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From: Alan_Richer/CAM/Lotus@crd.lotus.com
Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 08:33:29 -0400
Subject: Re: Rerouting kodiak intake

Re: Rerouting the intake:

Yes, it can be done, and was actually sold that way at one time and called
an "Arctic" Kodiak.

You're exactly right on the hows and wheres of this one - personally, I'd
rig a squarish duct section to fit one of the pedal box holes on the
offside and pull the return air through that.

If you want to get fancy, the other thing you could do is get ain air valve
into the hose run, so that either outside or inside air could be drawn into
the system.The reason for bothering to go this far is to allow for
less-humid outside air for defogging in misty and cold conditions - the air
in the cab will get saturated and won't demist the windshield efficiently.

               ajr

------------------------------

From: Alan_Richer/CAM/Lotus@crd.lotus.com
Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 08:36:19 -0400
Subject: Re: Delco alternator wiring

TeriAnn, here's a post I wrote about a year ago on the subject. It's got
more information than you'll need, but too much is better than too
little...

                    ajr

Tutorial: Alternate Alternators, or GMing your Lucas bits

I've seen many a post asking the question "How do you get rid of this
blasted Lucas generator?", so I've decided to pull together the random bits
of information I have on the subject into a coherent format, presented here
for your pleasure. Thanks to Bill Grouell for walking me through this on my
own car when I did it, and helping me understand it so I can share it with
you all.

DISCLAIMER: IF you're uncomfortable with electrical work or mechanical
fitting, DON'T DO THIS WITHOUT HELP! I'm not responsible if you get burned,
zapped, bitten or otherwise damaged by your car. Now that that's over.....
(and my lawyer has stopped shaking in his wingtips)....

The  subject  at hand is going to be switching your car from a Lucas dynamo
to a GM internally-regulated alternator. These are inexpensive, one-package
solution to the low output current problem of a 20-amp dynamo. This is done
by  removing the dynamo and its associated control box, jumpering the wires
which  were  once  connected  at  the junction box to allow 12 volts to get
where  it  needs to, installing new wires to connect the GM alternator into
the  car's  electrical  system,  modifying  the  mountings  to  accept  the
alternator, and mounting and connecting the new alternator into the system.

Note 1: This assumes that your car is already a negative-ground vehicle. if
it isn't, you're going to need to worry about a lot more than this when
rewiring, like swapping the battery around and dealing with the fuel gage
and other things. Do the positive-to-negative conversion first, then do the
alternator swap. One thing at a time makes things much easier - it's easier
to figure out where you blew it.

NOTE 2: If you don't have a schematic of your car, DON'T TRY THIS. Too many
Rovers have lost wiring harnesses to inexpert tinkering with no
documentation, and I'd hate to see your car become another casualty.
Schematics are cheap insurance - they can save you many hundreds of dollars
of damage.

NOTE3: If you have schematics for your Rover (and you really should if
you're going to do electrical work of any kind) MARK A PHOTOCOPY OF  THE
SCHEMATICS with the changes you make! This will make your life easier the
next time Joe Lucas' ghost comes to visit your car.

1. Obtaining the needed bits, or hunting the wild current...

The only item you may have trouble running across for this installation is
a Rover alternator bracket. If your car has such an item already mounted on
it, you're all set. Else, you can modify the original mounts, or get a
bracket from your favorite used-parts dealer or a derelict Rover. I was
changing engines at the same time I did this, so my new engine already had
the bracket. Personally, I recommend changing the bracket.

GM 1-wire alternators are easy to come by in the US and Canada. The
specific one that fits a Land-Rover well is the one specified for a 1970
Chevrolet Nova, as it has the plug-in for current sense on the right side
(when facing the pulley end), and is available with a double pulley.  Get
one with the double pulley, as it will save a lot of tedious metalwork
constructing extension spacers for the Lucas alternator mount we will
install. Typical price I ran across for these was about $60 American for a
remanufactured unit with a lifetime guarantee.

At the same time as you purchase your alternator, buy the plug that goes
into the two-prong socket on the side. This will be used to make
connections to the sense and alternator warning light leads. With this, you
will also need about 8 feet of wire in 3 colors, red 10-gauge for the
alternator output, red 16-gauge for the sense wire, and white 16-gauge for
the alternator warning light. These are the standard colors for a GM
installation, and I chose to stay with them.

