Kitchen Planning

Around the furnace work and getting Hapy operational again, Boo and I have been trying to move forward on having a viable kitchen as well. Today, I will post briefly about that progress.

Cabinets

rough kitchen thought

It probably makes sense to start somewhere near the beginning. Shortly after getting this house, Boo and I hit the rebuilding center looking for all kinds of things. What we were NOT looking for were kitchen cabinets. The old ones were still in there, the kitchen needed serious cleaning and fixing, we didn't have a place to put new ones, etc. Well, there was a full set from an old house that had rounded corners and such that they looked perfect. At $420 for an entire kitchen's worth of cabinets (plus a bathroom vanity and a couple cabinets for a laundry, we think), we pulled the trigger. Through the help of Boo's ex-husband, and his minivan, we managed to fit all of them into the van and the pickup in 2 trips, and loaded them rather unceremoniously into the garage. Fast forward over a year and they were still there though the kitchen is now getting some focus. Still, they have been safe, undamaged and long-since paid for.

We recently engaged with a contractor to help get things moving more swiftly. Had we not done so, I suspect those cabinets would have sat in the garage for another 6 months while I finished the furnace work and then got going on some kitchen rough-in. Instead, I spent a few hours in the garage freeing the cabinets from the things that had been buried on top of them.

Cleanup

cleaning the line

The old kitchen was somewhere between a cold-room, a tool shed, building supply storage and the pass-through to the laundry and backyard. As a result, it was a mess. Oh, and I did tear down a bunch of drywall when the weather was warm so the whole area was cordoned off with a floor-to-ceiling plastic sheet. It was not exactly welcoming for the holidays. When I removed that non-supporting / secondary wall, I had left extra space below the ceiling. I wanted that line clean before I did anything else. So, I measured again the height of the passage I was mimicking (7'4") and sent in a screw to mark the spot. From beneath that screw, I pushed up with a long section of door trim (knowing it was straight). Atop the trim I set the level and then sent 2 screws through the trim into the drywall so I had a fence to cut along. With a handheld drywall saw I cut the line, knowing it was level. After the fact, I realized that having the cut leveled would have been best done after getting the floor perfectly level... which it isn't. We have moved the floor leveling to the front of this active list and that line will probably need to be fixed with a subsequent cleanup cut or some drywall repairs. Oh well. With the wall pushed up, we can better imagine the kitchen space, so it was not a total waste of effort.

With the line cut, my demo was done; the contractor will be handling the floor and anything else that pops up. So, I could clear everything out... the work table, construction material, the construction waste I just created, etc. leaving just an empty room. A couple hours of sweeping, vacuuming and mopping left us a room that was ready for some imagination. Before we could really do much else, though, the hole through which we lowered the furnace needed to be temporarily covered. Boo picked up a 4-foot-square sheet of 15/32" plywood that more than covered the hole. In fact, it helped us consider the swing-room for the door as we started plopping cabinets.

Try Before You Mount

sink thinking

Boo and I had her sister, her niece and their respective partners over to haul kitchen cabinets from the garage into the demo'd kitchen. One by one, we hauled a cabinet up the 2 steps and thru the doorway. Once the first end fit through, we slapped a moving dolly underneath it. When the other end made it through, it was placed onto another dolly. Once on dollies, the cabinets could roll around the floor. A few weeks ago, we bought a half-dozen moving dollies from Harbor Freight (they were on sale) for this purpose.

Most folks do this in a completely opposite way: hire someone, have that someone take measurements, with those measurements they plan a kitchen, cabinets are built to that plan, and then they are installed. We started with buying a rando-set, so in order to figure out how they could fit, we could have measured things, and gone virtual planning. This felt much more visceral. We moved them around and played house by pretend cooking a meal and using the sink to get a sense for how the space really works for us. 

While we did arrive at some ideas, and at least a couple cabinets set in their probable-permanent locations (sink base and pantry), we are left with unknowns. While the rest of us played with the cabinets, Boo's sister's partner Glenn measured and marked up a sheet of graph paper with the dimensions of the overall space. Boo and I will cut up little pieces of paper reflecting the remaining cabinets so we can arrive at the open working kitchen we are seeking. Ultimately, we will probably cut down at least one of the cabinets. Representing that is much easier by cutting a small piece of paper than actually taking saw-to-cabinet. It's obviously, much easier to undo as well. Before you ask, yes, we absolutely could do this with SketchUp or something similar. I started down that path and the amount of work necessary was considerable when compared to pencil, paper and scissors. While the paper plan is 2-dimensional (versus SketchUp or similar), we can arrive at a 3D experience simply by moving the cabinets around in the actual space. Or, at least, that's the current thinking.

