RovErica

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

July 31, 2023August 1, 2023

Shoppe Clean-Up and Mower Repair (Post #617) July 31, 2023

No Land Rover content this week. I started the weekend trying to get the chores done first. Mowing the grass which grows at a ridiculous rate due the the wet July we’ve had. I’m cutting grass every week now.

I got on the mower and got my book on tape going [Extreme Measures by Vince Flynn the eleventh book in the series]. I kept hearing some odd noises, vibrating parts, and the engine was running like crap. Just last week I was evaluating how many more summers I might get from this mower while I was patching the holes in the tires with plugs.

I have been impressed at how trouble free this mower (Husqvarna 1842) had been with this being the sixth summer. I’ve only had one other serious repair. It was also a mandrel. I have also replaced one battery and before the summer is up, I really should replace all the tires.

After an inspection I saw the shaft on the mandrel wiggling like crazy. The upper bearing failed on the mandrel. So it wasn’t going to be grass cutting for the weekend, it would be mower repair. I looked the part up and found it had a John Deere part cross referenced. I went down to P&K Tractor on Highway 9. The parts guy was SUPER helpful. He looked up the part on several sites and found a part number at O’Reilly’s. Turns out in his words this was the most common bearing in the world. I was surprised how many different parts numbers were associated with it. I ran down to O’Reilly’s grabbed two.

The bolts (steel) were really stuck in the mandrel housing (cast aluminum). You don’t have to be a chemist to know this is a recipe for disaster. And that’s exactly what happened.

I wound up having to attempt to drill and easy-out what was left of the bolts. Broke two drill bits and eventually the mandrel. Four hours lost. I’ve ordered a replacement, it comes in this week. So I spent the rest of the day cleaning and organizing the shoppe.

I’m going to visit an old Marine friend of mine this week. Jeff was one of my closest friends in the Marine Corps. We went to boot camp together and artillery school. I haven’t seen or heard from him since perhaps 1988. Gonna be great catching up. RovErica’s kids are coming to stay with us this week too. With all this happening I don’t think there will be any video next week. But we’ll see.

Heavy sigh.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

October 28, 2014May 16, 2023

RovErica Got Married (Post #516) 10/28/2014

The good people at Lucky 8 are always asking, “”What did you do Roverish today?” Well this weekend I didn’t do anything “Roverish”. I did however watch my little RovErica get married to Brian Trowman. Brian is 6’4″ a former Ball State offensive lineman and Erica is wearing 4 inch heals so I guess she isn’t my little RovErica any more.

Yes the little girl you have watched grow up on this blog is now all grown up and married. If it is a surprise to you, imagine how I feel.

She was the first kid in the family to say she loved our Land Rovers. She even drove the BWB for 2 years while in high school. While she was hard on the old bus she could break her more than I could fix her.

If you haven’t priced a wedding lately take my word for it they are expensive. So it will be a while before I do very much with the Land Rover. It might be a while before I do anything “Roverish”. We had a lovely wedding and it was a truly great time with friends and family.

The good news, Brian, our new son-in-law, is a car guy and hopefully will soon be working as a manager for a tire shoppe! Yes!

Welcome to the family Brian.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

March 5, 2014May 16, 2023

The Millennium Falcon made by Land Rover (Post #458) 3/5/2014

I was grounded this weekend with what is probably bronchial pneumonia. Lots of coughing, a very high heart rate from the medications, and an overall very tired feeling. Being relegated to the couch and bed all weekend, I watched a lot of television. I watched an entire afternoon of Star Wars movies. Episode 4 and Episode 5 mostly. I’m not a fan of ~~The Muppet Show~~ Episode 6 due to the ridiculous effort to cutesy-fy the franchise and merchandise the crap out of it. Okay back to the main point I came here to write.

The Millennium Falcon is obviously a Land Rover.

By now you must be saying “What.the.hell?” So hear me out…. Continue reading “The Millennium Falcon made by Land Rover (Post #458) 3/5/2014”

August 9, 2013May 15, 2023

My New Rover Buddy (Post #375) 8/9/2013

I was privileged enough to take my grand daughter, we’ll call her Pistol, to her first cheerleading camp in Newcastle. The lack of an air bag in the 1993 Range Rover affords her the ability to ride in the front seat. She cheekily borrowed a pair of sunglasses to complete her look.

