Too Cold to Work (Post #639) January 14, 2024

Holy crap it’s cold outside.

Most of the country is experiencing extremely cold temperatures. It got down to 1.6ºF last night here at Okierover Base Camp. Thankfully the winds were mild (mild for Oklahoma anyway) and the windchills stayed in the minus teens and single digits. Still VERY dangerous to be outside.

That didn’t stop some of my fellow overlanders from going out in this mess. This is not fun camping weather. Changing a tire in this weather can seriously test your constitution. Frostbite is just 15 minutes away in this weather.

Instead I give a short overview of what I called a short-term To-Do List.

  • Wire for Power in the back for a battery and fridge eventually
  • Install radio and cameras
  • Purchase and install a GMRS radio
  • Fix the Ignition Issues

You’ve heard it all before. My goal is to get back behind the wheel by April. If you don’t set goals, you’ll never achieve them.

That’s all for this week. I’ve got to go take care of Mrs. Okierover who got diagnosed with Covid today. My son is on the downhill slope of Flu A. I’ll be lucky to survive the week without catching SOMETHING!

Wash your hands, thanks for reading and Happy Rovering

patreon.com/okierover

Like and subscribe!

Current Progress (Post #594) 12/14/2021

In the latest installment, I chat about my current progress on getting the Big White Bus back on the road. I had to take a week off for family coming in for the holiday, and Mrs. Okierover and I both got bronchitis that decided to hang on for 3 weeks (you can hear the Stevie Nicks in my voice). That slowed work on the to-do list. This weekend I’ll probably need the new heater in the shop as it should start getting colder here on the Southern Plains.

In the video, I show the closed cell neoprene installed. I talk about a small missed part on the heater box install. Also talk about getting a new seat controller ECU and getting the seats out. A few words about adjusting the door handle for the driver’s side rear door.

Then instead of shutting up, I drone on more about my desire to have a new bumper, a storage box/bed, and installing D-rings.

I know the video work needs improvement and as I torture you as you watch them make more and more they should improve. When I’m a big interwebs video star you can say, “I remember when that bum first got started. Man those early videos sucked.”

Your feedback is always appreciated.

Thanks for reading/watching, click and subscribe, and Happy Rovering.

SCARR – Day Four (Post #481) 4/9/2014

Sunday the sun came up as expected in the east and we realized it was time to go home. We started packing up the kit. The tent fit in the amazingly small bag with a little coaxing. The boxes were all loaded and I lashed everything down on the roof rack.

Jayden and John in their Discovery 1.
Jayden and John in their Discovery 1.

John and Jayden were keen to caravan with us home. It couldn’t hurt to have a support vehicle after what we had just put our Rovers through. We agreed to meet at the main pavilion.

The night before after I found my on-board air compressor, I had aired up my tires . When we got to the top it turns out they have an airing station right there on the site. What a great amenity to have for the off-roaders. Continue reading “SCARR – Day Four (Post #481) 4/9/2014”

Gearing Up for SCARR, Part Four, More Maintenance (Post #465) 3/14/2014

8150025_cst_06812_pri_largI can’t be the only person who gets that special warm feeling inside when all the tick boxes are filled in on maintenance. I love it when I’ve gone over my Land Rover and done all the maintenance.

Fluid and filter swap for the transmission. Also a fluid swap for the transaxle and viscous coupling this weekend. I bought 20 quarts of Castrol® Transmax™ High Mileage – Automatic Transmission Fluid. I had never heard of it until I went to research my options.

It was cheaper than the first fluid I was considering. Royal Purple MAX ATF® was 14.99$(US) a quart. Royal Purple got rave reviews online but at twice the cost I don’t believe it will be 100% better than Castrol. I’ve never been let down by Castrol and I will continue to use it until someone can give me a solid reason to stop. The Transmax was just 6.39$(US) a quart from Advanced Auto Parts. O’Reilly’s did not carry it even though the Castrol’s website said they did.

My new oxygen sensors should also be in today so I will be putting those in as well. As near as my crappy record keeping can determine the last time I swapped O2 sensors was 6 years ago. So with 205,000 miles on the clock it’s time.

