New York, 2012

[johnnytugs1]

Kevin, what part of n.y. are you in and what size tires do you use? I'm going to margretville near belaire mtn next tuesday, if your not far and my friend has any decent tires in your size i'll grab them and drop them off. He always has good tires laying around. he buys vehicles and scraps them and has to take off the tires or take 40. less on the scrap price. I've been at sea for the last 12 days so i'm not sure what he has.
I love your stories!
JT

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Hey JT, we are over here in Tuxedo, NY, off of 17 A.  The tires are 19.5s, pretty standard on the Chevy P30 chassis. 

I got all the ceiling taken out yesterday of the site fifth wheel...and what a nasty job!  Aside from the wet wood and mold and wet fiberglass insulation, when I took down one panel, about a million black carpenter ants fell out and rained down all over me!  I didn't get bit, but they were crawling all over me and sent me running out of the RV, smacking at myself, and screaming like a little girl... :)rotflmao   Glad no one was around!

So after getting the ceiling out, it is obvious that the roof is still leaking in spots, so today's project is to seal the heck out of that roof, and get my platform for my show tent rebuilt...then tomorrow I'll install the new ceiling, and hopefully have time to set up my tent while I'm at it, and then finish setting up my workshop.

After my morning coffee and PT routine I'll get to work...and then sometime this afternoon I'll install the new ignitor board on our water heater...its going to be nice to have hot water again!

Kev

[Stripe]

I see you were a Submariner.  You serve aboard nukes?  I was on Carriers my first 17 years in service.  Didn't always have hot water, so kinda got used to taking cold showers.. 

CMM500

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Yep CMM500...I'm a Bubblehead.  Served on nuke 688s and 688is.  Started as a QM, then someone in Washington thought is was a good idea to combine our rates with the ICs and call us ETs.  Mostly out of Groton, CT, although the last few years was out of Norfolk.

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Got a lot done yesterday!  After my morning PT and whatnot, I checked the office mail for my Dinosaur Electronics circuit board cover...and was informed the mail doesn't arrive until after 4PM...grrrrr...ah well, I had lots of other stuff to do!

I spent several hours working on the faire-owned fifth wheel roof.  I had to use what they provided to seal the seams and fix the leak around the air conditioner...so 5 gallons of this nasty fibrous black tar roof cement later, all the seams were sealed, all the vents were sealed, and I'm pretty sure the air conditioner won't leak around its seal anymore either...although I'll find out this morning, since it rained like a son of a gun last night!  The faire had already "fixed" the roof of this thing by laying new plywood down over the existing roof, nailed it down, and covered it in tar paper, but it was still leaking.  Thus the reason I sealed all the seams of the tar paper, around the vents, etc.  I also had to bend back down the ladder feet and attach them to the roof with screws, then seal around those too.  The air conditioner was the tricky part, since the foam seal was LONG gone.  I ended up gooping all under the AC unit with the tar stuff, then tightened down the bolts, then smoothing out the tar on the inside.  On the outside, I made sure the drain holes were clear, then built a dam with more tar stuff to keep the huge puddle that forms around the AC...even with the new plywood the roof droops at the AC, so the puddle has a chance of overflowing the AC pan and leaking into the RV...from overflowing the pan, and made the dam in such a way that the water would flow off the side of the roof instead when the puddle got too big.  It SHOULD work, but like I said, I'll know this morning when I go check it out!

I then left my squirrel cage fan aimed at the inside ceiling around the AC running all night to dry it out...hopefully the leak is fixed now!

Once that was all done and I cleaned up from all the tar...had to use Goof Off to get it off my skin and tools...my regular hand cleaner Goop wouldn't work!...I borrowed a couple of crowbars from my buddy Matt and went to my site platform that someone had run over, and pryed up the damaged OSB boards and brought them to the dumpster, after removing all the nails from the framing. 