You'll also need some lugs and slide-on connectors for the wiring ends,
some wire ties, some shrink tubing of the proper sizes to cover soldered
connections, and a few #8 brass nuts and bolts for connecting lug together
where the old generator box is removed.

2. Site prep, or clearing the mounts for the new parts.

FIRST, DISCONNECT AND REMOVE THE BATTERY FROM THE CAR! THis can save major
embarassment, not to mention smoke shows.... We.ll put it back in later,
when we're ready to go.

This part is actually easy. What we're doing here is removing all of the
old bits to make room for the new ones. Simply dismount and remove the
dynamo from its brackets, and then remove the dynamo brackets themselves,
leaving the area clear. What we'll end up doing is attaching a Land-Rover
alternator bracket to the mounting points in this location, so all of the
old bracketing has got to go.

The control box for the dynamo's got to go, too, but don't remove it now.
This should be done when the alternator wiring is installed, so that the
proper connections can be made to the wires removed from the control box.

3: Building the new alternator harness

We need to build a small wiring harness with 3 wires:

10-gauge red wire for the current output
16-gauge red wire for the sense input
16-gauge white wire for the warning light

To do this, take your alternator and set it on a work surface. If you're
doing this on the kitchen table, cover it with something so the SO doesn't
kill you. Looking at the alternator from the rear, you'll see a stud on the
back with a nut on it, and a socket on the left side with two prongs. These
are where the wires need to get connected.

Take the plug you purchased when you bought your alternator, and solder the
ends of the red and white 16-ga. wires to it. The wires on the plug will be
of the same colors, so match them up. Insulate the soldered connections
with shrink tubing. Take the 10-ga. red wire, and attach a ring lug to it,
soldering the connection and insulating the bottom of the lug with shrink
tubing. This is going to be the current output lead.

NOTE: Don't buy el-cheapo ring lugs for this conection. The'll fatigue and
break. Go to an electrical-supply house and get a heavy copper lug, or make
one from flattened copper tubing of the proper diameter to take the wire
end. You'll thank me on this one.

Put the ring lug onto the stud on the back of the alternator and put the
nut on over it, just to locate its placement. Insert the plug into the
socket on the side of the alternator. Now. bring the wires together leaving
plenty of slack and harness them together with the wire ties about every 6
inches or so. stopping about 6 feet up. Leave the last 2 feet unharnessed,
as these wires need to go to different places.

4. Wiring in the new harness

Remove the harness from the alternator, and starting at the alternator
position, route the wiring across the front of the engine and down the
distributor side of the block and up the firewall to the neighborhood of
the fusebox. Use wire ties to secure the harness as needed, being careful
to avoid sharp bends or contact with metal edges.

Now, trim the small red wire to reach the fusebox with slack to spare and
solder/crimp on a quick-connect lug to fit the fusebox. On a Series IIa,
attach the lead to the bottom fuse (unswitched power). This will allow the
alternator to sense voltage drop in the system and correct its output as
needed.

The other two leads need to go through the grommet the harness goes through
into the dashboard. Drop the dashboard and locate the wires connected to
the ammeter and the dynamo warning light. The output of the dynamo control
box ran directly to one side of the ammeter, in my schematics typically on
a brown-and-white wire. By following the schematics, you can tell which one
for sure on your car. Unplug that wire and insulate  AND MARK it, then
strip the alternator output lead, put a large slide-on wire connector on it
and connect it where the dynamo output lead was removed.

The dynamo warning light has 2 wires running to it. One is grounded along
with all the other warning lights (typically a white wire), and the other
ran to the dynamo control box (usually yellow). Disconnect the wire going
to the dynamo control box, unsolder the bullet connector on the end,
insulate AND MARK the old wire, trim the white wire going to the alternator
and solder the bullet connector to it. Plug this new warning lead into the
connector on the warning lamp.

Use wire ties to secure the wiring in place. Keep it neat, and future
owners of your vehicle will thank you for it. We're not trying to create a
SPOT here - use common sense and trim things up properly both under the
bonnet and in the dash.

NOTE:

The ammeter on your panel is only going to read to 30 amps. With the new
alternator in place, it will ofttimes be pinned at the top of its range. If
this disturbs you, I recommend jumpering the ammeter. It's not really
suited to the new charging system anyway, and there is a not-so-small risk
that the ammeter can be damaged by this behavior.

That said, I've disconnected mine - pinned gauges make engineers nervous.

