Beguim International

10th Belgium International Land Rover Event

When I was working in Italy several members of the local 4x4 club had gone to the Belgium National Land Rover event. Despite wanting to participate my wedding anniversary always seemed to fall on the same weekend, no contest. But earlier this year I noted that my anniversary and the National were on different weekends.

Each year the event is organised by Bruno Neef de Sainval of Imagine Evasion. The event is sponsored by Land Rover Belgium and several other Belgium and French Companies. There would be over 250 vehicles in three categories “Xxtreme”, “Xtreme” and “Aventure”. The event is held at Domaine Saint Druon, Antoing, near Tournai.

A plan was hatched but the popularity of this event already meant the XXtreme Raid was fully subscribed, so I entered the Xtreme Raid , we were car no.263. Angelo told me this category was probably the best introduction to the Belgium. At this stage I hoped Ruth and Richard would be with me but it was Mark and Grant; friends form Airbus, who were to join me on this trip.

For Grant it was his first time off road so he really had a baptism by fire; no possibility of escape for the whole weekend. But he was nominated as photographer and “Head Tea Masher” for the trip so he had to participate in the whole event. Infact he enjoyed the whole experience and would like his own toy. I'm sure he will be joining me again.

Just before my summer holidays in August I blew a head gasket on the Disco. It is possible to repair this with the engine in the car but just about every ancillary, bracket and wiring loom has to be removed to access the cylinder heads. Plus I removed the sump to cleanout all the emulsified oil. I spent more time cleaning than anything else in the inspection of parts and re-assembly of the engine. This takes a lot of time and with only limited time at weekends to fix the engine I knew I would be against the clock to have everything ready in time for the 10 th Belgium National.

I finished rebuilding the engine and got it running but I still had a long list of maintenance, modifications and MoT checks to complete. The weekend before the National Mark and I worked on the Disco completing:

Rebuild of front right swivel housing
Stop manifold to cylinder head exhaust leak, temporarily
Fit new taller tubular front suspension turrets
Make new mounting bracket for winch solenoid pack
New Transfer box rear oil seal and new oil.
Clean out handbrake drum and lubricate mechanism
Remove exhaust centre and rear boxes with an angle grinder.
Grease propshaft UJ's
Reconnect front diff lock air supply and fit new switch covers for air compressor and front diff lock
New Alternator belt
New rubber boot on tie rod end
Electric fans wiring completed
Put stop leak in PAS reservoir
Refit front wheel spacers and wheels.

My son Richard joined in and vacuumed the Disco and washed down the door panels, center console etc etc, good job and now he wants ten pounds and a ride in Marks Lotus!!

Unfortunately I had been sent the wrong exhaust so I would have to wait until Thursday morning before the correct exhaust arrives, then MoT and road tax in the afternoon. That was the plan but like all plans they generally turn to s**t! I returned from Germany on the Wednesday evening. Early Thursday I am still waiting for the exhaust to arrive. Several phone calls later I am fitting the exhaust in the rain. The exhaust has to pass over the rear axle and between the fuel tank guard mounting leg and the fuel tank. There is very little clearance so a loose assembly and some jiggery pokery is required to stop the exhaust knocking, an angle grinder also helped generate the necessary clearance with a body mounting washer.

At the last off road foray I had pushed a tyre off the rim and it still needed to be re-seated. The local tyre fitters are used too me bringing in tyres so, with the wheel in the back of the Pug 205 I went to say hello again. I remembered just in time that the tyre was also full of water after reversing into a lake until half way up the rear door. I would not have been popular if the tyre fitter had got soaked. The Disco failed the MoT on head light alignment, hazard warning light switch not working properly and emissions. So nothing wrong with the structural and safety systems of the Disco but enough to go “Oh bother” or almost those words meaning the same thing! The exhaust manifold leak had started again so I modified a gasket and visually checked it's position with a mirror before fully tightening the bolts. I also reconnected the lamda sensors.

A good squirt with WD40 released the head lamp adjustment screw which you must turn by hand. Using the horizontal markings on the garage door I aligned the head lights. After dismantling the steering column console I soon fixed the hazard warning light switch with a zip tie. It's too late for a re-test of the three failure points, instead I finished preparing the items I take on these events, see various appendices below. During Thursday evening I tried to change the time of departure with Sea France but could only leave a message for someone to return my phone call. Back to the MoT station for Friday 8am and the Disco passes with flying colours. Shoot down to the Post Office to pay the road tax. Fantastic we now had a road legal vehicle in which to travel to Belgium .