By then it was past 4pm, so I went to the office and my water heater circuit board cover was in!  I installed it and the new circuit board, and it fired right up....SWEET!  We have hot water again!

So today's projects include taking a trip down to Home Depot for 3 sheets of 3/4 OSB, or whatever thick plywood they have that is on sale and cheapest, picnic table type paint and roller and tray, and then bringing it back and nailing it all back down on our tent platform with a framing nailer...and then painting it all with a nice thick layer of the paint.  That paint dries pretty quick, so I'll be able to set up our pavilion tomorrow.  I'll also have to make a new corner piece for the platform and get that painted too today, since someone ran that over as well.

Then, if the faire got the materials on my list, I'll start reinstalling the new ceiling and insulation in the fifth wheel.  My friend Matt said I can use his awesome Festool saw and guide rail to cut the luan they want me to use for the ceiling, which is going to make the job way easier...that saw is amazing!  Then its all going to get stapled up with my air stapler, and if they got the materials for me, I should be able to finish the job in one day, since they don't even want it painted.  Hopefully the roof leaks are all gone!  If not, I'll have to get it to stop leaking first.

If the materials aren't here yet, or won't be until late afternoon which is likely, then I'll just set up my workshop instead today, and finish the trailer job tomorrow.  I've really got to tie up all my projects by Thursday or Friday so I can get some more catapults built by opening day.

So yep...gonna be busy!  Gotta get started after my morning coffee...first thing to do is go get my fan from the trailer so I can work out...which will also tell me if the ceiling leak is fixed...then have breakfast and a shower...then off to Home Depot.  Patti will probably want to come along too, so she can do some grocery shopping.

Down to 218 lbs so far...woohoo!

Kev

[RedneckExpress]

Kevin, the problematicness of the circuit boards was one of the reasons I went with a pilot light model waterheater when i replaced my tired old unit.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Yep Redneck, can't beat the reliability of the pilot light models.  That said, the original circuit board on this thing lasted 23 years...and the new Dino board has a 3 year warranty, which is outstanding for a circuit board.  Plus, Dinosaur Electronics addressed the problem that fried the original circuit board after 23 years...they added a spade fuse to the board...lol!  So we'll keep it a while longer...sure is convenient to just push a switch inside the rig and let it fire up!

So, much was accomplished yesterday.  After my morning routine I went down and checked on the fifth wheel I'm working on...no leaks!!!    And it rained a LOT the night before.  So that project is moving right along.  They didn't get the materials all in until late afternoon, so I worked on some other stuff instead.

I went down to Home Depot and bought 3 sheets of 3/4 thick OSB and some paint and a roller tray and whatnot, then dropped that stuff off where our tent platform is located at the faire...I had already pulled up the damaged plywood the day before and brought it to the dumpster...then went back to my workshop and grabbed the compressor and nail gun.  A couple of hours later, the deck is as good as new and painted.  Then I went back to my workshop and did some more set-up.

By now it was almost 4pm, so Patti and I went up to West Milford, NJ and did some grocery shopping at the Shop Rite grocery store, the best and cheapest place to get groceries around here.

Today's projects, after my morning coffee and PT and whatnot, is to go set up our pavilion tent on the platform, set up the tables and table covers, and turn the rest of setting up the tent over to Patti.  Then I get to go back to work on the fifth wheel.  I should be able to get all the luan cut and fitted in today...then take it all out and paint it with whatever color paint the faire has on hand.  Then tomorrow it will be a simple task to staple it all up with my air stapler, hook all the interior lights back up, hook up the air conditioner shroud, and be able to call that project DONE! 

That will then leave me a whole week to get the catapults built that I need to build for opening day.

Its all coming together!

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

The pavilion tent is up, the tables are set up, and I did an inventory of my stock...on the one hand, I have way more stock than I thought I did, so I won't have to build nearly as many catapults as I thought...on the other hand, that just shows you how crappy Kentucky was this year...I should have had WAY less stock on hand.  Ah well...that just means I can spend more time on the fifth wheel and do an even better job!

