Katy's Rock Star Video

Here's my new Katy video

Sound track from the blues brothers



We hope you enjoyed it !

Oh What a Day

From Preston, onto the M6 and South we headed, nothing to write home about in the first section of the run other than I had the heater working this time and it was wonderful to have some warmth instead of my teeth chattering it was the fuel pump and injectors.

The fan works well and after about 15 miles I had to start divesting the layers of warm clothes I had put on to start the day.

Knutsford soon came into view and off I pulled with a little anticipation of whether Katy was going to start again or whether GEM and I were going to become close friends today.

Soon we had £100 of diesel on-board and were ready to go. One turn of the key and SHE STARTED!

Rhian was just leaving ahead of me as we'd agreed there was no need to run in convoy any longer as things seemed to be going well and I my confidence was increasing. We agreed to meet at Stafford for lunch as we''d not got off as fast as we'd hoped this morning (see http://landroverkaty.blogspot.com/2011/02/oh-what-morning.html if you want the full story)

60-65 seems the optimum cruising speed so Rhian spend off to our next stop. Arriving there I parked up in the caravan and camper section and could see Rhian reading her Kindle in our Suzuki in the car section and wandered over... Knock Knock. "Oh You're here already. I wasn't expecting you so soon"

Lunch was soon consumed and we headed off again. This time agreeing to meet back at home in Cardiff

So we set-off again and I made my way back out in to the traffic.

It should be noted that I was not the slowest thing on the road as had been my worry. I had in fact been overtaking quite a few trucks and even quite a few cars, and I now know how truck drivers feel when someone slows them down as Katy doesn't have the acceleration of the Grand Vitara I'm used to driving

As I came into Wales there is a steep hill down into Monmouth and with a bit of lining up and preparation we reached a massive 70 MPH ! The sound from the engine and the wobble in thesteering was a bit too worrying so settling down to reasonable we headed home for a well deserved cuppa and a 1st attempt at reversing a large Land rover onto the Drive.

Oh What a Day indeed, but it wasn't over yet !

Oh What a Morning

Bright eyed and bushy tailed we rose at the crack of sparrows and headed out

Ceris and Jim had to go out so left us to lock up

I climbed in, switched off the alarm

Turned the key.....

NOTHING

Now this was not that much of a surprise as we had seen some warning signs of a possible battery problem last night

A quick call to GEM (I'll give them a plug the service was excellent!) and a large red truck appeared and after checking we were on a 12v system a jump start was quickly set-up and left for a few minutes to get some life into what was a totally flat battery.

5 minutes later a single turn of the key and "RHUUMM  BBLLLEE .... "

SUPERB !

Whilst I checked his paperwork for him a test of the alternator proved that to be fine so he asked where we were going

"South Wales" said I

"Braver than me" came the rapid response, "How much fuel have you got ?"

"erm.. just outside the red" said I.

"should get you to Knutsford..I recommend you set-off and stop just long enough to fill up with fuel"

So that's what we did.

Down to Preston

So setting off in a "Brand New Land Rover" in the dark, up a farm track and on unfamiliar roads was quite a 1st step given I was now a little unsure on how she was to drive. The state of the track was such that nothing other than a 4x4 would make it

The first discovery was that the instrument lights were not working so I had to rig up a torch to see what speed I was doing and then off again. The next discovery was that trees are too short and I clipped a few branches.

We had luckily managed to stay with friends that night in Preston. so headed off on the A666 and then down the M65 to Preston.

The well known artist Ceris Jones (Sloane) and her husband Jim who almost by tradition are the people we see when we buy cars were putting us us up for the nice in their fabulous house which is one of the best Art Galleries I know !

After a brief warming up because I was frozen (In the excitement I had neglected to work out how to use the heater which was actually fully functional) we stepped outside to share the experience with our friends.

Ceris kindly recorded the event for us both in stills and video so some pictures of the event

Katy herself

Rhian and Katy playing together


 Jim looking on longingly at somewhere warmer than he is


OK... I may be a bit overexcited at this point

 Proof if needed that it's a Land Rover



And with that.. off to bed at the end of a very exhausting day

In the Farmyard .. First and Second Impressions

So we finally got to see each other.. it was dark !

Katy was parked up on a ramp (not a good sign).

This turned out to be just a useful place for charging the battery (also not a good sign )

However she was quickly started and reversed out into the yard for us to take a look at

First impressions are everything and she was filthy, but that was agreed beforehand on eBay she was listed with a statement that she would be valeted, but after purchase the seller offered to put 6 months tax on her instead. I have a pressure washer so that seemed a good deal

Second impressions were that everything was there as described - a 23 year old land rover that's had an interesting life has a few battle scars, but the panel work was good and just a few signs of rust on the door pillars, a bit on start up, but non after a couple of seconds.

We were soon shown the various controls and, checked a few things for the HPI guarantee and the paperwork was done, and cash changed hands so it was time to go

In I got. started her up and into 1st gear and then  AH ... Nothing happens when I put my foot down

Must be out of diesel said the seller and promptly disappeared off in his Discovery to get some

So a quick refuelling off we go again.... STILL Nothing happens when I put my foot down

Under the bonnet it is then .. and we quickly identified that the fuel pipe which had been recently changed as the old one was perished had split. the new pipe had been too small a diameter, and diesel was being pumped all over the floor (good sign the fuel pump is OK)

The seller dived into his shed and out comes a brand new fuel pipe,  exactly the correct size and length so it takes mere seconds to fit it and after a brief moment to let the pipe fill up and fuel get to the right places she started first time

So off we go on our new adventure together...

Bidding wars

I have to admit to sometimes hating the way that eBay works and the way some people behave on it

OK I had found a Land Rover of the type I had been wanting, but knowing it was an auction I was happy up to a certain price and up until 50 minutes before the end of the auction the price was well below that.

The full story is a little sad. we were away for the evening with friends having been out to the funeral of someone who had been one of their closes friends and someone we had come to know and like very much in his later years. The wine was flowing and we were all talking about the adventures we hoped to have in the future. Chas our late friend had been seen off with a mix if jazz, morris dancing and real ale, and now we were enjoying some red wine before an evening out. My dilemma came out in the discussion. could we afford to leave such a bargain? A few more glasses of their fine red wine and it was decided... A maximum value would be £7654.32 so I entered that into eBay and we all went out for a meal at that point.

A hour or so later we came back. I logged on and  I HAD WON !, but the way people had been bidding in the last 20 minutes had driven up the price by £2000. OK that was still within my price or otherwise I would not have won, but is it really necessary and what does  it say about the sort of people who can't decide what something is worth and just place a bid in.

All of this last minute bidding doesn't mean a bargain unless someone else has only bid very low - if they have you will win, if not they will win. I have yet to see that this last minute bidding does anything for anyone other than cause a lot of stress

I have to admit I often won't even bid on some things if they are auctions  whereas if there was a reasonable buy now price I would just buy it

That's it... Just a personal view if you are selling via eBay please take note!

Was it Love at 1st Sight ?

How do you start an affair ?

Well I found this "Other Woman" on that well known classic vehicle dating site ... ebay

We (the real wife and I) once went to Iceland and saw a few Go Anywhere campers around the place and thought "what a fun idea when I can afford it and when the time is right"

So I'd been looking for a 130 for a while and kept seeing the odd one go by at a not too silly price and promised myself that next time one came past at a reasonable price I would have a go and see where it took me.  So here she is as I saw her on eBay







Now doesn't that look fun !

The posts that follow will describe how we got together and how our relationship is going to develop .. I can see some fun, pain and expense ahead !