Range Rover Classic

November 20, 2023November 25, 2023

Passenger Side Rear Wheel Well Rust – Part 2: Investigation (Post #632) 11/20/2023

I have official started the rust abatement on the passenger side rear wheel well. I’ve looked at it and took the stone chip back and overall, it’s not nearly as bad as the driver’s side.

I think it will not take too much to get this side repaired. Just 8 small spots of rust that will require patches.

I should have done more research. I didn’t account for the fuel filling hoses when I took the fender off. I didn’t need to remove the hoses. The top of the filler was only in place by a rather badly deteriorating rubber gasket. Which, as of this post, I have not found a replacement for. Also in doing this, I’ve decided it would be easier to replace the filler hoses than reinstall. They are 30+ years old and quite hard.

I found one hose on Rover’s North but the second smaller one I did not find. I may just take a sample of each and go down to O’Reilly’s and find the equivalent size hose from the “WALL OF HOSES”. They are usually pretty good about letting me go back there and matching up. If I secure hoses with this method I’ll put the part numbers in this post.

Next up will be cutting and welding the bits. I took the subwoofer out as it was in the way. The speaker inside was perished. I looked on line and found some comparable speakers. They look to be 6.5 inches in diameter and 3.5 inches in depth. I think I can replace it for as low as $90.00(US). I could spend WAY more, but I don’t see the point. I mostly listen to ~~books on tape~~, ~~books on CD~~, audiobooks when I drive. When I overland, more often than not, I just listen to the wind and the engine while I’m bopping down the backroads.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

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November 14, 2023November 13, 2023

Passenger Side Rear Wheel Well Rust – Part 1 (Post #631) 11/14/2023

Now that I have the Range Rover flopped in the shoppe I can start on the rust abatement. But first, I thought I should get some oil and some other fluids and do some fluid refreshing. That was a great idea if I had done that BEFORE I started the Big White Bus. But the fact I was doing it AFTER I ran the engine, -2 points.

I loaded up one 5 gallon barrel of oil and headed to my favorite O’Reilly’s. When I got out of the truck my folly was apparent. I had successfully done an Exxon Valdez [Wikipedia] imitation. The metal barrel had rusted through the bottom and dropped 5 gallons of used oil all over the back of my F-150 and on to their ~~Prince William Sound~~ parking lot. I ran in and bought two bags of kitty litter/oil soaker stuff and with the help of one of the guys we spread all that all over their parking lot. I haven’t been that embarrassed in a long time.

I finished up the clean up of the back of my F-150 when I got home and started getting the rear passenger wheel off to start the investigation. The video shows I had a mostly optimistic view when I started scraping the rust. In comparison…the passenger side is no where near as bad as the drivers side wheel well. The rear window is another issue entirely but let me attack these one at a time.

I’ve got two holes SO FAR. I still have to get the wire wheel out and take the rubber back to metal where there are brown spots. The worst looking SO FAR is the bottom of the C Pillar is rusted out. The reason for the rust there is the sunroof drain hose exits there and the crappy plastic grommet did not keep water out. And it is entirely likely that there was nothing inside the C Pillar that would pass for paint. So that was an obvious place for rust.

I’m going to replace the sunroof drain tubing and possibly fit a “Hose Barb Thru-Bulk Head Hex Union 90 Degree L Right Angle Elbow Barbed Brass Fitting with Flat Washer Gasket Water/Fuel/Air” fitting. Something like this….

I’ll add a rubber washer to assist in keeping the water out. I’ve got to measure the tubing and get the right one ordered. They can be found on Amazon.com. Not sure if they are using ID (inside diameter) or OD (outside diameter) to determine if I get 3/8″ or 1/2″.

This may be complete folly but what the hell right? If it works, I’m a genius. If it doesn’t work, I’m still a genius, just a terribly misguided one. Half of me says extend the drain line to behind the mudflap. It would not be that hard to add a little more distance to the hose and NOT put it back in the same poorly designed place. I mean seriously, lots of water and ice and mud and road salt and roadkill chunks (mostly opossums and armadillos and skunks) and all kinds of crap fly off the tires at extreme tangential velocity [Study.com]. The fact that plastic gromet is even able to not be dislodge is a miracle. So…let’s try to make it better!

The headline came out also so I could get the sunroof drain. It had to come out anyway, because it needed to be replaced…again. This will be the third and final. If this is needed again while I own this rig, it will be painted and forgotten.

