Seems I lost track of time working on 'A' rewired most of the dash , turn signals , got the existing cd player to work and wired in new speakers . Installed 1400 watt inverter and relocated the house battery inside under the settee seat and have decided to replace old batt with new AGM for safety sake , relocated 12 volt outlets for the small appliances and have a place to build a small desk for either laptop or keyboard on the PC I already have .
Turned My attention to storage problems one afternoon and decided to use velcro on cabinet doors and closet and made loop and hook style velcro for wall storage , then made cargo net barrier for over the cab .
Next will approach the engine and rebuild the old 2 barrel carb and see if exhaust needs anything while I have engine hatch open , most everything else works as well as can be expected for a 30 year old RV
I found a great salvage yard down by High Springs and the owner is giving me a good deal on parts to improve "A" will have some extra water , maybe even an aux. fuel tank !
Beat up as I am it feels really good to be able to do something even if it's just simple stuff , laying around trying to heal up for a year sucks , not much fun to be treated like a cripple either .
Tomorrow I may start on the curtains which should prove interesting as I know as much about sewing as I do about landing the space shuttle !
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Smokestack Lightnin !
What a day ! Thunder so hard it was shaking the house ! My sisters cats were freaking out and horrors of horrors cable went out ! Which meant no internet ! Dammit ! Way too nasty to try and work outside so I hit the books on wiring up "A" for solar and maybe figure a way to do some wind energy too .
Sundays are great news days , the politicians tend to shut up , the press is way to lazy to actually go out and actively find news , the newspapers , bless their larcenous little hearts concentrate on those annoying filler ads that slide everywhere and make a damn mess.Thankfully I have a couple of real books to read and the power is still on for now , But as my old friend Mickey used to say "a man has to believe in something , I believe I'll take a nap . "
Till tomorrow :
Sundays are great news days , the politicians tend to shut up , the press is way to lazy to actually go out and actively find news , the newspapers , bless their larcenous little hearts concentrate on those annoying filler ads that slide everywhere and make a damn mess.Thankfully I have a couple of real books to read and the power is still on for now , But as my old friend Mickey used to say "a man has to believe in something , I believe I'll take a nap . "
Till tomorrow :
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Azad the RV
Dazed and confused Azad found his way home .The journey from Gainesville Fl. to Lake City Fl. is only about fifty miles and "A" performed like a champ ! For as old as He is the old guy trucked along and seemed to have plenty of spirit and all systems were a go except for the turn signals . I brought the old fella to the side yard at my sisters and we are ready to begin all the little projects and modifications I've been planning for the last few months.
First step is to learn all I can about the existing systems and all the little gremlins lurking in A's thirty year old body . Already I've answered numerous questions concerning the lunacy of buying something so old ! My reasoning is , So am I ! I understand the technology in A's innards , nice and simple , basic wiring and electric equipment .All the semi hi- tech stuff I plan to add is also the same plan , Uncomplicated and easy to maintain . The main plan is for house batteries as big as I can afford {hopefully glass mats }a solar charger to keep them at a level to run a few of my tools like a laptop , coffee pot , etc . After some research I was surprised at the availability of appliances for 12 volt systems .
Today was dedicated to tracing wiring and checking fuses , also pulled the old radio out of the dash to see if I wanted to keep it or not , School's still out on that decision , I did find most everything is safe and no major problems , rerouted a couple of wires and added some padding to a some sharp bends just for safety . Found a good place for water storage under the sink area that will be easy access for maintenance and installation .Tomorrow if the weather permits (thunderstorms today ) the plan is to delve into the propane system to see it's condition and decide if I need to upgrade or replace anything.
First step is to learn all I can about the existing systems and all the little gremlins lurking in A's thirty year old body . Already I've answered numerous questions concerning the lunacy of buying something so old ! My reasoning is , So am I ! I understand the technology in A's innards , nice and simple , basic wiring and electric equipment .All the semi hi- tech stuff I plan to add is also the same plan , Uncomplicated and easy to maintain . The main plan is for house batteries as big as I can afford {hopefully glass mats }a solar charger to keep them at a level to run a few of my tools like a laptop , coffee pot , etc . After some research I was surprised at the availability of appliances for 12 volt systems .
Today was dedicated to tracing wiring and checking fuses , also pulled the old radio out of the dash to see if I wanted to keep it or not , School's still out on that decision , I did find most everything is safe and no major problems , rerouted a couple of wires and added some padding to a some sharp bends just for safety . Found a good place for water storage under the sink area that will be easy access for maintenance and installation .Tomorrow if the weather permits (thunderstorms today ) the plan is to delve into the propane system to see it's condition and decide if I need to upgrade or replace anything.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
April 1 2008 The beginning
The reason for the journey , is sometimes lost in the preparation , but I finally hit the ground running and here I am . Proud owner of a thirty year old rv , a minimal bank account and a burning desire to hit the bricks and just go somewhere to see America.
