UMM..... Portugal?

[Guest Breadvan72]

My last Landy had four levers (main one, 4WD, hi-lo, and overdrive).  Four knobs to fondle!  Having only three in the UMM is a bit of a set back.  

[Guest Breadvan72]

The engine bay (partly misnamed, because it does not have much engine in it) is mucho muddy, as mentioned above.  I would hose it out, but am worried about electrical blah.  Whatcha reckon?

 

 

[Guest Breadvan72]

I know, but knowing me I will jet too much into some electro gadget and the whole thing will go FOOM.  The photos fail to show, by the way, just how caked in brown clag the whole engine bay is.

 

I will unload the heavy wheels and tyres from the back, and then give the heap a try out on one of the two local bits of OVROAD YEZ that are legal to drive on.  

 

Did I mention the gun locker in the back? Standard kit, I think.  There is also a storage area in front of the rad grille.  Some UMMs have winches, and I assume that some may have power take offs and so on.  

 

The interior of the cab is rocking a bit of that Land Rover County edition vibe - actual carpets, door linings, posho seats.  The GRP roof has no lining, and the jalopy might benefit from some sound deadening stuff.  There may be a limit to what can be done there, as the engine protrudes into the cab so much.

[barmatt]

I'd be wary of splashing water around the engine* bay, the electrics on these are fragile enough without encouraging them to fry themselves. Most of the mud would probably come off with as stiff brush and a little water.

 

Saying that, I did park the other red one in quite a large puddle with no ill effects

 

 

 

[Guest Breadvan72]

I should have scanned these brochure shots, but have some rubbish photos of the brochure instead.

 

Can any UMM licker please suggest what the orange knob at the right hand end of the dash might be?   No, it's not me, as I haven't been on my sunny hols yet.  

 

It's not for glow plugs, as these come on with the key, and nor is it for fog lamps, as these are to the left of the steering wheel.   Dash lighting?  If so, not working, as the dash lights have one setting - mega dim.

 

The (effective as well as funky) wipers operate in slow, slow, and fast.  I wonder if the first slow is supposed to be intermittent, but is broken.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest Breadvan72]

I omitted to mention that the UMM has a hand throttle, which looks like the chain that you would pull on an old fashioned kharzi.  

[Faker]

I think I'm in love!

[somewhatfoolish]

I think we need a picture of this orange knob, otherwise it will have to be dubbed the trump adjustment control.

[Crankshaft]

This thing is OOBAKOOL. I is wel jel.

[Bag'O'Spanners]

Just moved away from 'Arlow, never had seen an UMM in all my years there. Many memories of living near a Reliant, later Lada then Kia dealers of oddities of suchlike. Am loving the UMM, stupefyingly cool. Mucho grande like. 

[Junkman]

 

 

There is room for more.

A lot more.

[Guest Breadvan72]

The Orange knob is visible here above the slot where a (pointless) stereo could go.  I have not checked to see if it is connected to anything.

 

 

 

[Guest Breadvan72]

Just moved away from 'Arlow, never had seen an UMM in all my years there. Many memories of living near a Reliant, later Lada then Kia dealers of oddities of suchlike. Am loving the UMM, stupefyingly cool. Mucho grande like. 

 

I think that the bloke only had the UMM for a year, or less,  It was somewhere in the Fens before that.  It was probably painted from blue to orange at that time.

[Guest Breadvan72]

Bingo-brained Blockheads often acquire
Black and orange cars
Premature ejaculation drivers
The soft-top's got roll-bars

'Fill her up, mate' say the Blockheads
'Go on, stick it where it hurts'
Their shapeless haircuts don't enhance
Their ghastly patterned shirts

 

 

(from "Blockheads" by Ian Dury and the Blockheads)

 

[Guest Breadvan72]

The five Suzuki Vitara tyres are now out of the truck and are lying about making my place look well Pikey.    I will not say that the UMM is exactly sprightly without the added weight, but it does go a fair bit better than it did before.  The handling is predictable and not mega dire.  The brakes are mega dire.  Big Volvo discs at the front, and drums at the back, but super spongey.  They need double pedal pumping like mad.  

 

Rust?  A bit at the rear corners.    The back bit appears to have been added on.

 

This one looks short but is the LWB version. 

[Guest Breadvan72]

UMM review below: note reference to wandering steering, catching fire, and so on.

 

 

Lusitania Luís de Camões (c. 1524–1580)  

(From The Lusiad, Book III)
Translated by William Julius Mickle

PROUD o’er the rest, with splendid wealth arrayed,

As crown to this wide empire, Europe’s head,

Fair Lusitania smiles, the western bound,

Whose verdant breast the rolling waves surround,

Where gentle evening pours her lambent ray,         

To them in vain the injured Muse bewails:

The last pale gleaming of departing day:

This, this, O mighty king, the sacred earth,

This the loved parent-soil that gave me birth.

And O, would bounteous Heaven my prayer regard,       

And fair success my perilous toils reward,

May that dear land my latest breath receive,

And give my weary bones a peaceful grave.  

 Sublime the honors of my native land,

And high in Heaven’s regard her heroes stand:         

By Heaven’s decree ’t was theirs the first to quell

The Moorish tyrants, and from Spain expel;

Nor could their burning wilds conceal their flight,

Their burning wilds confessed the Lusian might.

From Lusus famed, whose honored name we bear,        

(The son of Bacchus or the bold compeer,)

The glorious name of Lusitania rose,

A name tremendous to the Roman foes,

When her bold troops the valiant shepherd led,

And foul with rout the Roman eagles fled;         

When haughty Rome achieved the treacherous blow,

That owned her terror of the matchless foe.

But when no more her Viriatus fought,

Age after age her deeper thraldom brought;

Her broken sons by ruthless tyrants spurned,         

Her vineyards languished, and her pastures mourned;

Till time, revolving, raised her drooping head,

And o’er the wandering world her conquests spread.

[Guest Breadvan72]

Camoes also designed the advanced sixteenth century suspension technology used in this vehicle.

[Longblackcoat]

The Orange knob is visible here above the slot where a (pointless) stereo could go.  I have not checked to see if it is connected to anything.

 

 

 

 

 

I don't know what it is in an UMM - and it may well be connected to fresh air for all I know - but I suspect it's a choke lever. When I say 'choke' I actually mean a manual injection timing advance lever, which is about as much use as a herring waistcoat in our relatively warm climate, but in very very cold weather it would be used to aid starting.

 

As I say, I don't know if that's what it is in the case of the UMM, nor whether it would be even remotely effective. I do know, however, that the Peugeot 504 diesel (same engine as the UMM?) had a 'fast idle control knob' which may well have been the same thing.

 

Or I could be talking bollocks, obviously.

[Longblackcoat]

Camoes also designed the advanced sixteenth century suspension technology used in this vehicle.

 

And recorded Word Up

 

[Guest Breadvan72]

And Camoes is also is a useful type of lady's vest

 

[Guest Breadvan72]

Camoes is also a type of brooch -

[Guest Breadvan72]

This guy does a lot of Camoes appearances -

[dieselnutjob]

As I say, I don't know if that's what it is in the case of the UMM, nor whether it would be even remotely effective. I do know, however, that the Peugeot 504 diesel (same engine as the UMM?) had a 'fast idle control knob' which may well have been the same thing.

 

I think that only early 504 diesels had this.  My 2.3 didn't.

I doubt whether a 505 or any 2.5 L did.  They probably (I don't remember) had a wax element cable puller thing in the coolant that would adjust the pump automatically.

[Guest Breadvan72]

Pic below - showing modern 4x4 tat how it's done at the local station.  Note also that BEEG TROK is SMOLL.  Even in LWB version (which this one is), the meaty contraption takes up little road space, length wise at least.  It still looks very chunky and tends to get, er.... noticed.  It needs an UMM badge - at present it only has one saying Alter.  People assume that it is a customised Landy.  

 

The brakes are getting a bit better with use, but still need work.  They come from a Volvo 740.

 

The Portuguese designed and built the UMM's transfer box themselves, and designed the body themselves (modifying the Cournil design). They built the chassis on an adapted jeep plan, and built the bulkheads, and the body (welded to the chassis).    The interior trim (which is posher than a 90s Land Rover's trim) is French parts bin.

 

The axles are by GKN in the UK.  I do not know where the wheels came from, nor if this UMM has its original steelies, or steelies from another wagon.  As mentioned before, its alloys are Vitaras.  Those will probably stay in the shed unless and until I sell the truck, as it is not intended for long range trips.  I suppose that the alloys and road tyres could be useful if I take the UMM to the Fens to go adventuring with skattrd's turbocharged SWB version, which he tells me really does go quite well.

 

The non turbo UMM is slooooow.  It requires careful use of the gears, and you have to build up and maintain momentum to keep it at or near 60 MPH on A roads.  It's like driving an old fashioned van.    The handling is quite neutral and there is little body roll or understeer.  The steering is a bit over assisted.   The dangly wipers work very well, and the cab has good ventilation and  demists quickly.

 

I will buy some ear defenders - apparently you can get these with radios built in.  I could even my my old flying headsets which have 12 V powered active noise reduction.   Having said that, sometimes I think that I need ear defenders in my Dolomite.    It has a somewhat yobby exhaust.

 

 

 

[chaseracer]

Camoes also designed the advanced sixteenth century suspension technology used in this vehicle.

 

Are you sure?

 

 

[Guest Breadvan72]

That version was rejected by UMM's financial backers because it was too advanced and expensive.

 

I have just read a late 1980s magazine review of the UMM Alter.  The reviewer liked it, especially as at that time coil sprung Landies were still relatively new and some people were sad about the demise of the leaf sprung Landies.

 

Having driven 80s and 90s Defenders I would say that the UMM is less crude than those Defenders, but the UMM is hyper crude compared to Japanese 4x4s of that era. 

[Guest Breadvan72]

My kid brother (aged 45) is a hippy-punk-a-chap-a-billy groovster mofo.  He suits the truck, and the truck suits him.  He says that the brakes are shit.  He is not wrong.

 

 

 

[Guest Breadvan72]

The UMM has been cut off at the back - it should be about 18 inches longer than it is.  The round rear lights are non standard.  The reversing light is mega bright - perhaps for specialist dogging usage?   

[Lacquer Peel]

Has the brake servo assistance gone? I love this old truck, can't believe it was only a grand, UMMs can be quite salty on eBay.

 

There was an UMM station wagon used by a gamekeeper near here when I was young, I don't remember it lasting long.

[Guest Breadvan72]

The servo is not the current prime suspect.  The brakes do not feel unassisted.  They feel like they need bleeding or adjustment.  They are spongey, and only firm up on the second or third pump.  They do stop the truck, but feel alarming when first used.  There are discs on the front, but the brakes feel like old Landy drum brakes that need their shoes to be looked at.

 

My mobile mech is busy, so I am just off to a local Landy specialist to see if he has time to do the brakes.