Paul Barton, ARC Newsletter Editor, 26 Summerhill Grange, Summerhill Lane, Lindfield, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 1RQ home@ukgateway.net ARC Secretary: Caroline Flanders, tel/fax: 01689 878105

 

Each edition of ARC NEWS can be found on the ARC website www.the-arc.co.uk If you wish to subscribe to receive a copy by e-mail please log on to arcnews@tesco.net this new service is being organised as from this month by ARC Council member Colin Council.

LAND ROVER NEWS

ARC members with early TD5 powered Defenders and Discoveries built between September 1998 and June 1990 should be aware that there is a recall to have flywheel assembly replaced. Contact your local dealer if you haven't yet been contacted.

Price reductions have been announced for new model year 2001 vehicles available from September - your local dealer will have details.

Land Rover have updated their web site with several new features www.landrover.co.uk

RANGE ROVER 30th / LAND ROVER MARQUE DAY & H.M.C. RUN 17th / 18th June 2000

Once again, glorious weather prevailed and temperatures on the Arena reached 30c on the Sunday afternoon. What a contrast to the ARC 2000 event held only three weeks earlier - doubtless Hants and Berks would have been quite happy to have had to "damp-down" the dust on the approach roads to the camping site!

Saturday saw the Range Rover Register team busy all day long with a wide variety of events, culminating with a staged road traffic accident, attended by the emergency services (naturally with several Range Rovers in evidence). The "finale" of this particular exercise was the arrival of an "Air Ambulance" helicopter which landed close by the "accident" scene to take the "casualty" to hospital. A fine display of Range Rovers - one from each year of production was lines up one side of the entrance roadway, whilst inside the Centre there was a "Founders Forum", hosted by Bill Baker (Land Rover's Director of P.R. programmes) with a panel of distinguished person form the Company taking questions not only from Bill Bake, but the audience of press and enthusiasts alike. Tom Barton, (often referred to as "the father of the Land Rover") gave us an insight into just how differently things at Lode Lane were done in the early years. Spen King, Geoff Miller and Roger Craythorne enlightened us all with stories about the Range Rover's development and the "formative years", whilst John Hall, Project Engineer for 38A (the "new shape" Range Rover) brought the picture and the audience right up to date.

The day ended with the Range Rover Register's "Birthday Dinner-Dance" at a nearby hotel.

Sunday got off to an early start with the "A.R.C. Team" leaving the campsite at Heritage Motor Centre before 7.00 am to drive over to Solihull's most famous landmark - the Lode Lane factory site. Here, vehicles soon began arriving to form up for the Heritage Motor Run - a cavalcade of 120 examples of all types of Land Rover products ranging from HUE 166 (the first production Land Rover), through all the intervening years of Land Rover, Range Rover, Discovery and Freelander production with quite a few rare derivatives to add to the interest.

Whilst all this was going on at Lode Lane, Clubs were setting up display stands, alongside traders and auto-jumblers back at Heritage Centre. The highlight of LAND ROVER MARQUE DAY is always the arrival of the cavalcade from Lode Lane and its entry into the arena. This year's arrival was well worth watching, even if some of the vehicles were not in designated order due to two groups misreading their route directions and going off on an unplanned sightseeing tour of Warwick!

In the afternoon, a "Club Road-show" was organised where each club present could talk, over the p.a. system, about its history and current aims. Each club brought along a representative vehicle and owners were invited to talk about he vehicle and their aspect of "Land - Rovering". James Taylor, the well-known author and historian and Chris Savidge, A.R.C.'s non-competitive clubs co-ordinator, presented this road show and the commentary on the arrival of the cavalcade.

Many thanks are due to all those who assisted, in any way, with the weekend's activities, both at Lode Lane and at Gaydon.

Over the weekend the Range Rover Register raised almost £1000 for their nominated charity - The Air Ambulance Association. Between 550 and 600 Range Rover models were present at Gaydon on the Saturday!

A.R.C. has received official letters of thanks from both Bill Baker of Land Rover and Heritage Motor Centre. These letters state that the whole event was well received by the Press, who were invited to attend the official launch of the special "30th Birthday" limited edition Range Rover at the event, and that the vent was considered a success.