Still Cold, Inside and Out

Progress on the furnace continues. I will post an update next time, but I will say that with every weekend spent working on HVAC, the $10K estimate seems more and more reasonable. Our overnight temperatures have been dipping below freezing with increasing frequency. When coupled with little-to-no insulation and an overtaxed electrical system, we have to pick which areas will have any heat, and those which do get some are not having it consistently. If fear is the ultimate motivator, I think wanting to be warm is a fairly close second. We are also realizing just how important it is to have a considerable part of the house electrical work done when Gary is here for the kitchen and hooking up the furnace. 

NewOldHouse is starting to feel like the house version of the old VW bus: there's always something to work on because there's always multiple things that need to be fixed. And, the answer to the question of "will it ever be done" is also the same: Probably not. Thanks as always, for following along-

Funeral Planning

Now, over a week after the service and reception for my father's passing, I find myself still reflecting on it. Today's post is about that event, and a round-up of everything around that event. I would like to point out that I personally did very little of any these steps; my siblings, their wives or Boo did them. My job has been highly taxing lately, so I have not been available to much of anything else. For those who come here looking for car stuff, I too look forward to the return to clowning on cars. I'm sure that day is approaching.

Parent Approaching Their End

I will start with acknowledging that my experience may not parallel anyone else's experience. As in all things, your mileage may vary (YMMV). I will say, though, that had I known what I was in for, maybe I would have been more prepared, or at least understood what I didn't know and needed to learn super-fast. In retrospect, many of the steps parallel a wedding: plan a service, plan a reception, dress the celebrant(s), announcements, catering, transportation... the only real difference is a wedding is planned on your timeline. A funeral arrives, sometimes without warning, and needs to happen somewhat quickly. Even if a funeral home is "handling it", someone needs to answer practically all of these questions anyway, but instead of interacting with lots of folks, you have one institution.

We knew Dad was on borrowed time for a while. He survived prostate cancer 25 years ago, and was on a regimen to keep it monitored ever since. As a long-term smoker, he also suffered COPD. We don't know if it influenced any other health conditions. A few years back, his PSA spiked and cancer was found in his bones (the cancer had metastasized). He took various medications to control/contain it, and they staved off the worst of it. Dad's movements reduced and he and Mom made their final preparations, which they documented in a file and had witnessed by Boo. Last Fall the medications stopped working. There was some discussion about, and then he started, a new experimental medication, but it was either too late, or insufficiently effective. Dad went on hospice and we encouraged those who lived out of town to visit. The last visit with him I choose to remember was a week before he died when my son T came home from LA. We talked for about an hour before Dad got too tired. Dad went to bed the last time the following Wednesday and was gone the following Saturday. While I saw him a few times after that meeting with T, he was not responsive at the end, and really was not engaged prior to that.

Parent Dies, Day One

The days leading up to Dad's passing had a steady stream of his children, their spouses and grandchildren. At the actual time of his passing, there were a couple of us there, but it really could have been any of us He could passed on Friday or hung on for another day or so. Basically, when the end is near, it hangs there for, like 48 hours. Still, he passed, and then the final preparations kick in, including last rites in Dad's case. The funeral home with whom arrangements were made are among the first phone calls to make, so the remains can be taken away. The funeral home with which Dad made his arrangements had suffered some employee attrition so things were bumpy that first afternoon, suffering a significant delay before Dad's remains were transported to their facility. As an aside, their communication and follow-thru was poor from start to finish, and it was the missteps in the early days that confirmed our decision to arrange things ourselves.

Depending upon the decisions made by the deceased for treatment of their body, you may have a very short window to complete a long list of socially-expected steps. Dad chose cremation, so we had considerably more time before a service needed to be conducted. Regardless, many of the steps are the same, it is just a question of how much time you have to pull it together. Some cultures expect a funeral within a few days, and if even the body is embalmed, there are limits to how long you can delay.