After setting up the tent yesterday, I did all my measurements in the fifth wheel for all the new ceiling panels and kitchen wall, then went down to the site maintenance building and started cutting them out with my friend Matt's Festool saw.  What an amazing saw!  Plunge cuts for the inside AC and vent cutouts, and a finished edge...it didn't even splinter the Luan!  Just a nice clean edge.  Hey, could one expect less from an 800.00 saw?  Speaking of luan, what the heck to they make that stuff out of?  Matt and I both were coughing and sneezing from the sawdust produced...it was like breathing in finely ground pepper...ick!

I quit working on it around 5PM, went back to the fifth wheel and set up my blower fan and a heater to dry out the interior even more, came back to camp and did a garbage run, dumped the black tank into the tote tank, and cleaned up the porch.  And was done for the day.

Exciting news though!  We might be getting a new Jeep!  The General Manager here has a 92 Wrangler, Sahara edition, in very good condition.  With only 63K original miles!  63K is NOTHING on an inline 6 4.0 Jeep motor and drivetrain!  The interior is perfect, the body is perfect, it has the hard top, its a 5 speed, new clutch, new tires, new brakes...and all he wants for it is 1500.00 bucks!  The only 2 things wrong with it is that being a northern car, there is some frame rust...mostly superficial, but 2 places have to be welded right away:  The rear shock mount, which broke off, and the front stabilizer bar mount, which also broke off...both from rust eating away at the steel and the welds.  I had a very close look at it, and there is plenty of steel left on the frame to reweld in the mounts, so it looks like we'll be on the road with a new Jeep for just 1500.00!  Also, his wife is crazy about Jeep Cherokees, so he might even trade it for the Cherokee, or take it towards the Wrangler.  We are both pretty excited!  He said he'd rather sell it to us cheap since he knows we take care of our vehicles and will take good care of his baby, which he bought new back in 92.  He also said he'll try to take care of the welding before making the deal with us.  But if not, I'm not half bad with a mig welder myself, and my buddy Matt, who owns a mig welder, is very good with it.

So exciting news for us!  Even if he doesn't want the Cherokee after all, I should be able to easily sell it for at least 1500.00 up here in the north...4x4s are in high demand up here in the mountainous snow country of New York!

Today I'll be working on the ceiling panels and wall panel some more, and it won't take me long to finish cutting them all out and painting them.  Which will allow the heater and fan another day to dry out the interior of the fifth wheel even more.  So a few more hours of work on the panels...then I'll have to let the paint dry overnight.  Which means I'll have plenty of time later this afternoon to finish setting up my workshop.  Tomorrow I'll install the painted panels and cut everything in, reinstall the lights and AC shroud and trim and whatnot, and lay a bead of white ALEX caulk around all the edges of the new panels to blend it all in and make it look nicer.  Saturday or Sunday...or maybe even both days...Patti and I are going to go visit her son and grandkids again, so I'll have all next week to build 2 trebuchets, 2 ballistas, 20 mousetrap catapistols, and 20 torsion catapistols...a very easy week for me when it comes to building catapults...lol!

Now, its finish the coffee, morning PT, breakfast, then back to work!

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

I finished cutting out all the ceiling panels yesterday for the site owned fifth wheel, and got them painted, so today I get to install them and call that project done.

I also completely set up my workshop, wiring and all, so I can get to work on the not-so-many catapults I have to build for opening day, which I'll get to work on after the weekend.