As I screech to a halt and take stock of the situation , time to list and organise my wants and needs : they don't balance out any better than my check book . Let's try Again ;
Wants : I want to leave Now.
I want to take all my comforts .
I want to stay gone forever
I want to travel 300 to 400 miles a day .
I want to make the Azad totally green withs solar and wind turbines
I want all LED lighting inside.
I want a big refrigerator /freezer
I want a complete set of tools to take care of Azad
That's the short list , now reality sets in and here's what I need and have;
{1} I can't leave immediatly due to a number of commitments ( Dr. bills to pay , social security appointments , fix up Azad , organize and plan better)
Solution : STOP : Set target date for departure ; early j June to Middle of July . This leaves two months to get squared away and look for the Gremlins that will trip Me somewhere near Left Overshoe , Texas with nothing for company but cotton fields and sage brush .I don't have a job nor appointments once I leave.
{2}I can' take all my comforts , Solution Here's the short list of what I actually have space for ; food water/coffee etc. , utensils for cooking . Formerly I was a Chef and grew up on a farm making do with what we had , plus have a large collection of stuff so no need to buy a bunch of stuff, sort through it get the essntials sell/ give the rest away. Need clothes , again sort through and divest myself of excess , laptop/ dual purpose doubles as entertainment center , emergency cell phone . Personal crap like medicines ,soap towels etc.
{3}Possible to stay gone , but not practical . Solution aim for Two to Three months on first attempt . After multiple motorcycle trips I found you have to go somewhere just to regroup and get all the legal and physical kinks worked out. Pus I'm taking a lot more cargo with Azad than I did with the bike.
{4} 300 to 400 ! What for?
{5&6}Totally Green ! Good Idea , how do I pay for it? Baby steps solar battery charger first with one good house battery , get a couple of LED lights maybe Portables and some rechargable batteries .
{7}I don't need a big refrigerator freezer, they are too expensive and I don't require that much storage . Azad already has a small one and I have several Ice chest and Thermos bottles from my last business , I have to get used to living in smaller quarters just as I did when I lived on a boat.
{8} Tools , get the basics and multi function . Much as I would like to be able to rebuild everything , I'm too beat up to do the heavy stuff and chances are if the repair required is that catastrophic I couldn't pack enough tools anyway.
As I screech to a halt and take stock of the situation , time to list and organise my wants and needs : they don't balance out any better than my check book . Let's try Again ;
Wants : I want to leave Now.
I want to take all my comforts .
I want to stay gone forever
I want to travel 300 to 400 miles a day .
I want to make the Azad totally green withs solar and wind turbines
I want all LED lighting inside.
I want a big refrigerator /freezer
I want a complete set of tools to take care of Azad
That's the short list , now reality sets in and here's what I need and have;
{1} I can't leave immediatly due to a number of commitments ( Dr. bills to pay , social security appointments , fix up Azad , organize and plan better)
Solution : STOP : Set target date for departure ; early j June to Middle of July . This leaves two months to get squared away and look for the Gremlins that will trip Me somewhere near Left Overshoe , Texas with nothing for company but cotton fields and sage brush .I don't have a job nor appointments once I leave.
{2}I can' take all my comforts , Solution Here's the short list of what I actually have space for ; food water/coffee etc. , utensils for cooking . Formerly I was a Chef and grew up on a farm making do with what we had , plus have a large collection of stuff so no need to buy a bunch of stuff, sort through it get the essntials sell/ give the rest away. Need clothes , again sort through and divest myself of excess , laptop/ dual purpose doubles as entertainment center , emergency cell phone . Personal crap like medicines ,soap towels etc.
{3}Possible to stay gone , but not practical . Solution aim for Two to Three months on first attempt . After multiple motorcycle trips I found you have to go somewhere just to regroup and get all the legal and physical kinks worked out. Pus I'm taking a lot more cargo with Azad than I did with the bike.
{4} 300 to 400 ! What for?
{5&6}Totally Green ! Good Idea , how do I pay for it? Baby steps solar battery charger first with one good house battery , get a couple of LED lights maybe Portables and some rechargable batteries .
{7}I don't need a big refrigerator freezer, they are too expensive and I don't require that much storage . Azad already has a small one and I have several Ice chest and Thermos bottles from my last business , I have to get used to living in smaller quarters just as I did when I lived on a boat.
{8} Tools , get the basics and multi function . Much as I would like to be able to rebuild everything , I'm too beat up to do the heavy stuff and chances are if the repair required is that catastrophic I couldn't pack enough tools anyway.
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