The weekend and the mechanic

This weekend, not much that was planned got done. The mechanic from work visited but more to have a nose around than to do major work. He did switch my alternator belt out. The one in the bus was old and cracked. The new one by Dunlop is good but not recommended for high mileage as they tend apparently to snap.

The other thing done was to investigate the non functioning wiper. It seems that the wiper switch isn't that good and might need replacement. The wiper motor doesn't work. The relay for the switch was 15A while the relays on the other switches were all 20A. Accessing the motor was a matter of disassembling the right hand side of the dashboard. Included with that was the rerouting of the cables for my door opener.

The wiper blade wouldn't move after the motor had been uncoupled. The pivot had seized. Despite oil, it didn't budge and just snapped off. Clearly I need to start hunting for replacement parts.

Throughout his walk through of my bus, the mechanic said that what I'd built was solid and well secured and should stand up to some heavy front impact without shifting. He, of course, would have done things differently but that was from personal preference rather than anything else. He was impressed by my solar ventilation which cycled on and off while he was there.

The steering wheel and my knee meet when transferring from acellerator to brake. It was suggested that the brake pedal be adjusted on account of its being a lot higher than the acellerator. The mechanic spoke about tools being needed that he didn't have with him. I looked later and it seems to be something I can adjust myself by adjusting the push rod. In the meantime I lowered the driver's seat a notch. It does make a positive difference and judging from the lack of paint under the nut on the highest setting where the seat had been, nobody had ever adjusted the seat!

Accidentally, I pulled the seat bottom off. It took forever to get it back in place. When I eventually figured out that one of the attachments was bent and straightened it, it clipped nicely into place.

I had hoped the mechanic would do a lot more but this was his weekend. He works as a mechanic all week and does deserve time away from mechanical stuff. I think I'm going to end up learning a lot about mechanics. I could do with a Haynes manual for my bus, particularly the engine.

Still left to do and this is the short list from inside the bus...
Install the main breaker box
Install two guards over the two rear windows beside the back door.

Underneath the bus.
Add two more chains for each existing barrel, using my newly made mounts.
Work out what the strange thing on the drive shaft is. That might involve getting the numbers off it and looking them up.

Now I have a windscreen wiper to work on. What a pain that is! I'm going to have to check to see if the gearbox on the wiper motor is good or not as the motor is available separately. It could just be that the motor is jammed by a stalled gearbox.

I've been advised to check the kingpins on the front wheels by jacking up one side and pulling the wheel to see if it rocks. It seems I'll need a 20 ton jack. I have reservations about how much weight I can put on the sandy soil here. Indeed, after fixing the wiper and working out whether the strange thing on the propshaft is anything to bother about.

I still have to retitle the bus.