Magazine Superstar

Another brief update...

One idle Sunday, recently, whilst I was stood in WHS Smiths waiting for my good lady to hurry up and get served, I happened to pick up Complete Kit Car from the nearby shelf and flick through - to my surprise, I was in it!!!

Signed copies available upon request

I remember having a chat with the editor, Ian Stent at the Exeter show; and he mentioned that he would be keen to include it in the mag in some form, and potentially run a feature when finished. I had forgotten all about that and the amount of photographers that were cooing over it on the day, so it was a nice surprise and a bit of reward for all the hard work. I were dead chuffed I were.

Leave me a comment below if CKC brought you here :)

So, back to the business of building...


After the show, and as per the last update, attention has continued to focus on all the small and menial but no less important tasks. I spent a whole evening on eBay ordering "finishing pieces" like clips, rubber edging, nut covers etc. and many an hour on tidying and finishing tasks like pegging back looms, routing wiring, securing pipes with cable ties etc.

I have also been nagging Peter (who has been very patient) about the few remaining electrical gremlins. First one, headlights that flash on and off with the indicators. Go on... see if you can spot the deliberate mistake...

Don't cut the yellow wire! or the red wire! I think it's the white one... BOOM.

That's right, you guessed it. I cut the wrong wire. Peter gave me some instruction over the 'phone but I cut and joined the wrong yellow and green wire (the one with the spade terminals in that picture) I should have cut the OTHER yellow and green wire. D'oh, and apologies to Peter who spent a fair bit of time wracking his brains only to find it was yet another foolish customer mistake!!

Also managed to fix the hazard tell-tale flashing in time with the right indicator, this was just a simple snip and re-solder. So now, everything works 100% perfectly. Right down to the buzzer that tells you when you have left the lights on when you take the key out!!

I sorted out my dilemma with the petrol cap tethering - seems you can simply trap the wire between the filler neck and hose and clamp in place with the jubilee clip. So simple and effective.... why didn't I think of that! I had started fabricating all sorts of weird and wonderful clips, brackets, jointing pieces etc.

The roll-bar/hoop is also ready and being posted down to me, along with a tonneau cover for the boot. I hadn't planned to fit that yet, but might do as it will neaten up the back area for IVA (even though they will undoubtedly make me take it off).

So progress-wise, about 94% through the build list - the big things remaining are roll bar, seatbelts and re-re-re-fitting the ally panels for about the 7th time (getting to the stage where I wish I'd have rivnutted them or tapped them by now!!) But this is the last time now... or so I keep telling myself every time I end up drilling a load of rivets out!

The snagging list, which is running parallel with the build list now, is at about 70% complete, with mostly minor jobs left such as nut covers, sharp edge patrol, and need to flip the exhaust three into ones as they're upside down.

I forgot to include this pic last time, which shows the engine bay nearing completion in terms of neatening up wiring and pipes etc. Oh and the now-fitted PiperX air filter, complete with Land Rover rubber air duct hose part number ESR1611L HOSE AIRFLOW TO PLENUM V8 DEFENDER RANGE ROVER CLASSIC, £23 +vat from Brookwell.co.uk,

Getting close to finishing now! Will seriously be looking at filling in the IVA paperwork after Christmas.

Thanks for reading, and Merry Christmas if I don't see you before!