Hydro Therapy

I know this doesn't seem like the delivery of a hot tub is bus related ....but it is bus supportive! After a day of crawling under the bus this is a fantastic way of rehabbing my ol' back! Of course Michelle says I can justify just about anything if I put my mind to it. None the less the commitment of Steve and his trusty hot tub installer assistant Lori to bring out the goods is more than bus blog worthy.

 Now getting the tub into position was a little tight in a few spots, but nothing for these trained professionals.

 I must say the ingenuity(and perseverance)  of Steve was amazing, while I hid inside....errrr brewed coffee...during the rain, he found a way to push through.

 And get the job done. My back thanks you now Steve-O

 But Fillmore jobs continue on, the horn rebuild continues. New attachment hardware, new gasket.

 New paint! At first I was thinking, just good ol' black. Its situated under the bus, and no one will see it, but... I already had matching paint...

 Re-assembly test fit was successful, now to bolt it into position so only the die hard blog readers will know to look under the front to see this colorful noise maker!

 All the while coats of paint go on the drawers under the couch. A slight painting technique find, props to Jeff and his artistic work experimenting with clear acrylic. After years of trying to get a decent finish with a roller only to abort  after multiple coats to spray a finish on cabinets. I employed Jeffs technique of lightly flaming the surface of the paint immediately after rolling it on to eliminate bubbles left behind. The finsish is not as glass smooth as a high end spray but pretty close! And when the cabinets are under your butt on a couch.....I might just go with it!

Although watching paint dry is a good time for contemplation/reflection of bus project progress....or to filter out the flowery wording...a good time for a dram of scotch...I decided that I will use the 'dry time' for building a cardboard mock up of another small cabinet....stay tuned...

Making a statement

 My wife would argue this point, but I really feel like I try to fly under the radar. I'm not looking for attention. I just want to be surrounded by people I love. Michelle would say I love to be surrounded by people....tomato...tomatoe.
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised when I was met with a look of confusion when I proudly explained to Michelle how I had figured out where the issue for the horn was! NOT the loose 12V supply post on the horn, NOT a faulty relay, but rather a faulty connection at the wheel that I backed up and eliminated sources from the horn back(60 years of oxidation will do it to you). No, rather than a "Wow, good on ya!" I was met with the...."Don't you have an air horn?"

 And, yes, although(as usual) she is 100% correct in her 97.832% scientific approach to life, she missed the point. So I hesitated to even try to explain why i was wanting to strip/clean/sandblast the horn to repaint it even though it was mounted under the bus and no one would  ever see it.

 But, I did... and I was met with "that look". But that's OK, mars and venus baby......mars and venus.

As part of the clean up, I had to remove a very old paper gasket. Which of course tore apart when I did. I taped it and then traced it onto cork. Which I will use to rebuild!

 Now while I was mid deconstruction, I got a message from my good buddy Steve who was driving from Kamloops BC with my new HOT TUB BABY!!!

 So I said....."Hmmmmm, should I clean up from these guys?"

And I did....AAAAaaand I was glad, because he came bearing gifts from the interior of BC

Fall Fun

I didn't even grow up in an agricultural based town. There were no farms, frankly people thought it was weird that some people had horses! Yet when I see this scene it puts a calm serenity over me like a warm heavy blanket on a cool night. The scene is from the 5th Tee at the golf course in Deloraine, I was there for the infamous Big Rock Tournament in July. A long way to travel for a few rounds of golf but so worth the time with family.

Speaking of Family this past week we were blessed to have Michelle's Mom&Dad come for a visit. We had to share them again because her sister and family is back in town from their year in France, but we treasure whatever time they are willing share with us. Of course whenever Ron is in town he gives me motivation not only to get off my butt and work on Fillmore, but also it forces me to be accountable of the time spent on the job. It's one thing to sit out there with a cup of coffee and gaze and ponder my next step, but when you have a willing participant eagerly awaiting direction....it's time to get off the pot and get the show on the road.

So we spent a day planning, assembling, disassembling, reassembling (repeat) a set of drawers for blankets situated under the couch.

The drawer fronts have been cut and mounted, but in this pic, they had already been removed for sanding and painting.

While the primer coat dries, I started on another simple but important project. My electric horn stopped working, and I cant figure out why. I know the supply post on the unit was loose, so I started by removing the horn to disassemble and clean. Once I had it on the bench in pieces, I found that although it was filled with 60 years of crap, it was working fine.












So the search went elsewhere. It was time to ensure all was well at the steering wheel !

A simple test showed that I have power and can generate signal to the electric horn with a simple wire. So that means the oxidation layer on the assembly of parts is my culprit!

A little elbow grease and sandpaper, I have fresh surfaces to work with...

Thankfully I have a reproduction of the original parts catalog so I can see the order of which all these tiny pieces go back into place......