Testing testing 1-2-3

There are times in life when you know what you are about to do doesn't make practical sense. Like when you walk the long way home. On the surface you say 'why? it took 15 min longer, and it was waaaay further!" But the intangible aspects sometimes out weigh the logical. Like the breeze on your face, or the sun kissing your skin, the lilac hedges that you know will have to walk by and the fragrance reminds you of your grandmother who you miss so much. So when it was time to take a little get away to Manitoba, on paper with the current fuel prices......it was logical to take the van or even Michelle's subaru. 

But the rising sun in my face,

The smile of contentment of the love of my life when she is bundled up with her little sidekick drinking her morning tea that she just made while we trundle down the road.

This was why.

We set out for another Manitoba adventure(3rd time this summer) where we had the fortune of meeting up with  all the Keeler kids (and families) to celebrate Verna's 80th birthday. It was a beautiful warm summer day with just enough breeze to keep us cool and the bugs away.

Of course the fact that we were golfing was an easy thing to take..... A fantastic celebration for a fantastic mother-in-law......dont tell her I said that....I have an image to uphold!

The next stop on our journey was a long overdue visit with my beautiful niece Jessica and her adorable little trouble maker Devona "D". The weather was hot that day and the bus was just sitting in full sun....the adults were melting but 'D' was having a blast playing in Fillmore! 

Thanks to a heads up from my buddy Harold, we stopped in a campground that I have driven past ALL my life, and what a find it is. So close to the water you can hear the waves at night. Found on the NE tip of Lake Manitoba, Watchorn is a great place to stop and break up the trip north.

Being that we were not in a huge rush, we took the time to lunch at Grand Rapids, another bonus of the bus is a fridge full of fresh veggies!

We finally arrived to the lake....Setting Lake. The place where all my bad habits were born and the good ones matured. Harold and Pauline gave Fillmore the VIP treatment and allowed us to park up front and personal.

Being at the lake , having dinner with family friends and what truely would be a million dollar view anywhere else in the world.

Spending the day close to our old haunts with Abbey.....a fantastic gem💓

As much as I love lazing at the beach.......not much beats the setting sun at the PRD.

No trip to the lake is complete without a visit to Pisew Falls

We put a few miles on the old guy, this by far has been the biggest single journey test we put the bus up to, but Fillmore performed admirably. We spent more in fuel, but we gained so much in experiences!

I'd do it again in a heart beat, but I was glad to be back home, safe and sound ready for a bragg creek sundowner!

Bent out of shape

Michelle is a very patient woman. Id like to think that I am worth effort required to have the  restraint  to live with me and not be charged with assault and battery. But every now and again as I look back at a series of decisions/actions I have done....I marvel at how lucky I am not to have dishes hurled at my head or wake up with a sock stuffed in my mouth and a pillow over my face. She is a good soul.

It was displayed yet again when she came home the other day to find my steam bending some 1/4" plywood that I had put relief cuts into, she simply looked at me with a look which I mistook for awe and wonder as she backed out of the room maintaining eye contact the entire time.

I pride myself on my keen ability to read peoples moods, so you can imagine at my dismay when, after she returned into the room to find me gluing and clamping the for mentioned wood on the kitchen counter I realized I had read things wrong. As I was excitingly explaining to her what I was doing and how I had done it, perhaps boasting a little of my ingenuity, the flush rising in her neck and into her cheeks like mercury in a thermometer  was a dead give away that the "Awe" of awe and wonder was mistook.....it was really "incredulous wonder"

So before she started vibrating and pushing steam out her ears, I quickly and efficiently relocated to the shop area for the final touches.

Once the wood had cooled and the glue had set, I layered on the flooring to the kick plate......making the wise decision to do it in the safety of the shop.

Feathering the back edge of one of the pieces to allow for the smooth union of adjoining pieces was a install touch that needed to happen.

In the end we came out with a clean continuous look that will be durable and smart looking......and no one died....

 

Kick Start to the weekend

Saturday mornings are the best. Although I often have Fridays off, fridays feel like they are the day you need to run around and do all the errands you have been saving for the week's end.....but Saturday morning is the start of the weekend!

What better way to start the day than listening to classical music with a cup of coffee while the sun shines....and of course all from the comfort of the lounge area in Fillmore. Having the time to just sit in the 'non driver' area, I get to see all the little things that still need to be done. As I sit here listening to Bach and watching the leaves rustle in the wind like small birds shaking off the morning dew, my eyes are drawn to an unattended task. The kick plate.

Using 1/4" ply I created the base for the kickplate that runs the extent of the living area.

After creating some vertical pillars for support, the kick plate base layer was installed, now I have to decide how to finish it. Thankfully I have a number of qualified individuals in my family who were happy to give honest opinions about colors. The choices were....

Same material as the flooring...

Or a painted surface.

I gave everyone two shade options. 5/5 family members polled agreed the look, the color and the durability of using the flooring material wins!