Next year, LAND ROVER MARQUE DAY and the H.M.C. run will be on Sunday May 6th 2001

Birthday Rally Grand Draw

After an extremely successful weekend of events at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, a number of you managed to walk away with some smashing prizes from the Grand Draw. The following are the list of the winner's names; if you are on the list and have not been contacted please call the chairman of RRR, Mr Richard Malone on 01474 814008 or e-mail chairman@rrr.co.uk

1st Prize Off-Roading Weekend for two with Landcraft Steve Dutton

2nd Prize £200 worth of tyres, Donated by John Craddock Ltd Pete Kenworthy

3rd Prize Land Rover Picnic Hamper, Donated by Heritage Motor Centre Andrew Cross

4th Prize Land Rover Experience Ticket, donated by Heritage Motor Centre Roger & Marjorie Tufnell

5th Prize A "Freelander" for the weekend, donated by Yarnolds of Stratford Simon & Tracy Talbot Other Prize Winners Ken Knight, Jenny Clarke, David Sutherland, Tim Hines, Mr A. Pollock, Helen Hall, Peter Jones, Ian Heppinstall, Mike Corole, Lara Janzen-Morris, Niall Sommerville, Rob Nevin.

Other prizes included a large selection of books donated by LRO Bookshop, and Land Rover watches, pens and Teddy Bears donated by Heritage Motor Centre.

Chris Savidge A.R.C. Non Competitive Club Co-ordinator

ARC 2000 CONCOURS D'ELEGANCE WINNERS

Sadly the monthly magazines other than LRM, ( the only one written by enthusiasts for enthusiasts), failed to provide any decent results coverage of the non-competitive events despite ARC and HBRO efforts to promote and encourage the Concours event. Well done then James Taylor of LRM and Chris Savidge for getting some coverage into the monthlies via LRM. Here is the full list of winners;

CONCOURS D'ELEGANCE

CLASS WINNERS

SERIES ONE The David Bowyer Cup - Mark Kempsey - RYG 488

SERIES TWO The Frank Myatt Memorial Trophy - Denis Atkinson - 4809 UB

SERIES THREE The Philip Bashall Cup - Steve Graham - AXC 980K

COIL-SPRUNG LAND ROVER The A.R.C. Land Rover Concours Award - Tony Shaw - R97 BOF

RANGE ROVER The Dunsfold Collection Cup - John Capewell - YVB 160H

EX-MILITARY LAND ROVER The Savidge Family Cup - Ray Adams - KLP 21N

WORKING VEHICLE CLASSES

CLASS A: THE EVERY-DAY WORKING VEHICLE

FIRST PLACE The Farvis Boilers Shield - Peter Farley - WMU 456G

SECOND PLACE The Merlin Nottingham Land Rover Trophy - John Curtis - D561 BDF

CLASS B: THE MOST ORIGINAL CONDITION WORKING VEHICLE

FIRST PLACE The Land Rover Register (1948-53) Shield - Dunsfold Collection Stuart Hibberd - YWK 177K

SECOND PLACE The Farvis Contractors Plant Shield -Michael Harnett - RWV 590N

NON-CONCOURS AWARDS

THE WILLIAM FARVIS TROPHY For a Series Two normal- control Land Rover - Dave Greenley for VWJ 920F (Brought to the event by John Parkinson)

THE GILL FLOYD FORWARD CONTROL CUP For a Series IIA or IIB forward control Land Rover - Dunsfold Collection for NXC 511D

THE TONY HUTCHINGS SALVER For the most unusual vehicle at the National Rally - Francis Seymour/Stuart Hibberd for W11 AMA - (a "new" Llama).

ARC MEMBER CLUB EVENTS

ARC NATIONAL RALLY 2001 - 25th - 29th May 2001 hosted by Cornwall and Devon Land Rover Club

Forms to book for next year's event now available from Mrs Jean French, 5 Pinewood Close, Plympton, Plymouth, Devon PL7 2DW tel no. 01752 338279.

