Big White Bus - OKIEROVER.COM

June 30, 2015May 16, 2023

Car Spider? (Post #541) 6/30/2015

Here in Oklahoma if want to keep the inside of you Land Rover from reaching cookies baking hot you must Crack your windows during the day. At a minimum at least the inside temp will be close to the air temp outside.

When got in the Big White Bus the other day the sun was shining just right to illuminate the webs you see above. It’s quite a set up. I wondered which species I had this month. A day or two went by before I saw the spider.

I was about to merge on to the street outside my office and there he was swinging from the rear view mirror. He doing his best Tarzan impression and too quickly for me to get a picture.

Normally I wouldn’t have shown any concern for the webs but we have had an unusually populous spider season. Thankfully I’m 90 percent sure the spider I saw was my man. It wouldn’t do to have a Black Widow or Brown Recluse in the Big White Bus. Because if I felt a spider crawling up my leg while I was driving I’d most likely kill myself trying exterminate it with extreme prejudice. At least I’d have the satisfaction that the fiery crash would extinguish it and it’s offspring’s lives.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

June 17, 2015May 16, 2023

Family Reunion Road Trip (Post #540) 6/17/2015

The Courtright Family Reunion was this past weekend. I am a Courtright on my biological mother’s maternal side. Mrs. Okierover normally attends this yearly event with me. This year a church carnival demanded her time. So traveling solo gave me an opportunity to drive the Big White Bus to Stillwater, Oklahoma and as you can imagine, I took the “back roads”.

I’ve had recent trouble with the Range Rover’s normally trouble-free 4.2 motor. She doesn’t want to idle correctly. That normally means the air idler valve is dirty. Saturday afternoon I went about cleaning it. It was indeed filthy. I was kinda happy about that. If this maintenance fixed my problem I’d be even happier because it meant I diagnosed and repaired the problem.

While I was at it, I cleaned out my flame trap. Apparently you can Australian Land Rover Forum Post. “Templ4r” has Land Rover UK Forum of what this emissions item does for you on Land Rover UK Forums. I started with running some parts cleaner/diesel through her. This was not dislodging the crap as I hoped it would. I did not have a can of brake cleaner but my neighbor Nick had a can of carburetor cleaner. I used the entire can to clean it out. Chunks of nastiness came out. I reassembled it and hoped for the best.

She seemed to idle well in the driveway. Good enough for me/close enough for government work/redneck repair complete.

Sunday morning I took off. My plan was to drive I-35 to the “Mother Road”, Interstate 66 to interstate 177 to Oklahoma highway 51. This route has some fun names of roads and creeks you will pass along the way.

You will pass Triple X road, sometimes Triple XXX road. You will pass Wild Horse Creek. This is one of the three Wild Horse creeks in Oklahoma I am aware of. You will also cross over Bell Cow Creek. Yes, Bell Cow, not Cow Bell. Continue reading “Family Reunion Road Trip (Post #540) 6/17/2015”

June 15, 2015May 16, 2023

SCARR 2015 – The Trails (Post #539) 6/15/2015

With all the rain we had at SCARR 2015 the trails were muddy. But unlike Oklahoma’s red clay this soil took the water very well and drained away. That didn’t mean it came off any easier than Oklahoma red mud, but it was not as nasty when you were driving through it. We had quite a few creek crossings to add to the mud.

We started the first day with a lecture from Arto Pullinen. Some of us (read that as NOT Mr. Fisher) learned some new hand signals that trail guides would be using.

Continue reading “SCARR 2015 – The Trails (Post #539) 6/15/2015”

March 30, 2015May 16, 2023

Back in the Saddle Again (Post #533) 3/30/2015

I picked up the Big White Bus on Saturday. Mickey was pretty busy this week and had to catch up on Saturday. I unfortunately did not leave enough gas in her for a proper test drive. So he told me to give her a spin around the block and give her a shake down.

I got her out on Industrial Boulevard and the new transmission was immediately noticeable. Smooth shifting, the proper feel of torque to the tires, simply amazing. I remarked to Mickey that I would have like to have driven a new Range Rover so I could have experienced a good tight model. I will definitely have a chat with Nathan York when he brings in the next nearly restored or fully restored Range Rover Classic. I’d love to drive another to see how close, or more likely far away, I am from cleaning up my rattletrap.

I have made two trips out to Newcastle and been to work on the north side of Oklahoma City and everything is seem to be in order. I’ve burned a half tank of petrol so far and am anxious to see if I’m getting any return on my gas mileage.

SCARR is just two weeks away. A few people have mentioned they are interested in attending and I know John is definitely coming. We’ll be down there Thursday afternoon. It is a 5.5 to 6.0 hour drive down. We plan on leaving at our leisure Thursday morning. So if you are coming down be sure to email me or call me so we can share a brew together.

I hope to see you at SCARR. Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

March 26, 2015May 16, 2023

Transmission Going In (Post #532) 3/26/2015

Well the Big White Bus is on the lift at Mickey’s Garage for a much needed transmission transplant. While up there I’m having the transmission cooling lines and the oil cooling lines replaced. Palace Auto rebuilt the hoses.

This repair was in preparation for S.C.A.R.R. With yesterday’s exciting weather events and this crazy week at work, a day off will be welcome and just what the doctor ordered.

The transmission replacement will hopefully allow me to facilitate the purchase of a possible light-weight travel trailer. I’ve mentioned it before. We are looking at either a classic “canned ham” or a Casita.

I’m looking forward to getting back behind her steering wheel. My friend Paul loaned me his Ford Expedition and it feels a bit like what I imagine driving a Stryker armored personnel carrier would be like. This thing is humongous. I am blessed to have such good friends.

Say a prayer for those who lost their homes in yesterday’s storms throughout Oklahoma.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

March 6, 2015May 16, 2023

Big Pile of Maintenance (Post #528) 3/6/2015

Its time for the first round of maintenance for our trip to S.C.A.R.R. I got a box of goodies from Rovah Farm. They are a “new to me” supplier out of Arkansas. I have trouble getting parts out of New England this time if year. Something about weather… blah, blah, blah, winter… blah, blah, blah, cancelled flights, yada, yada, yada. Following Okierover standard procedure I managed to order something that was out-of-stock. Rovah Farm let me know and we agreed to wait for everything before shipping. Once everything was in it was a two day delivery, his door to mine. Excellent. We lucked out and just missed our last winter blast which would have probably delayed the order. Continue reading “Big Pile of Maintenance (Post #528) 3/6/2015”