Time sure flys when you are having fun

It's been too long between posts, I know but the camera batteries died and I had to get some.

Well I have gotten a good bit done but it seems to take so much longer to do anything than you would ever think. Any way I have gotten all of the roof work done, two new fantastic vents, they fully automatic and will even close if it starts to rain. I...Stephen checked the rooftop AC and got it running. 32yrs old and works perfectly, all the right pressure and temps, works like a new one at none of the cost. What more could I ask for. Well I resealed the AC and middle vent and will reseal the plumbing vents when they get installed.

I removed the fresh water tank, cleaned, insulated and added a tank heater just in case of extreme cold on some far off mountain. Now that the tanks are clean and empty, frame rails are treated with a rust converter/primer I am ready to spray in the insulation. I'm just waiting on one 2" heater hose for the waste tank drain valves, as soon as it gets here I can spray. I hope it's here tomorrow.

Ohh I almost forgot I installed the roof top Satellite dish, It is so cool. 2000 channels of nothing!

Well more to come sooner Than later.

By for now,

Rick

The Light starts to shine through

Hello all, Well it's finally up, the floor that is. I am now ready to treat the frame rails with a rust converter. Lucky for me there is only surface rust, not one badly rusted spot on the whole trailer. Unbelievable for a 32yr. old camper. I hope to be spraying in the insulation by Monday.

I think the fun stuff is about to begin, the rebuilding part should be much more enjoyable than the Demolition..... I mean the painful removal of everything without breaking anything fun.......

OK so now I am going to got to Scott's house for Survivor Night.... Beer and Food.

I hope everyone has a wonderful evening.

Rick

Thanks to my Great Friends

I would like to take a moment to THANK THANK THANK my great friends Scott and Ross Shaheen, both really great guys, for letting me use their shop to work on the Tin Can.
Without them this job would be unbearable. They deserve more than I could ever repay them for their selfless generosity. If any one in the Piedmont area of NC. ever needs Commercial or residential Refrigeration work you must call them at Cary Refrigeration in Raleigh, NC.

A big thanks to Both of their family's too.

A special thanks goes to Wendy shaheen for letting Scott hang with me so much and for putting up with me at your house all the time.

And last but definitely not least, I want to thank my Mom and Dad for letting me come home wile I prepare for my Epic Journey. Thank you for Everything!!!!!!

A big thanks to all of my friends for being there for me.

I toast you all now with a big ice cold beer!!!!!!!!

Hell in a Tin Can

There is hell in a Tin Can! It's trying to remove the plywood floor!!!!

After first trying all kinds of tools and brute force, I tried to use brains over brawn. I know I'm short on both but I finaly overcame with the pictured Scary Tool.... It is a 5 1/2 inch Circular saw blade modified to fit on a Roto Zip tool. Nice and safe I tell ya! It works like a charm, just scares the shit out of you when it jumps up.

You see the floor is attached at the sides with carriage bolts dropped in from the top and then they bent the bolts over so the nuts could never come off. (so nice of them) So you have to cut the floor close enough to the sides to be able to get a cutoff tool in to cut the carriage bolts in the middle. That way you can pull the bolt head up and knock the bolts down and out. Luckily there are only about 40 to 50 of the ones around the edges. All of the middle of the trailer floor is scewed down with large phillips flat decking screws, unfortunately they are all seized in place. Ross Shaheen (long time friend) gave me a great Idea for getting the floor out aaround these. He told me to use a hole saw, cut around the screw head and out will come the floor. Then it is really easy to get the little circles of plywood up from the screws and cut or break the screws out. This works like a charm. So now that I have figured out the right tools and process, the job is starting to go well.

One more day of floor removal and I will move on to insulation prep. I will probably install the new roof vents and satalite dish befor spraying in the insulation.

More to come soon,

Rick

Allmost there

Well now I'm almost done with Stripping out of the trailer, just the floor left.

I'm starting to wonder what kind of moron dose this much to a perfectly good camper?????

This is, Oh My God a lot of DIRTY DIRTY work!!!
I hope the putting back together work is better than this.