COMPETITION NEWS - ARC CLUB EVENTS

FORWARD DATES FOR YOUR DIARY - ARC CLUB OPEN EVENTS - DETAILS AS THEY BECOME AVAILABLE - CLUB COMPETITION SECRETARIES PLEASE USE ARC NEWS

August Bank Holiday Weekend

NORTH WALES LAND ROVER CLUB - BALA 2000 AUGUST BANK HOLIDAY 25th - 28th

Why not join NWLRC in picturesque Bala, North Wales this August Bank Holiday. The club are returning for the third successive year to the Landcraft site at Llandderfel. Scenic Drive with the emphasis on scenic, TYRO Trial, Gymkhana, Bike Trial, Dog Show, RTV Trial, CCV Trial, Comp Safari and Adventure Drive. Contact the Rally Secretary, Dave Cuthbert (Bala 2000) 25 Sunningdale Avenue, Colwyn Bay, LL29 6DF - 01492 534417. Bookings before 30th June attract a 10% discount!

WYE AND WELSH PRESENT THE BASKERVILLE CHALLENGE 2000

At Baskerville Hall, Clyro near Hay-On-Wye Friday 25th to Monday 28th August 2000

RTV Saturday, CCV Sunday, Comp Safari Monday Camping available. Booking forms from Peter Slingerland, W7WROC, Old Bakery, The Square, Ruardean, Glos. GL17 9TJ. Tel 01594 544058.

This event is growing in popularity so early booking advised!

September LANGLEY FARM 2000 4 x 4 WEEKEND SEPTEMBER 8th - 10th 2000

On behalf of Yorkshire Rover Owners Club I would like to invite you to our 19th annual '4 x 4 Weekend' over the weekend of September 8th to 10th.

Although organised by a Rover Club, Langley Farm 2000 is an Off-road meeting catering for ALL makes and types of vehicle, with all 4x4 Clubs and Associations welcome.

Once again there will be various activities; static display of vehicles and the Off-road course.

For a booking form contact David Walker, details below. Please make as many copies of it as you want. If you wish to be removed from the mailing list or any of the details are incorrect please let me know.

I look forward to seeing you at Langley Farm 2000. If you require any further information please contact me or send a SAE to the address below.

Langley Farm 2000, c/o David Walker, 42 Highgate Avenue, Lepton, Huddersfield, HD8 0EE. Tel: 01484 315 481 (after 6pm)

9th/10th The Majors Memorial Trial - Eastnor - Midland ROC.

30th September/1st October Southern ROC -Team Two Day Trial.

Details available from Debby Darby at 54 Northwood Road, Tankerton, Whitstable, Kent.

November

11th/12th Somerset and Wilts ROC - Mendip Challenge

Forms for booking in now available from John Donovan, Competition Secretary, 7 Campion Close, Thornbury, Bristol. BS12 1UF. Camping available Friday and Saturday night at £5 per night.

OTHER NON- COMPETETIVE EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

SHACKERSTONE 2000 FESTIVAL 2nd/3rd SEPTEMBER 2000-04-13

Situated neat to A444 on the Leicestershire/Warwickshire border this event is a steam and transport event with a difference. In addition to all the usual exhibits there are steam train rides on the Battlefield line, the station is adjacent to the showground as is the Ashby canal where narrow boats will be on display and canal trips available. Caravan facilities. Details from Neil Bonser 01827 880036 e mail shackerstone2000@Yahoo.co.uk. This event is suitable for cars and Land Rovers.

17th SEPTEMBER - LONDON TO BRIGHTON LAND ROVER RUN Sponsored by Land Rover World Magazine and organised by South London and Surrey LRC Start: Crystal Palace London Finish: Madeira Drive Brighton. Trade stands, Auto jumbles, Trophies send s.s.a.e to South London and Surrey LRC 10,Middlesex Road, Mitcham, Surrey CR4 1QP. For trade stands or Auto jumble only phone 01273 410162.

SCRUTINEERING AND OTHER COMPETITIVE MATTERS

Please find below some topics that have been concluded at ARC Scrutineering Committee meetings. Copies of minutes showing supporting discussions are available if requested.

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Means of preventing fuel spillage. We need to remind the membership that we have agreed to accept the MSA wording on this topic, i.e. valves are recommended, not mandatory as current ARC regs state.

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Track-rod ends problem.

1) Track-rod ends loose in the drag-link even with the clamp tightened hard. Cause: worn threads in the link tubing. Cure: Replace the tube.
2) Track-rod ends breaking off at the taper.

