I thought it was a VW?

In the early series of Challenge, they did you use a VW based buggy. But due to reliabilty issues, they later used the Range Rover based Dakar...

Just a thought but would it be possible to use a modified 2CV headlamp bar tucked away behind everything? Easy to get components, easilly height adjustable.....

sorry thats the incontenance nurse havin to work overtime now

S

I think challenge Annika should be brought back. Maybe with a mehari, and Annika is probably knocking on a bit now, so perhaps somebody else. Chopper Reid springs to mind, I reckon he'd get the job done.

Annika Rice: whe. She goes to sleep does she have a bed of rice? Rests her head on a pilau? Does she have an uncle Ben?

I'd spent last week thinking about headlights as you all know and I was still undecided which way to go last night so instead of fannying around anymore I decided that a test fit of the replacement front bodywork might give me some inspiration. With the new wing on you might be able to see that it sits a bit lower than the existing one and I think this is really down to the fact that I had to find another way of fixing the front of the wings when I did away with the original nose.





With the other new wing fitted I tried to fit the proper grill but then found that the bracket that I'd fabricated got in the way.

"Oh dear", I thought - the bracket not only gave the wings some support but gave me something to attach the ignition coil & wiring to. Sitting down to a flask of coffee I had a good think about what I was going to do and after a couple of cups thought that it really isn't a problem. With the new, fuller wings the grill actually adds strength & shape to the front end when fitted so all I need to do really is adapt the front bracket so that the wings are attached to the front bumper mounts at the bottom, in a similar way to a standard 2CV wing. This will also have the advantage of saving some weight. OK, so I need to mount the coil somewhere else now but I think I remember Geoff Archer suggesting mounting it on the gearbox quite a while back?



Looking at the complete front end I'm also thinking about doing away with the extremely heavy front bumper because I think it looks more aesthetically pleasing & the lower grill covers up the front chassis legs in any case. In addition to the wings & upper/lower grills I also laid the ply bonnet on top and again, I think it looks better than the metal bonnet I had to weld/bodge and again, it's a hell of a lot lighter as well.

So what do I think now? Although I do like the square lights, I prefer the new front end. It's going to be a lot lighter, it's technically more correct (if a kit car can be) and round headlights will be a lot easier to fit and adjust as well being more "future proof". It's just a pity they're going to cost around £60-£70 to buy.

The new headlamps came yesterday so I had a quick test fit at lunchtime.





As you can see from the pic, the existing hole is a tad too big for the 5.75" unit but you'll also notice that there is a metal plate pop rivetted to the bottom of the wing. I assume this is for brackets that are currebntly fitted inside the wings so I'm thinking of making up some new plates similar to those already there but that will extend up so that I can cut the correct sized hole for the new lamps as shown by the red line in the next photo. The plates might not follow the exact shape that I've indicated and will probably be smaller but I think it's the best solution and I think that the existing plates actually complement the general look of the vehicle.

looks quite good with spare on the bonnet.

Actually Neil, I had originally wanted to mount the spare on the bonnet but I'm going to have a go at using the replacement bonnet as it's lower in profile & a lot lighter. The downside to this is that I don't think the new bonnet is strong enough to support the wheel. At the moment, I'm just using the old bonnet to cover the engine bay while I prepare the new one but you never know - I'm always thinking of new ideas.