Now I Get To Start Over! Remodeling our 1976 Alfa Travel Trailer

[OldEdBrady]

I haven't managed to do anything with the trailer in the last week.  SWMBO has been under the weather (a LOT under the weather), and everything else is on hold until further notice.

[OldEdBrady]

SWMBO is still not over her illness, and may not be for a month or more.  BUT...

Tomorrow, one of my sons-in-law is going to help me remove the rear stabilizer from the Alfa.  It was damaged, and cannot be repaired.  So, he's going to cut it out, and then I can figure out something permanent to replace it.

[OldEdBrady]

Friday my son-in-law (Class C King) cut off the old rear stablizer jacks.  They were destroyed by the PO--I suppose by backing over something.

Yesterday, I got new jacks and tried to mount them.  Followed directions exactly as printed.  What a loss.  The bolts break off.  They simply will not go through the steel with the size hole called for, and the next size up is too big.  They push right through.

So, I guess I'll have to have them welded on.   

It's always something.

[ClassCKing]

alrighty ed we can do that...that will be easier than taken them off...ill come down and look at it and hopefully we can get the bolts to work and weld it to......I will bring my purswaiders(not even close huh) and well get ya hooked up ...we may need that six foot pipe again :)rotflmao

[OldEdBrady]

With the bolts snapping off before they're fully set, the "persuader" won't do any good.  Only welding will hold them now.

[OldEdBrady]

I decided that since we have to weld the rear stabilizers on, I'd just go ahead and put some nearer the front, too.  So, I picked up a pair today, and put them up to the frame.  So, now it's 4 stabilizers that need to be welded.

And, I didn't put them too far forward.  I put the one on the right (passenger) side just in front of the steps, and the other on the other side in the same spot (uyes; I measured it).

And, I'm wiring in a controller for the small solar panel I have for the batteries.  It's mostly done, and easy to do, but it got too late to finish.  I only have one wire to connect, and then run the wire where it won't geet caught in other things or drag on the ground.  I just didn't want the little panel to overcharge the batteries.

[OldEdBrady]

With retirement eminent (less then 40 days), I'll have more time to devote to getting Ten Ton Tillie into shape.

[OldEdBrady]

All 4 stabilizer jacks are welded on, and I'm TOTALLY worn out!  All of that half-baked supervising--while the son-in-law did the work--wore me completely down.

There's a lot to dok, and I haven't decided what to work on next.  Of course, that depends on what it is, and how much help I may need.  (The son-in-law is now planning a l-o-n-g trip out of state after reading this.)   

[ClassCKing]

only if your driving....  :)rotflmao

[OldEdBrady]

I was gonna hook up the AAlfa tomorrw and hjaul her off to a local campground.  Just to get SWMBO out of the house for a while.  No dice.  She has some kinda thing going on in Salt Lake City tomorrow evening, so I guess I'll just putter around some more and see what more damage I can do.

[OldEdBrady]

SWMBO has been complaining off and on that I take up too much space with "stuff."  So, I built a shelf in the trailer today.  It's about 5 1/2 feet long, and it's for my few DVDs.  Turns out, I have more than I thought.  The shelf is full, and there's no room for even a single one more.  Maybe she was right for once.?   

Anyway, I put it in the bedroom area, high enough that no one is going to hit his/her head on it (and that includes me) unless he/she is totally clueless.

[OldEdBrady]

Today I did a little electrical work in the Alfa.  Mighty little, as evidence4d by the fact I only blew one fuse.

And, I did a bit of wor4k on the vents.  Insude stuff, of course, since it's been raining all day long.

OI had two vents I was making some changes to.  I'd purchased a garnish, and found it was too big (top to bottom).  But, I decided to use it temporarily.

I had also pulled the garnish from where I had been doing the electrical stuff.  So, that had to be put back togetrher , too.

Somewhere along the way, I gtot the two garnishes mixed up.  As a result, BOTH fit perfectly.

Amazing how my screwups work out!   i??

[OldEdBrady]

Didn't get to take the aAlfa out.   

So, instead, I started doing some minor insude painting.  (Bad weather, ya know; can't do much outside.)

I painted the kitchen area celiing (white) and the bathroom ceiling (white), and HOPE to paint the "living" area tomorrow (gold--metallic gold).

Other than that, it was our start of the third year with Ty, so we spent a lot of the day just doing things with/for her.

[OldEdBrady]

The metallic gold was a total bust.  So I ended up going with something lighter.  a LOT lighter.  Now it's kinda a lime green.  Sounds horrible, but turned out not to be.

Now the paintintg is done.  Inside.  If the weather will just hold off long enough for me to finally retire (less than 25 days), then I can get to some of that outside stuff that is essential.

[OldEdBrady]

Last week's camping was a bust.  So, By golly, I'm here now!  Normally, we would havecome on Saturday, stated overnight, and then go home.  But I decided we would just come tonight, spend all day tomorrow and then go home on Sunday.

And, one of the leveling jacks has to be re-welded.  It came right off.  The other 3 are fine.

[OldEdBrady]

I've started on the furnace.  How far will I get before I screw something up?  Not very far, I'm sure.

[OldEdBrady]

Obviously, I have a long way to go with getting the furnace in.  So far, I only have 15 cuts on my hands.  One of them particularly nasty.

