Category: redneck repairs

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Installing an Exhaust Fan in My Shop (Post #745) 8/12/2026

OMG! If you haven’t noticed, it is hot outside. Here in the Southern Plains (never refer to Oklahoma as “the Midwest”, never). Oklahoma City has recorded about 15 to 16 days of 100-degree temperatures so far this summer in 2026, which is above the typical annual average of 12 to 13 days. We have at least 6 more 100-degree days coming. If your country has never landed a man on the moon that temperature is 37.7 Celsius.

With those kinds of temperatures my metal shop building with the lovely radiant heat effect temps often climb above 120°F (48°C). That’s warm. And for a man of my age that is considered “dangerous”. When you start looking at the wet bulb numbers you can easily quantify your chances of a heat related injury.

85-88Working or exercising in direct sunlight will stress your body after 30 minutes.Take at least 30 minutes of breaks each hour if working or exercising in direct sunlight
88-90Working or exercising in direct sunlight will stress your body after 20 minutes.Take at least 40 minutes of breaks each hour if working or exercising in direct sunlight
>90Working or exercising in direct sunlight will stress your body after 15 minutes.Take at least 45 minutes of breaks each hour if working or exercising in direct sunlight

So we have had wet bulb numbers above 85 all of August. Brutal.

So I’m looking at options to adjust the temperature of the shop down to a “reasonable” temp. That will take at least two major items to help.

Exhaust Fan

This weekend I put a 2200 CFM exhaust fan in. Shops my size should have at least a 1500 CFM fan. So I grabbed a Chinese made fan from Vevor. I ordered one with a “control module”. It was broken when it arrived. I had to repair it. Then I tested it. The temp rheostat did not seem to work as I would have expected. Set on 100°F the fan didn’t come on. So I set it to the lowest temp 32°F the fan came on about 60% speed. That is not going to be acceptable.

So I’m going to wire an old fashioned on off switch to a plug. Plug the fan in and when needed I will turn it on the day before. Simple, efficient.

The second thing in the research, planning, I need some money to buy stage is Prodex.

I’m looking at something like $1,000.00(US) to get roughly 1,410 square foot of Prodex Total 5m material and the ancillary materials to mount it to the building frames.

The testimonials and YouTube video promise I will see some significant temp reductions. And in the winter I’ll retain heat.

That’s what were up to. That’s where we are headed.

Thanks for reading, like and subscribe, and support my work by contributing on Patreon.

May the wind take your troubles away….

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Random Next Jobs on my Range Rover Classic Overland Rig Part 2 (Post #716) 8/31/2025

The first thing we did this weekend was drive up and surprise Lucas by taking him to his first pro football game. It was my first too, but we made it all about him. He had a great time.

In this post I worked on the footwell and the rust issues that may come up from melting off the stone chip/bedliner material with my welding. I got underneath and scraped off as much as I could reach with all the exhaust and drive shafts in the way. I also now realize there is a fair amount of leaking oil on this beast.

I found some transmission fluid, obviously engine oil, and I saw some antifreeze too. These are all leaks I can list along with my power steering which is weeping from the lower seal. All very annoying. Some we can fix. Some we will probably not fix. Engine oil could be coming from the valve covers which I think need sorting. Antifreeze is likely coming from one of the heater hoses on top the engine. All of those should probably be replaced based on age alone.

I also used some of the fancy zip ties to lock some stuff down. That was very satisfying. There is actually only one size in the bag and they were too small for some of the holes.

I also found some rust. “NO, how is this possible!!!” you might say. The front differential is really rusty. Flakey rusty. So that will need to be cleaned up and coated in rust converter. Then painted. The other rust I found was on the tube that houses the bonnet release (hood release to my fellow Americans). It looked terrible. I got the wire wheel out and got it knocked down to bare metal. I was pretty proud of myself for not wire wheeling my fingers.

I got it coated in rust converter and will get it painted next weekend. I still have several additional jobs to do. It’s labor day weekend so I plan to spend some quality time out there.

That’s about it for this week. No video last week because I had trouble getting the video to build and by the time it was built it was the middle of the week. So I slotted it for later.

Thanks for reading, like and subscribe, and may the wind take your troubles away.

Happy Rovering.

https://youtu.be/ERO8ZXFW5Q4
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Planning the Exterior Lights for my Range Rover Classic Overland Rig (Post #707) 6/22/2025

I have a plan to light the exterior of the Range Rover Classic. I want to be able to turn on the exterior lights while I lay on my mattress inside. This is mostly to have a tactical advantage if something or someone is on the outside of my vehicle.