Location, Location, Location

Mom and Dad lived most of their lives on the East Coast: NYC, northern NJ, upstate NY and Boston. T and I helped them move to Oregon so they could be part of their grandkids' lives around 2010. They established deep roots in their housing development, and Dad attended the church next door. So, we children felt that having the service in his church, overseen by his priest, would allow for the largest number of their old friends to attend. Because of how far some family needed to travel, we set a date 3 months out. Even still, getting everything done in time was a bit of a challenge. Our last bit of business was for a reception following the service. The church offered the new parish hall for the reception. Ironically, Dad was opposed to the construction of this hall, believing it was an unnecessary expense for a building which did not serve much of a purpose. Dad got the last laugh, though, as the heat in the hall failed the day before his reception, so we remembered him in a relatively cold room.

Print and Online Obituary

These days, if it doesn't happen on social media, it didn't really happen. So, efforts to craft a message are time-constrained by the number of people aware of the message you wish to produce. Someone along the way will let slip to someone else, and then a condolences post will appear and then you have lost control of the message. So, we did not tell anyone... for almost a month... while my brother worked and re-worked a 4-page obituary. A 150-word version was released to the local papers in Portland, Albany NY and Boston while the long version went on the web. For anyone else, I would encourage as short a time span as you can; any one of the dozen or so people who knew about Dad could have let-slip and we were just lucky. Be advised that print newspapers charge a hefty sum for obituaries since this is one of their last remaining revenue streams. I think just one paper cost upwards of $500US. FB is free, of course, but Dad still had a paper delivery subscriptions, and we felt it was important to run a traditional obituary. Besides, unlike a few years ago, not everyone still uses FB.

Announcements

With the obituary formed, announcements about the funeral can be prepared. We chose to include a printed version of the long obituary with a note about the funeral specifics. We sent an announcement to everyone in the parent's contact list. Surprisingly, very few returned, which speaks to how well they maintained their addresses. My address book would have a far worse hit rate. Printing and postage will vary, but I think we spent around $300US. The envelope-stuffing was an activity for the grandkids when they were all here for Christmas. In retrospect, that may seem a little macabre, but with Christmas sweaters and holiday music, it was simply tri-fold and stuff, apply some stickers.

Packaging

Dad on mantle

For those who are not dealing with cremation remains, the timing of the decision about a coffin would probably come before the obituary. In our case, the ashes were being held by the funeral home, so we had some time. There are lots of television shows which touch on funerals, and there is usually a scene about coffin selection. Having not had to select a coffin, maybe it really is like it was shown on 6 Feet Under. For ashes, television seems to focus on releasing or dumping ashes in the ocean or something similar. Dad did not want his ashes spread or separated, nor were they to sit in a cardboard box in the back of someone's closet. We discovered that there are literally thousands of sizes and styles of urn, ranging from something that fits in your pocket (if you want to take some part of someone with you) to something that fills the corner of a room. Mom selected a hard-carved/turned wood urn by a local Pacific NW artist. Dad's remains have resided in that urn since the day it arrived. Urns, like coffins, are not cheap, but an urn is less expensive than a coffin. I think the urn cost around $500US. A similarly constructed coffin would have been thousands since the urn was turned from a single piece of wood.

Because mom moved shortly after Dad's passing (I'll post on that later), she didn't have anything to wear to the service any longer. So, my younger sister E did a screen-share online shopping session with mom, ordering an outfit and having it delivered to us. Boo and I needed to fill in the edges (stockings, hat and shoes), and had a date-night at the mall to solve. It was a real trip to be in a mall for the first time in literally 3 years.

Plan the Service

Depending upon how detailed the final arrangements were, and how well those plans intersect with the spiritual leader involved, planning the service could be easy. Or, there will be multiple rounds of email, phone calls and meetings to discuss which Bible verses and hymns or who will perform which portions of the service designated for "not the spiritual leader". In our case, Dad had specific verses and hymns and after some research they fit with what his priest wanted to do. There were 2 readings to be performed by family members, and my brothers accepted those. My brother-in-law, an Episcopal pastor, performed the eulogy, complete with Biblical and historical references to Saint Francis (Dad's favorite).

Plan the Reception

For all of the detail in the final arrangements around the service, there was practically nothing for us to go on for the reception afterwards. Since the service was pretty much the priest and a few family members speaking, we wanted options for how attendees could express themselves. We started with many large round tables which fit 8 to 10 people. This created small group conversation spaces. We added a guest book at the entrance and sticky-notes on the tables for those who wished to share a story or detail about how Dad influenced them. You can see the guestbook in the picture above next to Dad's urn. Last, my younger siblings hosted a microphone where those who asked beforehand could speak a few minutes. We found a poem in Dad's final arrangements folder which he asked to be read, so I read that. We had over 100 people overall, we guessed, though only a handful of people spoke, and most of them were family members. Some of us (myself included) were concerned about what could happen with an open mic, but those fears were not realized. Again, YMMV.

