THE
4X4 CLUB – ZIMBABWE
Newsletter
No: 102
June
2013
P O Box HG 594
Highlands Harare Zimbabwe The
Motor Sports Club House, 2 Annan Road,
Eastlea, Harare.
The
Chairman and Editorial Team:
The
4x4 Club is affiliated to the Zimbabwe Motor Sports Federation - ZMSF
Our
Club is a member of the Mashonaland Motor Sport Association Club House,
situated at: 2 Annan Rd. Eastlea. It is
available for hire for weddings, conferences, kid's parties, 21st
birthdays, etc.
News,
comments and opinions expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of
the Club or the Committee
THE EDITOR’S
DESK - Michael and Pat Gill
Are
you interested in competing in 4x4 events?
Before you rush off and buy a comp car or start making your own, give
some thought to learning the finer points of competitions. There are two starting points, (1) help with
the Marshaling. This will give you a
good insight into the rules and regs –or-
(2) get a ride as navigator with an
experienced driver in an event. Even in
our recent Big Sky Bush Pig we had a couple of novice co-drivers who said they
had great fun and look forward to doing this again. Are these are our potential new comp car
owners? We always need Marshals and we
generally look after them quite well, free food and goodies. You do not need a
car, just come and join in the fun and meet some nice people. We even have non-4x4 owners on the Committee.
CHAIRMAN'S
CHATTER: - Peter
Benzon
The Chairman is engaged!! It has been a
very exciting time for Tam and me and I don’t think the grin has left her face
since I ‘manned’ up and got down on one knee. But now the real work starts. Organising the Bushpig looks very much a walk
in the park in comparison to planning a wedding.
But enough about me. We
have had a packed month of 4x4 fun with the Nite Xtreme very capably organised
by Jason Young. We had a great showcase
stand at the Moto Show, well organised by Ash Geach and her helpers. The Motor
Show is always an event where we are unsure if the rewards are worth the time
and effort of our committee. However this year it seems to have generated a lot
of interest in the club maybe not from prospective members but from the media
with no less than three magazine publications asking us for material for their
pages. We even had an article in the lifestyle section of the herald! And finally we had our Chilly Bush Pig which
was again a great excuse to get into the bush and have fun. Encouragingly we
had a couple of new teams with some Bush Pig veterans returning to show the
newbies how it's done. Now the Competition biased part of our club has a chance
to mend broken and battered vehicles and our expedition crews are gearing up to
head off to Chizarira to clear some roads.
So whatever your 4x4 Preference have
fun. Cheers Pete
NEW
MEMBERS:
Steve and Fiona HARRIS: Steve is a friend of our newest committee member –
Matt and has a number of Land Rovers. He
has a Series 111 Project; Disco 1 Tdi; and a Defender 110 Td5. We look forward to meeting you on
events.
MEMBER'S
NEWS:
Congratulations
to our Chairman. Peter Benzon and Tammy Ellis have announced their engagement to be
married. When is the next date??
Congratulations
to Grant and Dawn WEARE on the birth
of their son Joshua.
WILDLIFE SHOP AT MUKUVISI
Our Club is a corporate member of Wildlife and
Environmental Zimbabwe, WEZ, and we would like members to know about their
lovely shop at Mukuvisi. If you have not
been there please take a short time off in your busy day and drop in. If you have friends from overseas they will
love it. The shop has an amazing stock
of local gifts and hand crafts. There is
a large selection of books, bags, toys and anything to do with the environment,
wild life and Zimbabwe.
PAST EVENTS
NITE XTREME 27th
April 2013
We would like to thank our sponsors. Without your
generosity this event would not happen.
