Friday night we rolled in like ghosts and loaded up, eight--yes, eight!--tires into our Toyota Camry to try to squeeze them in with an oil change. It was only $25 per tire to swap them out and balance them! (Also I learned what it means to balance a tire, lol.) The wheels were too old for the place to guarantee the tires for warranty purposes, but they put new valve stems on there and they look 100.
Peter finished bolting the shocks into place with the tires off and successfully made his own washer using a fat titanium drill bit. (Glad I did not see that project in process!) While the tires were off, he used some Rust Reformer paint to hit the exposed frame in that area--the steel was in great shape already, but some extra protection is good for peace of mind.
I spent some time with the wire brush on the drill trying to polish up the hubcaps and they are 90% of the way there, save for some stubborn spots. Now that the wheels, axles, and shocks are all set, and the jack still works, we can tow this thing to the welder to get that one outrigger fixed! (Okay, after the brakes get wired in and we replace our taillights--still flummoxed.)
Inside the rig, I worked on prepping the walls while Peter (and Amanda, thank the Lord!) worked on the back end cap. It is a thing of beauty to watch them work together--they are in sync, Amanda can anticipate what Peter will need handed to him next, they see the same problems and speak the same language, and also, she never skips arm day--she is strong!
It made me feel bad for a sec--the wife who will never be as helpful as the sister--but I was cheered to think that he still chooses to let me partner with him in this project and takes the time to teach me things even though this doesn't exactly come naturally to me.
So I took some Bondo and patched empty rivet holes, small rips, and places where the vinyl had peeled away from the aluminum. In some spots I used heaps of the stuff, which mean sanding it down took foreverrrrr, but I was pleased with the end effect. I also continued my battle to scrape paint off from around the front windows and doors, as well as the door frame. Like I wish I knew what primer they had used for that first facelift painting, because it will not budge!
The back end cap looks so nice. Peter used a thicker gauge for the height of the curve and for the center piece, and the original gauge for those two pieces on either side. A compromise for weight and strength. Each slice ended up with more like 9" width instead of the 11" in the front end cap, and so the middle piece is 2'. But it looks tight, strong, and symmetrical, and the fact that it doesn't "match" the look of the front end cap shouldn't matter since the view of it will be interrupted by the bathroom wall.
Fewer electrical probs this time around, too. We only used one power tool at a time plugged into the trailer outlets, and compressor stayed plugged in to the house. We plugged into the living room outlet instead of the outside GFCI outlet. Surge protector did the same thing where it blocked power to the system, but after a few minutes it self-corrected and started working fine. And the battery charged!
We bought some Zinsser Bullseye 1-2-3 Primer, painter's tape, and some self-etching primer at the end of the weekend. Now we just need to figure out how to support the wires in the ceiling and squeeze insulation in there, and we can hopefully close the ceiling up and prime that ish. Also, patches.
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