A delayed departure from 08:05 to 13:45 was arranged over the phone with Sea France for ten pounds and the next few hours where spent, confirming with Grant and Mark that we were on for the National and loading up the Disco. Grant arrived at my house with all his camping gear which we quickly put in the Disco and had a brew before starting the journey. Mark had forgotten his passport and a rapid journey from Bristol to Dover Ferry port in well under three hours ensued. He parked his Lotus in the multi-storey car park at the docks for the weekend. Our ferry departure had a minor delay but after boarding we had a meal, wow expensive for basic greasy spoon food!!

On disembarking we made straight for the supermarket for a tank filled to the brim of cheap petrol. Viva la France !!

The ignition timing seemed to be playing up and several times during the weekend we made minor adjustments to the distributor. (Later I discovered the new rotor arm metal conductor had separated from the plastic body.)

In the rush out the front door I had only picked up half the event information which was not the half containing the location of the event!! We made it to Tournai and then phoned back to the UK for the GPS co-ordinates from the event website. Modern technology is a wonderful thing and we soon had the bearing from our current location to the event site.

On arrival and after a brief tour of the very full camp site we gave up looking for a place to pitch the tents and went to register our arrival. We had just enough time to fix the event sponsor stickers to the Disco and complete scrutineering before collecting the tulip diagramroad book for the Friday night section.

We headed off into the countryside and caught up with some slow movers, eventually overtaking some of them. Unluckily there was one mistake in the road book which resulted in a large slow moving group. Listening over the CB an English group decided to return to camp for a beer – Yeah great, lets enter an international 4x4 event, travel hundreds of miles and give up for a beer that you can get anytime!

We still weren't making progress so we stopped for a brew to let the convoy space out. However, it didn't take long to find the next queue at the special stage at the end of the night drive. It was a trial area in a large hollow with some muddy sections. Very quickly we realised we would have a long wait due to poor driving ability and vehicles with unsuitable tyres. Lack of driving skill was the main culprit.

We completed the night trial zone in 5 minutes and replaced a broken alternator belt while we waited for the section ahead to clear. After us they closed the trial section and we returned to camp eventually getting to bed after 3am with the tents pitched on some very stony ground, glad I had my air mattress. Grant and Mark wished they had one as well. I was starting to get a sore throat and a cold. So far we had missed the events welcoming drink, the evening meal and onion soup but we hadn't missed any off roading.

By seven a.m. we had been woken by the various sounds of a busy campsite. After breakfast – good continental fare with strong black coffee, we tinkered with the Disco. After rebuilding the engine with several new V drive belts which had now “bedded in” after a few hundred miles they needed re-tensioning, no more squealing! Plus we fiddled with the timing again. We had been provided with a substantial picnic with 3 large submarine sandwiches containing either cheese, salami or ham, great flavours, plus fruit, cake and drinks. For my liking the Saturday road book contained too much tarmac, picturesque countryside but too much black stuff. It wasn't until the afternoon that we had some interesting sections and the inevitable queues. This was because there were no marshals to keep the vehicles moving so it took 1 ½ hours to reach one difficult section.

While winching out of the difficult section we had an engine bay fire and used two fire extinguishers before fully opening the bonnet and isolating the winch and the battery. The high amperage demanded by winching had finished off the remaining insulation then an electrical short occurred. The alternator live feed to the battery shorted-out on the air filter housing and the air compressor inlet hose stainless steel braiding was glowing red with melting rubber and smelling awful. Several minutes of anxiety and excitement before a relative calm ensued and that the realisation that a few more minutes could have meant a long walk home!! But we had been lucky and fast with the only damage to the air compressor inlet hose. The road book went through two tunnels, max height 2,2m and several vehicles had to remove roof racks before continuing. These could have been removed at the camp site if a warning had been given by the organisers., (or the road book had been read before leaving the campsite, but not much chance of that when you are in an impatient line of predominantly continental drivers).

On the Saturday afternoon during a detour for petrol ( Belgium must have the lowest density of petrol stations per capita in Europe ) I noticed a drip of oil on the floor and looked for signs of leaking. The axle tube to swivel housing flange bolts had become very loose, as in fresh air between the flanges. Then Grant noticed the rear exhaust was hanging. The centre section had been hit while on the difficult section and had slid back by two inches almost separating the exhaust. Two small jobs to do at once. At least we had a warm dry road to lay down on.

