Isuzu Trooper on death bed

My trusty Trooper has been struggling with what I am certain is a blown head gasket.  I have been keeping it on life support for the past few months.  The Colorado cold winter has made outdoor automotive work all but impossible. I have been pulled over by law enforcement for the copious amounts of smoke coming out of my tail pipe.  The policeman frantically asking 'What was going on? Was my car on fire?'  He told me I was smoking everyone out behind me.  So I have it parked in a Home Depot parking lot which makes repairing it challenging.  I am using an old cheapo fix.  I have successfully used Head Gasket sealers 'in a bottle' in the past.  The Trooper isn't worth the cost of a proper repair which is surely over a $1000, easy.  I have been waiting for temperatures to stay over the freezing point for 24 hours straight.  Today I tried one of the bottles, one that works with Antifreeze still in the cooling system (a type I haven't used before).  No success and it was messy work because I drained the bulk of the antifreeze (just to be safe) but didn't flush the system.  I believe the head gasket is blown too wide for this bottle fix.  I checked the oil and saw the yellow signs of oil and water mixing.  A Very Bad Sign!!  Then when I was going to hobble the car over to a friend's place to properly flush the system and try the other bottle, the car stalled within 30ft of driving it and would not restart.  I am seriously concerned that I hydro-locked the engine.  A situation where water got in the cylinder and because it doesn't compress, caused the engine to seize, possible bending a rod.  My only hope is that because I was going so slow that it didn't damage any internal engine parts.
There is one other potential culprit.  The 'fix in a bottle' stuff is Sodium Silicate, aka Liquid Glass.  You put it in the radiator while the car is running.  It melts or becomes active at around 212 degrees, then after 20 minutes the engine is shut off, radiator drained and reflushed.  The Liquid Glass cures and won't melt again until temps get near 1500 degrees.  It has worked for me before, twice, as a temporary patch that lasted for a few months.  The problem is that this same solution is used to kill cars in the Cash-for-Clunkers program a few years ago. http://www.cashforclunkersfacts.com/car-dealers/how-to-use-sodium-silicate-to-disable-engines/  If added to the engine oil it permanently disables an engine.  I fear that the water to oil contamination might have allowed this stuff into my engine.  If so, my Trooper has become a boat anchor.
My plan for tomorrow is to remove the spark plugs and turn the crank case in hopes to eject any water in the cylinders. Get my car running (the big variable here) and drive it the 3 miles I need to work on it.  There I hope to flush the system and use the more serious product (the one I have had success with in the past). I will still have to drop the oil pan and clean out all the water and coolant in there  If I am successful, I might still be able to get a little more use out of the car.  If not, I will have to call a salvage company to tow it away.  

On the bright side, if it is officially pronounced dead I don't have to make the March 9 insurance payment on it.  March 9 is the one year anniversary of when I bought 'Delilah', the nickname for my Trooper.  I got some good use out of her for the $700 I paid.  It has been a great Colorado vehicle.

Right after this picture, I removed those cute little stickers that the previous teen owner had put on the back.



First October Snow

January

Home Remodel Project- Hardwoods

I finally got the pictures from the home model that were taken by Jason.  This post is a continuation of the previous post and shows more detail of the hardwood floor make-over.

This is the only shot that shows the before look of the floors.  Normal color, slight orange hue.

Here the floors have been sanded down to bare wood.  All polyurethane and stain are gone. (I had just finished the back splash earlier that day.)

Here is after the new stain has been applied.

Applying polyurethane. Improvised rolling chair.

Finished product.

It was a satisfying project. I will be posting more projects soon.

Past home remodel, Pre bus remodel

It is time to get back to bus business.  It has always been there, my primary residence since I started this journey.  But some of the love slipped away and it is time to find it again.  Some of the ways I am going to spice things up are by giving the interior a face-lift, getting it mechanically sound enough to tackle the Rocky Mountains before the summer solstice and getting out into the wild even more frequently this year.
Look for construction photos and videos in the coming weeks, reminiscent of the early days of building the bus. Except I have a little more technical skill now.

I have been working on remodeling a couple of houses with a friend.  He actually has the bulk of videos and pics on his phone.  When I get them I will add them to this collection. For now, here is a look at what I have been up to...

The biggest, most satisfying single project has been stripping, staining and poly-ing the hardwood floors.  I have only done it once before.  It turned out great! These are from the stripping process.
The edger- for that detail stuff.  I would have taken up baseboards but we were time/cost conscious.

Be careful using this beast, it aggressively chews the layers off.

Do as I say, not as I do. Always go with the grain, never across.  I had to make a judgement call based on our equipment rental time. It didn't turn out bad but I could tell after I restained and poly-ed. It bristled my perfectionist side.

Stripped bare

Video of floors. Not the best video of them, as it was a week or more later and it became a construction zone again. The wet poly in kitchen and bathroom is from a touch-up I wanted to do. (side note: I also did the back splash in the kitchen and bathrooms)

At the end of December I moved into one of the houses for the convenience of getting work done and the comfort of hot showers, central heat and unlimited electricity. At first, I stayed on my queen size air mattress but then up graded to a twin mattress and box spring. My pets enjoyed the change of scenery.

Priss wants to be nice but Nala doesn't like her hovering over her shoulder.

The picture doesn't really capture the coating of dust, but I have been sanding drywall for hours. (During all these projects where I was working solo, I listened to the entire Gunslinger series by Stephen King)

Wake up call by Priss.

I had a birthday a few days ago. A group of friends treated me to Hibachi. I haven't had hibachi in over 3 years. It was even more fun than I expected. This is also a case where all the good video are on my friend's phones.

Well that is all for now. I have other stuff to post from the past but I am really looking forward to what the future is going to hold.  I will post again soon.

Another Winter in Denver

It looks like I am making quarterly posts now. I have been mainstreamed for the past little while and it doesn't feel natural to blog about it.  I have been involved with a friend remodeling a couple of houses.  It has been very satisfying and has kept me pretty busy.  I have done an assortment of projects ranging from tiling backsplashes to refinishing hardwoods to installing drywall to painting and a various collection of smaller projects.  (Pics and vids to come soon)

I want to address Colorado weather to clear up any misconceptions out there. Colorado (specifically Denver) has the best weather of anywhere I have visited. There are four distinct seasons. Living on the bus I really enjoy the fall and spring due to the mild temperatures. Winter is cold, but not brutally so.  Yes there are days that the temps have dropped to single digits and there was snow around Halloween.  But for the most part temps have been around 60 during the day and a low around 30 at night.  Lately it has been a high of 50, with lows in the mid 20's. Not surprisingly, one easily gets acclimated to cooler temps fairly quickly. Perhaps it is the gradual shift in temps or the fact that we get a couple of really cold days (highs in the teens) that make barely freezing nights so tolerable.
I have made the bus as comfortable as I need.  I have become a seasoned veteran of cold weather living.  I know how to best optimize my heating sources and running my generator.  I have a steady income that allows me to eat out and purchase nice-to-haves. I have a car to get around town easily (although it is constantly on life support, it has been fairly reliable since I bought it in March.)  I have a smart phone again that simplifies life, with easy access to the web.  My internet card gives my laptop access to the internet anywhere I am.
Basically, life is good. Almost too good.  I fear I have become complacent and gone back to being mainstream. My pets keep me grounded and make traveling overnight without the bus an ordeal.  I love them without question, but they do hamper certain freedoms. Finding a reliable pet sitter would really free me to explore more frequently.
I miss having unusual stories to write about and challenges to post.  I vow to remedy this soon.  This blog isn't dead...just hibernating temporarily.