redneck repairs – Page 4

July 10, 2023August 1, 2023

Fender Prep the Mud Flap Post (Post #614) July 9, 2023

In this installment of me removing rust I work on the mud flaps. They were in the way of me grinding the rust spots in the wheel well. So I removed them, and good thing I did. The driver’s side (port side) mud flap steel was nearly rusted through under the flap.

The pitting was impressive and the amount of rust stuck on the flap was amusing too. So instead of welding my rust holes in the wheel well I had to take a day to fix the mud flaps. I went ahead and did both sides. The passenger side (starboard side) did not exhibit the same amount of rust as the other.

I got them cleaned off and applied the Duplicolor Rust Preventative to them. This is the stuff that is supposed to take surface rust and transform it into “not rust”. Through the magic of chemistry this “paint” converts the rust to I’m guessing zinc? hell I don’t know I got a “D” in Chemstry 1 and Chemistry 2 at the University of Oklahoma. In my defense, I drank more than I studied, and I had a nearly full-time job, and served a weekend a month as a Field Artilleryman in the USMCR.

Whatever, it’s magic and I’m not likely to do that job again on this Range Rover. Once I’m ready to reinstall them they will also receive a coating of rattle-can bedliner/rhino lining/stone seal or whatever they call this stuff in other countries.

The week had a lot more work done and filmed but I’ve run out of time as it is now Sunday. I’ll post another video this week of the rust cutting and removal under the fender well.

As we say here in Oklahoma, my hands and knees and back hurt “something fierce” [Merriam-Webster]. I haven’t done this much wrenching/grinding/hammering in at least a year. I ain’t gettin’ any younger so I gotta play through the pain.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

Grinding makes me happy.

July 3, 2023July 18, 2023

Fender Prep and Planning to Weld (Post #612) July 3, 2023

In this installment I talk about how I will attack the rust in the driver’s side rear wheel well. I bought some shielding gas for my mig welder and will be welding patches and fixes this week. My GoPro camera decided not to record audio on the underside review so you’ll have to settle for a lovely voice over (which is terrible). You’re welcome.

Hope you enjoy the content. You can contribute to help with the cost of keeping this site on the internet through my Patreon account.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

March 14, 2023May 16, 2023

Transfer Case Knob Repair (Post #604) 3/14/2023

Looking for the thread specification was pretty easy with a Google search. I stumbled on this thread on Rangerovers.net. “Tex” from Italy states its a M10x1.5. “LanceL” had a novel idea to use a M10 Rivnut.

https://www.rangerovers.net/threads/transfer-case-knob-thread-pitch.345708/

I decided to use a M10x1.5 nyloc nut. I also bought a bolt to go with it which provides a clean threaded path to the nyloc nut. I also used some of my supply of Dr. Crafty Clear Epoxy Resin [Amazon.com]. As you will see in the video. I cleaned out the shift knob. I also carved “channels” in the knob to provide “keys” to keep the resin from someday rotating inside the perfectly cylindrical knob.

I then placed the bolt with the nyloc nut on it down inside the knob. Mixed up my resin and poured it in. It took 72 hours to cure. I let it sit for a full week, due to work, and a living history camping trip I had planned at Ft. Towson [Oklahoma Historical Society].

This project turned out great. It was easy, didn’t require any tools that most Land Rover owners don’t already own. I was genuinely surprised this actually work as I had hoped it would. Now I can turn to the rest of the 3000+ things I need to do to the Big Whit Bus to get her back on the trail.

This project was a 1 on the Difficulty Scale.

Support me on Patreon if you feel moved.

Thanks for visiting and Happy Rovering.

January 7, 2023May 16, 2023

Bulletpoint mounting system (Post #603) 1/7/2023

I decided that my existing cell phone and tablet mount in the Range Rover Classic needed to be replaced. Mr. Fisher and I went to the MOORE Expo [Moore Expo] in 2022. We saw lots of products and gear. One of the cool pieces of gear was the Bulletpoint Mounting System.

Mr. Fisher bought a system for his new Chevy Silverado. Once we got home, I decided I needed a system for my F150. My existing cell phone mount was disappointing and needed to be replaced. I got to thinking that I should upgrade the mounts in the Range Rover Classic. I took some measurements and emailed the company to ask which of their existing system would fit best for the measurements. I chose not to cut up my coin tray. I did have a thought that I would mount the system over the tray. But it would have had to be cut and would have been useless if I wanted to remove the system and do something else.

They got back to me and told me that for these measurements the Ford Ranger Phone Mount & Multi-Device Dash Platform – 4th Gen T6 2019+ [Bulletpoint] would likely be the best fit. I needed to make a plate to mount the system on to. I’ve put the graphic of the measurements on my Patreon page [Patreon].

As you can see in the video, not everything goes according to plan when you are “fabricating” stuff. I had to make a makeshift painting “booth” in the sunroom in the house. The temps in the shoppe were too cold to be painting, but it was a toasty 76F in the sunroom.

Mrs. Okierover didn’t fuss too much this time about the fumes.

Overall I spent four or so hours putting that together. The assembly was a lot of trial and error. I think it looks good and is very sturdy and will be perfect for holding my cell phone and a new tablet once I decide what that might be.

