February 24th, 2003 (Post #23)

February 24, 2003
Great Stuffage
This weekend we had an Ramp Travel Index get together at Rover Cannibal. I got to meet a few members and future members I haven’t seen before and chat with some I have. I was surprised to see how many of our trucks are white. It looked like an Extreme UNSCOM Convention was going on. As we pulled our trucks up to the RTI ramp I saw a few other colors.

As I was being measured on the ramp Alan Bates came around to my side of the Big White Bus
and said, “You’ve got some great stuffage going on there.” Seems my right rear tire was way
up in the wheel well. We ran the trucks on the ramp inside, because of the weather, and then
as we were not entirely pleased with the results we ran them up outside off of the concrete. Alan
has a very awesome 1992 Range Rover. A really great looking truck check out his pics on the Member’s Page.

With the shifting of the transfer case I found another annoyance that had slipped from my memory since the last time it occurred. The microswitch that activates a bell that noisily informs you that you are in neutral would not go off. Finally after a few minutes it did finally go off. It has been chirping on bumps ever since. With every day that goes by I feel like it would be a worthy project to park the Rover and take it mostly apart and fix all the little problems. I do not have another vehicle to drive and no place to do this maintenance close to home. So it will have to wait for later when the average daily driveway temperature to climbs into the 60s fahrenheit.

December 10th, 2002 (Post #15)

December 10, 2002

Garage Day Success

Garage Day was a success.

The Land Rover Bomber Jackets were a big hit.

Got the bad brake fluid changed. There were a great many bits floating in the recovery bottle.
The fluid is translucent now as opposed to the tea colored fluid we removed. There will be a
right up soon. Look for it.

See you at the next one.

December 3rd, 2002 (Post #14)

December 3, 2002
The Joys of Urban Living and Good Thing He was at the Garage
Garage Day is Saturday. With that in mind Friday after Thanksgiving was a crummy day. I went out to the curb to return the trash cans to the side of the house and there on the ground was my right rear lens protector and some red plastic. I looked at it an thought that’s strange. Then I looked at the truck, long scratch, and a torn quarter panel (with hole). Seems the City of Norman trashman put the retrieval arm of his large trash truck down the side of the Range Rover. Boy was I steamed. I called the City and they came out and assumed full responsibility and the driver returned and apologized.
Monday I went to get estimates for repair. Surprisingly the damage was anywhere from $1200-1400(US). Good grief! In the good ole days my Dad would have said lets pound it out and fill it with Bond-O. Well on a steel car maybe, aluminum who knows. We would have been out $200 with paint. I will have it repaired but the process to be paid by the city is tenuous so I will have to wait until they approve the repair at the City Council meeting someday in the future.
My arrival at work was greeted by several jokes. A sign with pictures of trash trucks and dumpsters from FordShortBed (a new evil woodworking superhero) that says “Stay away from these!!! They are dangerous!!!” stubbornly taped to my monitor. Also Titanium Hitch came in and said excitedly “come on, quick we gotta move the Rover there’s a trash truck in the parking lot!!” I almost got up and went out there. Ha Ha. I will keep you apprised and I will post some pics when I can get them back.

Almost a recovery…
JagGuy drove his Range Rover to Cajun Country (Baton Rouge) over the long weekend and back home. 1500 miles round trip. And after stopping at the Garage to pick up some stuff he came out put his truck in gear and a lound “BINK” came from under the truck. He had a CV joint fail. Wow, what luck that he was at the Garage when it happened. He called me on Monday and told me he had already taken it apart and was heading to Rover Cannibal to pick up a spare. He promised pictures and a write up for all of us. I will post it when he finishes it. It will give him a good reason to buy a digital camera if he didn’t already have one.

November 15th, 2002 ( (Post #12)

November 15, 2002

Garage Day is coming (see below). I will work on one of two projects at Garage Day. Either the “Great Brake Fluid Replacement” or the “Gosh, a light here would be really cool” project. The brake fluid swap is no big deal. Replace the brake fluid whoopee. But the light project is better, more nerdy. The Ditchfinder has a light under the hood of his Chevy that has a real long cord and can be used as far away as the back tires. I went to a junk yard and got one for $10. I plan to install it under the hood. Thusly providing a very nice light for those dark nights on the side of the road.

On the board I have been inquiring about a dual battery setup. In the coming months I will be investigating that possibility. I have a concern about my alternator at this point and it’s ability to charge the batteries. But I will find out more and as always I will let you know what is found.

I am coming around to the final design for the Rover Cupholder (what no reverb). I am pricing lathes and will be to turn some samples out of pine or other cheap wood to work out the bracket to holder relationships. JagGuy had some great input as we blazed along in Edmond to the garage last week and with that advice I think I am ready to “Turn some wood baby”. I have never used a lathe so I may have to have another friend give me a primer first.

October 21st, 2002 (Post #8)

October 21, 2002

After the rain and dreariness of Saturday gave way to sun and pleasant temperatures I declared Sunday as “Auto Maintenance Day” (echo reverb). I cleaned up the wife’s minivan and put some air in her low tire and an oil change. I also took the opportunity to change the Rover’s oil and check the fluids.

Oil change went off without any problems. The Rover was a pint low on transmission fluid. Bought a really cool fluid funnel and hose for that. But while I was under I noticed the tell-tale signs of another failing fitting on the power steering hoses. I have more of the red juice leaking under the steering box and several hoses are wet and dripping. The last time I saw this it was a split hose. When the Rover was just sitting there no major leak but when you turned the wheel, Niagara Falls. I buggered the fittings up pretty bad getting the offending hose off and had to get a new/used one from Rover Cannibal. My original plan was to remove the hose and have the fittings recrimped. JagGuy and someone else told me that was the way to go. But as it was really messed up getting another was the only option. After I butchered the fittings I attempted to have one made. This was a nightmare. In most cases this is the cheap and convienient way to get a new hose. You can also get the groovy braided lines which I am way keen on. Well the Britishness of the fittings left me with no option but to put an original Rover part back on. Braided hose disappointment.

I didn’t look too much further as my time and funds this month are limited (new carpet and tile). But probably tonight I will have RovErica turn the wheel as I watch the life blood of the power steering system leak out on to the driveway.

Clean up tip of the week (echo reverb)

I used some laundry detergent to clean up my oil spills after the oil change. Just spread some out and let it set for a little bit. Then with a broom brush it around. Sweep up the majority and wash the rest “harmlessly” down the gutter.

Sorry for the echo reverb it’s a new special effect and I am gonna use it until I wear it out.