5. Installing the new alternator on the engine

This is a multi-step process. First, we have to make the alternator and
bracket fit together, then we need to mount the bracket, then the
alternator, and belt the beast to the pulleys.

The Lucas alternator bracket as used on later Series IIa and III bolts on
in place of the old dynamo bracketing. Before this, though, we need to
drill out the holes that the alternator mounting bolt goes through, as it's
only 5/16" in diameter and the GM alternator needs to have a 3/8" bolt to
fit properly. An electric drill and a bit of care can accomplish this
handily.

Now, mount the bracket to the engine. You will see, on the side of the
engine where the dynamo was, two tapped holes side-by-side and a
through-bolt hole below the first two. This is where the bracket goes on.
Bolt on the bracket, with 2 5/16" washers under each mounting pad. We want
to move the bracket forward a bit so the alternator lines up properly with
the engine pulleys.

Now, I'm going to give you a choice.

The alternator can be bolted on as-is, using a longer belt. Personally, I
didn't do this, as I found that it gets in the way, sticking out too far
toward the wing.

What I did was to notch the web of the bottom bolt hole (the long one). The
way it is made, there is a fillet of metal on both sides of this long bolt
hole for support. I trimmed away the one that would be toward the engine,
to give clearance for the alternator bracket. If you do this, you can use a
standard belt, and the installation just looks cleaner.

Your choice.

In any case, use a 3/8" bolt with lock washer to mount the alternator to
the bracket. Place 2 3/8" washers behind the alternator at the back of the
mounting to soak up the extra space between the support arms and the
alternator lower mount.

The upper support which once tensioned the dynamo needs to be moved as
well, due to the larger diameter of the alternator. The best place I found
for it was on the bottom-right water inlet bolt (of the three bolts in a
triangle pattern on the front cover). Remove the bolt and put the hole in
the bracket over it, with a spacer under it to get the bracket up out of
the cover recess. Don't tighten the bolt until you engage and tighten the
belt, as the bracket will shift up and down depending on where the
alternator attaches to it.

6. Disconnecting and jumpering the old dynamo control box:

There are connections on the old control box that need to be jumpered, else
the current's not going to go where you want. There are two different
control boxes used on early Series vehicles, a 3-wire and a 5-wire, and
I'll detail the changes needed for both here.

What you need to do here is leave the original wiring intact, and reroute
the +12 volts around the connections once made by the control box.
Typically, the only one you need to worry about is the connection between
the fusebox and the ignition switch, and the wiring to + 12 for the
accessory lead plugs.

On the 3-wire box (typically early + ground Diesel installations)

No modifications needed. Disconnect and insulate the terminals and wire-tie
them to the harness neatly.

5-wire dynamo control box in a 2.25L Petrol negative earth installation, as
well as 2.25 and 2.6 L IIB Forward Control:

Remove the two leads from lug A1 and tie together, then insulate. Remove
and tie together the two leads from A and insulate. The F, D, and E leads
can be insulated and tied down, as they are disconnected.

5-wire dynamo control box in a 6-cyl Petrol negative earth installation, as
well as later negative-earth Diesel:

The two brown wires on the B terminals need to be tied together and
insulated. The F, W/L, D and E can be insulated and tied down separately as
they are disconnected.

NOTE: Make sure you verify this to be correct on your car. Ofttimes, wiring
got shuffled about on these cars with little care for the schematics.
Please be careful, and make sure you don't get victimized by some previous
owner.

6A. What do I do with the old ontrol box?

In writing this documentone of my reader/editors pointed out that many of
these old bits are expensive to come by.At his behest (Hello, Dixon!) I am
adding the part numbers and prices at the time of publication (1996).

Don't toss the bits out - someone trying for an authentic restoration will
bless you for them!

Who ran with what:

     Ser I   1,595cc petrol (early) Lucas RF96/2 (later) Lucas RF95
     Ser I   1,997cc petrol    "                    "
     Ser I   2,052cc diesel    "              "
     Ser II  2,286cc petrol  Lucas RB1106/37182
     Ser II  2,052cc diesel  Lucas RB310/37189, (later) RB310/37297
     Ser IIA 2,286cc petrol  Lucas RB106/37290
     Ser IIA 2,286cc diesel  Lucas RB310/37472 (to suffix C)
                            Lucas RB340/37387 (from suffix D)
     Ser IIA 2.625cc petrol  Lucas RB340/37517

They want WHAT for one of these? (Spring 1996 prices)

     RF95           =    135 pounds to replace
     RB106/37182	=  20 pounds to replace (screw fittings)
     RB106/37290	=  20 pounds to replace (spade fittings)
     RB310/37189	=  110 pounds to replace (screw fittings)
     RB310/37304	=  110 pounds to replace (Lucar fittings)
     RB340	    =    16 pounds to replace.
Know what you have.  You don't want to throw the wrong one out.
You can resell it to someone that needs it...

