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August 2nd, 2004 (Post #49)

August 2nd, 2004
Rust the bain of all autos
Tomorrow my lovely wife and I will celebrate 15 years married. That is an accomplishment here in the middle lands of America. With a 50% divorce rate it seems to be harder for some than for others. Thank you for staying with me all these years. You are the best accessory a guy could have to make the Rover worth riding in.

Rust. Rust is popping up on the rear door. It seems to stay wet back there. I will probably look at replacing the rubber back there soon and to look at stripping the rust off and ending that problem for the time being. My buddy the Titanium Hitch has used some POR-15. He is in the process of using it on his old Ford pickup’s roof to stop the rust which is all over it. He doesn’t have anything to report yet.

Ozzie at Ozzie’s Offroad has recently used some POR-15 also. He promises some pictures and that always means some writing too. Anyway the rear lid needs some work and I will take the opportunity to fix the lock back there too. I don’t think it works like it’s supposed to. I’ll do a write up on it as I start on it look for it in the Tech Tips section. The rain has stopped for a while so it would be a good time to start on it.

I’m gonna pull up the carpet in the front and try to clean it as I did in the back. This will also give me an opportunity to check out the rust I fear is under my feet as I motor about.

I’m gonna add an avatar for any medical things that happen to me when I work on the truck. Maybe I’ll add pictures of the injuries too! The last one was the wrench slipping out of my hand and hitting me in the nose. Right on the bridge and now I have a lovely popping sound when I fiddle with my nose. On the CV joint repair I described the ginsu bracket and the new scar I got from that. So look for the red cross somewhere on the new articles.

Posted on

July 15th, 2004 (Post #48)

July 15th, 2004
Shocks On, Radiator Woes, Work and Weather
Over the Fourth of July weekend I finally got all four shocks on. I took some pics
and will have an update with that when I can get around to it.

As I had just finished the last shock, I was collecting tools and getting everything gathered up and noticed a puddle under the front left side. Antifreeze was dripping out. What? I didn’t even
touch the radiator. I wasn’t even up there for anything. Being as it was a million degrees outside I took the Rover down to Sooner Radiator on Porter Street in Norman. Sports and Classics uses them a lot and I have had them work on the Rover before. This was July 5th and I was hoping they were open considering the government holiday. They got it done and told me it was a bad tube and the tank had started leaking too. Both due to pressure most likely. Pressure, as we all know is coming from the head gasket most likely. $100(US) later I’m back on the road. So I take my wife to the Target store and when I come out there is a huge puddle of antifreeze under the truck. I was none to happy about it I can assure you. I got under bonnet and sure enough a hose clamp not properly secured. It dawned on me that they did that last time I had it in there too. No big loss but you would expect that if I had been out on a trip and I lost that much coolant I would have been in trouble.

I’ve been really busy with work lately and have not been working on the site or the Rover. It is now summer here and you can’t really comfortably work on anything without suffering.

I’ve got a great idea for a camper but I’m not ready to tell you about it. But I think it would be a one of a kind and be a lot of fun to make.

Posted on

June 26th, 2004 (Post #47)

June 26th, 2004
New Site, New Shocks
I decided that I needed a site for the online display of my Big White Bus. So as you read this
OkieRover.com is up and running. It contains the same old stuff I had before just in a different format and with a different look.

I was finally able to get some money together to replace the shocks. The control of the dead shocks is starting to scare me on bumps. It’s adventure to go from I-235 on to I-40 west bound. That’s what I call “real driving”. Anyway…I bought Old Man Emu shocks from Ryan at Rover Cannibal. They should be in any day now. Hopefully I can put them on this long weekend. I’ll post the models and maybe some links when they arrive.

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June 6th, 2004 (Post #46)

June 6th, 2004
Air Conditioning
JagGuy’s daughter had complained that there was no A/C in the Black Rangie so
he endeavored to repair it. So being as I wanted my A/C to work as well, mostly because
the wifey complained that it wasn’t working. I decided to prod him a bit and we worked
on the trucks one past Sunday. Thinking I was in for an expensive repair and I expected to
spend at least $300(US) I was amazed when I had cold air coming out of my vents just $40 later. Read about it HERE

The cats are back to rattling but I am mostly ignoring them.

The Big White Bus has not been idling as of late and a fellow at the Pirate 4×4 board reminded
me about the idler control valve, which gets sooty after awhile and must be cleaned. I had forgotten about that. As I posted, this happens every year and I seem to forget, every year, how I fixed it the last time I had the problem.

How about them gas prices? Wow who would’ve figured that kind of price hike. Funny when things happen in other states to production facilities our prices go up. It’s strange because our gas plants here were not affected. You can go down and look at where your gas is made in Wynnewood Oklahoma. Very strange indeed. The only good news in all of this is tax revenues are up. I wonder what they’ll blow it on this year?

It is a time of mourning in our nation as The Great Communicator, Ronald Reagan has passed away. Prayers go out to the family for their comfort. Thank you sir for giving us back the pride we have as Americans.

Posted on

May 17th, 2004 (Post #45)

May 17th, 2004
A Big Pause
Well ROVErica has had a great month. She competed and won a position on the Longfellow
Middle School Cheer Team for next year. We are very happy about this as her grades have gotten better too. But with this honor my money has been leaving the house at an unpresidented rate.

So I put a couple of projects on hold and have been bracing for the cost of Cheer Camp and all the clothes that go with it. In the midst of this my oldest daughter announced that she will wed her boyfriend in June 2005. We are very happy for her. With this more monies are exiting the domicile now and not even asking “by your leave sir” as they fly past me. Janie’s back surgery went excellently and her recovery is very good. She is not working and thus the funding has also gotten hit on that end. I didn’t really want to get new bushings and shocks anyway.

I desperately need them as The Big White Bus sounds like a creaky old man while traversing the
parking lots and gutters of our hometown.

I did start on the trailer lights and had to stop. I wanted to disassemble the deck lid and get
the rust stopped. I quit on this too. If a day or two come up in June I’ll get back on it hopefully.

Good News.
The catalytic converters on the Big White Bus are no longer rattling. I guess all the driving has ground them down and they haven’t rattled in month. I wish all my issues fixed themselves like this.

Funny story. My friend recently got a Jaguar XJ6. Nice car, very pretty. She was getting a message from the car that her “boot” was open. She had no idea what that meant. She drove around for a few days and it quit. During recent dinner at her house and JagGuy gave her a lesson on British car terminology just in case she had any more error messages she didn’t understand.

I have started working on graphics for a web page featuring my truck. I need a new name for the Big White Bus. Many people name their trucks but I have yet to find one I really, really liked. If you have a suggestion, email me at rover dot eric at cox dot net. Thanks.

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March 26th, 2004 (Post #44)

March 26th, 2004
Cats are rattlin’
The catalytic converters on the Big White Bus are rattling something fierce! I could have swore I had only 3 quarts of oil and dropped a rod on the way home from RovErica’s softball game. Go Lions! Anyway, it sounds terrible. I will again look for a solution this week and report back faithfully as always. I think I saw a “Y” pipe and “cat” for the same price as my local shop wanted to charge me for cats alone…

where did I put that link….

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