Pictures of the progress

Here are some pictures of the closest area where the second leak was hiding.

Problem #1...& 2...& 3...

Sweet, I keep finding problems to fix. It's like I own an RV or something! Most are pretty straight forward things but I could use some advice from the RV community on how to deal with the exhaust manifold (See below).

The prep work for this weekend's first camping trip has created plenty of opportunities to know where small issues are likely hiding within Fandango. The water line to the brooken pump was easy enough to cap and the water lines around that area are not showing any leaks.

What that did do was allow for the pressure to hold and locate a second leak. The good news is that while I consider Fandango to be very structurally sound, there is always some small hole somewhere that will allow water to pass through and you will just see it dripping on the ground. I was in the middle of testing the hot water heater when I saw water dripping on the rear tire. I crawled under and there was water seeping from a small opening on the underbelly. It looked like it may be something pretty serious since it was underneath the hot water tank but that just gave me a chance to go inside the rear closet that holds the hot water tank and notice it was actually coming from a pipe which ran past the tank and up into the bathroom sink. I will take some pictures later but removing just a few screws from the inside of the hall closet allows access to the underside of the bathroom sink. The problem was just a loose fitting connecting the water line to the sink. It is a tight fit in there so it was probably not installed with enough patience. It also confirmed my thought about how relatively easy it would be to replace the bathroom sink. The knob to turn on the shower head is really tight and not easy to use so I figured that would be a future project. Now I know the degree of difficulty which is no worse than my sink in my bathroom at home.

OK, time for the rookie mistake. The shower drain clogged and started to fill the floor of the bathroom while I was working on Fandango this week. I had been turning the water on in the sinks a couple of times but how that would clog the shower drain seemed really strange to me. I could easily see the holding tank was empty and the drain plumbing is a very short path. There is a trap there too and nothing has gone down it other than a very small amount of water. I started to look at putting a snake down it but I crawled underneath first to see if it was an easy connection to just remove and clean out. That is when I realized the kitchen sink, bathroom sink and shower drain (everything but the toilet) is upstream to the sewage tank shutoff valve. Yes, I only have one tank, not gray and black. I stared at that a bit, wondering why you would want that configuration and I realized this keeps the oder from the tank from drifting back up into the cabin. So I just pulled the valve and everything flushed into the tank. OK, I hope you veterans got a kick outta that one. I know I felt a bit silly but the good news is I did not start ripping things apart and did a proper flow of troubleshooting.

Now the really frustrating and fairly concerning part. As I kinda expected, the exhaust manifold installation is going to be a challenge. I am still waiting on a gasket for the manifold to arrive at my auto parts store but even they are not sure if it is the right part. I went ahead and stopped by my mechanic's shop to see if they had tips. I say my mechanic but it is actually the same company as my mechanic but they have a separate heavy truck shop. My regular mechanic is absolutely great but he said the truck shop needs to work on it. So I walk up to the front desk at the truck shop, holding my replacement exhaust manifold. I told him what I had going on and the first words out of the truck shop's mouth was, "We no longer do any exhaust work on RV's." I knew this can be a tricky job since the bolts rust and things can snap off when trying to replace old exhaust manifolds. Apparently that has happened a lot at this shop and some customers were shocked when it cracked a head or required more labor than they thought. So, unless I suck it up and spend way too much money at an RV maintenance facility (I guess they'll do it), I will get to take a shot at replacing the manifold...IF I ever find the gaskets. Like I mentioned above, I am open to suggestions from the community.

The hot water heater is not lighting either but I have not had a chance to really look at it. The stove does light so there is propane in my tanks. I just cannot hear, see or smell anything coming out of the gas line in the hot water heater. I will take another crack at that when it is dusk and I may be able to see the pilot a bit better.

Well, all of those things aside, we are still looking on track to have a fun weekend camping. The family is getting excited.

Preparing for the Maiden Voyage

This is when I am supposed to say, "Sorry for taking so long between posts but boy things sure do get busy in the fall, heh-heh." I think everyone knows that September, October and November is Tailgating Season so there is not exactly time available to work on other things. If I was not tailgating, I was getting kitchen renovations done. Well enough of that, it is time for Fandango's first real trip so there are some key things that I need to take care of this week.

The first thing to attack this week is something that I really should have taken care of during the fall but I fell into the trap of being busy with other things. I bought Fandango with a hole in one of the exhaust manifolds. The previous owner was nice enough to locate a replacement manifold as part of the purchase. My current challenge is finding gaskets for the manifold. It is a 1972 Dodge 413 M300/M600 manifold which is not the most common part to find 30+ years later. The auto parts stores do think they may have found it in another town so we will see later this week when I go pick them up. If anyone has advice on where to find these parts, I do plan on buying some spares now for when I need to fix it again a few years from now.

I also have found my first "big" problem that needs to be fixed. I was rechecking all of my features, etc. in Fandango and I found a water leak in the city water hookup. This is an older water system that has the intake go straight into the holding tanks. The water pump is designed to pump air into the top of the tank and push water out if I am not connected to a water hook up. Well, there is a water leak somewhere inside that pressure switch on the old pump. I have two pictures attached. The small red box is the switch and water is leaking from inside. I am going to just cap the water line for now since I will be camping with water hook ups this weekend but unless I can find some old spare parts, I may be spending some holiday time updating my water system with a modern on-demand pump.

Well, the good news is I have cleaned up the inside of Fandango, will shampoo the carpets this week, we have most of our camping gear and are close to being ready for this weekend. I will add a post or two this week with my progress. Wish us luck!

I would like to introduce our "new" 1972 Winnebago Indian

After months of research on Craig's List, E-bay and other various web sites we have found the family camper. On Friday, September 5th, "Fandango", the family Winnebago entered our world!

How did we get to this point? I grew up camping and prior to the past ten years or so, I previously spent almost all of my vacations camping. When I say camping, I mean no RV's, no cars, packing everything into your backpack and hiking to places where the family station wagon cannot reach. I have never owned an RV and I never thought I would join the world of campers, RV's or motor homes.

With that in mind, you are likely wondering why someone who spent his youth and early adulthood backpacking would want an RV. Well, like many people, I am married now and have a growing family. It dawned on me that I have not been camping much at all in the past ten years and I would like to make sure my daughter gets to experience the outdoors as much as possible. We do take our pontoon boat out a lot so my thought was to combine my two favorite activities - go camping and and take the boat with us most of the time. The RV gives a good basecamp with real shelter, A/C, bath, etc. and I can start teaching basic camping skills to my young family. I have numerous friends who also own boats and some who have also added RV's to their bag of tricks. It has become clear to me this is an optimal way to get the family out to more parks and have a great mix of boating, hiking and camping.

So here it is! We found a 1972 Winnebago Indian for sale on Craig's List. I have always been a fan of "old school" designs and there is definitely truth in the saying, "they just do not make things like they used to." The previous owners of this Winnebago are skilled mechanics who have their own shop. The interior is still the original material with functional A/C, fridge, stove, bathroom, Onan ganerator, etc. We are really happy to find a motorhome that has received so much TLC which has allowed it to keep its character.

Why "Fandango"? Any true Austinite and UT alum that is skilled in classic movies should know the answer. Many people do not realize that Kevin Costner's favorite movie that he has ever filmed was Fandango. The movie also takes place in May of 1971 so that movie has always captured that great mindset of traveling and enjoying "the privileges of youth!"

Well that is our introduction. I will be adding some additional posts as we take our maiden voyage (Well, a voyage other than hanging out in my driveway like what we did this weekend).