Let There Be Food and Wine

remembrance table

If you have a service at 10AM and the reception immediately follows, there must be food. It's like an unwritten rule. Well, maybe it's written in an etiquette book somewhere. Anyway, Dad was a total foodie. For example, for lunch, I might slap together a sandwich, consisting of 2 pieces of bread, a small stack of lunchmeat and maybe some spread and call it lunch. Dad would add lettuce, slice tomato and definitely have at least 2 kinds of spread. Then, he would add potato chips. Last, he would add a pickle, and wash it down with a beer that he poured into a glass. That's Dad, and he would have fixed your lunch the same way. So, of course there would be food, and not just a deli spread and a veggie tray. No. It was catered like a mid-afternoon wedding with 2 meat proteins, vegetarian and vegan options, desserts and, of course, wine. Since it was relatively early in the day, we offered different juices (and optional prosecco), coffee and tea.

Like any other time you need a caterer, you need to know how many to feed. For a wedding, that's almost easy. For how many invites did you receive RSVP's? Add a couple for folks who failed to respond and you're set. For a funeral? Who knows? We sent notifications across the country, placed obituaries, had announcements at Dad's church and put up an announcement at their old housing development. We could imagine 20 people and 200 people. Dad's priest, and our brother-in-law counselled that planning for 100 - 125 was probably safe. We had leftover food, but the desserts were pretty much cleaned out. I guess 125 was the right number. As you can imagine, this was NOT cheap (like $6kUS), but we felt that feeding Dad's friends the way he would have fed them was very important to us. Oh, that cost was the friends-and-family rate from the caterer and did not include tipping out the servers, but it did include things like dishware, utensils, etc. Linens and chairs/tables would have been more.

Let's not forget the flowers. My sister-in-law J hit Costco for the wine, prosecco and flowers. For $500, there was wine and prosecco left over, and there were flower centerpieces for every table, plus some arrayed around the room. The picture at the top is an example of one of the centerpieces. This may have been the most efficient of all of the expenses. There were multiple sources that supported Costco as the flower source versus a regular florist, and we could see why. Great job, J.

Transportation and Housing

rented van (from web)

With so many folks coming from out of town, and some having never been in Oregon before, the locals became tour guides, of sorts. My younger sister, E, helped by creating some optional events around the service/reception including a large dinner that night and a big brunch the following morning. Sister-in-law J and my brother E hosted a party the night after the service where they served leftovers from the reception.  All of these events were within the city limits, making attendance easy. Boo and I hosted my sister R and her husband C, while sister E and her family stayed with her mother-in-law (another Portland transplant from the NorthEast). Other out-of-towners solved with downtown Portland hotels and rental cars. Contrary to ridiculous national news stories, Portland is not on fire nor has it been taken over by homeless and anarchists. Quite the opposite, it may not be as bustling as pre-pandemic, but there was a definite hum while we were down there on a no-Saturday-market Sunday morning.

The big transportation challenge was for mom. She is effectively wheelchair bound now, and cannot be safely transferred by one person from wheelchair to bed, so getting in and out of a car is no longer possible. Boo rented a wheelchair accessible van (from here) for $100US that looks and drives like a minivan, only it has a disappearing ramp from the right slider door and a removed center row for the chair. The driver seat is also removeable, if you ask for that configuration, and the pedals have hand controls. While the acceleration of the van was not too great (it is geared for an extra 1000 pounds or weight for powered chairs), it otherwise handled like a minivan. We were so impressed with the service that we intend to do it when the weather warms up for things like grandkid baseball games or picnics.

Totaling

rando pic of Tuukka

All-in, the total for all of the funeral arrangements pushed up against $8kUS. I guess this validates some of the things I've read where every individual ideally has a life insurance policy for at least $10k to cover their funeral expenses. I suppose, if we needed a casket and a burial plot, $10k would not be enough. Food for thought.

