Rovers North

October 12, 2014May 16, 2023

1964 A Good Year for Land Rover a Good Year for Me (Post #515) 10/12/2014

50 years.

This weekend I turned half a century old. In today’s United States of America that is no great fete. We have peace, security, great medical care, and a thriving economy (well…sorta). So turning 50 years old is pretty easy. I have always tried to take pretty good care of myself. So today at 50 years I still feel like I did at 40 years.

In 1964 Land Rover offered the iconic Series II. Imagine a configuration of a Series II and it was offered that year. It was the farmer’s friend. It was a reliable workhorse. With a Dormobile kit it was a camper. And it was a staple of overland travel in the third world. And…I want one.

Who in their right mind wants a 50-year-old Land Rover? Me.

These Land Rovers are dirt simple. They are sturdy, mechanically simple. If you have a diesel model there are about three wires under the bonnet. Electrically easy to sort out. Keep the rust off of her and you are golden.

Ideally, I’d love to own a totally restored version. You can only imagine that those go for northward of 50,000$(US). I am not a car collector. I could not possible afford to have a 50,000$ toy sitting in my garage. I would want to use that Land Rover. I would need to drive it….often, perhaps even as my daily driver. I imagine in a more romantic version of my life this mythical 1964 Series II would be my “Rocinante”. That was the name Steinbeck gave to his camper truck which he used to travel across the United States in 1960 with his dog Charley. (If you haven’t read the book, Travels with Charley, you need to.)

I know that driving a 50-year-old car on a daily basis is not practical. This is Oklahoma. It has a range of weather that includes -30’s of Southern Canada all the way to Sub-Saharan Africa 120F. My commute at this time is 50 miles a day in stop and go traffic. Finding parts is easy. Rovers North takes care of that for most Series models. Sadly I am in the farthest shipping zone from them. Getting parts quickly is impossible. This alone makes owning a Land Rover let alone a 50-year-old model “problematic”.

So for now I will just drive my 21-year-old daily driver. Perhaps when I am retired or semi-retired I’ll buy a 1964 Series II. I want to do some overland traveling and I can’t imagine doing it in a modern automobile.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

May 31, 2014May 16, 2023

Slow Days of Summer (Post #497) 5/31/2014

Sorry for the post drought lately. I finally have a new job and haven’t had much time to do much of anything Land Rover. I ordered a CV joint and some other bits to sort out the axle problem that I referred to in Front Half Shaft Oil-Seal Failure. I thought they’d be in this weekend. Rovers North told me the CV joint was on a container ship last week. I thought for sure I’d have it by this week. By Saturday morning it had not arrived.

So Saturday I took the long drive up to Jones, Oklahoma to help the Evil German Dude. The sunroof was open and the windows down and I had a Mexi-Coke. Life is good. EGD has had some trouble with his swimming pool of late. The original liner failed after a few years and a new liner that was installed a couple of weeks ago required yet another new liner. Many hands make light work. Porsche Mike and his sweet wife Mel came out to help as well. Mel is keen to do some “off-roading” with us and very much enjoyed the comfort of the Big White Bus when trying out the seats. I hope to see more of Porsche Mike in the future…like maybe at a Garage Day, hint, hint.

We were thinking of Paparazzi Ford who was unable to attend due to the loss of his father this past week. My buddy Mr. Fisher lost his sister this weekend too. She succumbed to a long battle with cancer. Our thoughts are with both of their families in this difficult time.

We finished everything we could do and all that was left was to watch the water fill the pool at 6-8 gallons a minute. I drove home and stopped on the way home for some petrol and the BWB’s odometer was sitting on 209,000. The now twenty-one year old Range Rover has shown us some great miles. I managed to get 15 miles per gallon out of this last tank full. That really surprises me because my new commute has a lot more stop and go traffic due to the new hours I have at my new employment. I am stuck in “five o’clock traffic” on the way home and that is usually terrible for gas mileage ratings.

I guess I’ll schedule next Saturday for an axle tear down. I’m almost reluctant to swap the CV joint. The sound I’m hearing is not there very often. The noise could also be explained by the wrong fluid being in the reservoir. If I do swap it, the old CV would be an excellent shelf spare if it should ever be needed.

That’s all I have for now. I’ll be videoing the axle tear down and will post it all up when I have the time.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

May 1, 2014May 16, 2023

Front Half Shaft Oil-Seal Failure (Post #493) 5/1/2014

How many of you remember this commercial?

So the problem I’m having is exactly like that commercial, except that it’s not delicious, I haven’t bumped into a cute girl, and there’s no creepy old man helping solve the problem, there isn’t a happy ending, and it’s 2014 not 1982.

You got swivel housing grease in my differential oil!

No you got differential oil in my swivel housing grease!

Continue reading “Front Half Shaft Oil-Seal Failure (Post #493) 5/1/2014”

April 6, 2014May 16, 2023

SCARR – Day Three (Post #479) 4/6/2014

Day Three came with the sun shining and the air a bit on the chilly side. As soon as the sun came up it warmed up nicely. Our plan for the morning was to run some trails.

I got dressed in my Rover Cannibal shirt and cooked up some breakfast. We knocked down breakfast and went up to the main pavilion to meet the other drivers.

I found the other drivers very ready and after learning Jacob Dearborn drew the beginner group. Jake as he was called was very nice young man and had a course sorted out. We fell in behind a great couple named Max and Diane and their Series. They had owned it for twenty years if I remembered that correctly. We got the CBs set and off went. Continue reading “SCARR – Day Three (Post #479) 4/6/2014”

April 3, 2014May 16, 2023

SCARR – Day One (Post #477) 4/3/2014

The South Central Area Rover Rally was finally upon us. Leading in to it, I have had the worst two weeks professionally in my career. My wife has been my rock through it all and wanted me to get away for a trip. Mr. Fisher’s life recently has not been a cake walk either and Mrs. Fisher was also happy to see him out of the house doing something fun.

I’m going to stop here and thank both of them. You two are the best wives any two guys could possibly have. Your support to us is never-ending and we are very appreciative. Thank you.

Thursday started cold and blustery in Norman. Mr. Fisher and I organized our kit and got it loaded on to the Range Rover. It seemed like a lot of kit for a three-day event but we wanted to be comfortable. Even with all the kit we managed to forget several items: Continue reading “SCARR – Day One (Post #477) 4/3/2014”

February 5, 2014May 15, 2023

Air Idler Valve Replacement Parts (Post #443) 2/5/2014

There is a great post on the Land Rovers Only Forum that has compiled a great collection of the part numbers for the Air Idler Valve. The part is very pricey if you source if from the major Land Rover online sites like Atlantic British and Rovers North. Those are the two I use, there are others as well.

The part is a common GM part for Chevy Astro vans and S-10 pickups. You can read the post to get all the part numbers and then you can source the part from your favorite provider.

http://www.landroversonly.com/forums/f8/idle-control-valve-idle-problems-get-know-1843/

It’s basically a reprinting of the great stuff found on Rangerovers.net at this link with even more part numbers.

http://www.rangerovers.net/rrparts4.html#efinew

Finding parts for 20-year-old Range Rovers is getting harder and harder every day. Have you looked for a fan resistor kit lately? There are none to be had presently.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.