June 26th, 2003 (Post #31)

June 26, 2003
Sorry everyone, for my absence. I have been too busy with other things to update here. I have scheduled some surgery which will make my repairs go a bit slowly as I will be down to one arm for a few months starting here in July. Also this will make my cash situation also suffer pushing some repairs and modifications to the back burners.
So with that I can update you on what I have done.

Random stuff
I took the air dam off the front of the Rover. Primarily to see what it looked like with it removed and to install quick/water resistant disconnects for the fog lamps which are attached to the air dam. That went well for the most part. I used two quick disconnects from a Chevy truck. I also removed the step sides from my truck. Also in an attempt to see what it looked like with out them. I think I like them better on the truck rather than off. Although the truck now looks “higher” off the ground and with no other way to describe it, it has a simpler look.

Exhaust
Still haven’t done the exhaust. I have a date with a lift a Rogers place but not sure if I can keep it yet. I need to get her up on the rack soon as many problems have begun that need urgent attention.

Shocks
Bought a shock removal socket hopefully making the removal an easier task. I’ll add a pic to the tools page soon. It seems my wife bought us a digital camera.

Head gasket update
My truck no longer is pushing coolant out the overflow bottle. But I now have a nice ticking sound that could be just about anything related to the head. Yes, you guessed correctly this is bad news. More investigation coming soon. Deep, deep down I’m hoping it’s just a silly exhaust leak. Although I have 129,000 miles on it.

Cupholder Goodness Update
I am working on the bracket mechanism at the moment. A search for materials is in the works and then comes the welding!! The obsessive need of mine to make it look manufactured and “clean” is holding me back a bit.