As I previously threatened, I am starting a build thread for my 1989 Range Rover that I am preparing for the 2015 "Maroc Challenge," a 3000km adventure rally across Morocco.
I should state at the outset that I have no real idea what the hell I am doing, so you won't offend me if you chime in and tell me what a fool I am. I know surfing and rally racing and vintage cars, but you guys have forgotten more than I will probably ever know about overlanding, so don't hold back.
I have attached some photos of the vehicle as it sits right now. It is a 1989 Range Rover "Classic," 2-door model with the old Buick-derived 3.5L gasoline V8 and a five-speed manual gearbox. These trucks have a two-speed transfer case but no locking differentials. This one is well and truly battered on the outside, but entirely rust free and has been carefully maintained by one owner until I bought it about five months ago. I have been using it ever since as my surfwagon and "take the kids up the side of a mountain" truck ever since, and it has never let me down or given me any pause. It is in mechanically good shape (barring a couple things I will mention later) and has about 100,000 original miles. It runs and drives beautifully, and even the A/C blows ice cold. Best of all, this is a "base model" Range Rover. No frills. It has power windows, but everything else is manual, with cloth seats and steel wheels and no luxury stuff at all. It doesn't even have a glove box for crying out loud.
GOALS:
The goals for this build are threefold. First, I need the vehicle to be suitable for a relatively high speed, competitive crossing of Morocco, with the best possible chances of completing the event trouble free and returning here to Spain under its own power. Second, I need the vehicle to remain highway legal in the European Union (a goal which is almost entirely incompatible with the first goal, mind you) and finally, I need to maintain the sort of... "vintage appropriate" look, because I am in the business of selling collector cars, and this one (after a thorough restoration) will likely some day be exported to the USA for resale.
MOROCCO PREP:
As a preface, I confess that I harbor little hope of actually winning the Maroc Challenge. I have entered for the experience, and although my co-driver (an American friend of mine named John, who is flying over from New Orleans to accompany me) and I will take a crack at it and give it our best shot, where we finish is less important than having the best possible time (and not being beheaded by ISIS.)
If you're like me, when you think Morocco, you probably thing two things, "sand" and "heat." That can be true, but Morocco is a rather large and varied nation with tons of different terrain. We will be in sand at times, definitely, but a very large percentage of the event will take place on rocky tracks, and another big section on packed dirt. We will also have almost 1000km of tarmac during transition stages, including a big stretch of modern highway driving to get from the start in Spain down to the ferry crossing into Morocco. So the terrain won't be just sand, or even mostly sand. It will be a lot of everything.
Temperatures in Morocco in December average around the 60-70 degree range (Fahrenheit) during the days, but in low areas of desert they can soar to the high 80's, and higher areas can get down to more like 50 degrees. We cross the Atlas Mountains at one point, and temperatures up there can be well below freezing.
So this Range Rover has to be kind of a "do anything, go anywhere" kind of truck, that remains legal and comfortable on the highway and functional in a lot of different types of terrain, and prepared for lots of different types of weather. Which, I suppose, is kind of what the Range Rover was designed to do from the outset.
Also, it should be noted that people (admittedly rather crazy people) enter the Moroc Challenge in old Renault 4's and BMW 325i's and such. According to the organizers, "those people suffer," but most of them finish, so I don't think the terrain will be TOO difficult. I think mostly it is technical and requires patience and thought, and a huge helping of navigational prowess to make sure you hit the waypoints on time.
So there you have it.
I am finishing the evaluation of the condition of the vehicle now, and will post soon some of the things it needs and some of the plans I have for prep and build. I have three months until the start of the event, so the clock is ticking.
Thanks for following along.
I should state at the outset that I have no real idea what the hell I am doing, so you won't offend me if you chime in and tell me what a fool I am. I know surfing and rally racing and vintage cars, but you guys have forgotten more than I will probably ever know about overlanding, so don't hold back.
I have attached some photos of the vehicle as it sits right now. It is a 1989 Range Rover "Classic," 2-door model with the old Buick-derived 3.5L gasoline V8 and a five-speed manual gearbox. These trucks have a two-speed transfer case but no locking differentials. This one is well and truly battered on the outside, but entirely rust free and has been carefully maintained by one owner until I bought it about five months ago. I have been using it ever since as my surfwagon and "take the kids up the side of a mountain" truck ever since, and it has never let me down or given me any pause. It is in mechanically good shape (barring a couple things I will mention later) and has about 100,000 original miles. It runs and drives beautifully, and even the A/C blows ice cold. Best of all, this is a "base model" Range Rover. No frills. It has power windows, but everything else is manual, with cloth seats and steel wheels and no luxury stuff at all. It doesn't even have a glove box for crying out loud.
GOALS:
The goals for this build are threefold. First, I need the vehicle to be suitable for a relatively high speed, competitive crossing of Morocco, with the best possible chances of completing the event trouble free and returning here to Spain under its own power. Second, I need the vehicle to remain highway legal in the European Union (a goal which is almost entirely incompatible with the first goal, mind you) and finally, I need to maintain the sort of... "vintage appropriate" look, because I am in the business of selling collector cars, and this one (after a thorough restoration) will likely some day be exported to the USA for resale.
MOROCCO PREP:
As a preface, I confess that I harbor little hope of actually winning the Maroc Challenge. I have entered for the experience, and although my co-driver (an American friend of mine named John, who is flying over from New Orleans to accompany me) and I will take a crack at it and give it our best shot, where we finish is less important than having the best possible time (and not being beheaded by ISIS.)
If you're like me, when you think Morocco, you probably thing two things, "sand" and "heat." That can be true, but Morocco is a rather large and varied nation with tons of different terrain. We will be in sand at times, definitely, but a very large percentage of the event will take place on rocky tracks, and another big section on packed dirt. We will also have almost 1000km of tarmac during transition stages, including a big stretch of modern highway driving to get from the start in Spain down to the ferry crossing into Morocco. So the terrain won't be just sand, or even mostly sand. It will be a lot of everything.
Temperatures in Morocco in December average around the 60-70 degree range (Fahrenheit) during the days, but in low areas of desert they can soar to the high 80's, and higher areas can get down to more like 50 degrees. We cross the Atlas Mountains at one point, and temperatures up there can be well below freezing.
So this Range Rover has to be kind of a "do anything, go anywhere" kind of truck, that remains legal and comfortable on the highway and functional in a lot of different types of terrain, and prepared for lots of different types of weather. Which, I suppose, is kind of what the Range Rover was designed to do from the outset.
Also, it should be noted that people (admittedly rather crazy people) enter the Moroc Challenge in old Renault 4's and BMW 325i's and such. According to the organizers, "those people suffer," but most of them finish, so I don't think the terrain will be TOO difficult. I think mostly it is technical and requires patience and thought, and a huge helping of navigational prowess to make sure you hit the waypoints on time.
So there you have it.
I am finishing the evaluation of the condition of the vehicle now, and will post soon some of the things it needs and some of the plans I have for prep and build. I have three months until the start of the event, so the clock is ticking.
Thanks for following along.