I think I'm required to have 50 cuts to be able to say the job is done.   W%

[ClassCKing]

now ed you know the rules...Your not done till you lost  atleast one tool (the one you need)..bump your head a least three times (in the same spot)..And you have someone who knows nothin about what your doing tells you what to do...and after you run out of beer..then your done :)rotflmao

[OldEdBrady]

Fortunately, I don't have to cut new holes.  However, the one on the outside will give me fits, since the old one was that side-by-side thing and now I have to go over and under.

As for the ductwork inside, I really only have to make one minor change, plus replace the hoses themselves.  The old setup ran one hose from the furnace to the bedroom area through a junction box and from there to the bathroom.  With this furnace, the instructions say there MUST be at least 3 outlets working, so I'll just plug the junction on the bathroom end and run a separate hose from the furnace to that area.

The front register is just fine where it is, and I'll just replace the hose there.

[OldEdBrady]

I spent most of the day fooling with the furnace.  First I cut up a 2x4 into 3 pieces to set the furnace on.  Still not high enough, but close.  So, I got some of the scrap left over from the bedroom re-do and cut that up.  Just about perfect!  So I fastened the entire thing to the floor.
Next, ductwork.  Now I have a problem.  That line that ran from the furnace to the bedroom and then to the bathroom is in a TIGHT spot.  I tried to enlarge it, but I can't too much, since some major wall supports get in the way.  I stiall haven't figured that one out.

I thought I'd be ready to hook up and test this p.m.  That's what I get for trying to do my own thinking.

I even went to my supplier and bought a flaring tool for the gas line.

Well, at least I have it when (and if) I ever get the thing ready to give the smoke test.

The only thing that actually worked today, first time, was when the son-in-law came over and re-welded the one jack back on.  He had a difficult time doing it, and wondered why.  I told him it was only because the other 3 went on first time, no problem.

[OldEdBrady]

Second try to post this.

I finally got the furnace in today.  I'm not finished, but it's where it's going, and that's that.

On the ductwork, I tried that semi-flexible aluminum stuff.  Worked fine for the living area.  After that, it was a total fiasco.

So, I went to the flexible aluminized dryer hoses.  Worked just fine.

The gas line gave me fits.  Never used a flaring tool before, and I had many "experiments."  Finally figured it out, and got that done.  But I was worried with all the cutting I had to do to take out my mistakes that I'd run out of line and have to replace that whole thing, too.

But it finally worked.  Then, put the furnace in place, tighten everything, check outside to make certain those vents were clear, fasten the furnace down, and give it the smoke test.

I must have done it wrong.  No gas leaks.  Nothing like that.  But I have to listen AWFULLY hard to hear it lrunning.  With the old one, everyone within 300 feet knew when it was running.

But, that's done.  Now it's just a matter of figuring out how I'm gonna cover that huge hole in the side of thetrailer.  And I have an idea or two anbout that.

[OldEdBrady]

The outside hole is covered.  It looks as if I did it, but it's covered.

The thing had some sheet metal over it.  And two holes with that side-by-side configuration.  Needed the over and under thing.  So, I took the old plate off, measured.  Measured again.  still wasn't certain, but started cutting anyway.

I used a Dremel-style thing to cut holes in the plate.  Wore out six cutting disks just doing that.  Ran out of disks.

So, I pulled the hacksaw blade out of the holder, and cut the rest by hand.  Aurthur (Itus) is with me tonight).

then fastened the old plate in place.  Looks terrible, but the hole is covered.  If I can ever figure out a way to put something decent in, I'll be first in line.

And it fit!  First time!  Once again, I must have done something wrong, since there's NO WAY I can do it right the first time.

[OldEdBrady]

Nothing major. The TV we had in there was sitting on a small table.  When we traveled, I had to take it into the bedroom and lay it on one of the beds to prevent damage.

When we were using it, the table was pretty low, and Ty had to sit on the floor.  And it was not always possible for even that to work, since the TV was low enough that her just moving around would cause compalints about blocking it.

So, I mounted the thing on the wall at the side of the fridge.  Works fine there.

Then there was the deal with video connections.  When using the antenna on the Alfa, I ran a line from the bedroom ceiling to the TV.  Then we kept ducking it, or i would find some way to hold it up out of the way. 

If using cable, then I had to disconnect the antenna, and connect to the outside connection.

So, I put in an A-B switch.  Ran the outside connection to one side and the antenna to the other.  Ran the line from the antenna connection and fastened it down as I went.

So, now, none of that changing everything depending upon what system we are using.

And, the all mount for the TV is one of those that allows swinging side-to-side, and a tilt ability.  Makes it much easier to use now, and Ty can actually sit in a chair!  No blockage any more unless one of us stands in front of it.

[OldEdBrady]

After two or three days playing Mom, Dad, Confessor, Chauffeur, etc., I took labbie's advie and went out 6to the trailer to check that "problem" with the TV.  DVD worked fine.  Off-air worked fine.  Only took me four or five hours to confirm it, too.   

[OldEdBrady]

With the frozen rain, cold wind, etc., I couldn't do too much today.  So I spent the day building a small shelf.  It'll be for more of my DVDs.  The board I bought was wider than the last one, so I had to shorten the width, as well as the length.  And stain it.  And put it together. 

All in all, just puttering.  But, at the same time, adding to things.

Of course, the Old Woman says I already have too many shelves.  But when you've got hundreds of DVDs, you have to put them somewhere, don't you?