More next week. Like and subscribe my Youtube channel. Send me a comment too…I love to converse with you.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

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November 6, 2023

Starting and Moving the Big White Bus (Post #630) November 6, 2023

This weekend I had to get the Big White Bus running so I could turn her around in the shoppe bay. This required me to reinstall the spark plugs and fashion some kind of a temporary seat.

The plugs went in just fine. I applied a new coat of copper anti-seize. It’s time to buy some more as the tube I have is getting a bit dry. But it was sufficiently lube-y to pass for grease.

I got all the plugs in and the wires on without an issue. I got the coil hooked back up. I then stared at the engine bay to confirm everything was ready to go.

Next I needed a seat. I had a lovely 12 inch wide, 16 inch long pine board that covered the electronics and made a lovely “field expedient” seat. And I was ready to start her up…..

….then the GoPro decided to stop recording. Right when I needed it to be recording…it wasn’t. Heavy sigh.

So everyone misses out on the magic moment. Typical.

I turned the key and heard the fuel pump do it’s initial pump. I turned the key and she fired up as expected. Victory! Well, a battle was won, let’s just leave it at that.

I moved all the flotsam and jetsam from around the Range Rover and moved the F-150. I jumped in and drove her up the drive way, made a flawless, 4 point turn :/ and brought back down to the shoppe. The windshield was so dirty I had to clean in order to see how to line her up in the bay.

My daughter RovErica left me a sweet message on the windshield the last time she was home visiting. I left the side with the message undisturbed.

Now the BWB is flipped around. I can now begin to abate the rust on that side. HOPEFULLY these repairs will not be as extensive as the driver’s side. The driver’s side has been the side with the most trauma from being rear-ended by inattentive drivers. My welder and the power for that welder are on that side of the shoppe so turning her around was required.

That’s all I’ve got for this week. Like and subscribe the YouTube video. Comment if you like too…I love to hear from my readers. I also have a Patreon that sadly has NO current membership. Every little bit helps and if you feel my content is worthy of a couple of bucks a month…I promise not to spend it on rum.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

https://youtu.be/KM3RCtc7gm8

October 2, 2023October 2, 2023

Replacing the Fuel Pump (Post #626) October 2, 2023

In my previous post I talked about the fuel pump and it’s lack of suckage of fuel to make the Big White Bus go down the road. Or more importantly in the short term, get out of the shoppe so I can proceed with the rust repairs.

I ordered the fuel pump from Atlantic British. As I’ve said earlier. If you order from them the part will not officially ship until the day after the first business day in which they receive the order. So if you order on Saturday, they will see the order on Monday, and it will be picked up on Tuesday. Then it will be in transit. For us here in the central southern plains that means a minimum of 6 days to arrive. I think I got this one in 7 days. I’ve come to accept this as the way it’s gonna be. Since the Range Rover is not my daily driver this does not upset me anymore. It just takes extra planning when you need something.

Removing the derelict pump is pretty easy. Turn the ring first. This may take some tapping with a screwdriver and a hammer. Take it easy and take your time. Don’t damage the ring.

The second step if it wasn’t your first step is take the fuel lines off. You will need a pair of 15mm wrenches. Once the lines are out of the way you can rock the fuel pump back and forth while pulling up. It will eventually come up.

The “bowl” will have fuel in it commiserate with how full the tank is with petrol. Pour this out while the fuel pump is still over the tank opening. Be prepared to clean up some petrol if it spills.

Reassembly is a reverse of the process. The most difficult of the tasks is getting the rings of the seal past the tank opening. You can gently coax it past the lip with a flathead screwdriver and steady pressure pushing down on the pump.

Is there a way to use a lubricant…maybe, I didn’t research that. I’ve never used lube for the install, so its not necessary for success.

Take it easy with the float and its electronic bits. Don’t bang it around.

That’s about it for the swap. I need to test the pump and get the the BWB running again. I’ll give it some test cranks to get fuel back up to the fuel rail then reinstall the plugs and fire her up. If I’ve sorted everything we should have a running Range Rover.

Thanks for ready and Happy Rovering.

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September 25, 2023

The Big White Bus Will Not Start (Post #625) September 25, 2023

In this post I am sort of after the fact prepping the motor for it’s first start in several years (at least 3 years). I was given some advise that I should lubricate the cylinders prior to starting for the first time. The reason is obvious. The cylinders are dry.

