy working, I decided to let the shop fit the parts as well and left the compressor with them. They gave it an overhaul, changed the oil, fitted the new switch and I bought a new flexi air-line.

Total cost - approx £120 for a machine worth around £600 - or more in Gibraltar. Half of the cost was labour, and the parts costs were for an air filter element, switch, back entry gauge, nipples, a plastic cover and a gland.

Oh and if anyone is wondering what on earth this has to do with Land Rovers... respray?

Random Landy photos

Seen in Gib over the last month or so.

Sunday morning starter?

Nigel mentioned he had a problem with his Discovery (1). It's a V8. Sounded like the starter motor to Adrian, so off he went to take it out for him.



It took some time when he first took ours out from the Series III many years ago, he didn't realise that it wasn't just two threaded bolts, but that they are allen head studs, so an allen key/socket is needed to remove them.



But with that at the back of his mind, he went over there this morning fully equipped.

'It shouldn't take long,' he said. A famous Land Rover quote. With that in mind I printed off some geocaching info, although realised that was unlikely to happen.

And some three hours later, he had finally got it out. No geocaching but a successful starter motor day. When Nigel gets it fixed, he will put it back in for him.



A couple of comments. Adrian was working on the street under the Disco which is much lower down than our Series and our Santana. The three hours includes driving there, and loading and unloading tools.



It's not a difficult job, it is awkward, it can be frustrating, and you have to clean out any crud ie oil, gunge, dirt, before you can get the allen key to fit. If anyone doesn't know where it is, it's under the manifold on the driver's side.



One of the difficult things was to remove the electrical connections to the solenoid, he had to take out the starter motor before he could remove the nuts.



There was also a stud that he couldn't see. There was one that came out of the top, one wasn't there in the bottom (but should have been) but the starter motor still wouldn't come out. So then he had to feel around to eventually find the third one.



Finally, the starter motor is the original factory fitted one from 1991 - even had the original cable tie holding it together. Eighteen years - not bad value for money there.

Nigel - didn't lose patience and was great at passing the tools.

Macharaviaya .. and some travel updates

Macharaviaya is a tiny village in a cul-de-sac. Or, to be more accurate, it is not far from anywhere, but stuck in the middle of nowhere, and there is only one road in and out (unless my maps and navigation misled me)



It seems to have enjoyed good times in the 18th century when the influential Galvez family (who came from Macharaviaya) built a playing card factory there and sold the packs of cards in America. Strange tale. There is a large church in the village - San Jacinto - and a mausoleum to the Galvez family.



We went there some time ago, when we were exploring our local area. It was the sort of place that when you arrived, everyone stared at you because you were obviously so out of place. It felt rather intrusive to get out and do the whole tourist thing in somebody's face so we cleared off.



Apparently it is home to lots of artists because of its tranquility and peacefulness. Isolation is the word.

Anyway, last month it suddenly acquired a geocache. Even more interestingly, no-one seemed bothered to dash there and claim the First to Find. We clearly haven't quite got the geocaching bug because the first thing we did on arriving at the finca was not to dash off to Macharaviaya. In fact we had been back four days before we went to hunt down the elusive FTF - on my birthday.

Now while we had been before, my memory had clearly hazed over the detail. I remembered rolling hillsides covered with olive trees. I did not remember a vertiginious narrow road (it had actually improved since our first visit) that snaked along the top of the ridge with steep drops on either side and hugged the precipitious hillside on the ascents and descents.

'Oh that's it down there isn't it?' said my helpful chauffeur.

'I don't know and I'm not looking,' I said, eyes firmly fixed on the reassuring hillside to the right of me, rather than the vomit-inducing drop to the left.

Pretty place, nice location, great views ............. but if you have problems with vertigo and heights - be warned.

The cache was fun. I was glued to the GPS and announced we were getting near. A convenient parking spot appeared and we pulled in. We set off down the road and I suddenly realised we were getting further away from the cache. We turned round - and realised we had parked right next to the location. Duh.





It was well hidden and in a good spot. I hope other people take the time to go and find it.



Other Landy travelling news: well, we have now tried out all the toll road stretches between Gib and Málaga. The toll road between Sotogrande and Estepona costs 2.90€ and in my opinion is not worth taking. Plus it has some horrid viaducts and tunnels. Even more horrid than normal. And the alternative coast road is pretty and usually not busy.

On the toll road between Marbella and Fuengirola, the cafe/restaurant at Los Altos de Marbella does great sandwiches - we got a bocadillo de tortilla para llevar (to take away) and it was great. They really had some excellent looking tapas too: some potato salad, a salad with tomato, onion and olives, and yet another delicious looking vegetarian one.

Down side, it is increasingly busy at this rest area at the moment, and the once tidy and clean toilets are no longer immaculate.

The rest area on the toll road that by-passes San Pedro is pretty quiet, and a great place to stop. I've only used the shop, so maybe I need to test out the bar food next time. It was pretty busy today though. The car parking area was quiet though.






Oh, and we sat in the border queue for half an hour today. No idea why. A first for us, we have usually been incredibly lucky with no queues.

Electrics....headlights......relay

Dipped headlights not working.

Fuse?

Bulb? – unlikely – not both of them.

Stalk/switch?

Emailed my favourite source of electrical advice and asked what else it could be.

Relay, he suggested.

We checked the fuses, all fourteen of them. Then we looked at the little black box stuck on the side of the fuseboard. A three pin plug, one of which was dirty.

Santana fuse box - relay on the left - note Hella not Lucas!


Scratched the dirty bits off, and put it back in. Switched on the headlights. And main beam. And back again. Working perfectly.

Shouldn't have even bothered with the fuses. Spot-on diagnosis, and not for the first time. Top tip. Thanks pal.