Mr Cruiser, Stainzim, Telford Mica, Tubestone, EzyTrack, Taita Trading, Specialised Floor Services, Jim Perry Transport, Premier Auto Services, Imex Tyres, Sendem, Sawpower, Fuchs. ****
A BIG THANK YOU ****
Yes,
it was a Nite Extreme, the tests were well designed to be difficult and judging
by the number of DNFs and Tow Outs the crowd got a good evening's
entertainment. Fortunately there was
very little mud, but what we had made things very difficult. The event ran quite smoothly, recoveries were
fairly quick and it all ended with prize giving at about 21.30. Many drivers received a very large Piston,
suitably engraved with their position and T-Shirts were available for all. It was good to see many familiar Marshals but
we do need to find a way to have better crowd control. They seem only happy if standing on the Test finish
line, to peer down the bank and wait for the car to come roaring up the
slope. It reminds me of the suicidal
Rally spectators in Italy who like to stand on the outside of the high speed
corners.
Well
done to the Mutare boys again, another win in the Standard Modified class.
STANDARD MODIFIED. (Anything goes but no traction aids or 4 wheel steering)
Points
Points
1 Roger Barry
& Ed Danby 280 Jeep
2 Jim & Hamish Perry 1340 Land Rover
3 Rodney Beckley & Grant Chadwick 1360 Suzuki
4 Jesper Kirk & Matt Kelly Edwards 1840 Cournil
5 Gareth & Ashleigh Geach 1620 Land Rover
6 Barry Downey & Troy Boshoff 2360 Land Rover
7 Neil Greenway & Maurice Ades 3700 Land Rover
8 Aubrey Bennett & Reybould 4120 Land Rover
9 Peter Benzon & Dylan Weare 5850 Land Rover
10 Alex Hawkins & Cyril Comins 5930 Jeep
11 Gareth Barry & Graeme Barr 6050 Jeep
12 Jason Wilcox 7650 Jeep
13 Ozzie Peer & Ray Walker 7910 Jeep
SPECIALS (Traction aids, diff tocks, 4 wheel steering, fiddle brakes)
2 Jim & Hamish Perry 1340 Land Rover
3 Rodney Beckley & Grant Chadwick 1360 Suzuki
4 Jesper Kirk & Matt Kelly Edwards 1840 Cournil
5 Gareth & Ashleigh Geach 1620 Land Rover
6 Barry Downey & Troy Boshoff 2360 Land Rover
7 Neil Greenway & Maurice Ades 3700 Land Rover
8 Aubrey Bennett & Reybould 4120 Land Rover
9 Peter Benzon & Dylan Weare 5850 Land Rover
10 Alex Hawkins & Cyril Comins 5930 Jeep
11 Gareth Barry & Graeme Barr 6050 Jeep
12 Jason Wilcox 7650 Jeep
13 Ozzie Peer & Ray Walker 7910 Jeep
SPECIALS (Traction aids, diff tocks, 4 wheel steering, fiddle brakes)
1 Trevor Butler
& Nigel Weller 280 Jeep
2 Mass Kirk & Mark Benzon 1130 Cournil
3 Michael Gill & Ian Grey 2860 Land Rover
4 Peter Dobropolous & Michael Lottering 5270 Jeep
5 Sonnie Rousseau & Graeme Barr 5380 Land Rover
2 Mass Kirk & Mark Benzon 1130 Cournil
3 Michael Gill & Ian Grey 2860 Land Rover
4 Peter Dobropolous & Michael Lottering 5270 Jeep
5 Sonnie Rousseau & Graeme Barr 5380 Land Rover
A new "4x4 Roll Over" trophy, created by Mike Gill, was presented to Jesper Kirk
(the first roll over), who passed it to Jim Perry (the second roll over), who
passed it to Rodney Beckley (the third roll over) who passed it back to Jesper
for his second Roll Over. Well done
guys, now who is next – maybe some fun at the Big Sky Bush Pig Challenge?
How is it one careless match can start a forest fire,
but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?
BIG SKY BUSH PIG. 25 /16 May 2013
Once again we had our unique
Bush Pig 4x4 team event which makes so much fun. Our main sponsor, Sean Quinlan of Big Sky
Supplies, joined in the team of Mike Gill – LR Lightweight and Mark Benzon –
Jeep. Yes, saw Sean carrying ramps and
wheels, fitting tow ropes and generally getting lots of exercise in prep for
his entry to the South African Comrades Race.