I want to be able to turn on a single light or with one switch turn on ALL THE LIGHTS. In order to do this I needed to come up with a circuit drawing for this task. I tried my hand but had little to no confidence that I had done it correctly.

So I consulted my best friend Mike to get a circuit drawn and to get a source for the parts. I drove up last weekend and had lunch with he and Paul and then went back to Mike’s shop. We sat and had a beer in his RV while we talked about lots of stuff and got caught up since we saw each other at my birthday part in October last year.

He scribbled a circuit for me. We talked about where to get the parts and he gave me the details. He buys parts that are for automotive use. He buys from them to build the trailer wiring conversions from military to civilian / civilian to military. He sells them on XM381.com if that is something you are looking for.

xm381.com image of a cable conversion.

I took the graphic and re-drew it. Then from the parts I ordered after we met I cobbled together a loose circuit and tested it. Using the battery from the Range Rover Classic and some wires and two lights from my stock of lights I’ve salvaged from breaker’s yards.

I love it when a plan comes together.

Next thing I need to do is order some switches and 16 gauge wire and decide on the lights I want to install. I have some picked out, I’ll need to make a decision one way or another.

I took my time and puzzled this out and I’m so happy I got it to work. My drawing was “close” but would not have worked. Mike was so gracious to help me with this.

Thanks for reading, like and subscribe, and Happy Rovering.

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Too Cold to Paint, Planning What’s Next on my Range Rover Classic Overland Rig (Post #698) 4/7/2025

Third Winter hit this weekend.

It was too cold to paint. Temps in the forties in my shop. I didn’t feel like getting bundled up to lay on my back getting paint all over me.

Call me lazy, that’s fine, but not super fun for me. So I’m going to tackle the sealing of the seams with paint, seam sealer, and truck bed liner next weekend. I’ll get it as “protected” as I can.

In this video I also talk about what is coming next. Call it a little planning. I have a lot of wiring to run. Lights for the interior and exterior and wiring for a battery management system. I need to plan for a DC to DC converter and all the magic electronics that make everything work well together.

I also allude to some fun history in the story of Tuck’s Ferry across the Red River (RedRiverHistorian.com).

I also mention some of my current storage solution in the U.S. G.I. Aluminum Medical Transport Chests. If you’ve followed for any time, you’ve seen me talk about the.

This is going to be a lot of coin to drop. So getting the wires run will require some planning. I’m certain I’ll screw this up and have to re-run some of this. But that’s part of the fun, right?

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

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Welds Failed on my Floor Panel for my Range Rover Classic (Post #693) 3/2/2025

Today was a punch in the gut. My welds will.not.stick. I have no idea what is going on. I’ve tried several thing and I can’t get these welds to stick.

My goal this weekend was to get the bed installed and to move on to something else. Unfortunately this is a big set back.

I will have to investigate what is going on. Sort out what I’m doing wrong and hopefully get some welds to work.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

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Fitting the Floor Pan on my Range Rover Classic (Post #692) 2/23/2025

In this post I fit my floor panel in the Range Rover. Yes, I know, it’s about time!

I finished up bolting on the support beams and got the panel test fitted in the Big White Bus. This required me to go to the hardware store and buy a bunch of stainless steel hardware. Fortunately for me I bought a box of 100 bolts. Unfortunately for me the bolts had a 37.5% failure rate when fastening them with nyloc nuts.

Why? I have no idea. It’s not like I was torquing the hell out of them. I hadn’t even bottomed the nuts out and the bolts were binding up. Pretty disappointing. I’ll be sourcing a different brand of hardware in the future. These really let me down. I’ve had problems before but thought it was me being rambunctious with the impact driver. Turns out it wasn’t that after all. You might be quick to say “made in China” I’m not surprised. But these were made in Taiwan. Normally an acceptable substitute, and if that helps them stick it to the CCP I’m all for it. Not sure where I’ll find another brand but I’ll be looking.

The panel fit was “tight” to say the least. It required a bit of persuasion (with a hammer) but it fits. The next step is to get the damn thing welded into place. I probably have 100+ plug welds to do. This is going to be a challenge.

I can see the end of this part of the project in sight so I’m excited to get after it. That’s all for this week. Like and subscribe if you enjoy the content and appreciate all the free content.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

https://youtu.be/2Svh-SdwGOE
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