I'm now only about a day behind where I thought I would be, but I did spend all of Tuesday researching and ordering parts. In the end I guess I'm not really behind, I hope.

Otherwise life is pretty good the knee is not giving me too much trouble now, I still just want to get it fixed ASAP. That means I must get this trailer done. I'm hoping to be done some time close to the first or second week of Nov. I know that's a tall order, but I think it's possible. Anyway I hope everyone out there is doing well.

Everyone take care,

Rick

TIn Can Stripping

Before and after of the Galley and Head.

Once I have the entire Can stripped, walls and all, I will re insulate with a total of R21 insulation in the walls, ceiling and underbelly. I plan on spending next winter in the best skiing mountains I can find!

So far I have found only two very small spots in the floor with any rot, not bad for a 32 year old trailer. I did however find where the grey water drains from the sink and shower had come apart at a rubber coupling. I don't think that it has been used very much because it has not done any damage that I can find. Very lucky for me!

More to come soon. I think I will be able to add more posts now that I am settling into a Work/Sleep/Work mode.

Well enough play time, it's back to work for me.

Rick

The Big Move

Well, allot has happened since we last talked. I finished getting my house in Asheville ready for the sale and move. Wow moving is such a pian, I had three trips with moving van, car and two trucks, but I finally finnished. After all the stress of moving and the bad knee I neede a quick trip to the parents beach house for a couple of days of R&R.

The beach was fantastic, quiet and stress free! I did nothing but sit and relax, drink a couple of beers and ride the golf cart around the Island.

Well since then I have moved back to Raleigh, NC. I am staying at my parents townhouse while I am working on the "Tin Can". The stripping out process is in full swing and I should be to the re-building stage in another week.

9/17/07 First entry into Tin Can Blog

Well, now from the beginning. It all started six months ago with the mutual decision for my wife and I to divorce. Very sad but just what had to be. Anyway I digress, after trying to find (not successfully) affordable housing in the great city of Asheville, NC, It being ridicules housing prices and all, I had to make a decision.(run on I know) I finally decided to take an early retirement, so to speak. I figured why not go on that ultimate road trip now wile I'm still young and able enough to enjoy all of life's activity's that I love. "Moutain biking, Snow Skiing, Backpacking, generally all outdoor stuff and of course BEER!!" I didn't wan to wait and retire at seventy and be to worn out to do the things I love.

The planning begins. where will I live what will I do?
Live in a travel trailer of course. Work odd jobs for extra cash. Sounded reasonable to me.
To make a vary long and boring story short, I looked and Looked at every travel trailer known to man and found that they were ether too small or too expensive, too old or too new.
Then I started to look at the older Air Stream Trailers, not only were they available but at reasonable prices for what you get. By comparison a one year old 28 foot travel trailer was about $17,000 and a 32 year old Air Stream was only $ 3,200. I know what a difference you say! Well believe it or not, the Air stream was built so well that it is structurally better than any of the newer trailers that I looked at.

The Tin Can:
1976 Manufactured 09/1975
31 foot Sovereign International
(pictures to follow soon)

The trailer is pretty much all original except for carpet and curtains. Most everything functions pretty well. I have just started to get into it now.

The Plan:

1. Sell house, Quit Job (done)
2. Fix, repair, and modify trailer to fit my needs. (started 8/25/07)
3. Leave and enjoy a year to two year journey to wherever life takes me. (starting TBD)

The setback:

I tempted fate by looking into an old dead bee box only to discover wasps were using it for building materials. Needless to say they came after me and I ran like a scaredy cat. Bad move, about the third or forth step I went one way and my knee went the other. Long hobble to car and longer drive to hospital. Well one completely destroyed ACL, partial tear in the MCL and a torn Meniscus later I am making slight changes to the "Plan"

The New Plan:

1. Fix, Repair and or Modify trailer to suit my needs. (Restart on 9/28/07)
2. Fix, Repair and or Modify knee to suit my needs. (after trailer is done, Month to month and a half)
3. Leave when knee is good enough for driving four hours o more.

Thats all for now.

Rick