Had an incident in camp yesterday with Barnabas.  A brand new to the road guy was riding his bicycle while Patti was walking both dogs.  She choked up on their retractable leashes to less than 3 feet because she knew that Barnabas has this weird attraction to bikes after doing so much mountain biking with Daddy.  The guy, instead of keeping a wide berth (which anyone with common sense would do near big dogs he didn't know), came super close to Patti and the dogs, and Barnabas nipped at his calf.  Not an aggressive bite, no growl, no raised hackles...just a sheparding nip...and his tooth broke the skin.  It was a very minor puncture wound.  Patti brought him back to our camp and treated the wound with our very well equiped first aid kit (Patti was an EMT for years).  But this guy was inconsolable.  He was freaking out!  He kept saying we owed him some compensation for his "devastating and inconvenient" injury.  We offered to take him to the emergency room and pay for any out of pocket medical expenses, which he declined...and just kept rambling on and on about how much pain he was in, how broke he was, and how responsible pet owners would never let something like this happen.  Aside from the very minor nature of the wound, and aside from how it wasn't even an act of aggression on the part of Barnabas, how much more responsible does one have to be if their dog is on a 3 foot leash?  He kept saying he heard our dogs were aggressive and would eat him...from whom, I wonder, since everyone knows our big goofy friendly dogs?  I showed him Barnabas's shot records as well, which clearly show that we take good care of our pets, and that his rabies shots are up to date and not due until 2014.  He wanted a copy, so we told him there was a copy in file with the office.  Yep...this guy was using the incident to try to extort us out of money, which isn't going to happen.  Fortunately everyone knows our dogs and knows they aren't aggressive or mean.  We informed the office right away and filled out an incident report...hopefully that will mollify this newbee.  He seems like the type that wants any excuse to sue.

After this upsetting incident, we were then informed that there was a tornado watch...in the mountains of New York!  We watched the storm come in listening to the weather radio.  High winds, heavy rain, and a lightning strike no farther than a hundred yards from our camp...and then it was gone and it was just a thunder storm.

So after my morning coffee, PT, and breakfast, I'll go install the ceiling panels...and of course the lights and AC shroud and trim pieces.  It will take me a few hours to finish everything, but then at least I can call that project done!  I'm also going to use white Alex around the edges to really make it look nice and finished, since I'm not going to frame off the edges with moulding.

Another busy day!  But at least we'll have the weekend off!

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

So all the ceiling panels and new insulation is in in the fifth wheel, and I added some trim boards here and there to clean it up.  We were going to go to Patti's son's house today, but her back is out, so I'll do all the final finish work today...which includes wiring back in the lights and AC, the plastic vent trim, using ALEX around the edges, and possibly adding a few more trim boards...then the project will be called DONE, and we can get on with the catapults.  And our camping and workshop space fees will be paid in full...SWEET!

Matt, who is campground director and a good friend, and the GM of the faire, also a great guy, let the newbie that Barnabas nipped know that they are very familiar with Barnabas and know he's by no means a vicious dog...and hinted to him that in our world we take care of things in house and don't sue each other for minor things if one wants to stay a member of this community...we think he got the hint.

Anyhow, it looks like the buying of the Jeep Wrangler is definitely going to happen, although we are still waiting to hear back if he wants to trade the Cherokee towards it...its up to his wife who loves Jeep Cherokees, but his wife is also the assistant GM here and they are both super busy with getting the faire opened up, which opens next weekend...so she hasn't had a chance to look at the Cherokee yet.

I did find some great deals on the Quadratec website for these really neat frame repair panels...you simply grind off the old shock mount and steering stabilizer mount, and these U-channel type pieces simply slide over the old part of the frame and get welded in, complete with new shock and stabilizer mounts.  35 bucks for the rear shock mount, 120 for the front stabilizer mount.  Very affordable and made in the USA, and my buddy Matt has a welder and knows how to use it.  They also sell just about every possible part for damaged frames with the same relative ease of installation, so while we are working on it we'll make sure there aren't any other questionable areas of the frame that need attention and fix those as well.  Then the whole frame will slowly and meticulously get cleaned and coated with POR-15, which should permanently preserve it, especially since it will never see road salt or snow again.