I am a man who likes the curves.....of the bus. Just like some of the cabinetry I am wanting to preserve the rounded corners and flow of lines. The kick plate should be no different. So before I laminate the flooring onto the kick plate I need to create the curved backing. Same sort of process I've used in the cabinet construction.

While I work on that, I am exploring materials for curtains. Our good friend Kath (one hell of a seamstress and quilter) offered to make curtains. After numerous trips to a variety of fabric stores, I finally found something I was happy with. It's base color is grey with white flecks...but it has a wee hint  of caramel which brings out the custom cabinet top made of Muninga wood from the Keelers

 

Everyone hold your breath....

Summer......being a winter lover, I forget how much I love a fresh summer morning, sitting in the sun listening to the birds sing while I sip on a fresh cup of coffee.

On the docket for this weekend was engine room work and getting things crossed off the list for a road test.

Last year when we had our unfortunate drive shaft debacle the flying drive shaft punched a hole in the engine room floor. Pretty lucky when you consider all the vital components all around the area and the only casualty (aside from the drive shaft itself) was a hole in the floor.

So, I started to make a new framework for the replacement piece. 1" angle iron, a mig welder, some aluminum diamond plate and....

Back to what we had. Aside from needing a new oil pressure sensor, Everything was checked off the list. It was time to see if we are road worthy.

ROAD TEST!!

 

spidey senses

Now that the rear gasket is back on the flywheel housing went back into place. But a few of the bolts needed some TLC

I bought this "thread restorer" tool years ago, and I am always surprised how often I use it.

Not a new bolt but a great result. 

After the housing was back in its time for the  Flex Plate to be installed and torqued down.

Next was the tranny to be jacked up into position. As i was bringing it up, my spidey senses started to tingle. As I raised it,  it was starting to list to one side.  This thing is not a light piece and if she goes over I have a world of hurt ahead of me. I quickly threw a couple  4x4 posts up above and safety strapped the tranny to them.

Feeling like I wasn't in harms way any longer I unstrapped the tranny from the tranny jack and let it hang.

Suspended up off the ground I could take the jack out and see what damage has been done
 

A wee cotter pin, made of what felt like cheap aluminum, was the only thing holding that behemoth transmission from flipping on it's side. And that pin sheared.

I drilled the hole a little larger and put in a heavy duty pin, reattached the jack to the tranny making sure the lateral balance was correct. 

The transmission slipped into place(with some carefully placed swear words by yours truly)

Then with the help of Ron and Jeff we bolted the tranny in place and the flex plate to the torque converter. Next step is to fill the tranny with oil(change the filter) and try a road test.

Am I doing the right thing?

"No time like the present", "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" whatever adage you can muster up, there is likely another of the opposite point of view "If it 'aint broke, don't fix it!"

With the flex plate off, the flywheel housing off, now is the best time to replace the rear crank seal...even if it isn't leaking.

With the rear cover plate removed, I carefully removed the remnants of the old gasket

Took the rear cover plate into the shop and cleaned it up

Then reinstalled with a new (now black) gasket.......god I hope it doesn't leak
 

A job well done with my trusty sidekick, we deserve a cool drink!

Stuck on you

I wonder why I do this to myself. What you ask? Well it can be and tends to be a variety of little punishments I bestow on myself unnecessarily. For example, I like to pick a title for the particular blog post that perhaps conveys the gist of the post into a quick saying or phrase or song. But the depth of the reference is better understood by the end of the post. Or like today, it is  a song which is a tongue in cheek  reference to the issue at hand. But where I seem to be punishing myself is I chose a song which is an ear worm. Now that the 'play' button in my head has been pushed......there is no shutting it off.

"Stuck on you...."

So last post I referenced that to remove the flywheel housing was the engine mounting bolts and 12 little mounting bolts and it should pop off. But of course it did not. 10/12 came out beautifully, but the two closest to the exhaust manifold snapped off quicker than the bottom branches on a spruce tree. Despite my persuasion with a mallet, the housing did not want to budge. Reaching out to friends in the know, this magic elixir was recommended.

I have used penetrating oil before but this stuff is in a class of its own. My buddy Chris said 'soak it.....and I mean drench it in this stuff for a looooooong time'

So that's what I did. I would spray, go do some yard work, spray, go research bus parts, spray, go lumberjack..etc etc you get the picture

"....got this feeling' down deep in my soul that I just can't loose"

After a good bath in this stuff for a day and a half, I applied some heat to the housing around the broken bolts.

"Guess I'm on my way..."

Once again with my mallet of persuasion the housing slowly came off. 

With the housing off, the broken bolts were now standing proud from the engine block. I tapped on the bolt extractor and once again I started the bathing process with "Blaster"

"needed a friend..."

" And the way I feel now I guess I'll be with you to the end"

 

" Mighty glad you (didn't) stayed"