Adrian Watt managed to win even though he had to pull Gary Buchanan
though several tests, some handicap!
The event started on Friday night with four
tests along a small river, in bright full moon light. We got back to the camp wet, dirty, tired and
very, very cold. Frost on the grass in
the morning. The Catering was excellent
and after a large fried egg and bacon roll and hot coffee on Saturday morning
and many war stories, we set off to find the next batch of tests. This was when we found "Ally Cat"
the V8 Lightweight had a broken front drive shaft. A spare was available and although we had to
take off both sides to get the broken bit out the diff it was quickly repaired
and off we went. DNFs were quite common
and even though there are two cars to a team and with team members helping each
other it was not unusual for both cars to fail a test. However each test is scored separately so all
vehicles completed the competition. Sadly
Jason Willcox had to pull out with broken engine mountings.
Saturday night Prize Giving was
a happy affair which ended with Alex Hawkins doing his usual "Fines"
…
Our thanks to Roger for getting the Marshals;
Brian Cocker for the use of his great rugged country side; Peter and his team of organisers and route
planners; Carol for being Clerk of the Course; To Jim Perry Transport for
looking after our Marshals needs and for all his help fetching and carrying; and all our sponsors listed below. That
adds up to making this such a good event, eight teams is a bit few but what fun
we had.
The "4x4 Roll Over"
Trophy was handed to Adrian Watt by Jesper Kirk. It seems that Adrian was saved a complete
roll over by a small tree.
1st. "Piss Cats" Watt/Buchanan. Cournil/Jeep
2nd. "Bush Rats" Perry/Lowery LR/LR
3rd. "Team Jeep" Hawkins/Stead Jeep/Jeep
3rd. "4x4 Bandits" Kirk/Kirk Cournil/Cournil
5th. "Hells Angels" Bennett/Butler LR/Jeep
6th "Scorpions" Gill/Benzon LR/Jeep
7th. "I Don't know". Thorburn/Kiggen Jeep/LR
8th. "3 Wheelers" Willcox/Geach
Jeep/LR
Let us have a look at some of
the cars on this event:
Some cars are what you might
loosely call standard, Gary B's Jeep, Aubrey B's Landy, Tim T's Jeep,
Then there are the modified
cars with engine changes: Jim P's Landy – V8, Alex H's & Ralph S's V8s,
Mike G's V8, Dale K's, Jason W's and Gareth G's V8s. Chassis and suspension changes, Diff Locs and
Fiddle Brakes, even 4 Wheel Steering. We could go on with Power Steering,
Shortened chassis, Bodies on other Chassis and so on. One thing comes out - you can have fun with a standard car.
Our
sincere thanks to our Sponsors, without whom we could not put on such a good event. To Sean Quinlan of Big Sky Supplies for being
our main sponsor and for providing super shirts and prizes. To our good friends at Castrol. To
Fonzie Engineering; Tinkerbells Restaurant; Supreme Butchery for biltong;
Fontec Supplies and to the Kirk family for Yoghurts.
OLD CAR BATTERIES.
Before you throw away that
old car battery there is a possible use for it.
Most of us have electric gates and/or fences. The original small black batteries will open
your gate a few times but with some of our power cuts they will not last as
long as an old car battery. Bin the
small black battery and wire up the car battery. I have one that is over 6 years old and still
works. Throw an old mat over it to hide
it. It may need water every few months.
Old chauffeurs never die, they just lose their drive.
CAMPING TIP.
We all try to fit to fit
far too much in our cars so here are a couple of ideas that we have found
useful.
Get a couple of SQUARE buckets. These pack well and the top one is used for
storing all our cleaning items. In ours
is a collection of brushes (standing on end, cut short if too long), Dish Wash
liquid soap and Pot Scourers; Insect Repellant; Laundry Soap powder (in a
square plastic bottle); Window Cleaner; Clothes Pegs and wash line (in a
plastic pot); Handy Andy in old Brasso bottle; Dettol for a Tsetse Fly
repellent; a Gas Lighter (saves burning fingers); old Harpic bottle with mixed
up Ant Kill; a couple of Plastic Bags and Cleaning Cloths. Even some Matches in a sealed plastic packet; and
a bit of Green Soap in case of a holed fuel tank.