Always wanted a Jeep Wrangler!  And its the really neat 92 version, Sahara edition...also happens to be the same year as the ones in Jurassic Park...lol!

So after my morning coffee, PT, shower and breakfast, its back to work on the final steps of getting the faire owned fifth wheel back into livable condition!

Kev

[joanfenn]

Sounds like this guy has done this sort of thing before.  It is amazing the energy that some people put into scams and not into finding and keeping a real job.  My experience is that dogs are okay but some people should be muzzled and leashed.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Had a much closer look at the Jeep Wrangler today, and its a good prognosis!  Firstly, the majority of the frame is solid...some surface rust, but nothing glaring or needing immediate attention, although the POR-15 treatment will commence as soon as its mine...a little at a time until its done.  Its the LOWER rear shock mount that is broken on the passenger's side...a very quick and easy fix with a 6 dollar weld-on part...welds right to the rear axle.  And its the sway bar bracket that is broken in the front...right where it meets the leave spring plate.  Its actually integral to the leaf spring plate, and its a 20 dollar bolt on part.  SWEET!  Not sure if I should tell the owner...I really want him to sell it to me, not fix it himself...lol!

The trailer repairs held up well today in the heavy rain, although there was some rain splash through 2 roof vents, but nothing to do with the seal.  The AC is problematic though...it drips, but not because of the roof seal...the puddle gets so deep in the heavy rain that it overruns the pan and drips inside, even with the makeshift shroud I put over it this morning.  I guess we'll have to run a tarp and braces over that part of the roof to keep the puddle from forming, since that is the only fast fix we have time for...gotta start building catapults Monday!

Since they were cleaning and painting in the fifth wheel today, I did the AC shroud and then looked at the Jeep, and that was pretty much it.  Tomorrow I'll run the beads of ALEX, install the lights and hook the AC back up, and do the final finish work...and if its not raining, I'll get a tarp up there to keep the rain from making that puddle.

Okay...time for a relaxing evening.

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

We watched Jurassic Park last night...hey, I wanted to see the 92 Jeep Wranglers...lol!  Then we watched the 3rd one...we still haven't found the 2nd one yet in the 5 dollar bin at Walmart.  Still good movies and good special effects even after all these years.

And I had an idea to fix that pesky roof sag problem which causes the big puddle on the fifth wheel that eventually overspills the AC pan.  Since the thing is never going to move again, I had a crazy idea.  Why not fill the depression in the roof with sand?  It would displace the water before it could overflow the pan on the AC, causing it to drain off the roof first before it could get deep enough.  Its a stupid fix, but its a clean fix for a non moving park model, especially since they need if fixed up quick, and it won't look as bad, at least from the ground, as a tarp...lol!  I think it will work!  Hey, I wasn't the one who put a new roof over the old roof...I would have beefed it up around the AC to prevent the sag in the first place...I'm just fixing their mess-up on a tight time frame and skeleton budget.

So today I'll present that idea to Matt, then do it.  Then get the lights and AC back up and running, maybe do some ALEX, and that is all the time I'll have for that project...which really did come out pretty nice.

First, of course, is my morning coffee, morning PT, breakfast, shower, then off to work!

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Okay...my sand on the roof experiment was an abismal failure... D:oH! The pan of the AC sits too low, so the sand just made it leak even worse...MUCH worse.  Ah well.  I'll make the time today to pull the air conditioner and fix it right...meaning, I'll make a 2 inch high 14x14 frame, and screw it to the top of the opening with sealant...then mount the AC to the new raised section using longer AC bolts.  Already sent in a request to the faire for the parts, so if they are in today I'll get it done.  In any event, I have to start working on my catapults, so I'll be multitasking it this week for sure!

So after my morning coffee, PT, etc., I'll go sweep the sand off the roof and see if the parts are in.  If not, then I'll go out and get my catapult materials and get started on those, and then as soon as the parts for the site trailer are here I'll take a break from the catapults and get cracking on the permanent AC leak fix.