There are lots of accessories for this mounting system. I’m thinking of the handheld radio and or the microphone mount. Of course I have to decide on a radio before buying.

I’ve add a Patreon account. The costs of maintaining the website add up each year and if you like the content I provide chip in. Contributions are appreciated.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

October 3, 2022May 16, 2023

D Pillar – Painting? (Post #602) 10/3/2022

D Pillar Work, Interior trim painting…allergies

I got out into the shop and was working on some peripheral projects over the weekend. Peripheral because they don’t directly get the Big White Bus back on the road for driving. These are the cosmetic fixes, plain and simple. The primary project line is getting the motor back to 100% and making it reliable. I completed the repair of the heater fan blower motor. That disabled the motor due to the coolant hoses being removed.

I did start the motor about a month ago. Surprisingly she fired right up. I was really happy about that. I have not addressed the original issue with the reliability of the motor which is the ignition system. I’m 94.67% sure I’m going to replace the distributor with a Davis Unified Ignition (DUI). Its an all in one unit built in Memphis, Tennessee. Seeing the price today makes me wish I’d have bought it a year ago. The price has gone up about 50$(US). Although waiting has allowed me to start the one year warranty when I’m actually driving her.

All other projects from the list….linked here [Okierover.com Blog] not counting the replacement alternator, which I believe is where my vampire batter drain is coming from, are not keeping me from driving her.

I’ve ordered Knightsbridge seat covers. I finally talked myself out of putting leather back in. The estimates I got from local car upholstery companies were more expensive than ordering new leather…..customized with embroidered family crests on the headrests and my face digitally embroidered on the seat backs. Just kidding, but seriously, super expensive. So I ordered seat covers I’m not afraid to get muddy and dirty.

My new radio and speakers have arrived. I’ll need to watch the install video, call tech support 16 times, and finally give up and have the Evil German Dude or JagGuy help me install it. I’ll post something about that when I get closer to installing.

Still a couple of interior trim pieces that need painting. I am not going to remove them, I’m going to paint them in place, its just not worth the effort to remove them. The door cards came out without much effort and I need to wash them down, tape them off, and paint them. Perhaps next weekend.

I know this post was about the D Pillar so let me close with that. I have the welding repair still yet to do. As mentioned in the video, I used a palm sander and 100grit sandpaper to remove the glue from the beauty cover. It formerly had vinyl wrapped on it.

I’ve cut out some closed cell neoprene foam to replace the rust inducing open cell crap they delivered the Range Rover with from the factory. I’ve decided to start with painting the beauty panels. Rattle can style…can’t get much more redneck than that. I’ll show the finished product when I get it done.

Thanks for reading, watching, and Happy Rovering.

September 25, 2022May 16, 2023

Reduce, Recycle, Reuse, Roof Rack (Post #601) 9/25/2022

While visiting my buddy JagGuy at his awesome shop, I saw something in his metal trash trailer. It was a mesh like material. I went over to check it out and it was a door off a server rack. You’ve seen these before or maybe you haven’t been in a server room where physical access the servers is secured by a keyed door of some kind or other.

I asked him if I could save it from the recyclers. He said, “Sure.” I told him I was going to see if it would work as a floor for my roof rack. We ate barbeque, chatted for a while, and I tossed the door in the truck and drove home.

The door was about 74 inches in length and 23.5 inches in width. My roof rack is 4 foot by 4 foot. So this door, cut in half, fit perfectly across and left about a foot of space uncovered along the length.

I cut the door in half with my angle grinder and a cutoff wheel. I dry fitted the halves on the roof rack and was happy with the results. I went to the hardware store (twice, or was it three times, maybe twice to one store and once to another) to get stainless steel bolts, washers, and nyloc nuts.

I wiped the door with some grease and dust remover. I then painted it with some black spray paint I had left over from another project. I removed the roof rack from the roof and drilled my holes (lots of holes some in the wrong places) and got the hardware installed and tightened up. Several of the bolts failed catastrophically when I was tightening them up. Each one that failed, failed about the same as the others about midway up the bolt. My dad used to complain about the cheap Japanese products that began flooding the country in the 1970s. Today we complain about the cheap CHINESE parts that flood our country. I didn’t check the country of origin on these bolts, but let’s go with China for arguments sake. Bring back American made hardware. I promise not to complain too much when they fail. At least if they fail, an American had a job making them and we aren’t sending money to a country determined to destroy us. (stepping off soap box)

I recorded several videos of my cutting and narrative about what I was going to do only to have my phone camera fail in the heat of my shop.

The temperature in the shoppe was 110F that day. I would have this trouble again later when recording video for several other projects. I really need to upgrade my camera equipment to a GoPro or something. Maybe my wife will buy me one for my birthday in two weeks….hint, hint. (who are we kidding, she doesn’t read my blog, she’ll never see this)

So I have the upgraded roof rack installed and I’m pretty happy with it. I feel pretty good about myself too. I recycled and reused something that would have just been thrown away, eventually bought by a Chinese scrapper, and made into some cheap crap and sent back to America for someone to buy and then either throw away, or be stacked in a garage packed full of crap.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.