RVing
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mike
Re: RVing
Thanks for asking. The roof repairs are done and I'm working on other things. I replaced a captain's chair with an additional sofa, fastened it to the floor and added seat belts to any seats in the rig that didn't have any. So we have enough seating for our family now.MaxPC wrote:Wondering how Mike is doing on getting rig-ready for his big trip? It's been two months since we heard and was interested in your progress.
I spent most of today working on the water system. I don't believe the water pump is working. We're taking a weekend trip with it soon for a family wedding, and we will have a water hookup at a friend's house, so I can work on the pump later. So I put water into the city port with a garden hose to try out the system. Since the unit has not been used for quite a few years, a lot of seals are dried out. The kitchen faucet sprayed water everywhere when I first tried it. No water would come from the shower head, but water blasted around inside the wall and ran out underneath the motorhome. It turns out a plastic fitting was cracked and another completely broken off. More water seals in the wet bay were bad and spraying water. I have everything fixed except the shower head, and should be getting a part tonight yet to fix it. I'm enjoying the challenge of getting everything in order.
Since it was an out of state salvage unit, I had to apply for a salvage cert for my state, which came this week. I have the enhanced inspection scheduled for Monday, after which, if it passes, I will be able to get it R-titled and on the road legally on the same day.
A few more projects I need to do are replace the caulk along the roof cap on the one side which I haven't done yet, and figure out what to do with a double-pane window that has moisture in it. It's on the front passenger side, so it is really unhandy to not be able to see out of it. I'm also testing the refrigerator, and once it's on the road I can go get the propane filled and test the gas appliances.
It's quite an adventure buying an RV with absolutely no knowledge of whether anything on it actually works.
The biggest downside of the unit at this point is the delamination along the sides of the motorhome likely caused by water seeping into the walls, separating the fiberglass from the wood it was glued to. You can see it in the picture below. There's nothing really to do about it, it just looks bad and will hurt the resale value when I go to sell it. It's in decent shape for its age otherwise.
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temporal1
Re: RVing
This reminds of The Swiss Family Robinson. 
”The Swiss Family Robinson”
“This article is about the original novel. For later adaptations ..
The Swiss Family Robinson (German: Der Schweizerische Robinson) is a novel by Johann David Wyss,
first published in 1812, about a Swiss family shipwrecked in the East Indies en route to Port Jackson, Australia.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Swiss_Family_Robinson
“Our first care was to kneel down and thank God, to whom we owed our lives.“
Frontispiece from the 1851 American edition by John Gilbert
A side note about the Robinsonade literary genre:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinsonade
“Robinsonade (/ˌrɒbɪnsəˈneɪd/) is a literary genre that takes its name from the 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. The success of this novel spawned so many imitations that its name was used to define a genre, which is sometimes described simply as a "desert island story"[1] or a "castaway narrative".[2]
The word "robinsonade" was coined by the German writer Johann Gottfried Schnabel in the Preface of his 1731 work Die Insel Felsenburg (The Island Stronghold).[3] It is often viewed as a subgenre of survivalist fiction.” ..
”The Swiss Family Robinson”
“This article is about the original novel. For later adaptations ..
The Swiss Family Robinson (German: Der Schweizerische Robinson) is a novel by Johann David Wyss,
first published in 1812, about a Swiss family shipwrecked in the East Indies en route to Port Jackson, Australia.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Swiss_Family_Robinson
“Our first care was to kneel down and thank God, to whom we owed our lives.“
Frontispiece from the 1851 American edition by John Gilbert
A side note about the Robinsonade literary genre:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinsonade
“Robinsonade (/ˌrɒbɪnsəˈneɪd/) is a literary genre that takes its name from the 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. The success of this novel spawned so many imitations that its name was used to define a genre, which is sometimes described simply as a "desert island story"[1] or a "castaway narrative".[2]
The word "robinsonade" was coined by the German writer Johann Gottfried Schnabel in the Preface of his 1731 work Die Insel Felsenburg (The Island Stronghold).[3] It is often viewed as a subgenre of survivalist fiction.” ..
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temporal1
Re: RVing
mike wrote:temporal1 wrote:shipwreckedtemporal1 wrote:survivalist fiction
from my perspective, you are surviving rebuilding of your ship, what you are doing in enjoyment, would seem impossible to me! their journey begins in a storm, yours began with a “shipwreck.”
i really appreciate how they began with thanks to God. gratitude. and faith to go forward.
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MaxPC
Re: RVing
It sounds like you've made a lot of progress. Great work! Good idea about the sofa too.mike wrote:
Thanks for asking. The roof repairs are done and I'm working on other things. I replaced a captain's chair with an additional sofa, fastened it to the floor and added seat belts to any seats in the rig that didn't have any. So we have enough seating for our family now.
I spent most of today working on the water system. I don't believe the water pump is working. We're taking a weekend trip with it soon for a family wedding, and we will have a water hookup at a friend's house, so I can work on the pump later. So I put water into the city port with a garden hose to try out the system. Since the unit has not been used for quite a few years, a lot of seals are dried out. The kitchen faucet sprayed water everywhere when I first tried it. No water would come from the shower head, but water blasted around inside the wall and ran out underneath the motorhome. It turns out a plastic fitting was cracked and another completely broken off. More water seals in the wet bay were bad and spraying water. I have everything fixed except the shower head, and should be getting a part tonight yet to fix it. I'm enjoying the challenge of getting everything in order.
Since it was an out of state salvage unit, I had to apply for a salvage cert for my state, which came this week. I have the enhanced inspection scheduled for Monday, after which, if it passes, I will be able to get it R-titled and on the road legally on the same day.
A few more projects I need to do are replace the caulk along the roof cap on the one side which I haven't done yet, and figure out what to do with a double-pane window that has moisture in it. It's on the front passenger side, so it is really unhandy to not be able to see out of it. I'm also testing the refrigerator, and once it's on the road I can go get the propane filled and test the gas appliances.
It's quite an adventure buying an RV with absolutely no knowledge of whether anything on it actually works.
The biggest downside of the unit at this point is the delamination along the sides of the motorhome likely caused by water seeping into the walls, separating the fiberglass from the wood it was glued to. You can see it in the picture below. There's nothing really to do about it, it just looks bad and will hurt the resale value when I go to sell it. It's in decent shape for its age otherwise.
I had to replace seals in the bathroom faucet when we bought ours. Instead of replacing the seals in the kitchen faucet I bought a new one because my wife wanted a tall one with a gooseneck to fit her pitchers and big pots under. With a great deal of contortionist maneuvers I was able to get it connected underneath within that tiny cabinet. It made me wonder if plumbers do yoga to be able to reach such spots.
Delam is tough. It takes a lot of grit and determination to do it right but it can be done. I'm not talented enough to do it but here's a youtube video showing one method.
Repairing a delaminated RV wall and bubbled Fiberglass
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MaxPC
Re: RVing
Neto, this is the first time I've heard of these. Interesting concept but I would hazard a couple of guesses as to why they didn't catch on.
1. No bed.
2. The Beetle's engine would struggle to carry all that extra weight from the camper itself.
My wife thinks it's cute though.
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mike