Category: Big White Bus

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Auxiliary Lights for the Range Rover Classic Overland Rig Part 2 (Post #724) 2/15/2026

I finished up the soldering on the lights. I didn’t finish one last weekend. I should have filmed it because it was the best connection of the three. Its sad how you lose skills when you don’t use them. Add soldering to the list of perishable skills…

  • Dancing
  • Running
  • Bending over at the waist
  • Patience
  • Firearms accuracy
  • Drinking all day and waking up the next day like nothing happened
  • (New) Soldering

That’s most of my list… I’m sure “cognitive skills” and “remembering why I walked into a room” will be added soon but for now let’s go with these.

I got the wires routed along the roof rack. I bought some ridiculously over designed zip ties. I used those along the rack. I’m not worried about the wires moving.

I was able to run the wires around the rain gutter and into one of the holes in the D pillar that would have been used to hold the beauty panel on. I’m not worried about it going anywhere because the wires are right up against it.

I got the D pillar beauty panel secured and installed the interior trim piece as well. I now have to get connectors and wire and make jumpers for the relays and plan my wiring panel. At this point I’m thinking a piece of wood mounted to the interior back. It would be covered by the box that will be the location of the light switches and the sub woofer.

There will be additional power needs back there. I have a ridiculous list of needs for the rear.

Interior lights, charging batteries for a drone and cameras and flash lights…. Its a ridiculous list and I should probably print it and stick up somewhere so I am always thinking about it when I’m planning.

That’s all for this week. Like and subscribe if you watch the video. Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

https://youtu.be/3JimmzlH69Y
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Let There Be Light (Post #719) 12/14/2025

In this post I rough-in the wiring for the lights on the outside of the Big White Bus. My plan is to have external lighting that I can control from the comfort of the sleeping area in the back of the Range Rover Classic.

I have selected the lights I’m confident will provide the light I might need… setting up camp, entertaining guest and generally lighting up the exterior so I can see any threats that might be lurking while I relax in the the comfort of the sleeping area.

Three of these strategically placed on the roof rack should be sufficient lighting. There is a a minor concern about how the wiring will go from the lights back into the sleeping area. The wire I bought has a significant shield. I sorted out how they should run past the D pillar beauty panel.

I think it will work the way I have it, but if not, I will cut the beauty panel to accommodate the wires. I had a thought to run the wires through the tubing on the roof rack. The thickness of the shielding will likely prevent that. I also didn’t have black zip ties. So I’ll have to source those to complete the wiring.

That’s the gist of it for this week. I do explain my recent absence from posting videos. I have had a few weeks of medical issues that all culminated into a possible muscle tear or pull in my abdomen. I then had family over for Thanksgiving, then I reinjured myself helping Mrs. Okierover’s cousin with a tree that would have fell on his rent house. I then got bronchitis and it has been a battle to beat that. Better living through chemistry.

Congrats to the Midshipmen as they defeated the Cadets of Westpoint in a thrilling football game. My first Army/Navy game was on TV when I was probably 11 years old (1975, Navy won). I had just begun to enjoy college football. I was watching the game on my black and white TV in my room. My dad walked by and I asked, “Who do we route for in the Army Navy game?” Dad said, “Always Navy.” That should have been obvious but I was only eleven and didn’t have a full grasp of the universe at that age. I know, shocking.
My dad served in the Navy when, “Ships were wood, and men were iron.” That was 1947-1950. Sailors learned knots and morse code and nautical things subjects no squids today learn. My uncle also served with my dad on the USS Wiltsie. Uncle Bob lied about his age and joined when he was 16 years old. Epic. Dad was 19 years old. They fought the Chinese communists during the Chinese Civil War.

Thanks for all the emails and messages checking on me. I’m getting better every day.

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Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

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Installing the Radius Arms on my Range Rover Classic Overland Rig: Part 4 (Post #714) 8/10/2025

Thanks for coming back. This week I installed the Panhard Rod and got the rear Radius Arms back on the Range Rover. Interesting observation from the install. The suspension had moved due to the poly bushings failing. Probably didn’t help with me driving it.

The new bushing could not be tightened until the axle side had been installed. The was just not enough play in the system. On the first side I first tried to install it with the frame bushing installed. That was a no go. I could not get the axle side to line up the holes for the bush and the bolt.

You may encounter that when you are doing yours. I also had some trouble with the port side bushing due to my use of the cutting disc. It had carved a ridge on the mount that I couldn’t slide the bushing past. That took a little extra encouragement to get it lined up.

I used anti-seize on all the bolts. I feel pretty good about that. I’ll need to replace these at some point and it doesn’t help when they are rust welding themselves together.

The panhard rod still did not want to get lined up when I tried to install the bolt. I used the old bolt and drove it through the bushing to eliminate what ever was keeping me from installing the bolt.

I took her out for a drive down and OH MAN what a difference. This small upgrade fixed a bunch of the issues. She’s safe to drive again.

It was soooooo hot today. I tried to start early but just couldn’t get out of bed and started. By the time I was cleaning up the garage floor it was 105F in the shop and it was really taking its toll on me.

Mrs. Okierover got home from the National Senior Games where she competed in the Women’s 3v3 basketball in the over 60 age division. They did not have big point differentials so they were relegated to the Bronze Division this year. They swept all the teams but the last one out of San Diego.

The ladies of the Oklahoma Wolfpack played well and we were extremely proud of them.

