Is this the end?

It certainly looks like the end of the road for my cheap Walmart microwave. I count 5 bullet holes in its carcass. Seriously, how can Walmart sell junk like this? After a little over 2 years use the bottom of the microwave inside was very rusty. It lay idle in a dry location for a further 2 years then when I set to cleaning it up, the pan had holes in it under the paint. No wonder every time I cooked, the countertop was covered in nasty looking water.

Today was one of those days when little was accomplished. Mostly that was because I am not really all that well. I didn't go to Lowes (hurrah). I did trim a little of the excess steel from the fridge to make some blanks to cover the apertures under the top front flashers. I started that a little late in the day and despite a spectacular mishap that went to show why only fools would take the guard off an angle grinder, I managed to cut two rectangles of steel.

Once I'd cut the steel, I ground the rusty bits back to clean steel then sprayed both sides with zinc paint. The zinc spray can started dripping and dribbling paint which was annoying but on the other hand this is exctly why I do prefer a brush and pot of paint. There's just no point in wasting a 65c brush for a little bit of painting though. Spray cans are handy for quick, small touch ups and that's about it. I decided on rectangles on the basis that they're easier and faster to cut. As long as they're mounted in the right places, they should have a balanced look. I'll have to trim the top outer corners to match the curve of the roof and I'll have to trim and indentation for the CB aerial. Other than that, the steel should be fine as it is.

As the paint was drying I turned my mind to the rear turn signals and switched one of the lenses over so that unlike the right turn signal, the left now has no arrow. It didn't improve matters. I suspect the bulb could be the problem in the left turn signal. It just seems dimmer than the right turn signal.

By the way, the right turn signal is a completely new unit that I installed last year as is the right hand reversing light. I'll have to replace the bulb to see if it improves matters. Really and truly it doesn't matter to me whether the lens has an arrow on it or not. I just hoped I could make it brighter. So, it looks like a new bulb but I won't stop there. I'll see if I can get some of that silver reflective Christmas wrapping plastic foil and fit it inside each of the light assemblies to improve the amount of light coming from them. These things just aren't visible enough for my liking in daylight.

By the time the light began to go, the paint on my steel plates was not fully dry so I put them inside the bus. I would have liked to have installed them today rather than leaving tape over one of the apertures. Having said that, there's always next weekend and the tape should keep rain out.

I looked at the ground beside the bus. That'll need a good clean up when I finish working on the bus. I have a feeling I'll spend an afternoon picking up trash from the yard! The plan for the big piece of fridge is to cover the lower door window aperture at the back of the bus. I'll have one piece that I'll trim to weld into the aperture. Once that's welded, I'll fill the space behind it with closed cell insulating foam then either use rivnuts and screw a sheet of steel over the inside of the door or rivet a sheet of steel there. On the whole, I think rivnuts make more sense as it allows me to perform maintainance if needed. I just hope I can make my welds waterproof.

I am very disappointed with the amount done today. I know I have overdone it today. I know I overdid it yesterday too. I wanted to go to Lowes to get my final plumbing part. I wanted to put two stop nuts on each bolt for each barrel. I wanted to plumb the shower barrel in fully. I'm still looking at plumbing the handbasin. I just hope I can get everything completed by the end of the month. My dad was griping that I hadn't completed it by April of last year, which was my original completion goal! I think my original target was a little ambitious given that I had so much to learn and that I'm such a perfectionist.

Let there be a place to stick it!

There is a photo of progess so far. The power inlet cover is in place. The grey doesn't match the grey of the bus but there is something I have in my possession that will resolve this - a paintbrush and a pot of paint. "A paintbrush" I hear you exclaim! Well, yes - a paintbrush - because spray cans contain so little actual paint and I have at least 3 or 4 lying around that represent about $20 - $30 of money wasted because the nozzzles won't allow paint out. Even switching nozzles has no perceivable effect. Spray cans are handy for quick touch-ups but only as long as you can use the entire can in one session. A paintbrush and a pot of paint is far less sexy but works far better and costs far less.

As you can see,the breaker box is lying on the ground, still attached to the cable coming through the floor of the bus. If you remember, I buggered up the inlet box that I was going to use on the back of the inlet - behind the skirt - the other day by snapping off two screws in the threaded holes. That was me just not thinking and using an electric screwdriver. Had I used the manual screwdriver I was too tired to find, this would not have happened.

Looking at the point where the cable enters the bus, I rivetted a steel plate around the area. As I installed that with a hand riveter and aluminium rivets while being unable to see what I was doing because of the hillbilly compartment that is now not in existence, that went a bit cockeyed. I'll see about drilling out those aluminum rivets and redoing that entry point. I rather think that replacing the rivets with screws might be a better solution. Instead of using rivets, to use rivnuts and screws. Of couse I'll have to use 10-24 rather than my preferred M5 screws on the basis that America is not all that good at metric stuff. I'll also have to use thread lock or silicone goop to ensure the bolts don't vibrate loose when I'm driving. I'd wondered why the area above felt cold and drafty. Now I know - there's airflow though my badly fitted plate. I can fix that though!