Oh gosh, secrets out.
Yes, it's true, I am a van dweller again after my old rig got totaled. My buddy Aaron so graciously offered his driveway to Bones and myself while we get the old girl up to spec. I went to pick my rig up in Ocala Florida to find the seller had blatantly lied to me about the missing canvas, among other things. I threatened him down 700 dollars and away I rode in my yet un named rig.
Later while investigating the interior I found many animal carcass' and her name became Miss Boneta Vamper, or Bones for short.
Sure enough, somewhere in Indiana shew blew her idle air intake valve, and kept stalling, the whole time throwing her massive a$%# all over the interstate.
The immediate plan for mechanics are:
New front and rear shocks
New idle air controller valve
Aaron figured out the manually inflated airbags can still accept air, not sure if they can hold air.
An oil change
And sealing up the filler hose
Brakes, perhaps
While I am bumming around my personal plan is:
Gutting the gross aftermarket Florida swamp carpet
Thorough interior and exterior cleaning including a steam cleaning
Laying Down Linoleum
Coach battery is fried, I have two good Optimas in San Diego, going to get a cheap battery to run the heater and lights for now
The propane tank is out of code, it has propane I have been using, the temporary plan is to carry a 20lb Rhino and a 1/2" threaded extension hose to run heat and stove if the pressure is OK, I'll either mount my own cylinder, or buy a replacement 30lb bolt on eventually.
Begin replacing rusted exterior screws, cleaning surface rust, hatches, and vents, recaulking, sealing
Few minor interior mods like a new closet bar, new table top, new hardware, bit of sanding and staining
And since I saved so much online buying parts, I plan to treat myself to some nice speakers up front to get me from IL to CA
New holder for blackwater hose, new blackwater hose
Long term the plan is to replace the soft top which has no canvas with a hard top direct from Provan. Was quoted 4000, going to try and get them down to 3k and install it myself. This will include rebuilding some of the interior.
This will include rebuilding the bathroom the old owners gutted, turning it from a wet bath to a place to poo. I'll also go from their honking aftermarket water pump to a lower GPM (read lower AMP) model.
The 3 way fridge is most likely broken. That's ok because since I have solar I can just get an Engel or something and stick it in there.
I also want to swap the standard hot water heater for an on demand mounted under the rear ladder (the ladder needs replacing too)
The aftermarket bumper mounts are badly rusted and it needs to be cut free and remounted, as well as having the bumper cleaned up, a plate added to securely hold an eventual full sized spare.
Eventually mounting an air cyillinder, an air pump, and replacing manual air shocks with automatic.
Eventually swapping from 15s to 16s and putting some load range D tires on her.
She will eventually get a new paint job too, a year or two from now, because her paint is shot.
I think that's it. There is A LOT of work to be done. Most of it is just elbow grease. In the end it will greatly increase the comfort and value of her!
As you can see, I have already ripped out the crappy aftermarket cabinets, bench supports, and done some cleaning.
More pics to follow when it's daylight!
