EGD – Page 2 – OKIEROVER.COM

December 22, 2014May 16, 2023

Electrical System Nightmares (Post #520) 12/22/2014

This has not been a very fun couple of weeks for Big White Bus. My all time favorite thing on an automobile to work on is the electrical system. /end sarcasm.

I live by five simple rules.

I don’t play with electricity.
I won’t live any place I’m not the tertiary member of the food chain.
I never get less than twelve hours sleep.
I never play cards with guys who have the same first name as a city.
I’ve never gotten involved with a woman with a tattoo of a dagger on her body.*

The twelve hours of sleep has long since become merely a guideline and no so much a rule. And playing with electricity is also sometimes necessary. This week especially. Continue reading “Electrical System Nightmares (Post #520) 12/22/2014”

July 18, 2014May 16, 2023

Video Blog #2 (Post #506) 7/18/2014

Here is my second attempt at a video blog. Its probably a tad long at 7:20. And I haven’t figured out how to close yet. I did make notes so I wouldn’t ramble. Let’s go with 88% non-rambling.

I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks for reading, watching, and Happy Rovering.

May 31, 2014May 16, 2023

Slow Days of Summer (Post #497) 5/31/2014

Sorry for the post drought lately. I finally have a new job and haven’t had much time to do much of anything Land Rover. I ordered a CV joint and some other bits to sort out the axle problem that I referred to in Front Half Shaft Oil-Seal Failure. I thought they’d be in this weekend. Rovers North told me the CV joint was on a container ship last week. I thought for sure I’d have it by this week. By Saturday morning it had not arrived.

So Saturday I took the long drive up to Jones, Oklahoma to help the Evil German Dude. The sunroof was open and the windows down and I had a Mexi-Coke. Life is good. EGD has had some trouble with his swimming pool of late. The original liner failed after a few years and a new liner that was installed a couple of weeks ago required yet another new liner. Many hands make light work. Porsche Mike and his sweet wife Mel came out to help as well. Mel is keen to do some “off-roading” with us and very much enjoyed the comfort of the Big White Bus when trying out the seats. I hope to see more of Porsche Mike in the future…like maybe at a Garage Day, hint, hint.

We were thinking of Paparazzi Ford who was unable to attend due to the loss of his father this past week. My buddy Mr. Fisher lost his sister this weekend too. She succumbed to a long battle with cancer. Our thoughts are with both of their families in this difficult time.

We finished everything we could do and all that was left was to watch the water fill the pool at 6-8 gallons a minute. I drove home and stopped on the way home for some petrol and the BWB’s odometer was sitting on 209,000. The now twenty-one year old Range Rover has shown us some great miles. I managed to get 15 miles per gallon out of this last tank full. That really surprises me because my new commute has a lot more stop and go traffic due to the new hours I have at my new employment. I am stuck in “five o’clock traffic” on the way home and that is usually terrible for gas mileage ratings.

I guess I’ll schedule next Saturday for an axle tear down. I’m almost reluctant to swap the CV joint. The sound I’m hearing is not there very often. The noise could also be explained by the wrong fluid being in the reservoir. If I do swap it, the old CV would be an excellent shelf spare if it should ever be needed.

That’s all I have for now. I’ll be videoing the axle tear down and will post it all up when I have the time.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

January 16, 2014May 15, 2023

Garage Day: Exhaust Leak? (Post #434) 1/16/2014

Once I’d placed the Flex-a-lite sticker on the window, you know, to improve the off-road-ability, we fired her up for testing of the new fans. At once, EGD said something about an exhaust leak. I guess he hadn’t really ever noticed the tick-tick-tick before.

I told him I thought there was a leak right where the previous shop welded up the exhaust last time. I believed it to be a crack at the weld. The tell-tale signs of a leak were not present. Normally you see a black soot deposit on the exterior of the exhaust.

We put the Range Rover up on some ramps and crawled underneath. I pointed out where I thought the leak was. EGD was skeptical but I assured him that was the most likely spot. We inspected the exhaust and found nothing else visible.

