Two Recent Minor Repair Projects…

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 4,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

I’m currently in my 23rd year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here

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The motorhome is parked at Mary’s home in Murphys, California. I’m expecting to depart here April 26th.

 

During my visits to Mary’s now twice a year, it’s the perfect time for me to do routine maintenance, minor repairs and deep cleaning of both my vehicles. Last week I completed two minor repairs on the Bronco. It’s now 32 years old and every once in a while it asks for a new part. Both projects turned out to be a pain in the butt, but still needed doing.

 

The first involved replacing the heater core…

 

 

 

 

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s located in a difficult place under the passengers side of the dash-board. Since our bad accident almost six years ago, I no longer crawl under vehicles. so this time I had my local mechanic do it.

 

I bought the part on Amazon. Despite their assurance, once he got it out we found out it was a slightly different configuration and would not fit. Fortunately,  the nearby O’Reilly’s had the correct one and Amazon has great a great return policy which requires only a little inconvenience. Project completed!

 

The next project was replacing a dead driver’s side power door lock actuator…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was also a pain in the butt. It required removing the door panel and putting the hand through a small opening and doing everything by feel as you cannot inside that part of the door. An awkward and difficult situation was complicated by an intermittent power relay which I finally figured out.

 

But all is now well. I have lots of heat when I need it and the power door locks are working fine once again.   🙂

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Forecast for today is sunny and 76 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of California. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 600 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2018

CRAZY DAY YESTERDAY.

I had intended to go to Modesto with Jim to have a muffler installed on his Bronco, do a bit of shopping and go out to lunch.  But, my contractor wanted me to pick a handicapped shower on-line, so I stayed home.  Anything I liked, like the one in this picture, didn’t fit the space well.

The ones that fit the space, were smaller than this, with no color border, very antiseptic and plain. I spent a lot of time and visited 25 websites and learned about ADA approved showers and the cheapest I could find was over $2,000 and ugly. Not the least bit of character like the one in this picture. No fun, but I’m determined that the future with the multiple amputees from the recent wars, is going to demand more handicapped rentals. And, as we age, we may need some assistance, too.

Jim’s day was no fun, so I’m glad I didn’t go with him. He broke down on the road. A water hose got a hole in it and he was out of water. He thanked me for always keeping a big jug of water in the cars, (I always have a change of clothes and water in the Bronco, too.) “It saved my life”,  he told me. ” I made an emergency repair in the hose and used that water to get me to a place with a service station, and then a Napa Auto supply for a fix.”

He was late for Mitchell Muffler in Modesto.  Bobby Brown waited for him, the vet we met at the Defender Lodge. He left just before Jim arrived. He got the new muffler installed. It breathes easier, his mileage should improve and all the rattles and noise he was hearing is gone. The price was about $300 with taxes out the door, thank you Jeremiah.  And, Bobby Brown called him and asked him how he liked his service?  Terrific, in a word. Thanks Bobby.  What a crazy day for both of us.

I’m still working on the bathroom redesign. Managed to get out to do a little watering yesterday. And, I took pictures of some of the artwork on the walls at the Hospital and Defender Lodge when I was there. Got my art fix, and I’ll blog them tomorrow.

 

A DOLLARS WORTH OF KINDLING.

At an estate sale, I bought this unusual little side table. It is stained and needs refinishing. I paid $30 for it. It has a crack in a hard to access area near a hinge, but I have a friend who repaired furniture for a living. He is retired now.  I phoned him, asked him to fix it, and left it on my driveway for him to pick up while I was out.

He left the table with a note on it:

Top handle above hinges is broken on both sides. Needs to be glued and clamped.

Vertical leg is split. Needs to be glued and clamped.

Top tray has two splits on both sides, needs two new wood spacers.

Both horizontal rails have to have rails removed. That means trying to remove all four outside plugs without splitting the plugs, about impossible.

It will need twelve new plugs. If the twelve screws are rusted, they will snap.  Call me.

So, I called him and I question can he drill the plugs? Can’t the spacers be inserted as two pieces and glued, and so on, with me trying to find a way to redeem my choice, wondering all the while how I could have been so careless and not examined my purchase more carefully.

The I DID re-examine the table after the phone call.  Bert Sargent is the most incorrigible prankster in the neighborhood, maybe the world. I got a good laugh, brought the table and a bottle of wine and had a laugh filled visit with Bert and Sharon. He is convincing. Their dog was smelling the table and I got this one picture before my battery went dead. Neither picture does the table justice but I’m relieved to know I didn’t buy a dollars worth of kindling.