1989 S1600 White Rhino

[rlaggren]

Ditto Stuart. I've been leaving out of 2gal bleach bottles for 12 years. If the "well" isn't too far off, that's a real good approach.

Rufus

[Merlin]

Hi, I tried to resize this but no luck - for some reason I have not been able to upload photo's untill now. I will try to resize and post some more photos later in the week. The photo is of the aluminium frame and luton peak of the motor home I'm constructing. The roof height in the main section is 2.4 metres - close enough to 8 feet. I had thought about a lower ceiling height but the extra volume with the higher ceiling/roof gives a more spacious feel - same as house with higher ceilings. I will put all the tanks under the motorhome - hopefully as close as possible to the relevant fixture. However, we don't have the extreme cold that you guys have to contend with. On reflection I think if I had the chance to go back to the start I would get a truck with a pantech (box truck) it would have saved a lot of dollars and hard work. Cheers Charlie.

[rlaggren]

Hi Charlie

Looks like you go Ambition and a good start going. Maybe you should give it a chance in it's own topic, help keep things straight.

You must be a dab hand with the welder! No point 2nd guessing yourself, though, about what you'd a mighta maybe shudda cudda wudda done. Nothing ever got done _that_ way so you're way miles ahead _this_ way. <g>

Rufus

[Headache]

Oooh that's neat Merlin! Please do start a thread of your own so you can post some descriptions of your work and we can ask you questions about it!

Updates on mine...the bus seats are almost in! The floor was NASTY but now its dry and doesn't smell as bad with all the rubber flooring and padding stripped out. Still gotta clean it up good but for as bad as it looked, it's not rusted through anywhere and there are no weak or thin spots. I lucked out there.





The mechanic found that he could use at least one existing hole to bolt the new to me seats down with.



I now have more room and more seat adjustment than I did with the original bench seat. And having air ride to both seats is an added bonus. For $20 each I'm not complaining at all.

I still have to do something about that shifter though. I smack myself on the knee pretty good with that thing and it hurts like crazy! I'm probably going to wrap some foam around it or get that foam pipe insulation to put on it.

[Headache]

Another neat little discovery found by the mechanic; there's a blue toggle switch on the dash by the key and neither of us knew what it was for so he started fishing around. Come to find out it's the power switch to the wireless backup cam system. There was a tiny screen in the door pocket that plugs in and I can see(barely it's soooo small) what's happening behind me. The camera is under the center clearance lights:



Looks like I'll be doing some urban camping in my truck until legalities are taken care of. I completely forgot about the title and I HAVE to be out of this apartment on the 31st. It's going to take 10 days to get the title from Taxachusetts once I submit everything, I won't get my disability until the 3rd and although I have some money, it's not enough to pay for insurance til November. To top that off, I can't get affordable insurance in Mass because I no longer own a car and the companies who do insure only an RV don't do business in Mass. Progressive won't insure what I'm doing. Sooooo, I'll end up getting the RV title here, getting residency in South Dakota, transferring the title there and then insuring it. I called ahead to find out if I could do this and it's all legal because I'm moving away from Mass. If I was to stay here, I could get myself into trouble. But all of this is going to take time so Spider and I will be stealth camping in the box until I'm legal to leave.

That will give me plenty of time to work on things and rearrange stuff because I won't have anything else to do. I'm going to get a storage unit next week and move most of my belongings into it so I'll have plenty of room to work on my truck. That leads me to my next project...

I need some sort of couch that my mattress cane be on and that will slide out into a bed. I also want to have some storage under it as well. I'll have 4 feet for it to slide out into. During the day it will be a couch and a place to sit and eat, at night I like to stretch out a bit. It will end up being 6 inches less than a double bed because I want to be able to walk between it and my piano when it's slid out. Any ideas?

[rlaggren]

> ideas...

For me, I can't get any clear idea what you're dealing with. Maybe post some drawings or something...


