Yesterday I replaced the broken fender antenna. Not that bad of a job really. I replaced it with one that allows be to simply replace the mast is I feel like it and have 3 to choose from including an unbreakable rubber one to use in the bushes. Also replaced 3 of the vacuum lines to the to cruise control I had somehow overlooked during the last round of fixing.

Took the truck on a 5 hour round trip and on the way home noticed that it was starting to get hot.... It was 80 outside with the air blowing full blast. I pulled over and checked the system, added a little antifreeze and kept going. (It never got to red, not even to the top of the white, but I'm not about to let it. Anyways, I noticed if I ran the truck around 65 on the interstate the temp would be solid, right where it should be. I could get the early warning signs of the cooling system being overtaxed (The air conditioning would start to blow warmer) if I drove around 75... So I going out to check the 2 electric cooling fans and make sure they are both working. I have a feelings that My fan clutch is bad, so I'm going to do the 2000 Chevy Express cargo van with the 4.3L V6 NO a/c. conversion. Will try to have it done this afternoon (if they have the part in stock) and report back.

Here is a check list of upcoming repairs and projects I'm going to do to the truck...

1. replace the stereo completely. The factory head unit works, but I want something with mp3 playback and wireless connection to my Itouchs or Ipad2. I also have a 12" Alpine ZR sub and a 1000watt PP amp to power it sitting here. Going to get that mounted in a custom enclosure somewhere in the truck. have not picked the location yet. Replacing all the other speakers, either with boston pros or something equivalent. The lip where the head unit is is exactly the right size to mount an Ipad2 vertically... might be an upcoming project to create a solid dock for it.

2. going to order the rear window seals and have them ready. Popping out all the rear class, removing the trim and sending the truck in for a full repaint. I'm leaning towards a red body with a white roof. Will have the hood shot at the same time with a high temp flat.

3. Once trucks back from paint, I'm going to start with sliders, and some pumpkin protection. Then slowly add other upgrades as I find them. But want a front and rear bumper, a rack and ladder, external lighting and dual optima red tops.

Basically, since the wife has put her foot down and has strictly banned me from selling the truck, I've decided to take it all the way.

 

Fans have 0 to do with cooling at 70mph. The a/c fans shut off at about 30mph. And I turn my electric fan off at 30mph

 

Also what's the paint costing? I would love to paint mine orange one day.

 

I just got quoted $900 in materials (paint, clear, primer, activaters, tape, paper,etc....) to do my 96 I just bought off of Hilltoppersx in Tangier orange and enough flat black to stripe it like an XD. That quote was for the "top of the line" PPG paint. Since the body shop owes me some IOU's thats at his cost and hes spraying it for a couple cases of beer.

 

Fan clutch swap finished. That's working good. Noticed now that the coolant tank caps hissing.... not holding the correct pressure.... sigh. So I'll have to order on of those.

Here is a reprint of the instructions I used to do the swap...

https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...acement-32370/

Please note, there needs to be a little clarification....

The size of the wrench you need is a 36mm not a 32mm. This is importance for a simple reason, when you buy wrench sets they go up to 32, then another set starts @ 32 and goes up from there... So buy the bigger set... Around here there is no place to just buy the one wrench but for 30 bucks I got a set from 32mm to 50mm (and a second trip into town to exchange from the first set I bought thinking I only needed a 32mm....)

My new fan clutch DID NOT come with new bolts... this resulted in yet a 3rd trip into town to try and locate bolts. (3/8th 1/2 inch long bold work fine) but that size can be tricky to locate. Orileys ended up having 4 in grade 8.

Other than those issues, the swap was super simple and seems to work just fine. Total cost due to having to buy a set of wrenches came to about 80 bucks.

Now I'm off to figure out how to test the front electric fans...

 

Ordered the new pressure cap for the overflow tank. Also confirmed that BOTH the front electric fans are shot. one not turning at all the second only turns slowly and stops. So will be ordering a pair of new toyota motors from autozone monday. Priced them today and they are 64 bucks each, I could buy a couple used units from Will T. I think they are 30 bucks, but this way the motors will be brand new. The replacement expansion tank cap was 12 bucks.

So, she's parked until I get this stuff on.

 

seems rather high. My quote here was 800 for the full job, including the supplies, plus fixing any of the little dings etc that the truck might have. No point putting on better paint than was used at the factory... It's not a show truck, but something I want to drive and beat the hell out of and fix and beat the hell out of again.... I could see spending the money to have my 85 300cd paint shot, but there, I'm going to be picky and want it perfect.

Of course I'll prep. there is no sense paying some one to remove and replace trim, lights, windows etc.

 

The body shop told me to shop around for paint locally and even for cheaper paint I'd still be in the $600 ball park for materials, mostly because of VOC's and emissions BS for paints in my area. I doubt this truck will ever see the woods anyhow so I dont mind spending a little more money and having a flawless paint job on it.