Just 5 more days until the faire opens...SWEET!

Kev

[RedneckExpress]

What's the outer roof skinned with on this trailer? 

If it's aluminum, remove the A/C and it's base plate, and then shim the aluminum roof skin up underneath to change the roof pitch near it so that it slopes away and then reinstall the baseplate and A/C. 

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Wouldn't work with this beast, Redneck...they kids that reroofed it just layed new plywood over the old roof and screwed it down and covered it in tar paper...but the plywood they used was thin enough that it also has the same sag the old roof did.

I ended up making a pressure treated frame and reframed the AC opening, raising it 2 inches.  I used sealant under the frame, and since the AC seal is shot, I used a very thick layer of putty tape on top of the frame as the new AC seal.  For longer bolts I had to use threaded rod and nuts and washers, and cut them off with a grinder when done.

All the lights and plastic vent trim are up in the trailer, but I didn't hook up the wiring to the AC yet...I want to make sure it doesn't leak first.  It was supposed to rain last night, but it didn't...so at some point today I'll have to get up on the roof again with a hose and do a leak test that way. 

But now I have to concentrate on getting some more catapults built for opening day.  So after my coffee and morning PT and whatnot, I have to run down to Home Depot for some materials and get cracking!

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

So I got all the materials, and then made a dent in the catapults.  But while I was out, I stopped at the Verizon store.  Now anyone who knows me and how much I hate carrying or using a phone, is going to laugh at this.  But now, for the first time in YEARS, I now have my own phone too!  An extra 20 bucks a month, but they added another gig of data to my plan as well for that same plan...so yep, now Patti can get a hold of me in an emergency, and vice versa.  Yeah, I guess it was about time.

So now I have to compose my Craigslist ad for the Jeep Cherokee I'm selling, then we're having lobstah for dinnah!  Big sales around here on them!

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Up bright and early this morning!  Had 2 calls right after posting the Cherokee on Craigslist and am meeting the first caller at the local Home Depot at 8pm.  They both seem really interested, so lets hope the first guy takes it so I can just keep plugging away on my catapults!

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

The Cherokee is sold!  And it worked out perfectly...he gave me half down, and will come and pick it up on Wednesday next week and give me the other half when we do the title transfer and whatnot.  The guy I'm buying the Wrangler from wants to finalize that transaction on Monday, so if I overnight the title and whatnot to Florida on Monday, we should be able to have it all registered and legal by Wednesday...SWEET!  I love it when a plan comes together!

So while the guys were looking at the Cherokee last night at the faire office, Vince (the GM of the faire I'm buying the Wrangler from) and I looked over the Wrangler a lot more closely, and its in way better shape then I thought it was...most of the frame rust is surface rust, not rust from the inside out.  And he told me its history.  Vince is the second owner.  It was bought new in 1992 by an older gentleman who lived on the island of Nantucket and never left that island for years...thus the low mileage.  The original owner died, and his wife couldn't seem to part with the Jeep, so it sat in a car port on Nantucket for several more years.  She's a distant relative of Vince, so finally she asked him if he wanted to buy it, and he jumped on the opportunity.  Most of the miles that are on the Jeep are those that Vince put on it commuting.  Glad he's selling it to me! 

Anyhow, enough about my new awesome Jeep! 

I made a HUGE dent in the catapults yesterday, so today I just have to finish them up and stain them, and build 2 trebuchets and 2 ballistas and get those stained as well.  It will probably be a late night, but that will give us most of tomorrow off before opening day.  Patti also insisted I re-stain all the catapults we already have built, so I did most of them last night, and will re-stain the rest of them tonight. 

Its all coming together for an awesome opening weekend!!!

