Why I won't be ready for the $2020 Challenge

I failed to get a good daylight shot of the bus in its new home. I spent most of my remaining daylight after work scrubbing road grime off the driver's side of the bus and answering questions from fascinated neighbors.

It is, indeed, still white under all that mess.

And here's what she looks like in the light of dusk. The road runs a couple hundred yards south to a nice big lake. We have nobody on our east side, which is nice, although we get a LOT of afternoon sun. I'll be in this spot until 1 April, then I'm in the drawing for a long-term site (shadier).

Regarding the trip:

1220 miles.

Top speed - 74mph.

Lost 12 gallons of coolant, added 2 quarts of oil.

Averaged about 9mpg.

Broken stuff inside the bus (not the mechanical failures) - 1 pint glass. Really. That was it.

We've had a good time. Building it. Touring in it. Hasn't all been fun, but overall.

I won't post too much here for awhile, going to start class in a week and won't have much to talk about even if I had enough time, but I will poke my head back in every couple months and give a progress update and any thoughts on living full-time in a bus.

Lois like a great spot. Enjoy bus life! 

Finished washing the especially grungy driver's side and back of the bus. Between the nice weather and us being visible, we got lots of interest in the bus. We were universally gently apologetic for the state of the paint and the greasiness.

Unfortunately, we also attracted the attentions of the camp host and the park management, who have a pretty strict list of rules. No tiny homes, all units must be clean and in good condition. The park manager atopped and spoke with us briefly yesterday while we were finishing scrubbing the road residue and wanted to confirm the classification of the vehicle; is it classified legally as an RV, and which class? I think we defused that successfully, but in the interest of not toeing the line too much, we decided to use my wife's last afternoon in town hitting the paint hard.

Pictures to follow, wife took them on her camera and hasn't sent them yet.

Edit: pictures.

Before:

And after:

Got real sunburned doing it, but the exposed driver's side looks WAY better than it did. I'll finish the passenger side this week and paint the trim this weekend, pending weather.

Working nights, I can't offer any elbow grease, but I've got room for you to work on it, if ya need. Have to lay on red clay and gravel to get under it, and the places it fits might not have much shade from the heat, but you'd be out of their suspiscious eyes! Also have a compact electric sprayer you can borrow, and prolly can find my flow through brush.

I was at one camp that expected you to have you camper washed every week, but would not let you wash it your self. but would let ya hire someone to come in and wash it. And yes, they would hand you the number of "someone" that would do that!... I have to admit, that couple did do a great job.

Looks good all cleaned up!

Looks great! 

Yeah, it looks really good. Nice job.

JohnInKansas said:

Before:

And after:

I have to say, when you do the trim with the blue paint, it's going to help hide a LOT of the dirt.  It's looking sharp!

In reply to 03Panther :

I think I'm set for paint and such, that's just going to be time at this point, and I have the tools I need to get it done more or less below radar.

If you have any insider info on a place I could powerwash/degrease the undercarriage, I'd be interested. I still have the last remnants of the tappet cover leakage drooling off the front left corner and it sucks trying to keep wiping the drips and using oil dry to soak up the mess so I don't get fined at check-out. Seems like most of the car washes are too small and the truck washes mostly seem kind of shady... Happy to do the dirty work myself, and already have the degreaser, just need the pressure and a place I can make a mess on the pavement.

In reply to Greg Smith :

We were real self-conscious about how dirty it was coming off the road, but Mrs. InKansas took a walk through the park with a critical eye out, and we aren't the only ones with not great paint and road dirt stains.

The site we're in is kind of a double edged sword. On the one hand, it is the first site as you enter the park and gets plenty of sun during the day so the ugly bits are pretty visible. On the other hand, it is at the edge of the park, so only one side is visible to others. 

I'm in this site until the 30th, then I move somewhere else (where more than likely both sides will be visible). Goal is to have the driver's side trim done this weekend, and the passenger's side before I have to move.

Got this far yesterday. First coats are depressing, the coverage is never as good as you'd like. Second coat will be better. Even still, it doesn't look streaky from 20 feet.

The blue trim is gonna look great. 

