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".