Another special trial section in a motocross field completed the day. We did the most difficult section three times. Again while we queued it was apparent several drivers and vehicles were not up to this stage. Back at the campsite the temperature dropped and although the food was good it was mainly a cold buffet and my head cold wanted something hotter. In several areas people were repairing ½ shafts and CV's by torch light in preparation for Sunday's trial event.

We were in one of the last groups to go on the Xtreme Trial. Watching the earlier vehicles had given some insight to the correct line to take but, the ground was continually being cut up in several areas. There was a large digger to unceremoniously extract stuck vehicles with a swift lurch of it's bucket arm. Grant had been taking photo's all weekend but wanted to be in the Disco during the four sections of the trial. The first section had several axle twisters and a drop into a deep mud hole full of weeds before climbing out looking like something form the black lagoon.

The second section started with an axle twister which stopped several vehicles. A hard right turn into a steep, near vertical descent, then one vehicle length into an immediate and equally steep ascent saw carb fed RR engines dying. Several large holes on severe side slopes with tight turns completed the section.

The third section was a play in some deep gloopy dark mud with a steep slippery bank as the exit. No problem with sufficant throttle.

The fourth had a difficult muddy start with several side slopes, tight turns and sharp rises.

The majority of our penalty points were due to reversing in the tight corners of the sections, more suited to 90's than RR's and Disco's.

Back at the campsite we packed everything away and gave up waiting for the car wash which really should have been set up the night before and not as people were leaving. After twenty miles or so we had to stop and jet wash the radiator to clear away the mud that had been collected in that mornings' mud holes. Back at Calais we filled to the brim again with cheap fuel and caught an earlier ferry than booked with several other UK entrants to the Belgium National. Our vehicles caught the eye of other ferry passengers and several asked questions. Back at Dover while we waited for Mark to recover his Lotus from the car park an Ibex waited for the RAC recovery, he had been in the Xxtreme category breaking a front and rear half shaft and the stub axles were leaking oil. They had driven from the event with the diff locks engaged. I went to bed at around midnight , probably we had no more than 10 hours sleep since Friday morning. I got up at 3:15am Monday morning for the red eye flight to work.

Overall it was a good weekend, 8/10. If I go again I probably would try the Xxtreme category despite the comment “Drop into a mud hole, winch out then into the next mud hole and winch out then into the next……”. I'm sure you get the idea. Hopefully I won't have to rebuild the engine next time and have more time to prepare the vehicle.

David Mortimer

Appendix Spares: Full set of ½ shafts, Front drive flange, Disco and Defender * CV joint Disco and Defender * Diff oil Greases, V drive belts Bulbs, various Brake components and fluid Wheel bearings, inner & outer seals and lock washer, split cotter pins Track Rod Ends LH and RH threads Shock absorber bushes, Propshaft UJ's. Duck tape, Insulation tape, Zip ties, Selection of electrical connectors, heat shrink tube, fuses, Winch rope Winch solenoids Air compressor system spare parts * I am half way through converting from Discovery to Defender CV's which are much stronger. Appendix Tools: Metric and imperial spanners Various screw drivers ½” drive socket set ¼” drive socket set Hacksaw Hammer, large Wire brush Side cutters Wire strippers Pliers Allen keys Cold chisel Pin punches, various Pin nose pliers Circlip internal & external pliers Mole grips Hub nut box spanner Magnet on end of 5ft tube (for removing broken 1/2 shaft splines stuck in diff) Tyre inflation gear Air impact wrench and ½” sockets 2ton axle stand, collapsible Appendix Recovery Gear: 2m tree strop, Winch extension line, 10m recovery strop, x2 snatch blocks, Hi-lift & adaptor, Bridging ladders, PRT ground anchor Various shackles. Appendix Miscellaneous: Fire extinguisher 1kg, First Aid Box CB Radio

For navigation I use a Brantz Trip Meter which are fantastic for following a “tulip diagram” road book which gives only distance to the next navigation feature displayed as a picture diagram with your road always entering from the bottom of the diagram.

I also have a Garmin GPS 3plus which is now several years old but still excellent.

For more great pictures from this event click on the following link and you can check out the slide show including all the pictures we couldn't fit onto this page. 10th Belgium International Land Rover Event

Off Roading

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Appendix Miscellaneous: