Hope I've figured it out. Think it's because you can't use livemap permalink. Requested area manager again using several editor permalinks because you can't zoom out far enough.

Ive found that you need to start and end[/]b the paving in an area with reception. Waze will not let you start whe you dont have reception but it silently ignores the route when you stop.

Ive also found that paving doesnt go straight into the map for me (when I first started it did, but then stopped), I have to go into the editor, select the newly driven area and use the Create road function.

Correct, the permalink needs to come from the editor not the live map. Glad you got it working.

From my experience, roads paved where there is no reception at all will not show on the map and the detail of the driven route will only be recorded where reception is available too. Looking at some of my drives through rural areas I can see where the phone lost reception as the track changes colour and goes to a dotted straight line until reception is returned and the route starts following the road again.

If all is working well, there should be no need to add the roads manually.

Sounds like fun! $60 well spent for an adventure ride