I’ve had the Land Rover for three years now and this is the first time I’ve gone completely topless. We’ll put the hard top back on later this month and I decided to remove the mesh top hoop kit early. Really kind of fun driving around with nothing between me and the sky. If I’m out and it starts raining? Everything gets wet.
Category Archives: My Land Rover
Land Rover top swap
On Saturday a few friends came out to the house to help me take the hardtop off the Land Rover and put the soft-top on. Didn’t do this last spring because COVID was rampant. Really missed driving around under the mesh top. Last time we had the top off was in 2019. Took more help to get the hardtop back on that fall.
I’ve stored the hardtop in different places. After it was nearly destroyed by a tornado, I kept it in the basement but that meant removing the top from the sides. With a little help from my friends we were able to squeeze it in under the deck. Going to see if I can improve the look with a section of plastic lattice. (see below)
My thanks to the crew: George Kopp, Dave Kempf, Gaston De La Torre, and Dave Trammel.
Spectrophotometer
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When we took the hardtop off the Land Rover last year we scratched the body and I finally got around to buying some touch-up paint. A local auto parts place has a gizmo called a spectrophotometer. According to the parts guy the thing cost $15,000! I can’t confirm that. I can tell you it didn’t help him match the color worth a shit. Plan B is to go back to the guys who repaired the tornado damage. They got the color exactly right.
Riley doesn’t like riding in the back
Hattie rides up front. That’s non-negotiable. So Riley has to ride in the back and she doesn’t like it. And she’s only there because she is leashed to the spare tire and cannot climb up front.
Universal Driving Gestures
As soon as I started driving my old Land Rover around town I started getting the “thumbs up” gesture from other drivers. Almost always with a smile. This gesture is clearly meant to convey something positive. They like/admire the Rover. Wikipedia has a page on the history of the gesture. I love getting the thumbs up and started wondering why there are not more universally (at least in English speaking countries) recognized gestures between motorists. The only other one I can think of is The Finger. The other end of the approval spectrum, if you will.
Land Rover hardtop back on
Doesn’t seem that long ago (April 29) we took the hardtop off the Land Rover and replaced it with the soft-top. We carefully stowed the hardtop in a storage unit where not quite a month later a tornado banged the shit out of it (and a bunch of other stuff in Jefferson City). More photos.
It’s still warm enough for the soft-top but the mornings are getting cool so I decided to put the hardtop back on and today some pals showed up to help.
L-R: Me, Benjamin and John Middleton, George Kopp, Andrew and Ben Lear.
Off-road on the PGT
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.
Why the Brits don’t make computers
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.”
Land Rover: 8,000 km service
Took the Land Rover to Poettgen Automotive for oil change and service. Owner Dan Poettgen has experience with foreign vehicles and seemed the obvious choice to work on the Land Rover (since my buddy George’s shop got wiped out by a tornado). During his inspection he noticed a leak from the “oil pressure sending unit” and removed it to look for the cause.
Following some phone calls and online research, Dan determined the unit wasn’t installed properly. While waiting for the replacement part, Dan has me running with a unit from a 1977 Chevy Caprice! It works and has stopped the leak.
This little gizmo monitors oil pressure and sends info to a gauge and a tiny green light in the instrument panel. No idea why the Santana Land Rover folks use a green light to indicate low oil pressure. (I have to get in the habit of watching oil pressure more closely.)
In just over two weeks I will have been driving the truck for a full year. Next project: a little body work on the hard-top to repair tornado damage. Hoping to keep the soft top on through September.
Hosing out the Rover
We live at the end of a gravel road so the Land Rover gets dusty fast, especially with the soft top. I hosed it out today and tightened up some screws and nuts. The truck is held together with hundreds of the things and the bumpy road shakes them loose. I try to find them before they fall out. I do love this truck.