I am also installing the new power steering pump this weekend. This is going to be a very busy weekend. I should have probably scheduled a Garage Day with The Evil German Dude and Paparazzi Ford. Paparazzi Ford’s dad is not well and this was EGD’s “on weekend” at work. I don’t have any more time before S.C.A.R.R. so I’m going for it.

This is part four(-ish) of my Mega-Maintenance Month. I’ll pop some pictures up on the individual jobs as I have time to complete blog posts.

Gearing Up for SCARR, Part One
Gearing Up for SCARR, Part Two
Gearing Up for SCARR, Part Three

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

The Magic of the Service Engine Light (Post #110) 10/27/2008

I was under the hood of the Discovery just the other weekend looking for the vacuum leak that was causing the pre-heater to throw codes. I found it and got that sorted out. While in there I noticed some things. The coolant leak I found when I was swapping the plugs and wires. Well it is looking like that again.

And guess what? Yeah I’m overheating. And this morning the coldest day of the fall I had NO HEAT. So I’m guessing I’ve got a coolant issue somewhere. I’m going to fill it up tonight to see if I’m just low on fluid. I hope that’s what it is. I, like many others, are having a bad fall quarter financially and car repairs are way down the list of necessities right now. The potential expenses on the other current problems doesn’t leave us much left for a new serious problem. So lets just hope it’s just low coolant.

Also a couple of weekends ago I changed out the differential lubricant on the Range Rover Classic. It came out the consistency of goo. The only way to describe it is a cross between the 90-140 and the grease for the CV joints. Kind of a black slurry. It couldn’t possibly have been doing it’s job. I have to order some new pre-measured CV lube and get that in there quickly.

I can’t seem to find the swivel grease at Atlantic British site. I know they have it…but it’s not on the site, or I’m using a different name than they do.

So to recap, we need oxygen sensors and swivel grease for the Range Rover and for the Discovery we need a solution for the window regulator and to sort out the coolant/no heat issue.

Geee, aren’t cars fun?

Speaking of fun. I ran across a really good site the other day. And I’ll pass it along to you.

It’s got all the fun pics of hot rods and motorcycles and some chicks too. I really liked the design and content. Lots to see and lots of pictures. I’m not a “hot rod” kinda guy. I do like old cars and I do like motorcycles. Mostly old motorcycles. And I really like the 50-60s culture. Rock-a-billy is fun to listen to and just counter cultural enough to keep out the posers (like me) but easy enough to get into. Just buy a old bike or build yourself a hot rod or cruiser and some boss clothes.

I really enjoyed some of the hot rod pics. This one caught my eye. With my buddy JagGuy building a car hauler out of a 1940s truck, I thought this guy has a really nice rig.

That is taking a concept and throwing away any sort of budget and just getting in there and making something great. The best part is, I know a place in Newcastle Oklahoma that has a similar truck in his driveway. They’ve been just sitting and rusting in his yard since I was a boy. I drove by there last month and they are still sitting there.

View Larger Map

View Larger Map

If you keep going west on NW 10th you’ll see a nice Google Glitch if you are looking North.

When I see “potential projects” like this I wonder what people are thinking. I wonder if when they buy that old truck they had plans to “do something” with it. I know I’ve driven by at least 50 cars I wish I had the time and money to make into fun projects to drive. From a Volkswagon bus in Willow, Oklahoma to numerous 1960s and older camper trailers, to this 1940s behemoth (I’m guessing a Packer) that’s been just sitting in this guys backyard on Carter Avenue for at least 15 years I know about.

View Larger Map

It’s the blue blob there in the middle. It looks like it has all the parts. Just never been worked on. My dad’s friend had a bunch of cars sitting in a field in Tuttle Oklahoma when I was growing up that I thought would have made great hot rods. With my more mature age today, I know they would have made great restoration projects.

Until next time… fire up some Rock-a-billy at the nutSie website and cruise over to the Blacktop site and check out the bitchin’ rides.