Getting Closer, closer... wait a minute.

As we get that much closer to the start of our trip all those leftover items needing attention are still needing attention. Between working late each nite at the office and still trying to find time to pay the bills AND have something to buy gas and food for the trip all the while stealing time to do the last-minute repairs to the Tioga is getting crazy.

The parts I ordered came in and Richard and I wrapped up recharging the retrofit A/C system in the cab. We bought an retrofit fitting kit (R12 to R134) the oil and cans of refrigerant. After figuring out which side was the low pressure side and not goofing up how tight to install the new fittings we had COLD A/C for a bit only to have Richard tell me, "Hey Dad, there's a hissing sound from the grill." He was right. One of the hoses for the A/C has a small split far enough from the end that just cutting and reclamping won't work. So, it's onto the search for this 1/2" ID refrigerant hose. Guess what? No one around Geneva has this stuff! Come on now!

After managing to get the 1977 A/C system to blow cold, we blow a hose. Guess it could have been worse and it's not a difficult fix.

I also managed to get a couple of used batteries from the local parts store to use as the off-grid power system. This weekend I hope to get all the cables done up and installed so we have that ready to go as well. Gotta have that Dometic Fridge working! I'll be doing a 3 battery setup as that's really all the room I have in the old generator compartment. One battery will be borrowed from the old Camry wagon for the trip.

This is definitely LOW BUDGET RV'ing. Scrape, find free stuff, fix it yourself, fix it again, Craigslist, Ebay and way to make it work. This thing will be a palace by the time I'm done! More later with pics from the "Repair Shop".

The Very Preliminary Road Trip Map

This is the large version of the potential road trip this August! Yikes! While we do reserve the right to change course on the trip this is the basic route we are planning. It takes us away from some of the interstates and any typical "theme park" type entertainment but we are looking to see the natural wonders of our great USA and some really tacky tourist traps along the way... oh, and really GOOD BBQ! Suggestions welcome!

New Tires and getting Road Ready

We picked up the Long Hauler from Nolt's on Saturday and brought her back home for some further fixes and upgrades. Some of these involve the electrical system. I know, it's shocking isn't it? (moans from the peanut gallery).

 These are the CHEAP LED ceiling lights that actually are pretty nice! Got a 6 pack off of Amazon for about $30! Can't beat that!

 This is a replacement WFCO Power Center. It's an upgrade from the original 30 amp setup (it wouldn't even run the rooftop A/C unit so why was it even in the RV?) so we have 55 amps of potential power when plugged in. The fuses and breakers are also new and safer than the old ones. Below is a shot of the old ceiling lights, rotted, cracked, hot and not very efficient.

The 1977 RV has all incandescent lighting so I decided fro the price to just swap out ALL the interior lights which were falling apart anyway with these cheap LED units. Gotta say that they really work great, run cool and sap only a fraction of the power that the old lights did! I even replaced the dome light in the cab because even that had some honking big light bulb in it. I have to say that Amazon is becoming my go-to place to order stuff for the Tioga. There is stuff on there that's unbelievable and hard to find. The power center will replace the old, tired and half-working one. The charging and battery power option just isn't working anymore and I can't trust my family trip to "oh well, don't plan on using anything in the RV until we plug in somewhere." approach.