Mud

Spotted in Morrisons carpark. A rather muddy Defender. We looked round and saw three other rather muddy vehicles. The group was returning to the UK after a three week trip to Morocco.

Marbella to Málaga

Another toll road (peaje) post.

First point, the prices went up on the first of June.

Needless to state it was still quiet, with no arsey drivers. Some speeding but not the arsey types you get on the busy non-toll roads.

So the price of the toll road to avoid San Pedro, which runs between Estepona and Marbella, has gone up from 2.55€ to 4.15€.

Luckily we set off on 31st May so at least half of our journey was at cheap prices. We were so impressed with the last trip we did, that we tackled another toll road between Marbella and Fuengirola. This cuts out all the coastal stretch - Calahonda, Elviria, Mijas Costa, El Faro etc etc.

On the ordinary road, there are nice views out to sea, but the endless urbanisation is depressing and there is consistently bad driving on the N340 here. This is partly because the slip roads to enter the N340 - dual carriageway - are nearly all non-existent. Everyone has to grind to a halt, and then try and enter traffic travelling minimum 50mph/80kph from a standing start in first gear. So naturally instead of slowing down and stopping, drivers try and cruise straight on, despite not having right of way. And every single slip road has a stop sign.

So Marbella to Fuengirola on the toll road costs 3.75€ - or at least it did on Sunday. It now costs 6.10€. Today it was windy and hot. The temperature gauge climbed to half way, and we reckon it was well over thirty degrees. When we stopped at the rest area, the dog was jumping around on the pavement because it was hot for his feet so we put him back inside to drink his water.





The rest area (Los Altos de Marbella) was good - immaculately clean, the food looked delicious (we had taken sandwiches), loads of parking (no shade), and superb long slip roads.







We did buy a couple of things - Lay's Artesanas crisps, 95 cents for a small bag, 3.25€ for a big one, a can of coke is 1.15€, and beer (for non-drivers) is between 1.50€ and 1.70€. Note, there is currently a promotion on for Carlsberg, one costs 1.70€ and you can get three for 3.10€. This is actually at the petrol station Sprint shop rather than the slightly posher Medas restaurant/cafeteria/shop. There is food available at both.

If we hadn't taken sandwiches we would have eaten at Medas, the tortilla looked delicious and so did the salads and sandwiches, which were freshly made on request. It is also no-smoking - another plus point.

In fact we must have spent at least half an hour sitting outside enjoying the peace and tranquillity in the mountains.



Incidentally the men on the toll booth are surly and the women are smiley. Oh, and I might have confused the prices, it could be 6.15€ and 4.10€ but it's near enough.

Range Rover Classic

Once upon a time I rather fancied a nice V8 Range Rover. It never happened.

This weekend we went to look at one.

It is a Range Rover Classic, year, 1991.

Naturally it is a V8 – 3.9. It sounds wonderful. It has a good chassis and seems rust-free. It has a beautiful walnut dash and a somewhat bizarre small sport-style steering wheel to match. In terms of colour and interior it is slightly faded, or worn, or however you want to describe it. It also has a crap new head-lining that in no way matches.

It costs 200€ a year to road tax in Spain (no road tax in Gib).

It has a few faults. Apart from anything else the ITV (Spanish equivalent of MOT) expired at the end of the month.

The water jets for the windscreen don't work. One doesn't even eject water, and the other sends out a pitiful trickle that doesn't hit the windscreen.

The support for the split upper rear door doesn't work. If you don't hold the glass up it drops down and hits you on the head if you haven't realised.

The small indicator lights on the side of the front wings don't work. Fuse?

Nevertheless they are not big things in the overall scheme of Range Rovers. Adrian drove it out of the underground car park where it lives so that we could have a decent look at it in daylight – where we discovered the above faults.

We also discovered as I was trying to get in – that it is not a five door. Or rather a two door as one can hardly describe the boot bit as a door. Now while I may have passed my lithe agile peak, I am not entirely immobile and it was hell to get into. It was the sort of situation where you open the door, dive headlong onto the back seat through the narrow gap (even allowing for pushing the front seat forward) and hoping the rest of your body clambers in after the first part. Not that I wear them, but it is no good for anyone who chooses short skirts or stilettos. Nor is it any good for anyone who wishes to look remotely elegant – woman or man.

I could see very little out of the front as the seats are high. I contented myself with looking out of the rear window. They are slidey windows so I opened it a tiny bit and decided I didn't have enough strength to manage more than a couple of centimetres. I leaned over to the other side and couldn't open that at all. Still, if we bought it, I wouldn't be sitting in the back. Neither would anyone else.

It sounded very nice as we drove a short distance down the road. We checked out all the usual suspect areas for rust. Think the owner was a bit surprised when we went through the routine of checking all the lights – like why would you not? Because we don't drive very much these days, checking all the lights are working (as well as oil and water) has now become standard practice before we set off anywhere – usually to Spain, as there is little point driving around Gib.

So. Verdict.

A good drive. Condition: good rather than very good, and defo not mint – chassis and engine were plus points, and they are what matters. Desirability: two doors, crap colour, and appalling new head-lining detract from it. Oh, I keep forgetting, it had air-con and a newish Blaupunkt stereo. I keep forgetting to mention them because they don't interest me but the owner seemed to think they were important. Mileage: 240,000 kms. Price: too much. Had a quick looky on eBay and couldn't find anything over a grand – he wanted more. He's not been able to sell it in at least the last six months if not more. What could we realistically expect for it if we wanted to sell? A few hundred?

So ….... whatever happened to my dream about Range Rovers? Guess I've been a leaf-sprung woman for too long.