7. Final checkout and testing:

Okay, we're in to the home stretch now. With a belt in place, hand-crank
over your Rover to make sure the alternator is set up properly and isn't
going to jump the belt when you fire up.

Before reconnecting the battery, retrace all of your connections to ensure
you've gotten it wired right. A little caution here can save an expensive
smoke show.

Reconnect the battery and turn on the key. All of the warning lights
including the dynamo warning light should come on to normal brilliance. If
you have a meter, check to see that you have + 12 volts running to the
large lug on the back of the alternator and the red wire on the small plug.

With this correct, start the vehicle. Odds are, the dynamo warning light
will still be on. Don't panic, it's supposed to do that. Rev the engine and
the light should go out. GM alternators do not start to charge until they
get over 1000 RPM or so on start-up.

If the light went out, you're all set. Inspect the mountings of the
alternator to make sure all's well, and check the wiring for possible
trouble spots rubbing on brackets and so forth. If you want to, check the
voltage at the battery terminals. With the alternator charging, it should
be 13.5 volts or higher.

If the light didn't go out, or if it never went on, recheck your wiring,
especially the heavy lead going to the alternator and the small red sense
lead. If either of these is disconnected, the alternator won't function
properly. Also, as above, check the voltage at the battery to see if the
alternator is actually charging.

8: Conclusion:

This modification , while a simple one, lets you update your Rover to the
current output needed for more modern amenities like a stereo, driving
lights and so forth. This way, on those dark nights with wipers, lights and
heater fan going, you can drive without depleting your battery.

Good luck, and happy alternating!

                              Copyright 1996, Alan J. Richer

------------------------------

From: Alan_Richer/CAM/Lotus@crd.lotus.com
Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 08:39:27 -0400
Subject: Re:What do you call...

...a bunch of Land-Rover owners?

Drunk, of course.....8*)

          aj"But always responsibly..."r

------------------------------

From: "Ron Franklin" <oldhaven@mail.biddeford.com>
Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 10:21:29 -0500
Subject: Re:What do you call...

 
> ...a bunch of Land-Rover owners?
> Drunk, of course.....8*)
>           aj"But always responsibly..."r

in cyberspace:
A Split of RO's

Ron Franklin 

Bowdoin, Maine, USA

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 17:29:18 +0200
From: Paul Oxley <paul@adventures.co.za>
Subject: Re: Deep thoughts...

TeriAnn Wakeman wrote:
> Its bad enough that these plusmobiles can out perform leaf sprung cars off
> road, but they do it in air conditioned comfort cushoned from the feel of
	 [ truncated by lro-digester (was 9 lines)]
> Even though the Range Rovers and Discoverys can outperform the series cars
> and they have the right name on the badge,

Hi TeriAnn,

Right, the coilers (specifically the Strange Rovers) might out-perform
on little-bitty offroad, but take 'em way offroad and the series owners
(and passengers) have to make regular stops to manually "help" the
coilers through the really thick stuff (photographic evidence to follow
as soon as I can get my Lucas-spec SCSI to see my scanner). Seriously,
the coilers are great unladen but watch 'em wallow when they're 3000kgs
plus (hee, hee!).

Regards

Paul Oxley
http://www.adventures.co.za

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 08:25:22 -0800
From: twakeman@scruznet.com (TeriAnn Wakeman)
Subject: Re: Delco alternator wiring

At  8:36 AM 12/21/96 -0400, Alan_Richer/CAM/Lotus@crd.lotus.com wrote:

>At the same time as you purchase your alternator, buy the plug that goes
>into the two-prong socket on the side. This will be used to make
	 [ truncated by lro-digester (was 7 lines)]
>the alternator warning light. These are the standard colors for a GM
>installation, and I chose to stay with them.

