I found this video on youtube.com from 1937 that Chevrolet produced. It’s all about RV life and is a fascinating look back. I especially like the comment about the wife not having much housework to do.
It is also interesting to note that the premise of living life on the road really hasn’t changed all that much. I find that rather comforting is such a face paced world.
My daughter and her partner have just returned from a short vacation to Queensland and they mentioned that during their travels they heard of women who were traveling on their own around Australia.
This got me to thinking about web resources for women who are or planning to travel. I think it is incredible that women are prepared to give it a go. The safety issue alone is not one to be taken lightly these days and when you think about all the other components that go into living on the road, well, I just think they are incredible.
I will start to add resources that I find that are related to women and rv’ing as I find them.
This website, RVing Women is very comreshensive and well worth a look and a good one to start the ball rolling!
Because I am renovating the bus from the tyres up, it is important that I have reliable resources to use as a guide. I have been using the carbibles.com site for some time now and can highly recommend it for anyone who does any DIY on your engine. There are several sections for you to choose from which makes it easy to navigate around.
I’ve started taking a bit more interest in a GPS system which we will have on the road with us.
It seems a bit premature for us to go out and buy something now as the bus is still at least 12 months away from completion. Technology changes so quickly these days that whatever we buy now is going to be superseded pretty quickly.
But I have been researching and thought I’d share a few websites that offer reviews of all the latest models and technology enhancements that go along with GPS systems. Some of these sites offer some amazing detail.
Here’s my list so far, if you know of or run such a site, let me know and I’ll add!
I found this product recently and will be purchasing it for my bus and would like to share it with you.
As you may be aware, the crankshaft in combustion engines drives the oil pump that pressurises the lubrication system. This means that when the engine is started, no oil is present to lubricate the bearings resulting in dry bearing abrasions. The end result is that this causes engine wear, not good!
I’ve been looking around for a product that addresses this problem and think I’ve found it.
When installed, filtered oil is stored in the Accumulator tank ready to pressurise the engine oil system on the next startup, BEFORE the first revolution of the crankshaft.
Thereby completely eliminating all of the bearing wear due to dry bearing abrasion.
The manufacturer states that between 40% to 60% of total engine wear will be eliminated with the kit installed.
When I have purchased it, I will post pictures of me installing it and follow up with a review so stay tuned!
I have posted previously on just how much I love my stereo and what I have purchased to be installed in our bus.
For Christmas, my lovely daughter bought me an iPod Shuffle. There were many reasons she went with an iPod, mainly because I use an Apple Macbook which I absolutely love. They connect perfectly well with either Apple or PC so don’t think you need to go out and buy an Apple computer!. However, I highly recommend them, especially if you are new to the wonderful world of computers. They are easy to use and do not get viruses!
As I use my MP3 fairly regularly, I had started looking into how I might hook it into my car stereo. I wasn’t quite sure how much it would cost but after researching it, found several options. You can get a variety of devices in several price ranges. I am quite surprised at the amount of options available. I found that you can get products that are basic right through to some pretty sophisticated options.
As it turned out, my daughter bought me a cassette adapter for Father’s Day ($32.95 Australia) which simply plugs into the MP3 player. You then just insert the cassette into your stereo player and it plays from your MP3, simple! I am very happy with the sound. I still can’t believe the quality of sound that comes out of such a small device. They are very easy to use so don’t worry if you are new to the world of tech gadgets.
And yes, my daughter is pretty wonderful buying me all these great gadgets
I will more than likely upgrade the shuffle which is perfect for me right now to an iPod 80GB when we start traveling.
The iPod also plays video and I’m told there is a TV adapter which means I can use it when on the road..neat!
I will have access to the internet while on the road so can use the iTunes music store to purchase music as we want.
I think it is a good idea to consider buying an MP3 player if you plan on traveling or drive a lot. The thing I like the most is that we don’t need to worry about bringing along music CD’s but rather just a small MP3 player that depending on the storage capacity you have, can store anywhere up to 20,000+ songs!
This morning I asked my daughter if she happened to have any old computer hard disks laying around.
I think she was initially puzzled when I explained to her that I required the magnets from inside the disk to use on the oil filter of the bus.
The reason is that many of the parts in engines are made up of ferrous metals. When the parts begin to wear, they create small particles that float in the oil. Placing Neodymium magnets on the oil filter and sump will trap the particles.
It is then a case of when changing your oil, you can easily remove all the trapped particles.
it just gives the engine a lot longer life which is always a very good thing!
For your information, you may find the following sites of interest if you would like to try this yourself. You can buy commercial products as well but as you all know, I prefer to make my own!