I do have a connection, or did. If he still has his steam cleaner working. Jack has a shop over on County Road 9, bout half way to Dothan. I'll take ya by and introduce; another old school diesel guy. 

Beautiful day for painting. 

Unfortunately, had to get my eyes dilated this morning so the flight doc could peek around inside my head, which meant I really wished it wasn't so sunny.

Used up most of a roll of masking tape and not quite a quart of paint on the top two stripes on this side. Think I'm gonna need some more paint and tape before I isolate myself for the weekend.

Not sure I like the big center stripe. Something looks off. Maybe because the widths of the alternating bands are similar? I've committed, so I'll live with it for awhile.

You might be right on the alternating bands, but I wouldn't have even noticed. And, I think, There is enough to break up the bottom. Looking good

In reply to JohnInKansas :

Wait till the tape is off. I think it will grow on you. Looks great to me! (Is that Rust-Oleum Royal Blue?)

Also, I think the front bumper would benefit from the "blue trim" treatment as well.

In reply to Greg Smith :

It is Rustoleum Royal Blue. 

Heading to Lowes to get more of everything. Tape, paint, thinner. Going to try to get the drivers side done this weekend and maybe start on the passenger side.

Second coat on, tape off. Its growing on me. Wife likes it. Neighbors seem to like it.

Unfortunately:

Noticed the floor was damp right inside the bathroom door. Given the slope of the site, toilet didn't make sense, so I pulled the wall. Wet insulation below the shower valve. Leaking from the cartridge, and sure as E36 M3, cartridge is cracked. Balls.

No water until I can find one and get it fixed. Why didn't I put in some isolator valves?

Hindsight is a cruel mistress.

In reply to JohnInKansas :

Could you just cap those two lines and fire up the rest of the system until you find that cartridge?

In reply to TRoglodyte :

Could have, but still would have required a trip to the big hardware store, and for a little more money than a mail-order cartridge, I got another shower valve/handle/head kit. Actually worked out, because in addition to the old cartridge being broken, the brass cap on the bottom of the valve was split, so I was able to replace that by robbing from the new parts.

Holds water again. Running the fan on the inside of the wall to dry everything out as best I can before I put the panel back up.

Must have had some residual water in the valve last time it froze and its been leaking slow enough I'm just now noticing?

Are you closer to the gate in Daleville, or enterprise? The Builders Cash n Carry in Daleville at 84 are good folks. Box store better for the faucet for sure, but for fittings and hardware, might be as close? Less hours, though. 

If needed after hours, I have lots of fittings, hardware, electrical, and wood. 50/50 chance I could help!

In reply to 03Panther :

I'm not sure which is closer, I'm at the lake just inside the Ozark Gate. For the time being. Nice place, good atmosphere, but they stopped accepting the Natl Parks Pass for a 25% discount, so the prices are on the high side of what I'd like.

Also, before Mrs. InKansas went back to KS, she convinced me to shell out for a portable AC unit. We get full sun on our current site starting at about 10am and running through about 5pm. With all those windows, the bus gets good and warm. The AC keeps it cool-ish. Ran an extension cord up through the hole where the propane comes through for the stove so I'm not over-working my battery system. I move sites in a week to a much shadier spot, so it should be a little less of an issue.

Got started painting the passenger side trim yesterday evening, I'll see how far I can get this afternoon.

The old southern houses had those large porches on the south side so that the windows were shaded from the sun.  Maybe an awning on that side would help cut down on the heat?

In reply to Stampie :

Absolutely. We looked into aftermarket RV awnings, but they are out of the price range we have available in the short term. Would need almost 20 feet to take care of one side of the living room. If I remember right, the budget option for a 10 or 12 footer was in the $1500+ range. 

This is mostly an issue at the moment because current site is ori2nted north-south. Moving into a shady east-west next Tuesday, so should significantly reduce exposure.

But yeah, I can see some awnings in our future. Or window tint. Or both.

What about an easily collapsed (storm) pvc and billboard tarp awning? Shade, light weight, cheap, easily stored. 

Knuckled under this weekend and got busy painting. This is 4 hours yesterday and about 8 today. Needs a second coat on everything except the bottom row. And then touch-ups after the tape comes off.