Her mom, Fireball, was none to pleased about her riding position when I posted this picture to Facebook. +Mrs. Okierover had to point out that it was safer than when Fireball was riding on the armrest in her grandpa’s 1984 Ford LTD. The only thing holding her from going through the windshield in the LTD was grandma and grandpa’s arms as they instinctively went up when they had to brake hard.

Looks safe to me, wink, wink

Pistol was perched on her booster seat in the Big White Bus and belted in. I remember the days before I was married to Mrs. Okierover and little Fireball was learning about safety in school and we had to all start wearing our “belt seats”. So we made a game of it to see who could get their “belt seat” on first. Before this I NEVER wore my seat belt. The legislature eventually would get around to passing a law requiring seat belts. Our youngest two children do not remember a time before mandatory seat belt wearing.

I had to remind Fireball that if we were going to discuss dangerous and unsafe behavior, that it was illegal for six year old kids to operate motor vehicles in the state of Oklahoma. She drove my 1974 BMW 3.0s on at least two occasions. I would let her drive the car across the field that served as the softball field for a women’s softball team I was helping coach. She’d drive us up to the gravel parking lot behind the Indian Hills Steak House (as of this posting it is now a bar called Mooney’s (Maps.google.com street view) . There she would stop the car and we would swap places.

I wish we still had this car

So as far as safety goes, Pistol was as safe as a bug in a rug in the front seat of the BWB. And comparing her riding position to our habits just 20 years ago she was about as safe as you could ever expect to be. Besides, the air conditioning works better if you are sitting directly in front of the vents when it’s 106 degrees outside in Oklahoma.

I also posted on Facebook that RovErica was out and Pistol was in, as my new Range Rover buddy. This brought much scorn from RovErica and many sad and mad emoticons were exchanged.

I’ve had a quiet month of correspondence with Land Rover owners this month. I have made contact with a fellow Range Rover owner in my home town. We are trying to arrange a meeting to talk Range Rovers. More on that later.

The maps came in for a new trip I’m planning. I plan to drive across Oklahoma on all gravel and dirt roads. More on this later as well.

Buckle up, thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

June 28, 2013May 15, 2023

Shooting (Post #362) 6/28/2013

Having survived the allergy attack I spent this past Sunday just lazing about the house. I wanted to get out and shot something. I set up permission to go out to my friend in Newcastle’s house and put some rounds down range.

I love water crossings. My friends range is on the opposite side of a creek in the bottom land. He put down some concrete a few years ago and it makes the crossing a little more “predictable”. The water is still running from the heavy rains of a few weeks ago. This is good news in regards to our recent drought. Perhaps not so good in the mosquitoes will eat you alive category. Before we could deploy insect repellent RovErica had occasion to kill a mosquito that must have been the size of hummingbird on my face. The puddle of blood should have been handled as a outdoor bio-hazard (Purdue.edu).

For shooting companions, I called the only child I have that likes to shoot, the illustrious RovErica. She has acquired a fiance’ in recent months. He too likes to shoot so it seemed prudent to go shoot with him. He knows as a Marine I can shoot and now he has a little first hand knowledge of the violence that can be unleashed by and old and cranky Marine. That sounds like he was in need of some “course correction” and that is not at all the case. He is a well mannered young man and the Mrs. and I like him. Most importantly, RovErica likes him and that’s what matters most.

Ever the ham, RovErica is a pistol packing mama. This is her favorite pistol, the J.C. Higgins .22. My father gave me this pistol when I moved into my first apartment.

Here the fiance’ (we need a better nickname) is shooting my new M1911. If he appears to be a man of large stature you would be correct. He was a lineman for Ball State in college and he even played semi-pro football after college. The pairing of he and RovErica greatly increases the odds that a grand child of mine will play football.
RovErica thinks the .45 is too loud.

The drive home was down a lovely lane sheltered by trees in rural Newcastle. I grew up driving down roads like this one and I reminisce about all the cars (Okierover.com) I’ve driven down these roads over time. I wish I still had that BMW….

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.