On Saturday my daughter Kat and I picked up the Land Rover and brought it home from the shop after Opere had it for over a month for the initial mechanical repairs. Kat drove the Subaru home, I asked her to follow me to watch for smoke from the Land Rover….we even had a race out of a stoplight on Independence Ave…….Kat won.
It feels great to be able to finally drive the Defender after owning it for more than three months and I am already using it for errands. And it drives very well. The clutch works marvelously, the gears almost change themselves from second to third. I am particularly pleased with the smooth ride, in part thanks to the new poly bushings all around (rubberlike cushions that go between any metal parts between the, springs, shock absorbers and chassis). The Bilstein heavy duty shock absorbers that I decided to invest in make for a good ride, a bit stiff but that is fine, the vehicle is lighter now than it ever will be. By the time we add the soundproofing, carpet, roofrack with roof tent and all the expedition gear the heavy duty shock absorbers will pay off in spades. Best of all the motor does not smoke and it has a surprising amount of pickup, which indicates the compression is good. A good run on the highway, and some servicing should help clean up the bit of smoke that blows at take-off. Before I can do that though I have to get it legalized. Gomez the shady vendor has yet to produce the papers that I have to present to the Department of Motor Vehicles to get it licensed. Why do I think this is going to cost me more money?
Of course it is still not quite roadworthy. The signal lights do seem to work, but the brake lights do not, nor do the headlights. It is also very noisy, the body is full of holes and everything rattles and clangs. But this week for the first time since we got it I realize that the whole project just might be feasible, and that is a satisfying feeling.
A large part of the inspiration for this project came from my colleagues Stephane and Brian who had each purchased Land Rover Defenders in Accra to restore to take home to Canada at the end of their Ghana postings. Of course the whole idea is only feasible if there is a source of qualified, affordable expertise to do the restoration work, and this is available from Opere and his Land Rover “shop”. He will figure prominently in my own story and provides a wonderful example of African micro-enterpreneurial genius.
Located in East Legon, between the Accra mall where we do a lot of our shopping and the University of Ghana a mile to
Some old Ghana Police Defenders Await Their Turn for Restoration
the north, like many micro-enterprises in Ghana Opere’s “shop” is situated under a large tree, in this case a mango tree. It is just a tract of land about 1000 square metres or a quarter acre, under a power line. The term “shop” suggests a building with a door, roof, maybe some windows, but you can’t find any of those at this shop. There is a table and a bench under the tree, a nearby space where three or four vehicles can be driven up from the road to work on and a very rudimentary hoist arrangement for pulling motors. There is a small shed for storing tools and parts, but all the work is done out in the open. The rest of the area is filled with Land Rover Defenders. ranging from dilapidated hulks that are scavenged for parts to very pretty restorations and everything in between, representing various stages of repair or restoration. There are some that are completely stripped but have just been painted (usually white), others that are having the interiors redone.
Opere and Jonathon under the tree, looking for Landy parts on-line on the laptop
Focussed almost exclusively on Land Rovers and in particular on Defenders, Opere provides a service that is recognized as the place in Accra for the best Land Rover repair and restoration work. A mechanic by training, he is now offering a full service model using specialists in different fields. There is Eric the electrician, Paani the “welder (an important function as the Defender bodies are all aluminum) someone else who does the interiors, etc. There are a few people who work for Opere, mostly mechanics. The other specialists do not appear to be actually employed by him, rather they provide their services to him or his clients on a fee-for-service basis. Opere is the real entrepreneur, he has a valuable sense of customer service and plays the role of guarantor – whenever I seem dubious about something he reminds me that it his reputation that is at stake so I should relax. It is difficult to estimate how many people earn their living there, it may be as many as fifteen or as few as five.
There are two lines of business, one where Opere buys a vehicle and restores it for resale, another for maintenance and repair for Land Rover owners around town. The vast majority of the business seems to be older Defenders like mine, although there are also a few Discoverys (ies?) and Range Rovers that come in as well. It is all very informal, there is no paper, no receipts. If he needs to buy parts to do your job he tells you how much he needs and you front him the money. He has never given me change for anything.
The clients are both expat and Ghanain, but mostly Ghanaian. Ghanaians love Land Rovers, our guard, staff in the High Commission, another mechanic I know, have all separately described them as “very strong vehicles”. The strong chassis and alumimum body have stood the test of time on Ghanain roads, and Ghana still imports a great number of new Land Rovers, although these days they are probably no “stronger” than their Japanese counterparts.
Defender Hulks on Laundry DaySome of the boys that make their living, and perhaps live, at the “shop”
The workspace is typical of informal economy micro-enterprises we have seen in Accra. The heavy-duty tailor who made our sailboat cover last year, or the welder who repaired our barbecue grill, or the furniture maker who did our rattan for the backyard all had similar work areas. Trees constitute an important part of the establishment because they provide shade and shelter, albeit porous, from the elements, and they do so at no cost. Actually, there probably is a cost, each of the prime spots may well have been rented or leased from a traditional Ghanaian chief for a fee, perhaps based on the size of the tree.
Opere and one of his helpers came by shortly after I got the vehicle to look it over closely and after poking around the vehicle for a bit he comes up with a list of parts I need. Before I bought it Opere said it would take about GHC 4,000 to get it into good running order. Much of what is needed he knows without having to look at the vehicle, many of the items he just rattles off from experience that tells him what a 15 year-old Defender that has not been well taken care of is going to need. Brake and clutch parts and wheel bearings fall into this category.