Welcome to Part Four in our How To cut out rust series.
In previous posts, I detailed the rust I discovered on the back and side windows and provided a guide to removing rust. You can check out those posts by visiting the Dealing with rust section.
In Part Four, I run through the steps required to get ready for the final paint of your rust free vehicle.
At this stage I have replaced all the metal previously cut out when removing the rust. You can check Part Three for further details of how this was achieved.
First step is to use the bodyfiller or bog as I call it. I like to try and make this job as neat as possible, it makes for less work when you have to sand it back!
Follow manufacturers instructions for best results.
Leave for a minimum of 10 minutes and sand after more than 20 minutes.
Take your time sanding to ensure a neat job.
And here is the same window once all sanded down.
I have only gone down a little bit, because I will be cutting out for the oven opening. My plan is to provide a slide out oven base which I will provide details for a bit later.
I will fit the window back in place just to make sure it sits right. I will then apply an undercoat.
I have to apply putty on to take up any scratches and anything else that might be in there. Once sanded, this makes the area smooth, you then undercoat it. Then sand the undercoat again so that when you are ready for the top coats, it is nice and smooth for the finish coats.
And here is what I said earlier about trying the window in to see how it all looks. Nice!
You should remove the window now and apply the undercoat, see this post for more information on the products used
Well, I am home now and recovering nicely from knee replacement surgery. Needless to say, I am pretty keen to get back out there and start working on Our Time but I think I’ll be a few weeks away from actually being able to do anything really productive.
Before the surgery, I managed to get the frame finished and ready for the windows to be installed. It was a big job and I found more rust that I anticipated but I will sleep much easier now knowing that she is rust free!
In previous posts, I detailed the rust I discovered on the back and side windows and provided a guide to removing rust. You can check out those posts by visiting the Dealing with rust section.
This is this next part of our series on How to cut out rust, we focus on two things, firstly, don’t assume there is no rust if you see no visible signs and secondly, how to bend metal to sit nicely in your window frames. You can also see Parts 1 and 2 to learn how to prepare the rust area and creating the metal sheeting by clicking here:
At this stage, I have already measured and cut out the new metal sheets to replace the rust I have removed and have them in position. Part One – How to cut out rust will give you the background and steps involved to bend the metal.
I wanted to make sure that there was no rust on any of the window frames even though there were no visible signs. It was just as well I did check because the back rear window turned out to be ridden with rust.
You will need to pop out the window frames to check for rust and then cut out where necessary.
Even though you don’t see rust, it can be there. Here you can see that when I removed the rear window, there was actually a lot of rust.
If you want to be really sure your bus is rust free, I would strongly advise that you remove the frames and just make sure it’s free of rust!
Here is a close up showing the rust.
This is a shot of the outside of the bus after the rust has been cut out and a new metal piece replaced.
You will notice that there are a few large areas that have been cut out. This was due to extensive rust. A new plate has been made up a new plate to replace the section that was removed.
I have made up a new metal piece and have partly slotted it back into place to show you what it looks like.
The plate is now dropped into position and will be pop riveted in.
Another plate has been made to replace the outer frame.
To bend your metal piece into a curved space, use your grinder. Make a series of cuts on both sides. Position and you will be able to easily bend it to the desired curve…easy!
You can see where I have used clamps to secure into position.
I will use pop rivets as with all the other frames. But what I do is take the pin out of the rivet which leaves you with the rivet head. I then drill the holes into the frame and put that rivet in the hole, I have two hammers, one on each side of the rivet and keep hitting the other side until they squash up tight.
This is a shot of the metal set in place with the rivets.
I have used my grinder to remove all of the paint ready for finishing up.
Here you can see that iI have ground all of the paint of ready to be bogged up.
Well that’s about it for this stage. Our next post will show you how to prepare the surface for bogging and finishing up for painting.
Update!
Here is the finished product after final spray of under coat along with the names of products used for this job.
Before
After
Products used:
Here are some of the products I have used for this project.
The big tin on top is Motospray Aclac 20 Acrylic Thiner. This is what you need to thin the paint down for spraying the under coats and the final coats.
The tin under is the bog, I used Daytona Auto Bodyfiller.
The product along side is the Motospray prepwash wax and grease remover.
Next , is the MotoSpray Acrylic Primer Surfacer, which is the under-coat.
Following on is the HiChem Super Etch Primer and anti corrosive properties, you spray two coats on bare metal. The first spray should be a very fine thin coat, leave for about 5 minutes and then spray another coat over it. And then you under coat it checking that it is nice and smooth
I’ve started taking a bit more interest in a GPS system which we will have on the road with us.
I have 
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