Cape to Cape
The Car
This is the vehicle which is going to be our home and way of transport during our
8 months trip : a Land Rover serie III 1977.
The exciting but difficult process of a car choice
(Gaël)
Beginning of April, that was it : Jacques and myself took a commitment in
Sodwana Bay to get ready for the adventure beginning 98. How, how long and where
was not decided but we knew we would leave for somewhere somehow.
The first thing we were sure of was to leave with a 4x4. The only remaining problem
but not the least was to chose the car : a difficult mission for someone
whitout any knowledge of 4x4 and very, very little of mechanics.
Then, for about three months, I look in the specialised South African add
magasines like AUTO TRADER and JUNK MAIL. South Africa is a huge market
for 4x4 dealers. It is easily understandable as the pleasure of most of the
South African males is to head for a remote place in the bush as soon as
their wife let them go...
The second hand market is larg, especially in Johannesburg where I was based.
The first look I had to the offers quickly showed me that a 4x4 can not be
bought only with pocket money. It appeared that the only affordable and
known one were the TOYOTA LAND CRUISER and the LAND ROVER.
The advantage of the LAND CRUISER is his high strength and power. I still
remember a Czech friend having worked in central Botswana for few years
saying to me that wherever a normal 4x4 can't make it, a Land Cruiser can
make it. The only problem seemed to be that the engine is as thirsty as a
SA rugby team after a match won against France.
The Land Rover did sound then like the best option for us. There were quite
a lot for sale but few were Serie III, 5 doors : the only one which suit
our expectations and which was in our budget. The objective was to buy a
cheap one and rebuilt what had to be rebuilt after.
The engine--------------------------------------------------------------
A choice had to be done as well regarding the engine
On Land Rover, there are three types of engines :
- the diesel 2.25, 4 cylinders
- the petrol 2.25l, 4 cylinders
- the petrol 2.6 l, 6 cylinders
The most common is the 2.25 petrol. The diesel are very rare. It is probably because
the car is slower than with a petrol one and because the petrol is the same
price as the diesel in Southern Africa.
For me, the diesel option sounded better in terms of fuel cost especially
in Europe but I did not see myself driving 60-7O kms/hr maximum which is
what I had been told about. So, when I heard about the NISSAN engine 2.8 l
fittable in LR, I thought this conversion would not be such a bad idea :
diesel, consumption not too high (13l/100kms fully loaded), and cruise
speed of about 100. I tought at this time it would be a good thing to sell
the car back in Europe. People are more willing to buy diesel than petrol
as soon as the consumption is over 10l/100.
Unfortunately, it will probably appear not to be feasable as the car would
not pass the MIN control (French car mechanical test when a car is imported
or rebuilt). After few favourable advices from LR drivers, I went for this
option knowing that the only problem would be the availibilty of the parts:
much less available than the LR one.
The deal----------------------------------------------------------------
Mid June, after a lot of calls and some trys, I went to check out this
Landie sitting at a middleman place. I went to this place with Stefan Greef
the guy who would do the conversion and repairs on the car. He was then able
to estimate the state of the car and give me a quote on the work to be done.
Let's admit, he made it wrong since he estimated the total cost around
16000 ZAR when we ended up paying 230OO R. Fortunately, I made a good deal
on the purchase of the vehicle. It was for sale at 20000 ZAR but after
having explained directly to the owner selling his car that it was only a
piece of rusty metal, I got it for 15500 ZAR... everybody
agreed after it was a good price.
The preparation by trial and error method (Gaël)--------------
I thought that the difficult part would be to find and chose the car. Let me,
tell you : I was wrong.
Preparing it, trying it, breaking it down, making it repair, breaking it
again, getting it fixed, changing things have then almost be my daily
occupation until the departure!!!
First Stefan took it on hand for a global conversion and rebuilding :
- chassis strengthening
- suspensions : new shocks, new rear springs, front springs refitted
- conversion with the a second hand Nissan engine imported from Japan
- gearbox overhauled
- brakes redone
- Bull bar, ladder, fences on windows installed
- Radiator overhaul
I tried to spend as much time as I could with him trying to learn as fast as
I could all the tips... I did not get all of them since I am still discovering
some everyday but it was a good start!
