Nothing Ventured nothing gained

I'm not a terribly superstitious guy. I mean I'm not a ball player that has to wear the underwear of my wife on game day in fear that if I don't the team would surely loose. But over the years I have found that there are just certain things you don't say or do. Like, never, and I mean NEVER, ask a woman when she is due unless she looks you in the eye and says to you "I am pregnant". That's not superstitious, that is just simple common sense....or survival tip #37. Along those lines I have my staff trained(as am I)  that on a smooth running day, never look at the day sheet and say, "You know, at this rate we might just get out of here early!"
So last Friday when I had an appointment in Calgary at Polar Mobility to look over the cooling options for Fillmore I knew better than to say to myself...." Man this trip is going smooth as silk!"

Because there is nothing that makes you slide right off the bed of life faster than jumping onto silk sheets in silk pajamas.

I had literally just uttered the dreaded statement when Mr. Policeman hopped out onto the road and waved me over. I was 16 kms/hr over the speed limit. Guilty as charged, I knew better, but I was cruisin'!. Perhaps next time I'll keep my cruisin' to the highways and stay behaved on the major thoroughfares of the city.

Speaking of being cool, or trying to stay cool....

As I was at Polar discussing the options for A/C, we were looking at the air chute, and decided to run the engine to see the fans in action. Chris leaned in and said "huh!, that motor sounds a little iffy" referring to one of the electric fans pulling air down the chute. Truth be told I was a little concerned myself, there is usually a bit of a wind coming off those things and I could barely feel a breeze.
Yep....you guessed it. On the drive home I noticed my heat was starting to rise a bit...not bad...but it just wasn't responding the way it usually does when the fans kick on.
Sure enough, I stopped for a peak and when I opened the engine bay door my heart sank. The big fan was not running.After saying a few colorful expressions of amazement at what I thought was a repeat of last voyage I shlept my way around Fillmore to the rear drivers side and shimmied underneath.
My fear was what I may not see...the hydraulic filter...but to my delight it was there and fine. The Hydraulic oil levels were healthy too. So it must be electrical!

After a quick consult of my fuse location legend (Thank you Mr. Kruse) I quickly found the coolant fan circuit and lo and behold it was blown

When I got home a little more investigation found that the Fan motor that sounded "iffy" had surely seized. So time to pull the pair out and replace them both with new ones with some serious CFM

ability.

Perhaps I could live in fear of bad things happening, but lets face it bad things happen all the time. It's how you handle bumps in the road that defines you. The way I look at it, every time Fillmore throws me a curve ball I get better. So I throw caution to the wind and say "Hmmpfh! that repair wasn't so bad!"

Natural evolution

Hieroglyphics, cave drawings there are many examples of early forms of public communication. But just like many things in the history of the world, current practices get old and are replaced by new forms of communication. Distribution of paper leaflets or newspapers, radio, TV, internet.

But sometimes a nod to the past brings back a primal feeling of understanding. Take for example 'tagging' a street way of saying..."I was here"

Like a guest book I suppose. For those in the know, it brings a sense of belonging, or history of sorts. I think it's safe to say that when or if we have ever found a message in a bottle , there is a certain excitement and curiosity to finding out the story.

So last week when I was crawling on top of the engine looking at the clearance between the pulley and the A/C compressor, and I saw a 'tag' it brought a smile to my face. Spring of 2012 my friends Harold and Trevor, and their families,were here for a little visit and for some skiing in the mountains. At the time I gave Harold the job of the side walls for the air chute. I guess the tempt was great and he slyly left me a little remembrance of the visit.

Of course with my little bit of research into the topic, we must not confuse tagging with graffiti. The difference between the two is like comparing singing in the shower to performing one of Mozarts arias in public. Even graffiti has grown up, the talent and sophistication is staggering.

You can easily see why some of these people who may have been considered out laws and troublemakers once upon a time are now sought after for custom pieces for buildings and businesses...

And yes buses.