>We need to build a small wiring harness with 3 wires:
>10-gauge red wire for the current output
>16-gauge red wire for the sense input
>16-gauge white wire for the warning light
>alternator output, red 16-gauge for the sense wire, and white 16-gauge for

From: Solihull@aol.com

TeriAnn, I copied this from the list earlier this year. Hope it helps. BTW, I
used a one-wire delco on my s3 till going to dual pulley Lucas (Hoping for
portable welder in future) Any auto electric can fix it up with a special
'self exciting' voltage regulator. Below directions are for normal
arrangement. The small red goes to the idiot light and the smaller white one
to feed the unit. Alternators need a trickle of current to generate with.

TeriAnn

twakeman@scruznet.com

------------------------------

From: John Putnam <jdputnam@pacifier.com>
Subject: RE: Exhaust shielding (was Re: Gearbox pic)
Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 08:39:47 -0800
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

An alternative to the wrap is to have the pipe coated with ceramic.  My =
uncle has been using this on his race cars for years with great sucess =
and no adverse effects.  I plan on having my headers sprayed up this =
winter along with the piping that travels under my feet.  The ceramic =
will not retain water (it becomes part of the pipe) and it can't be =
ripped off when running over brush.

I have the name of a person in the Portland, OR so give me e-maill if =
you want any info.

John Putnam
Forest Grove, OR

----------
From: 	Wdcockey@aol.com[SMTP:Wdcockey@aol.com]
Sent: 	Thursday, December 19, 1996 7:04 PM
Subject: 	Exhaust shielding (was Re: Gearbox pic)

As part of a thread I missed the beginning of Jim comments:
>  I have also been looking at the exhaust wrap to help keep the heat =
away
>  from the interior of the vehicle. Anyone tried that or a similar =
product?
You might try a simple metal heat shield, a simple piece of steel =
(galvanized
to prevent rust) between the exhaust and floor. Either clamp it to the =
pipe,
or mount on simple standoffs from the body. LR did this on SI, SII, =
SIIA/III
6 cylinders, and some of the pieces are still available. Its also =
standard
practice by most auto manufactuers these days, particularly around =
catalytic
converters. Wrapping the exhaust is just going to transfer the heat
downstream, and probably not help exhaust system life.

Regards,
David Cockey

 

------ =_NextPart_000_01BBEF1B.2C3BE9A0

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 08:44:53 -0800
From: "Christopher H. Dow" <dow@thelen.org>
Subject: Computer Controlled Ignition Systems

After receiving the British Northwest LR catalog a couple of months ago, I
was quite intrigued by the computer controlled ignition they had in their
catalog.  I asked them about it and (true to form) they wouldn't tell me who
made it--the guy on the phone claimed he didn't know.  Having heard varying
degrees of warnings about buying from them, I forgot about it.   Then, in
the Nov or Dec issue of Four Wheeler, I saw that the Jacobs Electronics
computer controlled ignition unit was recommended for as an upgrade to the
D90.  I called Jacobs, and got their catalog.  

When I read the specs on their ingition system, I immediately recognized the
performance claims, mileage claims, warranty, and feature set:  power
increase of 7%, mileage increase of %16.7, 120-day guaruntee with 1 year
warranty, and also works as an antitheft device.  Hmmmm...maybe this is the
same unit.  Also the part number in the BNW catalog is JEC416.  Do you
suppose the JE is for Jacobs Electronics?  Since their part number for
Webber carbs is WCC88/109, it makes me think that maybe they put the
initials of the manufacturer in the part no.

Jacobs sells this thing for betweein US$300 and US$400, so who knows what
BNW charges for it (they seem to be close to twice the others on most
parts).  Anyway, if it piqued your interest, too, then it looks like there
is an alternative to buying it from British Northwest.

The number for Jacobs Electronics (with whom I am in no way affiliated, BTW)
is 800.627.8800

C
'65 IIA 88" SW
'96 Disco SD

------------------------------

From: AKBLACKLEY@aol.com
Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 13:39:33 -0500
Subject: Delco Wiring

Teri Ann: The Delco should be wired as follows: The large gauge brown wire to
the large connecton marked "BATT". The white wire to the brown & (white,
yellow, dont recall) which goes to the idiot light on the dash cluster; and
the small gauge brown wire, which should be a live wire to energize the
alternator field, to the red wire on the Delco connector. Hope this helps.
Cheers and Merry Christmas. Andy Blackley

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 14:38:02 -0400
From: ecrover@midcoast.com (East Coast Rover Co.)
Subject: Re: Old Series Vehicles Beware

