Mission Accomplished

How nice is it when you can trust in someone else to do what you would(want) to do yourself.
Wait, let me explain.
For those of you who know me, I tend to be particular with my projects. I'm not about to stand on my self made pedestal and claim that I am the best. In truth I am FAR from that. I am constantly amazed and in awe of the creativity and skill set of true artists, and the drive and bull headed persistence of others when a task is at hand. (perhaps a veiled attempt at referencing my brothers). But I do create my own vision of how I foresee things to be and that can be frustrating when the skill set required to achieve such a vision is out of your wheelhouse. So you must entrust and employ your vision to someone else. Something that can be a leap of faith, but fortunately for me this time it was not.

Last year...yes last year....it seems like it was only a few months ago but records show that  LAST YEAR  I took Fillmore in for the A/C install, and here we are again almost to the day, back at Polar Mobility. As you may recall I wanted to move th rear A/C-Heater unit. I built the cabinet, got everything set and let the experts do their thing.

I spent a little time with the tech who did the majority of the work first time around, and although he was a little put off that the vision wasn't explained to him the first time around, he understood that sometimes the end picture just hadn't been full formed and now I was back to get things done just so.
Then I proceeded to ease the pain by giving him a lovely present from Wildrose brewery  and all was better.

It took a few days, perhaps a little longer than I was hoping for, but my parting word were, I'm not concerned about time I'm concerned about quality and reliability, and that I got in spades. I will of course(as it was planned and explained) have to modify the rear of the heater unit to seal it off from the engine compartment, otherwise all the air drawn will have the essence of diesel

On the inside, I will replace the cabinet front and screen housing. But now All the floor space is open and I can get to the cabinetry!

Of course, no trip in Fillmore seems to go quite as planned and there was, as always, some unexpected drama. Getting Fillmore required a real juggling of transport, driving, car pooling, employment of city transit, and a  cab ride before we were on the road.

As I started down the road, happy as a pig in....well you know....I glanced down at my fuel gauge. Which read just below half. Or I should correctly say, still read just below half. I mused about recalling that the last trip and....perhaps the one before that....when the fuel gauge read...just below half. No sooner had my spidey senses started to tingle, the engine coughed and sputtered.
Yep...
I ran out of fuel.
Smoooooooth move Einstein.

On the positive side. I had inklings that the fuel sender was acting up and stowed a 20L jerry can (that's 5 Gallons for you boys south of the border) and so rather than run it dry, I shut it down fast and coasted to a stop. Put in what I had and coaxed him to the next fuel station.

Fillmore has two tanks that hold about 120L each, I added the 20L jerry can, and then the final tally at the pump was 217L for a total of 237L.....so I was EMPTY!. So glad I messed up as close as I was to a truck stop. Put it on the list of things to fix!!

Leave your worries on the doorstep.

Whether it was Fats Waller or Jimmy McHugh that is to get the real credit, I am unsure....but then again I don't really care at this point anyway. All I can say is that I had the opportunity to work on Fillmore, the sun was shining and the bus was in the tent.....I had to move it over to the Sunny Side of the Street  and as such I had the Waller/McHugh tune rattling through my brain all afternoon.

Work continues for the bed/bench in the back. Today was to wrestle with the side seats/cabinets

I am using 5/8" G1S plywood, but I want a top frame of a harder wood. Now a maple or oak of course would fit the bill but I have little of that. What I do have lots of is Fir. Clear fir, Reclaimed flooring from a church in Manitoba. I would say likely a century old? Its been stacked and stored outside, but there is lots of life still left in it and because of the species and age, it will fit the bill just fine! This is the board from the pile, dark and dirty really. But a clean up, trim, thickness plane and we are in business.

The box is a unique shape as I am grabbing as much space as possible over top of the wheel well.

The fir after working it over, getting ready to butt join for the top rail

Test fit in the shop looks good!

Second test, transfer and dry fit in place before we glue and clamp.
As I lay in bed last night mulling things over I decided to do a slight design change.....of course. That will follow!

Fillmore Afternoon

While the cat's away the mice bring the bus parts into the house....of course....I mean THAT'S where the COFFEE is!
Michelle took Anna to a dance competition in Lake Louise (man can that kid perform!) Leaving Jeff at school and me to my own devices.

For me, that meant bringing work into the warmth. We have had unseasonably warm weather but it's still a wee bit chilly at 8am

Soon enough I moved outside, as I had a dusty job to perform. The sunroof screen and shade needs to be installed, trimmed first of course about 3/16"

So as soon as I could I moved Fillmore into the sun and began to work on finishing the rear cabinet.

I love the smell of sawdust and wood glue in the morning.

By it was time to pick up the kid from school and take him to Volleyball I had things in place...for now...of course I needed to to all of this so I can take it apart and relocate the AC unit. ;)

Get up, get goin',

Motivation is a funny thing. When you have it you're unstoppable.When you loose it, progress slows, passion wanes, and things come to a grinding halt. I hadn't realized it but I was at a standstill. I was using excuses that the family was busy and trips here and there, and work, and my back, my foot,my ribs hurt. In reality I was hesitant to get out to the shop, it would open the wound that my buddy is gone.

But after some reflection.....OK maybe a scotch or two....I realized that thinking like that was dumb, it was time to sh#* or get off the pot. Time to pick myself up, dust myself off and quit rolling around in the ego centric dirt.

So....rear cabinet.I have been stewing about the air conditioner. Ducting the system would distribute the air to various locations but would dramatically lower air flow. The best way to move the air would be to allow it to blow unencumbered. Where it is positioned now the air would simply blow from one side of the back to the other. Essentially creating a freezer in the back and a hot box everywhere else. The unit needs to be re positioned to allow for the air flow to happen straight down the aisle. The best place?....up high....let the cool air fall down. So I designed a cabinet above the rear bench. Storage on either side of a central spot where the air conditioning unit will be re-installed.
In keeping with the theme of rounded corners....  

I got my hands on some 1/4" round 4" radius. It will add a nice touch.

A seemingly simple design...but as you know...

Nothing is quite square, and everything needs a template.

I have a 4x8 sheet of fibrous peg board that has been kicking around the shop for 15 years......yes yes, I'm a pack rat. But it was time to re purpose the sheet.

A nice fit. I then cut access doors for the two storage areas beside the air conditioner new home. Storage will be at a premium! I allowed enough room on the outside edges for speaker installs....when I finally get to that!
It's good to be back in the saddle.