Rufus

[Headache]

> ideas...

For me, I can't get any clear idea what you're dealing with. Maybe post some drawings or something...

Like this:

http://www.vintageairstream.com/rr_topics_sofas.html

Looks like I won't be doing much for awhile. I dropped a floor joist on my leg and now I'm screwed. It's not broken but my calf is the diameter of a football.

[skinnydog35]

looks good so far..i will keep a eye on your updates.. the legal problems are such a bummer

[rlaggren]

Now I get it.

Don't know what you have for a mattress, but my first thought is - don't split you mattress lengthwise if you can avoid it. 2nd thought is if you have to split it lengthwise, you need to have some surface that is one piece across the split and connected (glued?) to each side of the mattress; this will aid in preventing the two sides from spreading apart and dropping you on the hard during the night. I'd try also to connect the bottom of the split with velcro or something to reduce spreading apart there. I have suffered a serious low level annoyance with a longitudinal split in my bed for years and it's getting fairly bothersome so I got opinions. <g>

3rd thought: Seems like just a piece of 1/2" ply w/a hinge and fold-down legs in three or four places along or near the front edge would do the job pretty perfect. If you set the legs back a couple inches, you could just lift the board a bit when you're sliding it back in and then drop it into place for the couch and the legs in the UP position would latch it there, keep it from sliding out. Maybe connect the legs all together with a piece of 1x2 or 1x3 to make it easy to fold them all up at once; need to arrange a straight piece though...

Sorry to hear 'bout the leg. Ice and elevation for the leg come to mind.

Rufus

[Headache]

Sorry Rufus but it's my turn. I'm having a hard time picturing what you're describing.

I've been ordered to bed rest. My leg isn't healing up and my doc is concerned that it may actually be broken, but the swelling has clamped everything together so tightly that it may hide a fracture. I am not a happy camper.

[rlaggren]

Ach! Do what the Doc says and get right back at him if things don't get better real quick. IOW, don't try to be a Man Of Steel - BUG those medical guys, ask what might work better, ask what other tests, ask what more could be done, etc; if they say "call if", then call right off, don't let nothing slide for a day or anything. It's a royal bother to be your own advocate but look at it this way: You don't have to do it too often and it's kinda important!

Best luck to you. Get well and all that jazz.

Rufus

[Headache]

I'm sad to say that I may have to give up on this project. It will be a huge loss if I do but it seems that Mr. Murphy has taken a shine to me and is not leaving. Virtually everything I touch seems to end in some kind of disaster.

Most recently, my leg isn't healing properly and the huge lump isn't going away. I've had endless delays and right now my mind is just trashed.

It had nothing to do with the truck itself so blaming it on it being a UHaul or that I bit off more than I could chew isn't the issue. Well the later is now but it wasn't initially. It's just that I've never had this length of bad luck in my life, ever. I had done my homework and continued to do it. Had purchased almost all the parts I needed, etc. But now I'm so wrecked I'm not sure if I'll be able to get started. It all depends on my leg and my mental capacities at this point. I'm trying to pull through but it appears I'll have to be on anti-anxiety meds for awhile because now I'm sick.

I really wanted to spend the holidays with my Dad. I know he was really looking forward to it too. I haven't spent any holidays with any family in years. I really don't do the holidays but they are important to my Dad and with the way his health is every moment is a precious commodity.

If I could hire the help it wouldn't be an issue. But most any I talk to want $50 an hour and I can afford $10. I just can't do it. I've moved to a rooming house to keep my costs down but now I have to figure out something for my cat because he won't survive the cold staying in my truck while I'm working on it. I'm in a lot of pain over this one thing right now. He's been my best buddy for 16 years. He knows something is going on and started sleeping on me and staying close. It's tearing me up right now because nothing made me feel better like head rubs from him and scratching his head.

I'm thinking about what to do next. I may end up trying to trade the whole works for a van but at this time of year I'm not sure I'll be able to do that. I just feel like an absolute failure right now.