 Dave B.
        I have to let you know I really enjoyed the fictional conversation
on dealer restored Rovers!!! As someone who builds Rovers for all the right
reasons, but sometimes for the wrong people *Oil leak on the driveway part
really hit home!!* I got a great big luagh from it! Thanks for making my
day!!!:-)

From: Mike Smith
East Coast Rover Co.                    207.594.8086
21 Tolman Road  *Rt. 90*                207.594.8120 fax
Warren, Maine 04864                     ecrover@midcoast.com
    Land Rover Service, Sales, Restoration, and More
        Series Coil Chassis Specialists

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 09:55:08 -0600
From: car4doc <car4doc@concentric.net>
Subject: Re: Rerouting kodiak intake

Hi TerriAnn,
 If you want to reroute the intake for the heater why not draw the heat
from say the seat box to put the heat deeper into the car. Of course you
would need a insulated tube to do it. Maybe a plastic pipe with pipe
insulation. On the volvos you made the driver warmer by cracking open
the rear window to draw air out & heat in. I would think cracking open a
vent to draw air through the car would help cool or heat.

Regards,
 Rob Davis_chicago

Please note new address.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 23:43:12 -0800
From: van decar <vandy@mail.enterprise.net>
Subject: Greetings

Howdy!
  My name is Chris Van Decar, and I'm back!  Some of you may remember me 
from when I was on the list in Oklahoma.  I'm the guy who had the cat 
stuck under my bonnet!  Well since I signed of the list in early 
September, I have had several more adventures worthy of posting IMHO. : ) 
I'm now settled, somewhat, in a house in Cambridge, East Anglia UK.
                                                Cheers

Chris Van Decar
'94 D90  SloMo VII

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 22 Dec 1996 00:13:24 -0800
From: van decar <vandy@mail.enterprise.net>
Subject: LR Adventures