Opere and helper at the house looking it over. Jonathon (wearing a tie because he just popped home from the office for the occasion) has a book to list the needed parts. Does the book have enough pages?
Many of the parts are available locally but they are expensive here and Opere recommends I import them. One of the things I like about this approach is that my mechanic is not recommending something just to sell the parts, and can also tell me when something can be obtained locally. He does not seem to sell any parts This was a tip I initially received from Stephane, my Canadian High Commission colleague who was the original inspiration behind this project who was restoring a Defender when I first arrived in Ghana and is now back in Quebec with his Defender, he put me on to Famous Four, a parts depot based in the UK that specializes in Land Rovers and has a well-tuned mail order operation.
Using the Famous Four website www.famousfour.co.uk I am able to find everything on the list, and in the process familiarize myself with the range of parts that I might want. It is really a great site for Landy parts Some of them are genuine Land Rover parts but most are Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), from the regular supplier to Land Rover or “after market “ parts made by someone else as a copy of the original part. The prices are not bad, much less than I would pay here and they do not charge VAT on anything exported from the UK. The shipping costs are hefty but the per pound cost declines the heavier the order is, and the weight adds up when you start adding axles and drive shafts.
Opere and I have some interesting communication problems in the process of deriving the list of needed parts. We both speak English, but issues of accent, culture and jargon enter to pose some surprising challenges to my comprehension. Of course a big part of the problem is my less-than-complete mechanical knowledge. I never heard of a “servo” before, or a “slave cylinder”. If I don’t catch something the first time I don’t mind asking Opere to repeat it once or twice but after three times if I still am not sure of what part he is talking about I resort to pretending to understand and then writing down what I think I have heard and searching for it on parts sites on the internet. The best one was “axle”, which I had a hard time with in part because of his accent and in part because it not something I expected to hear that I would need. Apparently the “half-shaft” rear axles had been welded to the drive members, the pieces at the end of the axles that the wheels bolt onto. This left us both shaking our heads in disbelief.
Here is the list of original parts I am ordering from Famous Four. This will get the clutch and brakes and wheels and axles back into good running order. This is not the list Opere gave me, I have augmented it with items suggested by the helpful people at Famous Four, or by Ndoria, a Land Rover mechanic friend in Nairobi that is advising via email.
Clutch Release Arm Fork
Release Arm Slipper Pad
Clutch Master Cylinder
Clutch Slave Cylinder
Clutch Kit, (Plate, cover, release bearing)
Release Bearing Staple
Push Rod Clip
Clutch Flexi-Hose
2 Rear Half Shaft axles
Stub Axle to Axle Case Gasket
2 Stub Axle Oil Seals
2 Drive Members
4 Wheel Bearing Kits
Brake Master Cylinder
2 Rear Brake Caliper Seal Kits
2 Rear Brake Pad Set
2 Front Caliper Seal Kit
Hose Bleed Assembly
Front Brake Pad Set
Bottom Water Hose
By-pass Water Hose
Top Water Hose
Front Drive shaft
4 Hub Dust Caps
The front drive shaft we have to add because there simply isn’t one, perhaps someone found a better use for it. I add a few cosmetic things and items I do not need right away but that I want as part of the restoration or for general service and getting them now will bring the shipping cost down. Including shipping this first parts order will set me back $1200, which sets my total investment to date at $6,300 (including the battery) . At the end of it, with a couple of hundred dollars labour to put it together, I should have a vehicle with a good clutch, brakes and drive train, but which will still require some motor work and many, many other restorations and upgrades, including electrical, interior, and bodywork. I have now obtained a set of Land Rover repair manuals and a restoration book to serve as reference materials, these are proving very handy to my learning process.
There are enough mechanical problems that Opere has to have it pushed out of my yard to start it (the alternator is defective so the battery is dead) to take it off to the shop for the first stage in the mechanical re-build.
Of course the big mechanical item is the motor. It runs but smokes quite badly, which might indicate worn pistons, a cracked block, dodgy injectors, or a blown head gasket. I knew before I bought the vehicle this was going to be a big part of the rebuild. For the motor Opere suggests I consider two options. I can have it rebuilt or I can import a “reconditioned” replacement TDI 300 from Europe and have Opere install it. Opere rebuilds Land Rover motors regularly in his shop under the tree (see separate post), but also brings in reconditioned motors from time to time, he calls them “new”, but they are only new to him. Again, this is a Ghanaian practice, the age of things is really measured from when it comes into the country, a used car might be 20 years old, but it is “new” when it lands at Tema Port. While the “new” motor is a bit more expensive than the rebuild, it is surprisingly affordable and much simpler than the rebuild, where I would have to import all the parts which could involve delays.
I am also nervous about what the rebuild might end up costing if we discover some unknown problem that is not easily fixable and adds significantly to the cost. I am also somewhat apprehensive about a rebuild given that the shop under the tree is not the ideal environment for working with sensitive moving parts. The reconditioned motor also comes with a number of parts that I need, like A/C and an alternator. One of the first decisions I make is to go for the reconditioned motor.
Opere says he has 3 TDI 300s coming in shortly and could install one while I am waiting for the other parts to be delivered. We negotiate quite hard on the price, as the objectivity present in my other dealings with Opere is lacking here (he is selling what he is installing) and I do not have another source. We settle on the Ghanaian equivalent of $2,000, with $1500 up front and $500 payable in one month upon satisfactory performance. Sort of a guaranteed guarantee. When it is done I will be up to $8,300 on my investment, including all the other parts I am ordering. That is still well within budget, but there is still a lot left to do.