It took him 7 weeks to do the job and I got the car mid september. What a
pleasure to drive the car at last. I should have got it earlier but the
diesel system was rebel and worst than this a circlip had been forgotten or
was not the right size (!?) in the gearbox so that the gearbox had to
be removed and stripped again...
About youth and experience...-------------------------------------------
Here I was two weeks later, on the 4x4 playground next to Johannesburg after
I had the car insured. Well, let's put it this way: it was a lot of fun a
good experience for me but not for my wallet. I enjoyed the steep climbs,
drops, bumps, sandy tracks and all the other difficulties encountered except a
F... muddy hole. After two hours of practice, you get confident especially
when you have someone experienced teaching you and telling you what to do but
not what not to do !! Then, I did not really hesitate when I saw the 10 meter
long hole full of attracting mud excellent for pictures... The depth was
just a bit too much and the engine decided to drink water instead of air.
For those who do not know what water does in a diesel engine, just one
advice, do not try it. In my case, I lost half of the power of the engine.
The six conrods had been sligthly bent and one of the piston shirt damaged.
Two weeks after I got the car, I blow the engine : what a performance !!!
Conclusion : 3 weeks delay to change the engine and 4200 R less in my pocket.
I think I had this day my 4x4 baptism.
REITZ or the bad luck city... (1st part)--------------------------------
REITZ is a small city in the middle of the Orange Free State in South Africa, about
300 kms from Johannesburg on the way to the Drakensberg moutains. No need
to explain it is lost in the middle of nowhere.
Well, after I got the car back from Stefan with a second second hand engine
in, I was ready to start working in it and testing it during week ends. It
was then not even two months left before January 98 : not a lot when you work,
your friends and parents visit you in SA and you go back for two weeks to
France at Christmas.
So, I decided to test it in team with another 4x4 in the Lesotho moutains. I
left with John and Christine, two friends of mine in the Landie and JC the
other 4x4 he had rent with other friends. We did not plan to travel together
on the Friday evening but to meet in the Golden Gate Park for the night before
the border. This explains why we slept on the side of the road, under the stars
of the Orange Free State, 10 kms North of Reitz. The Landie even did not make it
to the meeting point with JC.
The alternator had burnt, the battery was flat, the connection to the starter
motor was not good and the diesel pump was out of diesel : the combination
of problems was too much for the beginner I was and of course I did not
managed to fix it. Then, in the morning, we got towed to Reitz by a farmer after
he tried as well to get the car started without luck. In Reitz, the local
mechanic guys were very helpful and after an hour work and managed to get it
started. The generator was nevertheless out of order and it was already late
so we decided to head back home...
After this event, Christine, John and all my friends were wishing me good luck
to go to Cape Town meaning it would already be a nice performance if the Landie
would make it.
As a matter of fact, when we arrived to Johannesburg, it was just the beginning
of a rugby match between FRANCE and SA . SA won of course and by far... It
was really not a good day for being proud of being French...
REITZ or the bad luck city (2nd part)---------------------------------
Two weeks after, Vero had just decided to join us on a motorbike for the trip.
My parents being in SA for three weeks, Vero and myself went to meet them in
the Drakensberg. We indeed thought it would be a nice opportunity to try the
Landie together and to think about the interior fittings.
After the previous event, I had changed the alternator that I got from the
first engine (remember the engine diving lesson...) and it was now going pretty
nicely.
By the way, it went very nicely to the Drakensberg where we had a quiet, nice
week end. We even tried the 4x4 with my parents who thought it was noisy, not very
confortable and smoky. The Landie was making a lot of smoke at that time
which was worrying me a lot, I admit.
Then, it was time to go back to Jo'burg but the tarred road would have been
to simple for us so we chose a small dirt road in the middle of the Orange
Free state. Guess what : the car just stopped in the middle of nowhere, twenty
kilometers south of Reitz. This time, the radiator collapsed after the fan
crashed in it...
We got towed to Bethleem (what a name!), rent a car to go back to Jo'burg
since we had to work the day after and finally picked the repaired car the
following week end.
Smoke and fun --------------------------------------------------------
Among all the various problems I had before January : diesel system failure,
thick black smoke, weak rear springs, flying bonnet on the highway...
one of them was an electricity shortcut.
Let me first say that the electricity wiring is not really up to date with
the international norms... So, when a thick white smoke decided to invade
the cockpit, I was only half surprised. The funny thingh is that I was on
one of the main highway of Johannesburg, on my way to the airport to drop
off a French friend of mine (Sorry Severine, I really wanted you to miss
your plane but I even did not manage). No need to say people must have laughed watching
us trying to breeze by the window, head outside and still driving.
Special thanks to Sam, Gerhard, Bruce and Dunlop tyres----------------------------------
Many thanks Sam for your generosity but even more for being so open. You
have offered us what must now be the most reliable thing of the car :
a brand new set of DUNLOP tyres. At the time I am writing these lines, the
15th February 98, we have done 6500 kms and even did not have a flat tyre.
Thank you Gerhard and Bruce for the deal on the tyres and for having
organised the mounting of the tyres. You have shown me what the South
African good spirit is all about...
For the ones who are really wondering with impatience what exact kind of
tyre we have, let me satisfy you. We have universal tyres 7.50-16. According
to our beginner's feelings, it is a good compromise for road and dust road.
We felt that we could get easily stuck in heavy sand (probably because of our
3 T weight) but had no problems in the few muddy patches we experienced.
Homemade options------------------------------------------------------
The bad experiences I had with the before December had made me a bit
nervous about the driving. I was always fearing that something breaks
especially because I had not many controls in the car while driving.
So, I first decided to install a proper oil pressure gauge which allows to
control if the oil pump works properly and even if the oil level is correct.
The pressure indeed drops with the level. It drops as well when the temperature
increases.
But that was not enough. There is a water temperature gauge which is fine but
if there is no water in the cooling system, it indicates a correct temperature
since it measures the air temperature instead. During this time, the engine
gets hot and the injectors can get damaged very quickly. So we installed with
Patrick a water detector in the cooling system linked to a voltmeter. When
there is water, the electricty go through the water, the gauge indicates
12V, when there is not, it indicates 0.
We installed as well a oil temperature gauge using the oil plug to put the
sender.
With this, it is not foolproof but we can see quickly if there is a problem
while driving and stop on time (hopefully !!).
The gears : evrything and anything we took with us ---------------
We have chosen what we think is going to be useful an that was only according
to what we read or have been advised to take. Whether everything will be
useful or not, we do not know but we will tell you at the end of the trip.
You will find hereunder the list of the additional equipment of the car,
the spare parts we have and all the rest except the number of bras that
Vero took. I unfortunately did not manage to get the information.
Additional car equipment----------------------------------------------
- 1 extra tank under the driver seat (47 l capacity, 70 in the main one)
- 5 army jerrycans of 2O L each (3 for the car, 2 for the bike)
- 1 extra battery with a split charging system (Roger Brisson Homemade)
- 1 roofrack with ladder
- 3 trunks fixed to the roofrack
- 1 bull bar
- 2 front spotlights
- 1 radio and 4 speakers
- 1 hilift jack
- 2 shovels
- 2 sand planks of two meters : not the real expensive one for sale, ours
look more like iron grids : we will see if they do their job
- 1 rope of 1O meters
- 2 towing straps and two cables of 3m each
- 1 shiety hand puller of 2 ton pulling load
- 1 snatch block
- 1 ax
- 1 12V regulator to plug the computer on the battery
- 1 12V fan that we call our air conditioned system
- 1 alarm with a move detector in the front and a switch on the front
and boot door
- 1 fridge : special thanks to my L'OREAL colleagues for this very useful
present
- 1 clock : it was not in the original fiitings of the Landie
- 1 tool box including a set of spanners, a set of metrics sockets, a set of
imperial sockets (Land Rover is English), a set of pincers, screwdrivers,
1 hammer, 1 rivet puller, 1 big spanner for the wheel nuts, 1 greaser pump,
1 oil pump, 1 grinder, 1 wood saw, 1 metal saw, 1 hand pump, 1 pressure gauge,
1 funnel, 1 tin solder, 3 wheel tyre removers, 2 lead jumpers
- 1 battery charger
- 1 amperemeter
- 2 warning triangles (only to comply with some of the funny African road rules)
- 1 box of glu, silicone, leak fixing product...