This story begins shortly after I signed off the mailing list in early September.  As 
I was not scheduled to depart for the UK until the end of the  month,  I loaded up my 
trusty D90 and headed south for Del Rio for two weeks of leave. My plans included a week 
out in California visiting a buddy and attending the Reno Air Races.  I left on a Monday
afternoon, informing my friend in Del Rio, who's house I was going to crash at, that I
would be arriving around nine o'clock p.m.  All was going well on the trip, I was even
making decent gas mileage (15.2 at 75-80mph, Texas is now 70mph), until I hit the town
of  Sonora.  
  Sonora is about 90 miles north of Del Rio on highway 277 and was my last fuel stop
prior to Del Rio.  About halfway, 45 miles north of Del Rio, the D90 made a little jerk 
like it was running out of gas, but I knew this couldn't be since I had just filled the 
tank!  All speculation ended about two seconds later as the D90 lost all power! The 
engine was still running, so I pulled off the highway onto the shoulder and coasted to a 
stop. Since the engine was still running I decide to start trouble shooting.  My first 
thought was maybe she had just jumped out of gear, NOT!  Then I tried several variations 
of low/high, locked/unlocked positions on the transfer box.  My reward for this was a 
most gnarly sound coming from the transfer case (or so I thought).  It sounded like 
someone had dumped a hand full of gravel into it.  All this was accomplished with no 
hint of forward movement.  My next move was to crawl underneath, and see what was could 
be seen.  I was expecting to see puddles of gear oil and transmission parts everywhere 
but there was no sign of leaking fluids and both driveshafts were intact.  I had a 
flashlight and some tools but it was obvious that nothing I had on board was going to 
help me tonight. 
  I started waiting for the "what next?" to happen.  By now some of y'all are saying 
"just call Road Side Recovery"! Not possible, I had just loaned my brother, who was 
moving to Bellevue, Washington, my cell phone.  (insert a Homer Simpson "Dooooooh!" 
here). Keep in mind I am 45 miles from the nearest town in the West Texas Desert.  That 
means no houses, no ranches, and at 9 p.m., no traffic!  SOL!
  So now I'm resign myself to a night sleeping in the Defender when a car rounds a 
corner about half a mile back and stops on the shoulder, headlights on, idling!  The car 
then does a 180 and sits on the opposite shoulder.   I'm a little nervous now, as I'm 
real close to the border with Mexico.  I pull out my traveling companion, a stainless 
steel Colt .45 automatic, and chamber a round.  
  As I type this, I'm not sure what I would've done, I'm not a very good shot.  : )  But 
since drug activity had been picking up and a Border Patrol Officer had been murdered 
earlier in the year, I wasn't taking any chances.  Eventually they drove off and now I 
was truly alone. 
 Did I mention there was no moon and no man made lights to be seen?  As a side note, the
Milky Way is quite bright out there and if you have the patience, you can watch 
atellites pass overhead or a shooting star.  Quite beautiful, but not much comfort.  For 
you budding astronomers, the MacDonald Observatory, one of our nations premier 
institutions, is located in the Davis Mountains about 250 miles east of where I broke 
down.
  The only traffic on this road is an occasional semi truck (Lorry), and these guys 
don't stop for much.  Much to my surprise I flag down a truck and the driver offers me a 
ride back to Sonora, the direction he was headed when he stopped.
   He drops me off at a Circle K store so I can make phone calls.  First, I call is to 
my friend in Del Rio to let him know what is going on and not to worry. Then I call Road 
Side Assistance to see if they can get a tow truck, I'm not hopeful as Sonora is REAL 
small and not much is open at 10:30 p.m.  Side note: If anybody from Land Rover N.A. or 
the Road Side Assistance is reading this, PLEASE, PLEASE, hire people who know something
about Land Rovers,  or at least teach the ones you have about them.  "A What?, a
Defender, what is that?" is not what we want to hear, after braking down (vent off).  
  They are able to arrange for a tow truck to pick me up and drive down to my poor D90. 
 I call my friend in Del Rio and he agrees to meet me at the Defender.  Highway 277 is 
only one lane each way so it shouldn't be hard to spot my Rover.
  We get to the Rover and get it loaded on its way to San Antonio, the nearest dealer, 
about 200 miles away.  My buddy arrives and drives me back to Del Rio. I finally get to 
bed around 3:00 a.m. ZZZZZZZZZZ.
  If y'all remember, I was planning on going to Monteray, Ca. on Wednesday to visit a
buddy for about a week.  I'm convinced these plans are shot to H--l, when I call the 
dealer in San Antonio (Gunn Land Rover on I-10 North outside Loop 1604), and find out 
they are moving to a new location and are not doing any service work until around 
Friday!  I say screw everything, I'm using the Ostrich approach, ignore and it maybe it 
will go away. 
  Now I am faced with a couple of unpleasant prospects.  I have no transportation and I
have a plane to catch in S.A. about 170 miles away.  By now y'all should be getting the
idea that nothing is close to Del Rio!  (in fact the wives of my buddies at the base  
call highway 90 which runs west from San Antonio the "Trail of Tears".  Several have 
broken down crying about halfway from San Antonio when they realize just how remote 
Laughlin Air Force Base is.; )  Disgusting prospect no.2; I may be leaving my Rover in 
the US!!!!!  I had arranged to have it shipped from Dallas and now Gunn isn't sure if I 
can even get it fixed before I leave.  On top of all this, the DoD (Department of 
Defense) has stated that it may stop shipping military personnel vehicle's overseas at 
the beginning of the new fiscal year (Oct 1)!!!  
  I arrange a loaner car and catch my plane for California to attend the Air Races
Completely Mind Numbingly Incredibly Awesome!  Rolls Royce Merlin powered
Mustangs running at twice their normal manifold pressure is a sound everyone should hear
before the departing for Rover Land.(kind of like Valhalla, but much muddier)  The
opening lap of the Unlimited race was 490m.p.h. plus!!!!!!!!!  =: 0
  In communicating with the Service Manager at Gunn, I informed the input shaft on my
transmission is totally stripped and is being replaced as per a Land Rover service 
bulletin. He also says the D90 will be ready when I get back. 
  I arrive in back in San Antonio and catch a taxi to the new location of Gunn Land 
Rover only to find out that my D90 is still on the rack being worked on!  Now, I need my 
Rover in the worst way since I still have to get back to Del Rio and do my final 
outprocessing. 
  This puts me in a situation of violating one of my "rules to live by".  My little 
voice has always told me, "don't piss off the chef before your food is served!"  In this 
case, I don't want to put pressure on the mechanic working on my D90, for fear of him 
screwing up but I need my Rover before they close in the afternoon!  
  I get my Rover back about 2:00 p.m. and relief spreads through my entire being.
Everybody now AHHHHHHHHHHHH. : )  So endeth the first lesson.  Second lesson to
follow soon.  It proves that my little voice is always right. :)

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