[Stealth Camper]

From this distance I cannot offer anything more than condolences, but you have my sincerest of those.

In any case, no matter what you decide - take the time to let the leg heal. And do what Rufus said - keep after the medical people to discover whether there is a break. One of the kids broke her leg doing Roller Derby and had surgery and all that stuff, and of course is pushing a little too hard. Basically had to back off and let it heal again, which meant setback and longer time overall.
(Ok, will try to be less pushy and telling what to do now...)

And while letting the leg heal, maybe your mind can 'heal' with it. I sometimes have to just set my projects aside for a while - even weeks at a time - just to let the brain readjust and reconfigure. Sometimes starting a very small, easily accomplished project can reset the Murphy button - something that gives a success or visible forward progress can help re-establish momentum.

Good luck!!

[rlaggren]

Sometimes the body calls "Time Out" and you have to go with it. Try not to tie knots, just accept the call cuz that's all you can do anyway and be cool with whatever comes. We does the best we can and at some point bashing ourselves about it is just tiresome and worthless. If you want to work hard on something, I'd try real hard to keep your buddy. You and he both deserve it. If he's anything like that brainless little pest that I've had sleeping on my chest for 13 years, that'd be my priority. Ask around, make appeals, whatever. I been through that a couple times. Never know ahead of time what can come along around the corner. I just count it as time/money/effort way better spent on a good friend than on the shrink - the cat's way more help anyway! <g>

Good(!) luck to you.

Rufus

[Headache]

I've had a small break of luck if that's what it can be called. I was very worried about my cat being out in the cold since he's been an indoor cat all his life and he's an old man now. He's been very out of sorts(understandably) and I was also concerned for his mental well being as he's a very personable cat and now he would be alone for long periods of time including when it would be coldest, with no one to snuggle up next to. Despite their seeming ease of being on their own, cats by nature are group animals and live in colonies.

He chose the driver's seat(no surprise there) and I put down some towels and blankets that he could nestle in. He crawled right in and I tried to put a towel over him but he wasn't having any of that. When I went back the next day I found a miserable and shivering cat. The mechanic pulled the towel back over him and this time he didn't move until he thawed out about a half hour later.

We hashed over what we could do and the mechanic came up with the idea to get one of those little defroster heaters and hook it to the batteries. Off to Harbor Freight. I was ecstatic that my Spider kitty would have a warm cab to be in rather than just a warm spot, until I read the directions that said to not have the heater on more than 15 minutes at a time. We were running out of time so on a whim I grabbed some of those hand warmer pads which claimed they last 24 hours. I had also cut a box open and stuffed a blanket inside, then wrapped it with a comforter. Sure enough my cat laid ON TOP of it. I put him inside the box a couple of times and he wouldn't have any of that either. So I tore open the 2 packs of hand warmers, shook them then stuck them under the comforter. I was crying, they barely were warm at all and it was supposed to be like 25 degrees overnight.

What a relief the next day when I find a toasty, purring kitty with an empty food bowl and the litter box had been soiled! The pads were HOT and he was loving that sleeping spot. I was so relieved!

So, what I learned is that he won't lay inside of a box but if the box has no lid he'll lay in it. He also won't lay near the floor. If it isn't raised in some way he's up on one of the seats. My new solution this week is a 12 volt heated dog pad that I'm going to lay inside one half(yep, taking the "lid" off) of his cat carrier then put the comforter(his fave and it was off my bed so it's "familiar") over that and up the sides. The pad will stay about 105-108 constantly, the mechanic will be out working on my truck and will charge the batteries when needed until the truck is back running and I can start it. http://www.gundogsupply.com/popal12vocrm.html

I'm hoping by that time I'll have someone located who will do the floor joists and wall framing. I can handle everything beyond that but I have got to have that framing done first and with my leg still giving me issues I'm not supposed to be tossing those joists around.