Builds Big Red Toy (5 Viewers)

[The Phoenician]

Mike, how's that hood-mounted solar panel working out? Looks pretty stealthy.

It does it's job, but it's beginning to bubble in a few places. Still works though, charges both batteries and I can keep the fridge running all night.

Update: I contacted the company about the bubbling. They will be sending me a new panel.

 

[The Phoenician]

Dog thinks he's a cat.

 

[The Phoenician]

Decided its finally time to mess with Big Red. Been doing lots of house work and messing with other vehicles to include test driving a few Teslas. I was sold on the exact tesla I'm going to buy because there's no driving experience like it. But then I drove big red and I came back to my senses.

I did some light maintenance and gave it a bath. First time in years. But it's so hot out, I'm going to wait a little longer before I get back to it.

 

[The Phoenician]

I've been trying to catch up on some housework and get some of the other trucks road-ready. Lately, I've been prioritizing Penelope Cruiser over the other vehicles, but she's working fine now and the rear tire carrier should arrive this week. The 5 in lift kit finally arrived for Sushi Roll ( previously the Dirty Avocado). All this to say, I've been neglecting Big Red more than I should be. I decided to change that today after I got Sushi Roll running. Big Red doesn't need much work, just some small electrical gremlins and upgrading the headlights.

But first here are some pics of Sushi Roll. My son has been hounding me about working on it and teaching him how to do basic maintenance on it. So first thing we did was change out the radiator and replace the coolant.

When I drove it down from Abilene, she started getting hot halfway thru the trip and the needle settled right under the red. I would pull over and hose it down with water and continue. So replacing the radiator was on my list of things to do before I deployed.

I debated deleting the mechanical fan and going with an electric one, but since I didn't have one readily available, I just reused it. Maybe I'll add a fan for the AC condenser down the line.

After replacing the radiator and getting it started with the help of starter fluid ( it sat for over 18 months) I decided to drive it and give it a bath.

Compare this top pic to this bottom one.

Afterwards I drove it around for nearly 20 miles, no more cooling issues. the needle stayed below the middle line the entire time. I came back home and was on such a high that I decided to work on Big Red in the 100* heat. It took longer than I wanted because so many of the bolts were rusted in place. I soaked them with WD40 and waited. It still took some effort.

 

[The Phoenician]

Like I was saying, the headlight retainers were rusted and I had to fight with every single bolt. But eventually, stubbornness and brute force prevailed.

Disregard the license plate. That's a temporary one because the state of Texas Took away my specialty plate while I was gone. I managed to get it back, but waiting on it to show up in the mail.

I must say, I'm pretty impressed with the light output.

What I am not impressed with, is the price of diesel. I only filled half the tank. This is going to make the next overlanding trip so much more expensive. We're debating between the Great Smoky Mountains and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

I will say though, I do like how the lights look on Big Red.

 

[red66toy]

Like I was saying, the headlight retainers were rusted and I had to fight with every single bolt. But eventually, stubbornness and brute force prevailed. View attachment 3419330
View attachment 3419331View attachment 3419329
Disregard the license plate. That's a temporary one because the state of Texas Took away my specialty plate while I was gone. I managed to get it back, but waiting on it to show up in the mail.

I must say, I'm pretty impressed with the light output. View attachment 3419332
View attachment 3419333

What I am not impressed with, is the price fo diesel. I only filled half the tank. This is going to make the next overlanding trip so much more expensive. We're debating between the Great Smoky Mountains and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. View attachment 3419335

I will say though, I do like how the lights look on Big Red.View attachment 3419337

Light output looks great!

 

[The Phoenician]

Light output looks great!

I'm loving it so far.

 

[The Phoenician]

Forgot to add this a while ago. Woke up one morning to find Dr Pepper standing on the roof of big red. He's been on the roof of my 40 as well. Not sure why.

 

[The Phoenician]

Been gone for a week and I come back to this.

I'm too tired to care right now and it's way too hot to deal with it. I took sushi roll to get inspected. It passed but it's leaking fuel from the carb and coolant right over the bellhousing.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Leaking horsepower isn't a problem. Just keep the horsepower topped up.

 

[The Phoenician]

Leaking horsepower isn't a problem. Just keep the horsepower topped up.

Hp is roughly $4/gallon these days. We need to liberate another country so I can afford it.

 

[The Phoenician]

While looking for ideas on specialty plates for my son's mini truck, I fat fingered ih8mud.

I'm halfway tempted to get this just to get the rejection letter and add it to my rejected plates.

 

[The Phoenician]

Had a milestone for the tacoma when headed to up from San Antonio, the city of its birth.

Had a good time watching GNR and Alice in Chains.

It wasn't their best show, but still the best band to watch live.

Now I'm driving towards the Great Smoky Mountains fully loaded. It's getting 16.98 mpg at highway speed.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Where's the grill?

Jason
TT

 

[The Phoenician]

Where's the grill?

Jason
TT

Ha, left it home this trip. It's on my 40. If it makes you feel any better, I forgot my pistols and half my tools too.

Alright Mudders need your help since I have half a bar of signal.

I'm in the middle of nowhere Arkansas and the bolts holding the fan broke, sending the fan into the electrical fans and shredding the belt.

Luckily this all happened a mile from a place I can camp for the night. I need to know the thread pitch of those bolts so I can find a way to order new ones. Any help you guys have would be greatly appreciated. Tomorrow is gonna suck as I have an 8 hour drive. It's way too hot to work on it this evening.

The bolts are for a 4bt not a 3fe

 

[The Phoenician]

Broke bolts and fans in the middle of nowhere Arkansas. Had to cannibalize bolts from other parts of the rig to drive 20 miles to the nearest auto parts store. While I was in the middle of working on it in the heat some meth head showed up and decided she wants to let me in on a little secret about the government wanting to control us. She was not to pleased when I told her it's true. I work for the government and all we talk about is controlling the population.

Anyway, this delayed us by half a day. Got the missus to do most of the work since my hand no longer works right. She was awesome. Didn't complain once about messing up her anniversary camping trip and insisting on taking big red instead of the tacoma.

Too tired to do a real write up, but the long and short is big red now has 3 electric fans

 

[The Phoenician]

Forgot this one.

 

[The Phoenician]

What's wrong with this picture?

 

[BrickRunner]

What's wrong with this picture?View attachment 3446803

 

[The Phoenician]

View attachment 3446832

Yup drove it about 250 miles like that towing a trailer mostly uphill. Going to need to fix it in the morning or I'm dead in the water.