Restoring the H3

 It has almost been eight months since the H3 was last on the road.  Also the last off road trip I went on was over two years ago.  I'm in the process of changing all that now though.  First and foremost is getting the H3 back in optimal working order.  So back at Christmas 2022 I was driving just a few miles from the house, when I got there I noticed a lot of oil dripping down from the passenger side under the hood.  I topped of the oil and drove home.  Didn't lose any oil that time.  Being bummed about the whole situation and thinking something catastrophic had happened it sat for some time.  But about three months ago I started diving into it a realizing it was not that bad.  It appears that the drain line on my oil catch can melted and that is where all the oil came from.  Soooo, now for the restoration aspect of it all this.  When I went to replace the valve cover gasket that was leaking I found other things that were completely worn out like my water pump and serpentine belt idler.  So I replaced those things but I also changed the fan clutch and the belt along with the tensioner.   And since I was doing the water pump and fan clutch I decided to also do the upper and lower coolant hoses and put some nice Mishimoto clamps on.  Not sure why but I decided to look at the exhaust manifold about a month ago and found that it was cracked and one of the bolts had broken off.  Seeing as how the cheapest manifold on rockauto.com was $300 and I could get a really nice USA made header from Sanderson headers in California for $520, I got the header.  That thing looks so good on the engine too.  This weekend I replaced all the fluids with Royal Purple and re sealed the rear differential cover.  I do have big plans for the H3.  First I want to get it featured with my favorite gear company Blue Ridge Overland Gear out of Bedford, VA.  After that not to sure but I want people to see how neat of a vehicle they are.