Work and Fun

Well after making a little money I bought some more stuff and drove back to Spartanburg last week to continue making the bus travel worthy. I had driven to Asheville to purchase a used RV ladder. I really want to have access to the roof so I can maintain (read: Clean) Solar panels and Air Conditioning units without having to awkwardly carry a ladder inside the bus. I bought the ladder using very flexible measurements to allow for rear or side mounting. I was chomping at the bit to add this functional cosmetic piece. I would look like a real, honest to goodness RV instead of a pimped out band bus. As another testament to my engineering acumen, I have not yet been able to figure out how to make the ladder work. The biggest obstacle is the rear of the bus, where it would look most aesthetic, versus the side which would be another scrap of metal to snag unwary motorist that I pass. The rear of the bus has 'barn doors' meaning that they are two doors that close and meet in the middle. I need to be able to open those doors to get to the engine. Right now I need to get to the engine about every 4 days to add power steering fluid. On top of the doors, literally and figuratively, is my rear window that opens out on hinges. I won't be using that again until spring but it is something to consider. I thought about how to make the ladder 'quick connect' where I could take it down if I needed to get to the engine or open the rear window. That is my sticking point right now on that issue.

I did however have a productive and fun visit this time. And it is getting really cold out. I didn't realize how difficult the cold makes working with small metal items like screws. First, metal conducts the cold like I only read about in books; second my hands are numbed to worthlessness. Cold can make certain jobs miserable, so I found jobs that were more agreeable for me. One was I built a shelter. I had all these 8ft pieces of plank from the deck I disassembled so my thinking was I could make a place to work outside when it rained. I spent all day building it. See pics below.
I took the time one evening to do some 'Mythbuster' like experimenting. I wanted to see if oil soaked torches worked in real life like they do in the movies.

Here are my supplies. Oil from bus oil change, 1inch thick dowel rod, two layer tshirt, and some cord.
Making the torch. Using gloves to keep from making a total mess of myself. Notice peanut butter jar of diesel fuel next to smoker. I am a believer in saving flammable fluids.
Torch assembly completed. Time to test.

It was as slow to light as expected. About 15 seconds of continuous flame got it started and then it slowly grew.
Once it got going it really burned. Problems to be noted: 1) Don't oversoak the rags, they drip burning oil which can be dangerous in a multitude of ways. 2) Don't sling the torch in front of you in an attempt to ward off imaginary creatures of the forest, the slick rag flew off the end of the dowel and a burning wad of oil cloth is difficult to pick up with two sticks. 3)Because of previous mistake I was unable to determine how long the torch would last...but I still have more oil. Maybe next time.

Did I mention it got cold. Miss Priss couldn't have been happier if she was sitting in front of the fire at Cracker Barrel


My shelter ProjectI built it upside down to start. I couldn't think of another way to screw in cross boards 8ft high.

Did I mention my engineering skills?

I little reinforcement

Some tarps laid over scrap pieces of wood I used as cross beams for a roof.
Walls made of part tarp, part thick plastic, part smoke thin plastic drop clothI also added some small cabinet space next to my stove. This gave me about 9 more inches of valuable counter space and a place to store more stuff. The top is hinged to access stuff stored on top shelf. I will be adding a front door next time.

My best improvement was putting on a new clutch spring. I had lost the old one a couple of months ago and in order to shift gears I pushed clutch pedal down and then catch it with the toe of my boot and pull it back up. Shifting took about 5 seconds per gear. Now I can shift like a race car driver. Less than a second. It was a messy, hard to get to, colorful language filled episode installing that spring. It said on the label it was an 18lb spring. That was the tightest spring ever, but now I drive like Andretti.
In the photo below you can also see the RV ladder leaning on a floor rug draped A frame ladder.
Notice the nice shiney new spring. It is hooked to an arm next to the slave cylinder that pulls my clutch pedal at the front of the bus back to its original position.