Removing The Lift

Where’s Fred Now?

Still here in the yard but a little closer to where we need it to be.

I stopped by the court house Friday to take care of the registration and get the tag. Fred is road legal now.

After a couple of really good rains that have come down, since redoing the screws and weather seal on the top, it appears the awful leak has been remedied. Finishing that part of the project now simply involves getting out to the RV place for the rubber molding trim and attaching it.

I started working on getting the wheelchair lift out a couple weeks ago. I removed the stabilizers that attached over the door, removed the cover where the power cable attached, and unhooked it. The bolts that attached it to the floor needed an extra set of hands … somebody up top holding one wrench and somebody underneath to get the self-locking nuts off the LONG bolts. Shirli and I tackled that part of the project over the weekend and removed the lift from the van.

Removing the lift exposed a project that has to be addressed … some holes in the floor that will have to be repaired. I am still pondering the simplest yet best way to address that issue. One route would involve bending some plate, attaching it with self-tapping screws, and employing some spray-in foam to plug the holes. A simpler route that I can think of would be to use a little fiberglass material and resin. I am leaning toward the fiberglass route.

The back seat, along with the middle and rear seat belts, and the side consoles are the next “removal” project. Once those are out I’ll shoot a little silicone into the bolt holes to weather and critter seal them. Then we’ll be ready to begin turning the interior into what we need for it to become … a micro-home on wheels.

Shirli has been wanting to take Fred for a spin ever since it gained a spot in our yard. That happened as soon as the lift was out. Of course she can handle it. Never doubted it for a second. The gal used to drive a jacked up Suburban and could put it into tight parking spots in a way that would make a country boy jealous. The Jersey Girl certainly impressed the heck out of this Alabama country boy and did it with regularity.

She still does.

We were not back at the house but a few minutes before Shirli was online ordering a color coordinated vanity plate for the front bumper. What does it have on it?

Couldn’t be but one thing … FRED.


Yeah.

I’ve been anxious to get behind the wheel myself and took Fred for a little spin Monday down to the corner gas stop and then to check on one of my lawn care customers.

It was on that little jaunt that I noticed a mechanical problem that has to be fixed before we take Fred out again. It is a pretty serious steering fluid leak. I am not certain, at this early point in the discovery, if the problem can be remedied by tightening the lines or if something will need to be replaced.