When we get home
everything gets refilled, cleaned and replaced so that it is ready for the next
trip. All that can be easily found in one open
bucket.
RANGE ROVER AIR SUSPENSION
This wonderful system has
one major drawback; it gets old and goes wrong.
Repairs are often beyond the economics of the owner, so what can be
done? There are conversion kits
available to replace the air bags with coils it is a reliable fix and
cheaper. This has been done here and
there are part way kits which allow you to pump up one corner at a time in case
of system failure. This does not fix a
leaking air bag though.
Your Editor knows of
several people who can do these conversions, if you need help please ask.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS:
CHIZARIRA 14th-17th JUNE
For all the fairly sane, bush-loving 4x4
Club members who want to get out on a trip to a place they haven’t been for a
while AND do some worthwhile conservation work.
LET’S GO TO CHIZARIRA NATIONAL PARK 14th-17th JUNE (or
12th - 18th for those who can stay longer) to do some Road Clearing. Details
will follow.
Contact: Muzza Black 0772.241.000 muzza@zol.co.zw
ARCADIA DAM: 13th to 14th
July 2013
Drive
from Domboshawa to Arcadia Dam along the back roads on Saturday. Camp one night and drive back home the next
day. The route back is still to be
decided. We invite all Club members to join us. It is an interesting drive and
very SUV friendly.
If you would
like to join us, please contact :
Roger Ellis
Ph :498373 - cell : 0772 219 154 :
email : ellisr@barzem.co.zw
or Pat Gill,
Ph :494028 - cell : 0778 731.288 : email : gill@zol.co.zw
4x4 Club Diary - 2013
These dates change as the year progresses, but flyers will be
sent out before each event.
Event types
(A). Competition
cars. (B). Social event, any car. (C). 4x4 Touring/SUV
JUNE 13-16
Bush Clearing(C) Chizarira
July 13-14 Trail Drive (C) Arcadia
Dam
AUGUST 3-4 English
Rules Trials(A)
Jamboree
Launch(B) Donnybrook
AUGUST 12-13 Away
Weekend (C)
August
24 -25 Course Building(B) Donnybrook
SEPTEMBER 7 -8 Jamboree
(A) Donnybrook
OCTOBER
11 -13 Matabele
Jamboree (A) Bulawayo
OCTOBER
19–20 3
Hills (C) Chinamora
NOVEMBER
t.b.a. CLUB 20TH ANNIVERSARY
NOVEMBER 22–24 Dungbeetle
(A) Mutare
DECEMBER 8
Christmas Run (B) Local
A = 6; B
= 5; C = 5. Events left this year
DONNYBROOK
To enter Donnybrook Park on
a non-event day it will cost you $2
per car, providing you have you membership card. Non-members will be charged $20 per car. You must sign the book at the gate and put
your name, your Club and membership number.
Do not pay without signing the book.
Please note: If you wish to go to Donnybrook to play and there is
another event on, then the organizing club can charge what they like for you to
enter. They will have hired the entire
complex for that day. Please don’t try and argue with the gate attendant, they
will just be doing their job. Either
pay-up or go away and come back on a free day.
FACE
BOOK
Motor Sports Association Club House
MSA Membership: The Club House bar works
on a Swipe Card basis and any member of an affiliated club can join. Pay your $20 Club House subscription and get
your card. Bar prices are double for
non-cardholders.
Hall for Hire -
Hire
our affordable Club facilities for parties, Wedding Receptions, meetings,
seminars, courses and other functions.
Assist us in this way to obtain funds for the Clubhouse.
Michael and
Pat GILL
Phone: 04.494028
(M) 0778.843.843 (P) 0778.731.288 gill@zol.co.zw
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