- metal wire
Spare parts------------------------------------------------------------
- 2 spare wheels
- 2 tubes
- 1 starter motor
- 1 diesel pump
- 1 oil pump
- 1 water pump
- 1 generator
- 1 engine sump
- gearbox used spares
- 2 fan belts
- 1 timing belt (that we unfortunately did not have at the beginning)
- hoses of every and any diameter
- 4 diesel filter
- 3 oil filter
- 1 headgasket
- 2 sumpgaskets
- Material to gaskets
- 1 front oil seal
- 2 pistons and rings
- 4 valves
- 2 wheel bearings
- 1 CV joint
- bulbs
- wipers
- 1 big box of various nuts, bolts, washers, rivets, tapes, clamps
- 1 big bag of electric wire, plugs, connectors
It is quite a lot but whatever we take, we will always need what we have
not taken...
Everything and anything : cooking stuff, tents...--------------------
- 2 igloo tents of 4 places each
- 1 sleeping bag each
- 1 mattress each
- 2 extra blankets
- 1 mosquito net (two places)
- 1 camping table
- 3 chairs
- 1 bench (broken after 1 month !)
- 4 rigid water jerrycans of 20 l each (1 broken after 6 weeks,
one converted in a box for the bike)
- 1 souple water jerrycan (lost after 3 weeks)
- 1 cheramical water pump , to filter the water from bacteries : expensive
(1600 FRF) but very practical and useful
- 1 full complete medical kit including first aid kit, tourista pils,
pain killers, syringes, antibiotics, malaria treating pils...
- 3 big plastic boxes : 1 for the food, 1 for the cooking equipment, 1 for
the lamps, buckets and all the other stuff
First box = food box
Second box = cooking stuff :
- 12 plates
- 6 bowls
- 7 mugs
- 1 frying pan
- 1 cooking pot
- 12 sets of folks, knifes, spoons
- Tuperwares of various size
- 1 colander
- 1 wood spoon, 1 long fork, braii pincers
- 2 big salad bowls
- 1 kettle
Third box called the stuff box :
- Candles
- 1 square bucket medium size
- dish product
- towels
- aluminium foil
- sewing equipment
- parafine
- 3 parafine lamps
- matches, fire lighter
- brushes
- spunges
- the unmissable toilet paper
- 2 bottles of 10l gaz, 1 burner, 1 frying pan to fix on
- 1 cooler box
- 1 very big container to be used as a washing machine on the roof... Well,
we will see if it works
- 1 barbecue grille
- 3 maglites
- 1 headlamp
- 1 powerfull lamp (Thanks JC) to be plugged on the battery
- small rope X 10 m
- 1 compass
- maps and guides on all the countries we will go through
- 1 small laptop on which I am actually working, in the middle of the bush
- Herve's camera for slides
- Patrick's digital camera for computer pictures
- Gael's camera for pictures
- Jacques'camera for slides
- Patrick's normal camera for slides to be given to a swedish 4x4 magasine
- Vero's video camera
- Binoculars
The ups and downs of our Landie
Soon, you will find here everything concerning the life of our Landie : how she is going, how many time she got sick, what she drinks, what are her favourite habits...
If there is something we missed out, please drop us a note
UP!
Updated February 16 - 1998
pfr@hem.passagen.se (Patrick Fredriksson)