Dem Dry Bones

Another great day today, mild and pleasant. A really good recipe for a working on the interior of Fillmore day. A heater, CBC radio,  a couple cups of coffee, and more things to do than I can shake a stick at. I finished installing the remainder of the interior window wells....(no I didn't crack any more glass thank you very much!)...and as I did my mind is working away about what comes next. Thats when the song hits me and sticks with me. "Ezekiel connected dem dry bones...."

a situation in which ripples expand across the water when an object is dropped into it, an effect from an initial state can be followed outwards incrementally

....the cumulative effect produced when one event sets off a chain of similar events.

The interior layout of Fillmore is pretty solid in my head, or I should say I know where things need to be situated, but I'm still working on some of the details about form vs function. I do know I need water, which means I need water tanks. I have planned and placed those already....BUT!....now I am forced to address a job that I haven't done despite my knowledge of it's need to be completed. The drain fitting on the grey water tank needs to be moved. So, pull the floor up and remove the tank to take in to the RV shop. ............."The toe bone's connected to the foot bone...."

Which reminds me, on the opposite side from where I have the tanks mounted I have to reinstall the furnace. I removed it before going to the paint shop......."the foot bones connected to the ankle bone"

Where there's heat, there needs to be cool....A/C.....right!.....I've been avoiding that one.
I don't want a roof top A/C unit. Which means I need to be able to reinstall the belt driven compressor....."the ankle bones connected to the shin bone"....

My issue is space. With the large Cummins, I did everything I could to get as much space as possible, so I could move the engine back as far as I could. I had removed the old engine door latch mechanism as it was right in the way of the cam drive pulley.

I jury rigged something that worked, but all of that would have to be removed and a new latch mechanism fabricated....."the shin bone's connected to the knee bone"

Of course, as I am removing the mounting bolts for the compressor bracket....."the knee bones connected to the thigh bone."...I drop one, and I DON'T hear it hit the ground.

How many times have I seen the mechanics telescopic magnet retrieval tool at NAPA?

Sooooooo, I had to remove the passenger side panel from the engine chute so I could see where it went.....
"the thigh bones connected to the hip bone"

(BTW I found some hieroglyphics on the interior surface of the panel-Mr. Smith?- but that's another blog entery)

After  a few moments to think simply and simply think, I resisted the urge to go buy a specialty tool and applied the KISS rule.

Finally, the compressor was mounted, and the door was tested.

At  stage left we have clearance, not bloody much but it's there. Stage right is a different story...."the hip bone's connected to the back bone".....it appears that I will have to rewire the lights. Running the wires in a different pathway...."the back bones connected to the head bone" 

And yet I still have a smile on my face, and a song STUCK IN MY HEAD!!!!!!!

3.1415926...........Hmmmmm Pi

 What defines community?The possible definitions are endless. All you have to do to get a flavor of what it means is to look at Meriam-Websters definition . Then take that and throw in personal biases and and regional beliefs and the permutations of interpretations are endless. For me its the feeling of shared interests and values. So for people from different geographic areas can still feel a feeling of connection if they are reminded of those interests/values by something that makes them feel comforted, safe, warm, sweet with a hint of Cinnamon. Yes, I'm talking Pie here folks.
 What an opportunity we had this past weekend to rise with all the math geeks of the world (Yay Sheldon) and celebrate the most obscure, yet once in a life time, event I can think of. (Although International Ugly Christmas sweater day is right up there) Saturday March 14, 2015 at 9:26am marked the epicenter of the moment.

And frankly I had a great week of community leading up to the event, so in celebration we baked a GF apple-date Pi(e). And nothing goes with pie quite like good strong, fresh,dark,hot coffee.

 Restoring an old Flxible up here in Canada, can be a little bit of a lonely task. I must admit I have had a ton of fantastic support from the greater Flxible community, George in Texas, Bob(RIP) in California, Bill on Vancouver island, and Ben(no fixed address) just to name a few. But this week I met two flxy enthusiasts from my neck of the woods. Dennis who is looking at acquiring one and  Don who already owns one...or three. So after all this time of feeling fairly isolated, I find I have my own northern community.

Thanks to my lovely wife, I was able to putter this weekend. Saturday was +15C here so I made sure I was out in the warm air and sunshine while I replaced panels and did some general clean up.

 Inside the bus the order of business was replacing the interior window wells.

 I was able to get the passenger side done, seal the poly and place the interior skins in place. That was the good news. The bad news was...

