Range Rover
Ian's Range Rover was bought in 1995 as a 5 year old with just 23,000 miles on the clock. Despite being used mainly off-road by its previous owner, it soon also got used to the 540 miles from Ian's work in Cornwall to the farm in Scotland when he escaped from the far South West of England. With a factory fitted 3.947 litre V8 (hence the number painted on the side of the vehicle) it regularly returned around 18mpg. However, after Will had cleaned it up - new distributor cap, leads and spark plugs - and with Ian driving steadily on the motorway (the lack of a salary causing him to watch the fuel economy more closely!) it has once achieved 23.5mpg! - is this a record for a V8 classic.

The vehicle has not been without the odd large repair bill. Amongst the more expensive repairs carried out in 2001 to keep the vehicle on the road have been: the fuel pump, ABS brake servo and viscous fan. In the past the bonnet, rear tailgate window and front driver's side wheel bearing have been replaced. In turning it red, Massey Ferguson's dealer has done an excellent and highly professional job and removed many of the rust spots though I expect some of them to reappear by the time we reach Australia.

Prior to the expedition the following work has been carried out:

• Full vehicle service with new filters and lubricants
• Both differentials removed and checked - refitted as only showing normal 100k mileage wear and tear - similarly the automatic gearbox.
• The rear tyre has been removed from inside and fitted to a cunningly designed frame which fits onto the tow-bar - full details on this are in the Friends section of the Web site.
• Inside the rear of the vehicle a wooden box frame has been fitted which maximises storage space and allows space for sleeping inside the vehicle - more details of this are also included in the Friends section of the Web site.
• To permit wading and for better dust clearance a snorkel complete with Massey Ferguson pre-cleaner has been fitted forcing the re-siting of the air-filter.
• To provide back-up power for all the comms and the camp lighting a second battery has been installed.
• To provide greater information about vehicle performance voltmeter, ammeters, oil temp and oil press gauges have been fitted.
• To avoid livestock and human herds on the road new horns have been installed.

Amongst the new parts fitted have been:

• An oil sump
• An oil cooler radiator
• A re-cored main radiator - worth removing and checking as hard to spot and clean in position
• 2 exhaust down-pipes
• An exhaust end section
• A set of exhaust manifold gaskets
• A set of spark plugs
• A distributor cap with HT leads
• A roof-rack
• 4 brake discs
• 8 brake pads
• A snorkel complete with pre-cleaner
• A voltmeter
• An ammeter
• A combined oil temp/press gauge
• A dashboard mounting frame for the above gauges
• A GPS navigation system

Defender 110
The Defender was bought by Will in Nov 1999 as a birthday present to himself. Though it came without any spare kit - even the spare wheel was missing - Will found it ideal for going off-road. Asked why he bought this particular model, he says: "It turned up at the right price". Will has always had a long term aim to travel kindled by reading about others' exploits in Land Rover magazines and was already kitting out the hard-top One Ten as a camper before reading Ian's Internet ad. The vehicle proved very reliable until he started to work on it prior to this trip and the work involved during the rebuild has proved more time consuming than expected. [Rather an understatement - ED] Besides changing colour from blue to "cream" and the camping extras - heater, gas stove and grill, sink, cupboard units and fold-down bed - the Defender has had some major surgery. A reconditioned 200 Tdi engine replaced the original Turbo diesel so that Will could cruise above 56mph (the speed at which the Range Rover's torque converter locks giving near manual fuel consumption figures and the speed above which Ian wants to travel at - whenever possible!!). The gear-box was also reconditioned and a second-hand transfer-box fitted together with new springs (doubled up at the back), new brakes and propshafts.