Author Archives: Steve Mays

New door panels for pickup

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The driver-side door panel on the pickup was falling apart when I bought the truck so a few weeks ago I just took it off. I thought I’d just leave it like that but there was no place to rest my elbow so I ordered a set of after-market panels. They came with little attachment gizmos that I couldn’t make work so I just drilled some holes through the plastic and into the metal of the door.

Next enhancement is replacing the driver-side shoulder harness with a simple lap seatbelt. Never cared for the shoulder harnesses and the Land Rover doesn’t have them, so…

Off-road on the PGT

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There are some beautiful places in Missouri but one of my favorites is the Prairie Garden Trust, managed by my friend Henry and his wife Lorna. I’ve posted about it here many times.
Henry and I usually walk but today we took the Land Rover. (The hot, dry summer made it safe to drive on the prairie without leaving ruts.) Henry took us to some spots where we got to engage the four-wheel drive (low range!) and the truck performed beautifully.

Bay Area pickups

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Richard Handlen (an old friend who lives in the Bay Area) shares my love for old pickup trucks and shared a couple of photos.

He spotted this beauty (above) at the Green River Brewing & Taproom Car Show in Winters, CA.

And he found this monster at the Napa Porchfest (blocks and blocks of singers and bands, performing from yards and porches.

Why the Brits don’t make computers

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Spotted a new leak on the truck and reached out to my friend (and Land Rover expert) John Middleton:

Common place for them to leak. Rear transfer case output shaft seal. May need a speedy sleeve on the the output flange. The flange nut also might be loose. Eventually you will get oil on the parking brake shoes. All of mine have leaked or still leak there. If it stops leaking it means the transfer case has run out of oil!

Very hard to find a Land Rover that does not drip some oil. As the tappet brothers proclaimed: “The British were not successful in the computer industry because they could not figure out how to make one that leaked oil.”