 I somehow managed to torque the frame as I tightened it into place, and I cracked another pane. I will have to remove and replace the glass.......uuuuuugh!

Down and Dirty

In sales they call it a 'loss leader', in marketing a 'hook', what ever it is that makes someone pause. It's something that peaks a person's interest and step through the front door. My intent was neither but I suspect that because of my entry title there may be a few who end up on this page looking for something to get their mojo running. Either because they are looking for the website of Subaru's unique style of races , or they are looking for something a little more carnal....which I don't think I need to provide a link for.
The title however is literal for me. After limping home Fillmore needed some attention.....and I was missing him so I was happy to dote!

 Fillmore was dirty, when I drove him home it was warm enough that roads were mucky.

 When I had the chance to spend some time on him however, in true southern Alberta fashion, the temp tables had turned. It went from +5 to -20C.


 The power washer didn't work so well, first the facet froze, then the hose froze, and finally I froze. After loosing the feeling in my hand AND feet. I decided it was time to pull the plug, go in and drink coffee and settle to battle another day.

 That day came a week later, when temps were again above 0C.

 I washed Filmore.

 No more dirty.

 Now it was time to get him back up and running, no more down time -Hydraulics are at hand.

 You can see the mounting post(likely not the technical term mechanics use) is simply snapped off.

 A 10 min job, took me an hour or so. Not because I ran into trouble, but because I was quite enjoying myself. Outside in the fresh air, wind in my face and the smell of diesel and hydraulic oil. I was a happy camper!

Drum Roll please........

 It's been so long...SO LONG!....I almost for get how to do a new blog post.
The day finally arrived and it was time for me to pick up Fillmore from PET Autobody. I must say the last few weeks and by a few weeks I mean a month, or two... I have been beside myself with color selection. Being at this stage is nerve racking because all the work you have done coming to this point can all be flushed down the toidie if things don't look good to the eye. There were doubters, some of the guys at the paint shop wondered what the heck I was smokin' when I chose the colors I (we) did. But as I pointed out before we were looking for period colors and paint. I wanted a fairly monochromatic look to the paint, not an opalescent pearled look, or a metallic fleck paint. And I love the result. FIllmore fridays have thankfully returned and now we are on to the next stage of the project. Randy drove all the way to Bragg Creek just to pick me up and take me to the shop so I could drive the old boy home.

 When we showed up everything looked great, there was Fillmore, all warmed up and waiting for us, just sparkling in the sun. After we snapped a few pics, Randy bid me fairwell and I went and settled up the paperwork.

Then it was time to head home and simply enjoy the ride....with nothing to worry about....right?

 

Wrong!

We still haven't figured out exactly how this happened but, I got maybe 10 kms away from the shop and I start to notice my engine temp is on the rise. I pulled over and investigated. In the engine bay I found that my cooling fan was not running. Thinking that it was electrical I pulled apart the wiring , then the dash, making sure all the wires were intact and connected. Finding nothing I had a choice to make, turn back or march on home. I opted for home. Plus the body shop isn't a licensed mechanic. I would go for 15-20kms, then stop and shut down and let things cool. Not ideal but I figured it was the best bet I had. After the third stop, I thought maybe there is something underneath that I hadn't seen yet. The wires to the thermal switch could be severed or disconnected!? Well they were all fine, but I quickly saw my problem. I don't know how, but I was 'missing' my hydraulic filter. I hit nothing, I felt nothing, I heard nothing. But there is was...or wasn't. If you take a closer look you can actually see the threaded shaft or spout that the filter screws in to is broken. The filter simply busted right off.
On one hand I was glad to know what the problem was, on the other I still needed to limp home. And that I did.

There are many possibilities of what could have caused the failure but being that it was running and functional for 3 years just makes us all scratch our head and wonder. The good news is that I know exactly what I need and where to get it.  With Fillmore tucked in to his cozy little shed it was time to move on to the rest of the weekend.
I knew that this weekend I likely would have an opportunity to get the parts but I certainly wouldn't have the chance to work on Fillmore. I had more important things on my agenda, taking my boy to his first provincial volleyball tournament!

They placed 5th overall and I lost a few buttons from the chest of my shirt. It was great to be there and be a part of, and I couldn't be prouder of him.