A funeral really is very much like a wedding, except it doesn't come with planners, happy pre-parties, a jubilant couple running through a hail of rice with a tear-filled parents/elders watching from the side. We did have after-parties, and there were tear-filled parents and elders. What is really missing is a funeral planner. Had we chosen to use a package at the funeral home where Dad was cremated, we probably could have picked off the menus for something. We chose to cut our own path, and it took some doing. The event, however, was a great reflection of him and his family, so I'm glad we carved our own.

That's it for this week. At some point, I'll touch on one of the other sides of burying one parent: solving for a now-single parent who just lost their lifetime/fulltime caregiver, as well as solving for almost all of their belongings. A third aspect is dealing with the legal and financials, but I don't know if I really want to get into that; I will say, however, that the money part is the most time-consuming of all of this stuff. Someone once said "life is what happens while making other plans". These days, I really feel that sentiment. Thanks, as always, for following along-

Planning Winter Break

My employer shuts the offices down for the week between Christmas and NewYears. Half of my team will be taking the week of Christmas off as well, so I figured I would too. Today, I'm going to try to string together a plan for how to get some bus stuff done over the 2 weeks without spending all (or none) of my time wrenching. I have 16 days from this Saturday through the final Sunday. I added actual time spent edits in orange for my own benefit for when I want to make estimates next year. Goes to show that high level planning is wise, but getting too deep into detail is a waste.

Holidays
It is the holidays, after all, so I should expect at least one family event. Bowl games, the Winter Classic NHL game, etc. Assume another day there. Instead of 16 days, now its 14 days. One family event plus shopping for gifts. NHL Winter Classic plus a bowl game and some NFL. All in, there were probably 4 days "lost" to actually taking a break. Actual burndown at 12.

Snow
I've been pretty transparent about my love of playing in the snow. Snow has a peculiar sound when you're on the mountain away from the crowds and the bustle. I fully intend to visit the mountain a few times, so there's got to be room for at least 2 day-trips to snow. I'd love to make one of them in the bus, but I've posted enough on that score. Playing it safe, I'll assume 3 day trips so reduce to 11 days. EDIT: went twice. Burndown to 10.

Regular chore stuff
Any break brings with it hopes and dreams of some non-vehicular job getting done. Clean this, fix that, etc. Reduce to 10 days. This was an ongoing affair, but all in, there were probably 2 days worth of time spent doing this kind of stuff. Now 8.

Kid's Car
The A4 has a few problems, including a bad thermostat. Since everything takes longer cuz I"m slow. I'll set aside a day, even though it shouldn't take more than a couple hours. Now 9 days. EDIT: didn't fix the thermostat, but fixed a few other things and changed the oil. Thermostat on an A4 is a huge deal, like change the timing belt huge. Maybe in the Summer. Regardless, days now at 7.

Mrs.
Inevitably, I'll want to do stuff with my wife. I love spending time with her, and she works a lot, so there will be time spent dilly-dallying in front of the fire while she works. Maybe this is where I fit in the regular chore stuff. Assume a day lost, so now we're down to 8 days. We fit time around the edges. She worked every day except Christmas Day, and we spent that on the mountain (See Christmas at SkiBowl). She works too hard. Still 7.

The Painted House
I think I posted pictures last year or the year before of my usual Christmas tradition of painting a ceramic house for one of my family members every year. With the intensity around work, I haven't started yet. It usually takes me many many hours. While the one I have selected isn't crazy complex, it will still take me a while. Figure 3 days lost there, so now I'm down to 5 days. EDIT: this actually took over 4 days. Looks great though. Down to less than 3 days.

What Fits?
Like anyone who owns a project car, there is a long list of stuff to do and a short list of hours available to do it. Estimating can be a challenge because you never really get a big block of time to do things. Looking back on things, it's hard to tell how long it took, so you can't use past experience to help estimate new things. Awesome. Here's my list of things I want to do in approximately the order in which I'd like to do them, and my rough guess of how long it will take.

 - Fuel Gauge. I haven't found any how-to's on the internet. All links lead to replacing the float in the tank, which isn't the problem. Since I'll have to figure it out (and then post about it), figure 1/2 a day. I fiddled with this a few times (see Fuel Gauge Replacement), but in the end it's an issue with the float, not the gauge. Awesome. Down to about 1 day.

- Heat / Leak. Like the fuel gauge, there's no roadmap to follow. In order to really test it out, I need to get the bus engine up to normal operating temperature (NOT) and look for leaks. 1/2 day. I was able to identify and solve the leak (see Vanagon Rear Heater Leak Fix), but it took me most of a day to do it. This left no time for anything else.