Cause 1: Inadequate tightening of these components causing worn taper in the steering drop-arm and in the hub Pitman arms. Once the tapers are worn oval, the only cure is replacement.
Cause 2: Over-tightening causing the track-rod end to shear off at the nut. If the split-pin hole doesn't line up within the correct torque range, try a washer of different thickness.

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Illegal steering gear shafts. The problem with these was resolved by the use of new splined shafts manufactured to individual requirements. The vehicles that didn't comply were all fixed by the end of 1999. Vehicles log-booked after 1-1-2000 must have the correct Rover part(s) in place.

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Mandatory use of supportive Rally-Type bucket seats for Comps, Hill Rally, etc. This is a recommendation only. The FIA are working on a proposal to mandate such seats but we don't know whether this will affect us eventually.

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Support vehicles. All vehicles on the competition area must be driven only by a signed-on driver who will be responsible for its use and positioning.

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MSA / FIA spec roll-cage on Freelander. If you have a Freelander with an FIA spec roll-cage fitted and you need it to be ARC log-booked, make sure that you have a photocopy of the certificate to accompany the application that is sent to the log-book secretary.

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FIA specification roll-cages on non-monocoque vehicles. These are acceptable only if the vehicle is resident and registered outside the UK.

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Series 3 vehicle with a full cage and canvas truck cab. Only Series One 80s had a canvas truck cab as a factory fitment and so a similar fitting on a series 3 is not permitted even if no competitive advantage where it is contained entirely within the bounds of the roll-cage.

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Truck Cabs on Lightweights. The LR spec sheet shows a truck-cab pick-up as an available option on all 88" series 3 vehicles. So it is acceptable on a Lightweight even though there may not be any evidence that any were built this way. Thanks to Sue and Ian Foster of the Lightweight Club for information on this matter.

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LPG in competition vehicles. It is acceptable to use LPG fuel in any competition vehicle on condition that the system conforms with Construction and Use regulations and LPG Industry Technical Association Code of Practice No. 11. If the cylinder is installed internally, then it will need to be protected against damage by being covered. Internally fitted cylinders come with a cover for the tank fittings but no overall cover. A wooden cover will suffice for the time being, or until the MSA (who are also looking into the matter) come up with other recommendations. The manifold fitting on the top of the tank will have a vent pipe which leads to the outside of the vehicle. Safety guidelines are available for supply to those who work on LPG powered vehicles.

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Fibreglass bonnets. They are allowed if they have been made from non-flammable resin and the onus is on the competitor to prove this by showing a document or some form of proof from the manufacturer saying that it is made from fire-retardant material.

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Holes in bonnets. The MSA regulation (E.12.2.2.) is not conclusive. We decided that if the vehicle has a permanently fitted windscreen, then the bonnet may have holes, louvres, air-scoops etc. If there is no permanently fitted windscreen, then holes, louvres, air-scoops etc. are not permitted.

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Very smoky diesel engines. There appears to be nothing specific in the ARC regs about this matter but the MSA regs (E.12.19.1.) state that the vehicle should be of sound construction and mechanical condition and be well maintained. If there is evidence that the vehicle is not in sound mechanical condition and well maintained, then the scrutineer may reject the vehicle.

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Axle check-straps for RTV. Are they an MoT failure item if absent? MOT testers have stated that this is not an MOT check item and consequently, axle check straps are not mandatory.

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High-strength one-piece track-rods. Query about the use of a high-strength one-piece track-rod. It's one-inch hex bar with threaded sockets on the ends and locked by nuts. This is the same design as the "SUMO" bars accepted at the AGM of 16th March 1991 except that those were round in section. This is acceptable.

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Steve Kirby Chairman ARC Scrutineering Committee.

IMPORTANT - Participation at any competitive event or show is at your own risk. Although the ARC is happy to publicise such events it does not act as an agent for the organisers. Statements or opinions expressed in ARC News are not necessarily those of the ARC Council. You are advised to obtain independent advice on matters involving safety, finance or legislation.

Association of Rover Clubs Ltd. Limited by Guarantee Registered in England No. 1806788 Registered Office, 124 Crescent Drive, Petts Wood, Orpington, Kent BR5 1BE

Last Updated:
30/12/2005