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

All the catapults are done!  And all the older ones are restained...SWEET!  Patti is going to bring them up to the booth and set it all up later today...so after my morning coffee and whatnot I have to drive down to Lowes and rent the Green Machine rug shampooer again...Sheba had an accident twice in a row and the carpets need serious attention.  So while I'm doing the carpet, she's going to go set up the booth.  Then later we'll go out and get copious amounts of marshmallows for the weekend and stuff for dinner.  Also have to lay out our costumes and whatnot as well.

I'm going to go ahead and order the lower shock mount and leaf spring plate for the Jeep today as well, so that it will hopefully get here quickly and I can fix those safety issues with the Wrangler right away.

Patti and I were also talking about a composting toilet, after someone else mentioned one in their post.  I went to the Nature's Head website, and they sound ideal for us fulltimers who love boondocking!  875.00 bucks, but if you think about how much we spend having our tanks dumped out at shows, just 2 shows and the toilet will pay for itself.  And they aren't huge and attrocious anymore...lol!  They look pretty much just like a toilet.  I did a lot of research and read a lot of user reviews, and everyone that uses them loves them and say they work perfectly.  For 2 adults, you only have to dump out the tub, which since its composted with peat moss smells like dirt, once a month.   You just dump it into a kitchen size garbage bag and take it to the dumpster!  It separates the urine into a separate bottle which you have to dump every few days, but that is easy enough.   In fact, the only user complaints at all were from us guys, who with the composting toilet have to sit down to do our business...which of course my wifey thinks is a great idea, since it will eliminate the "misses" and keep her bathroom a lot cleaner...lol! 

What this will then allow me to do, after sealing off the flange hole in the black water tank and installing the new composting toilet, is to replumb the black tank and connect it to the grey tank, pretty much doubling our grey water capacity.  And since we travel even lighter now and have a lot more room in our compartments for stuff, we are thinking about adding another freshwater tank, under the storage area under the bed...probably about a 100 gallon tank...which will have a standard filler breaching the hull in the back, then a water line to a valve that goes to the water pump.  Much of the year this tank would sit empty and we'd only use the main freshwater tank...but when we are on vacation in the winter, and now in the summers too, and we are boondocking out in the desert or national parks or where ever, we can fill this tank as well and have PLENTY of water for our boondocking trips, and way more grey water capacity!

So 2 more batteries in the battery compartment, about 400 watts of solar on a frame I designed so I can tilt it in 4 directions, and a good charge controller, and we'll be ready to go!  Anywhere!  For extended periods of time!  Also considering a whole house inverter at that point...not to run the AC of course, but to run the other stuff like the outlets, and maybe even the microwave for a few minutes without having to run the genny.  Just gotta figure out which one to get.  I don't want one with a battery charger, since the converter already does a fine job of that.  And figure out how it would work in conjunction with the converter...I'm guessing that if I'm parked and boondocking, then the smart thing to do would be to unplug the converter from the wall outlet before turning on the whole house inverter....which is easy enough to do since all we have to do is open a cabinet door to reach the plug.  Then, if we do have the run the genny, simply turn off the inverter and plug the converter back in.  Also thinking it would be more efficient to run the fridge off of propane when boondocking like this, so its fortunate our fridge has a select switch so you can run it off of propane even if its receiving AC power.

Plans are coming together!  And I love it when a plan comes together!

