I've left this blog for a few weeks so I'd have enough to write about on the next update, which is what I'm writing now of course!

The GP Masters was good fun, although Mansell broke down on the parade lap and the weather was weird, it was akin to October arriving two months early. I've got some photos from the event if anyone is interested.

During the week leading up to the weekend of the 19th-20th I did some small items of work, such as replacing some of the bolts holding the front wing on and throwing away some of the junk that was starting to clutter the back of the Landrover. I also ordered up some electrical wire and connectors from AES, and spent hours on the net getting the correct wiring information for the Clarion radio I'd saved from the scrapped Landy. In addition to this I resprayed the radio mounting craddle with some Halford black paint after a good clean as it was shedding old flecks of paint, and looked less than pretty.

On the 19th my Uncle returned and we replaced the oil seals on both sides of the rear axle. This wasn't as tough a job as we expected, and by the second one we knew exactly what needed doing, and did it in less than an hour working at a leisurely pace. We also removed the broken radio aerial from the front wing, thinking we'd be able to put a new one in it's place, but due to clearance issues, we scrapped that idea. On the down side one of my neighbours helped themselves to some of my uncle's tools while he worked under the Landrover and I was out buying a new plastic bowl in which to catch the leaking axle oil.

On the 20th I headed off to Maplins and bought a smaller rubberised aerial that is desgined to be roof mounted and a few crocodile clips to make a test harness for the electrical items I'd saved from the scrapyard.

I didn't do anywork during the next week as the weather was very hit and miss and I didn't want to start anything and then have to pack away after 10 mins due to a downpour. What I did do however was get the V5 document sent off to Swansea to notify them of the new engine number (the previous owners did an engine swap but didn't update the v5 as the vehicle was SORNed).

On the 27th with uncle back over, we did the remaining leaking axle seal, which went well although the remaining original brake cylinder decided it would let go, so now has to be replaced. Since it was on the wheel we were working on, I expect the disturbance of removing the shoes was the final straw and it just let go and leaked. I suppose it's lucky to catch the problem now rather than later, and on the safety side it will mean all the cylinders are new. We also fitted the new rubber aerial into the roof (there's a pre drilled hole with a rubber bung) and raked it back so it's quite unonbrusive. The hole in the wing will most likely get a CB aerial (when I fit a CB) as they are useful when Greenlaning. We also washed out the interior, and threw out a lot more tat from the back, as well as getting all the new seat cushions properly installed. The latter required some bending of seat squab brackets, but we got them in which is the main thing.

On the 28th I built my electical test rig and found that one of the spotlights I bought works fine but I couldn't test the other unfortunately. This one needs a new connector on the back of the light, which I have but I don't want to fit it yet until I've worked out how I want to wire these up. Once it's crimped onto a wire the new connector can't be removed.

Today I shall be off to buy the new cylinder, and to chase up the 15" Mountney wheel I wanted.