huskyhall

In August 2009 this handsome beast arrived. The battery was completely flat and a few other little jobs needed doing but it was basically sound.



For those interested, it's a 2003 model Land Rover TD5 (which means it has a weird 5 cylinder diesel engine) with a crew cab. There are all kinds of optional extras installed too such as air conditioning, which I would never have imagined you'd need in a Land Rover. There are heated seats as well. It's just a mass of wires and rubber tubes. They've changed a lot since my day.

Here it is again at the gate.



Despite these pretensions to luxury, like all Land Rovers since time immemorial, it leaks. It is virtually impossible to get the cab watertight. Rainwater gets in, apparently round the door seals. This is especially true of Husky Hall rain which is often horizontal and likely to be travelling faster than the spray from a pressure washer. 60-80mph winds are not unusual. Maybe new door seals would help a little, as they’re likely to be springier and fill the gaps more effectively. The existing ones have a permanent impression of the edge of the door in them, which rather casts aspersions on their fitness for purpose. As an interim measure I’ve taken the carpets out, dried them on the radiators and put them in the garage. Thus, the rainwater can drain out through the floor panels and not be retained in the carpet to rust everything and facilitate the growth of fungus. Seems a bit odd to have carpet in a Land Rover anyway.

Future developments might include a winch, and I rather fancy a suspension lift kit and hub spacers so as to widen the track. Bigger wheels and tyres would be nice too. There’s something seductive about those yellow springs and shock absorbers (or ‘shox’ as the idiom has it) you see offroaders using. But it looks like the main priority for the next few months is the house.