I've decided to tackle the front end RV mechanical problems here in New York, and wait until North Carolina to address the fuel pump and strainer issues in the fuel tank...if I even have to after doing every thing up front.  I'm installing a new mechanical fuel pump, new water pump, new fan clutch, and new hoses (there is a coolant leak from somewhere, and you can see the coolant dripping from somewhere behind the radiator on the driver's side....I'm guessing a hose...hope its not the radiator, but at least you can get them readily for the P30 chassis!)...we ran WAY hot on the way here, not enough to blow a head gasket or do engine damage, but enough so that the engine compartment and carburetor were running hotter than I've ever seen them...could very well be that the carburetor was perculating the gasoline and that is what was causing our "no fuel" symptoms with half a tank of gas...the more I think about it, the more this seems possible.  We'd stop in a gas station and turn off the engine...fill it up, get coffee and whatnot, take the dogs out, etc., so effectively we were letting the engine cool down for about an hour at each stop...then drive on...and then we hit the rain storms and were running in cooler temps.  Also going to replace the fuel filters again.  As far as the electrical issues go, I'll check all the wiring before we leave, fix the headlamp plug, and check all the grounds.  Also going to either have a local auto electric shop rebuild my alternator (its aftermarket high output, so if it can be rebuilt, I'll know I have the right alternator with the right pulley and right pulley and bracket alignment), or else get a new high output alternator...and since it has an external voltage regulator, I'll get a new one of those as well.  Also have to have 2 new 19.5 Michelin tires installed on the rim with the blown-out tire, and on the bad spare tire rim...then put the brand new tires on the front, and the two good front tires in the back, one on the trailing axle and one in the spare tire compartment.

If I'm still having fuel delivery issues in Carolina, THEN I'll drain the fuel tank and replace the fuel pump and strainer sock and clean out the fuel tank...maybe even give it the POR15 treatment.

Okay, enough rambling...still have some stuff to do to get ready for opening weekend, and a carpet to clean!

Kev

[RedneckExpress]

Another option would be a cassette toilet if you wanted to still do the conversion, but couldn't get the composter for some reason.   It too would have a removable tank that you'd simply take over to the bathroom ever few days and dump down the john.  .

[jkilbert]

Kev,
i don't know if this would be an option for you but this year i replaced the peewee inline fuel filter on my Winnie with a marine filter. It's a spin on filter that looks like an oil filter, the mount is cast aluminum with 2 inlets and 2 outlets. The complete unit with filter was $30 at Gander Mountain and replacement filters are $10. I went with this for a number of reasons... way bigger filtering capacity, water separator, easier to change out. So far it seems ok.  This may save you a little maintenance and fuel headaches .


john

[ClydesdaleKevin]

The cassette toilets are way too small...and annoying...for our needs...we are definitely going with a Nature's Head composting toilet.  As far as the fuel filter goes, we'll see.  Finding a place to put a big screw on filter is the biggest issue.  The inline fuel filter on our rig is decent sized, the large metal canister type, and then there is another in the carburetor itself.

So today is the opening day of the New York Renaissance Faire!  Our booth is completely set up and stocked with marshmallow ammo, and the weather looks like its going to be warm but nice! 

I found time to wire in the AC unit yesterday as well in the site owned trailer, so that project is completely done. 

We should do very well this weekend...woohoo!!!  This show and Arizona are our 2 best shows of the year, and its the shows that finance our rig repairs and improvements so we can have better and better boondocking adventures. 

So now its coffee time and wake up time...maybe a morning workout if I have enough time...and then after a shower, it will be time to put on a kilt and a funny accent, and go make some money!

Kev

[Stripe]

Oh good, so I am not the only one here who sports a Kilt, Sporran, Ghillie Brogues, a bagpipe and Balmoral!  (The Sgien Dubh was stolen years ago)...


CMM500
PS, yes I really do wear all that but you will never see me in a Bonny Prince Charles outfit...   Ever... Ye Ken?

[ClydesdaleKevin]

LOL!  I wear the modern kilt...way easier to wear then the great kilt, even though its not quite historically accurate for the Renaissance period.

Yesterday was HOT for New York, but we still did pretty well.  A bad day in New York is better than the best 2 whole weekends in Kentucky!  Very humid.

Supposed to be more of the same weather today, but about 5 degrees cooler with a breeze, so hopefully we'll rock it out!

Got all the Jeep paperwork printed out, so if Vince remembers to bring the title today, I'll get the Florida VIN inspection done by one of the police officers on site at some point today...otherwise we'll just do it all tomorrow when I give him the money and we fill out all the forms.

Coffee time!

Kev