I’ve already tried to crank the engine. That was evident in the last video. So perhaps doing this NOW is a bit superfluous. Meaning I’ve probably already damaged something. But maybe not, I’ll know when I get the engine started.

I’ve pulled plugs and I’ve squirted some WD-40 inside each cylinder. How much you say? That’s a great question. I was told at least a couple of seconds of spray. The WD-40 fluid is going to adhere to the cylinder walls and if the rings were stuck, would have acted on them hopefully freeing them. They make a special “foggy spray” for this application but I was told just to use WD-40. I highly recommend you do your own research on this. I’m damaging my own stuff. I don’t want you to damage your stuff if I’m wrong.

The fuel pump is on the way and might arrive today 9/25. That would make it 8 days since I ordered it. They don’t work on Saturday or Sunday so Monday was the first time they started to “fullfill” the order. I am also in the farthest away region from their shipping hub. So a minimum of 5 days of transit. Looking at their location, I could have driven up there, picked up the part in person, and arrived back at base camp before the shipped part arrived.

Next step is to get a fuel pump installed and the Big White Bus started. Drive it to the top of the driveway. Hose off the parts so I can coat them with rust conversion paint. I will then turn her around and have the starboard side on the same side of the shoppe as the welder. I have some rust under the starboard rear wheel well the might need some patching. I also have the repairs to the existing rust spots identified in other videos. B pillar, D pillar.

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Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

September 18, 2023September 19, 2023

The Big White Bus Will Not Start (Post #624) September 18, 2023

Well, awesome. The Big White Bus won’t start.

I have fired it up once since I parked it in my newly constructed shoppe 5 years ago. I guess I should have expected there would be “issues”. But I wasn’t expecting the issue to be this one.

Mr. Fisher came over and we diagnosed the issue. We started with checking the power at the pump. As you may be aware, when you turn the key over it powers the pump briefly. So if you just “turn on the key” and go back there to check the voltage you won’t find any. That’s why it takes either some seriously creative use of a volt meter or you get one of the bestest friends to come over and turn the key for you. We had voltage all the way through the wiring harness.

We then confirmed we have spark from the ignition system. I pulled the number 1 plug and with a screwdriver I grounded it and watched for spark. You can buy a fancy spark tester, matter of fact I think I own one. I have no idea where it is though. Spark confirmed.

So we have two of the three things (Meatloaf would say that “ain’t bad”) to make the vehicle run. Air and Spark. Now why aren’t we getting fuel.

I pulled the gas line off at the regulator on the back side top of the engine and had Mr. Fisher crank the ignition. We should have had gas squirting out if it worked. It did not. This fit with me NOT hearing the pump run when the ignition was turned over.

The only thing left was to pull the fuel pump and do a visual inspection. What I found was not expected. I said, “Wow.” a lot in the video. There were several parts that were obviously degrading due to being submerged in petrol for so long. There was visible rust on the steel parts as well. Generally the pump was in a terrible state. I was not aware that petrol would do that to those parts. The only gas I ever put in my Classic is 100% real gas, unless I am in Texas where they only sell ethanol (at least the last time I was buying gas there). You would expect ethanol to eventually separate and turn to water. You can read all about that on the Road Guardians website.

I will be replacing the fuel pump and have ordered the part from Atlantic British. I found some that were cheaper on Amazon. But my skepticism and need to have it delivered before next October weighed heavily on my decision where to purchase. The pictures all looked like the pumps were manufactured in the same place. Same white plastic. Same blue plugs.

If you look on Amazon you’ll see the pumps look like the same ones. If I had unlimited funds or sponsorship, I’d buy one from everyone and do a side-by-side comparison.

All this “BUY IT NEW” has me thinking about what this would cost if we just fixed the pump. All you need to do is replace the pump in the collector can (that bottom part). I’ll do a post about that in the coming weeks.

So…do I drain the tank too? If the gasoline HAS turned to varnish I should probably put some treatment in there. I’m thinking I’m gonna add a silly amount of STP Fuel Injector cleaner in that tank. I can say, WHEN I get it running It will run for quite a while before I shut her down. I want to give the truck plenty of time to dislodge any crap in the fuel lines. I’m also guessing I’ll need to swap the fuel filter too.

If its not one thing, its another. It really, never ends.

Mr. Fisher also brought over his Viair Compressor. We spent some time looking at it and checking out all its features.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.