My wife took our oldest grand daughter Cadence along as well as my son Drew. Erica even drove up from Spring Hill, Kansas with the boys so they could spend some time with Mimi and so they could watch her play.

I added a short clip of one of her games on the end of the video I posted.

I had some website trouble this week, so hopefully you didn’t come by and find it down. I got some TERRIBLE advise from Go Daddy’s online chat support (from India) and they managed to get my page hijacked by a restaurant somewhere in Maine(?). I also had no way to make any changes. They just kept suggesting I add products that would help me. It was all in vain because I had no protection after they had me remove my SSL certificate. Idiots.

I called back and talked to two help desk technicians (American) and they were awesome. The first guy was awesome. “Why didn’t they just put it back to the original configuration?” I said, “EXACTLY!” They nearly lost my business over this latest SNAFU.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering. May the wind take your troubles away.

https://youtu.be/b23aFdQC_0E
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Welding up the Floor Supports on my Range Rover Classic (Post #690) 2/9/2025

In this update I begin attaching the supports to the floor pan. Also in this update I tried to get carbon monoxide poison and avoided getting bit by a fiddleback spider.

I started on the supports and the first one was the strap across the back portion of the floor bed. When I removed the strap during my tear down I drilled out the welds. I did a decent job and only punched through on one weld. This allowed me to plug weld the strap back into place.

This was fortuitous. The other support beams are drilled through. That’s gonna make reattaching …difficult.

Since it was a bit chilly in the shoppe, I fired up the kerosene heater. I done this several times in the past. Before I closed the overhead door a little exhaust from the Big White Bus managed to get in. The heater must have added to a substantial amount of carbon monoxide. This set off the sensor. So I opened up the door to let the monoxides out.

I also moved the alarm, under the alarm was a damn fiddleback spider. The cold didn’t allow for the damn thing to scurry away. I ended it right there with a tap. When it twitched, I gave it a SMASH. One less brown recluse spider is a good thing.

I now have one of the three supports into place. The other two will not be as fun.

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Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

https://youtu.be/n2oFRhvDRRs
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Diagnosing a non-starting Range Rover Classic and Painting the Floor Pan (Post #686) 1/4/2025

Happy New Year!

In this episode I diagnose a non-starting Range Rover. Turns out it was actually pretty simple. I do some mostly-questionable things in this video. When working with gasoline (petrol for those of you in the “other English” speaking countries) you need to be VERY careful. More careful than I am in this video.

First, I try to catch fuel from the return line, which would not have come out of that line, it would come out of the rail on top the engine. In itself not terribly dangerous on a cold engine. The second is opening the fuel lines from the fuel pump. Again not terribly dangerous in itself, but not smart either. A little static electricity and this may have been my last video. So don’t be stupid.

SPOILER ALERT: Don’t read the next paragraph if you haven’t watched the video and still want to be surprised by the cause of my non-starting Range Rover Classic.

Ever run out of gas? Well, I have now for my second time in 44 years of driving. I ran out once when I was 18 years old. I was 2 miles from the gas station and just forgot to fill up the FIRST time I passed the station. My dad was cool, and came and got me, chastised me the 2 miles to the gas station and was kind enough to drive me back to my 1973 Ford Maverick.

The second time I ran out of gas…was apparently last week after I parked the Big White Bus. I guess I had just enough gas to get her back into the garage.

Yeah, my non-starting was due to an empty fuel tank. I put 8 gallons in and she started right up. LOL.

I took the rest of the day and finished welding the Z bar on to the rear floor pan. Then I painted it. I spend a little extra time spraying paint into the gap between the Z bar and the floor pan. The idea here was the liquid paint would go between the metals and hopefully coat between the two pieces. I will also file the space with rattle-can rhino-liner, chip sealer, or whatever you want to call it. Then I will fill the gap with seam sealer.

I got to some length about perhaps melting some wax and making it run in there. Sounds like a great idea, but probably not a great idea. I’ll stick to seam sealer.

That’s about it, Like and subscribe.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

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Replacing the Fuel Filter on a Range Rover Classic (Post #685) 12/29/2024

In this episode, I replace the fuel filter on the Range Rover Classic.

I had a premonition that I might have a dirty fuel filter. I had decided I was going to change it and was planning when I might do that. Then I went out to the Big White Bus this weekend and she wouldn’t start.

Fuel blockage was on my mind already, and I locked in on that. You need four things to start a Range Rover:

  • Fuel
  • Air
  • Spark
  • Hope

I threw in that last one, better safe than sorry. I know I have air. I don’t know if any fuel is getting up there. When I spray with starter fluid it tries to run. I know spark has been an issue for me in the past, so this is why I didn’t have any hope.

The fuel filter was corroded on the fuel tank side. I finally managed to get some PB Blaster in there to break up the rust. The steel fitting had been in the filter TOO LONG. So once I got it off I installed the new one.

Unfortunately this wasn’t the issue. So I have to diagnose if fuel is getting to the rail, and I have to check if I have yet again destroyed a coil and or an ignition module. I don’t have spares, or I don’t think I do. So playing the Easter egg swap game hoping I find a bad component is probably not going to happen.

If I determine the spark is the issue, I’m going to move to a fully electronic distributor from D.U.I. Performance Distributors.

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Thanks for readying and Happy Rovering.

https://youtu.be/3xMBmw3om0U

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