It took some time to finally get back going on Fred.
The thing that was holding up progress was inside the fuel
tank. The fuel pump decided to bite the dust. Not a surprise. It was acting
hinky when we bought it so it was on the list of items to
deal with anyway before becoming too adventurous with Fred.
The “normal” way to address an in-tank fuel pump issue is to
drop the tank. That’s not an easy project unless you are set up with the
equipment to do it that way.
So we’re thinking … What if we need to do this out on the
road somewhere … out there … way out there … one of those out there situations
where you are doing good to bum a lift into town to an auto parts house then
back out there somewhere to the van?
Brian brought his little battery powered reciprocal saw over
and we cut a hole in the floor. The spots where the floor was spot welded were
drilled through, the floor plate now converted to an inspection plate removed,
the fuel pump replaced, and the inspection plate set back in place and secured
with metal duct repair tape. Done deal. And if ever we need to get at that fuel
pump again … doing so will be as simple as opening the inspection plate.
Oh. If you do this yourself … be careful not to cut through
the fuel and electrical lines that run to the in-tank pump. Cut those and
you’ll create unneeded work. Cut through the fuel line and you’ll likely have a
lot gas fumes looking for a spark to set them off.
Ripping the old carpet from the floor didn’t take long. I
didn’t go all the way to the front of the cab but stopped behind the front
seats. The floor was full of holes where seats, the chair lift that was in the
van when we bought it, and seat belts were bolted in. Little squares of the metal
duct repair tape covered the holes.
So what do we do for flooring in Fred?
First is an underlayment of insulation. It’s the closed cell
foam type that comes in 4 x 8 sheets. It has an R-Value of 3. My main concern
with the insulation isn’t temperature oriented. It has more to do with
quietening the tin can rolling down the road sound that vans are noted for.
Once the old carpet was removed it got a little noisy inside Fred.
Thin plywood goes on top of the insulation. I’ve got a
little cutting and fitting to do to have the plywood finished. Maybe an hour of
playing around with it before installing linoleum on top of the plywood.
Once the lino is down I can start building the bed and other
furnishings.
Speaking of bed …
The mattress for Fred is on the way to this address. They
call it a short-queen size. It is the same width as a regular queen sized
mattress but it is a couple inches shorter. 60” x 74” x 9”. That’s going to be
a really good sleeper and it’s just long enough that my feet won’t hang over
the end.
Also on its way to this address is a 100 Watt solar kit for
Fred.
I thought about doing a roof mount system but decided
against it. I’d rather the panel be portable so we can move it around. The van
can be sitting in the shade and the panel can be set out in the sun where it
does its thing converting sunlight into somewhat FREE electricity. I say
somewhat FREE because there is an investment up front for the solar system.
What kind of investment for the solar? Around $350 for the
solar panel, charge controller, and wiring from Renogy, a sealed no-maintenance
deep cycle battery, and a 400 Watt inverter. That’s enough solar to keep our
phones and laptops charged and to run a few LED lights at night.
We are getting closer by the day as we slowly set aside old
life-consuming modes and replace them with new life-liberating ones.
Things are about to really start popping.
