Somebody suggested "furing strips" as being an economical way of building things inside the bus. Today being a bright and sunny day, the first thing done today was to take the bus to Lowes. It really was a pleasant drive and I noticed something odd with the gauges.
Starting the engine (which started sweetly), the gauges all maxed then dropped to zero. Then neither the rev counter nor the speedometer read anything bar zero. Reversing, the rev counter flickered. Then after stopping, I fetched the fuse box a whack with my fist and the rev counter leapt into action and driving forward, the speedometer also worked. Clearly that must have something to do with the drip that has been falling on the fuse box. Mindful of that, later in the day I stood on the hood and sealed every conceivable place where water might be getting in bar sealing the roof vent.
At the store I had a list of things I wanted and whizzed around getting them all. Basically I was after plastic boards to use on the toilet floor, screws to fasten them to the floor, some white paint to paint the inside of the toilet and the inside of the kitchen cabinet. While I was there, having sanded the floor, it makes sense now to stain it so stain went into the basket.
Ages ago, browsing the store I'd seen plastic planking sold as vinyl siding. It was over an inch thick, eight wide and twelve feet long. Being rot proof, it sounded ideal for the toilet and shower floors. Something that sounds good as it's rot proof. It was devilishly expensive at $50 for a single plank but if it works, it's good. I also got some foaming sealant to spray around the gaps on the leaky window.
Returning from Lowes, not really feeling like doing much, I worked on the floor where I'd removed the rotted plywood. There were several screws that had refused solidly to come out even with the aid of an electric screwdriver. Most succumbed to the power of a pair of pliers. A couple didn't come out even then and met the angle grinder. Huge showers of sparks flew into piles of sawdust which I was very glad did not cause a fire.
Then, sweeping the rubbish off the floor, I noticed the door sill looked rusty. As it was plastered with silicone adhesive, that had to be pulled away and while that was being pulled away, the tarry paper I'd noticed on the floor came up. This revealed a rubberized coating which was the original Carpenter floor. Thus all the paper that wasn't covered by plywood was pulled up.
The rust was dealt with via a steel brush in the drill and then a squirt of Rustoleum Rust Converter. When that was dried, I cut the plastic plank into 3 four foot lengths and had an inch left over. The plank must have been longer than 12 feet which is excellent news. Having done that, I tried spraying foam sealant in the window gaps and the stuff just dribbled and made a hell of a mess instead of foaming. I get this with that DaptX stuff. So far it has worked well about 10% of the time. The rest of the time it just makes a terrible mess. I'm hoping it's a temperature thing. Maybe when the weather's warmer, it'll work better.
I had a fancy to put the bath in situ which I did and then felt like putting up some curtains over the kitchenette windows. The curtains were cut from a shower curtain. Being presented with the shower curtain to trim, the lady in my life looked at it and exclaimed how cheap and nasty the curtain was. There's a backstory behind that curtain of course. That was originally purchased to put with the toilet for the photo for State Farm (the bad neighbor). After State Farm welshed on the RV insurance, I had no need for the cheap dollar store shower curtains.
Having cut the curtains, I taped them into place much to the chagrin of the lady in my life. Basically, with all the reflective and plastics on the kitchen countertop I just wanted to have something to diffuse the sunlight so it didn't start fires.. It also made me feel more as though I'm getting somewhere with my bus.
Next week I want to complete the toilet and get started on the bathroom. Then I will work on the bedroom before finally the dinette.
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