With flash to show location of welding.

Welding is cool.

So EGD welded it up. I fired her up and she was noticeably quieter. Its amazing to me that a friend will climb under your truck and attempt to catch himself on fire for me. Such a great friend. This will put off me buying a new stainless steel exhaust for at least the rest of this year.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

January 15, 2014May 15, 2023

Garage Day: The Long Awaited Electric Fans Post (Post #433) 1/15/2014

The electric fan conversion is complete!

Over the weekend I employed The Evil German Dude and the newly named Paparazzi Ford (Butch) to assist in the install of the electric fans. As this will be a somewhat lengthy post let me start by saying, thank you Frank. Without you this project would have been completed but would have been no where near as freaking awesome as it turned out.

Butch, thank you for taking WAY too many pictures photo-chronicalling this project. Butch said we should do some video blogging. I think he is on to something. He was none too happy about being relegated to the camera for this project but he cheerfully took pictures through out the 8 hour event.

If you don’t get together with your friends and do projects like this, I feel sorry for you. You are seriously missing out on some of the best stuff you can experience with friends. I’ve known and worked with these two guys since June of 2000 and their friendship is something I cherish deeply. We always have a really good time together. Man Bonding Time or as the Evil German Broad says, “babysitting Frank so I can watch football.” is some of the best stuff in the known universe.

I’d also like to thank the Evil German Broad for preparing us the delicious meals and reporting the scores in the Seahawks/Saints game for us. Mrs. Okierover was actually a little put off when she offered me breakfast that morning and I declined because as I said, “I get to eat breakfast at Bettina’s.”

Evil German Broad

Not only are Garage Days at the Evil German Dude’s a culinary treat they are educational. EGD’s education in Germany and his experience in fabricating make projects like this an educational event. I don’t think there has been a Garage Day where I didn’t learn something from him.

This is a Huge Post

This project started at 0930 and didn’t get wrapped up until 1830. We took three breaks, one for breakfast, one for lunch, and one to weld up the exhaust leak. Butch and I mostly watched the whirlwind that is the Evil German Dude. It is his shop and only he knows where all the entrances to his secret earthquake generation lab tools are located. Overalls are not required but highly recommended. Two of the three of us (the smarter ones) were wearing them. So sit back and put on your reading glasses, you are going to need them for this one. Continue reading “Garage Day: The Long Awaited Electric Fans Post (Post #433) 1/15/2014”

November 22, 2013May 15, 2023

Beards Made in America, Ooorah (Post #416) 11/22/2013

Beard Care That Cares | stubble & ‘stache
I have several friends that are beard wearers. Notably The Evil German Dude and +Frank Keller who my children call Frankenstein. Mostly because my kids have grown up seeing him as a freakishly large man with a lot of facial hair. I know him to be the giant teddy-bear his actually is. The legend is that Frank has had a beard since he was in 5th grade. If memory serves he came to Newcastle that year. I know I was in the 6th grade when I heard that rumor and I’m sure that by the time he was in middle school Frank was at least a by-weekly shaver. Remind me to tell you the story of Frank and I’s ninja-attack-kidney-punching semester sometime.

I could not grow facial hair until I was around age 20. I had been in the Marine Corps three years by then and mustaches were all the rage. This was the early 1980’s so try to remember Freddie Mercury, Geraldo Rivera, Eddie Murphy, and of course the amazing Tom Selleck (People magazine). Classic 1980’s mustaches. Thusly, I tried to sport a mustache. I fell short of Eddie Murphy’s and in short, it was pathetic.

I saw this clip on Military Times’ Battle Rattle blog. It is very funny and quite manly. Enjoy.

I snorted out loud when he tells the angel he has crabs! Hilarious!
So if you are one of the manly men growing a beard this No-Shave November buy some of this product and enjoy your beard while helping out some of our troops.
Made in America. Ooorah!
Semper Fi, Nick.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.