 - saggy butt. There are lots of how-to's on fixing the saggy butt problem on a bus. Since the rear end hasn't ever been apart, I expect this to take a while. Knowing my ability to take much longer than everyone else, I'm saying a day per side, so 2 days. Early during the break, I went to Discount Import Parts (VWFLAPS), but with the holidays causing such disruption to deliveries, they couldn't have my bushings until almost NewYears. cancel this job until the Jetta's are solid runners. I have the bushings in-hand now, though

 - Rear brakes. I haven't really addressed the rear brakes in years. I'm sure they're over due for at least new shoes. I have complete brakes innards, so I'd like to just completely replace everything. The first side will take most of a day while I figure it out, the other side will take 2 hours. So, 1 day. Never touched them, but I did find all the hardware I had and remembered that I did the shoes a few years ago. Since the bus doesn't see much travel, they could be okay. I need to pull the drums and see, though.

 - wheels / rims. Remember those? Yeah, me too. What happened? Life, and now they're sitting patiently for me to get back to them. They need sanding down and another coat of primer, maybe some filler. Then I need to finish sand them, color and clear coat. Figure a 1/2 day per rim, so that's 2 days. Didn't touch them other than to move them around the garage.

Hmm... math says I'm down to -1 days. Something has to give, but knowing I have more to do than I have time ahead of time is better than regret at the other end. Maybe I collapse the chores into one of the "holiday" days of watching football and hockey. Maybe I leave the brakes or the saggy butt (or both) for a weekend. We'll see.

That's it for now. I expect to spend close to a week working on cars and some time playing in the snow, so there will be plenty of raw material for future posts. Thanks, as always, for following along. I hope you have a happy, rest (or project) filled holiday season-

Post holiday, I did things around the edges that I hadn't planned on: changed the air filters on 2dot0 and Flash, replaced the glow plugs on Flash, fixed the slider door (the cable became detached) and started working on a new shelf idea or the bus. I took a stab at constructing my own kick panels but decided it wasn't worth the work compared to just buying a pair, clowned around with the stereo in the bus and got the unlock codes for the junkyard stereo I got for Flash. I also went out to a movie with my wife (that Hunger Games one) and a movie (Star Wars 7) with one of my boys. Overall, it was a great break. One thing to remember for next year: the week I have the boys I really can't plan for much of anything. They need my time.

Inside Out or Outside In?

The bus-painting saga has really bloomed. This all started with getting the paint on the nose near the washer nozzles a little better. Now, the front 1/3 of the interior is removed, the windscreen and half the windows are out and I'm trying to figure out how much farther this goes before it starts looking more done than undone. Today is a rough plan.

Start
I stood and looked at the bus last night, wrapping my head around how I should eat the elephant. I hadn't planned on painting any part of the inside when I started. But now, that seems like the right place to begin. Half of the windows are out, including the windshield, both fronts and one of the big rear ones. If I finish the front 1/3, I can use the partitions as the clean cut-off line with rust repair and paint.

playing around with colors

Option 1 - Inside Out
One option after getting the front 1/3 done is to complete the rest of the interior. I'll have the right paint color, and any over-spray or tape failures would appear on the inside (outside paint second -> unintended over-spray lands on finished interior color) rather than the outside. So this option is do the whole interior then do the whole exterior as 2 major steps.
Upside(s): when the inside is done, it's done. Once I've started on the interior, I can do it all at once, so it might be faster overall.
Downside(s): the rear 2/3 of the bus is currently where I'm storing all of the body bits, so I'd need to find them a new home. That makes for a bigger mess before it gets smaller. In order to really do the rear 2/3, the other big window needs to come out, as does the rear window, so, again, the mess grows.

Option 2 - Outside In
Another option is to just do the front 1/3 and then switch to the exterior that I'd started with in the first place. I'd come back around to the rest of the interior later.
Upside(s): I get the exterior done sooner. The stuff that's stored in the rear 2/3 wouldn't be there after the exterior is done, so getting after the interior later would just require removing the seats and cabinet.
Downside(s): I may not get back to the rear 2/3 of the interior for a while, so it would look crappy in between. If I re-install the removed windows because of delays or wanting to actually drive the bus once, I would have to re-remove them to do the interior or there would be a section of not-freshened paint under the inner side of the seals.

Conclusions
Its funny how just writing things down make a choice all the more obvious. While I will need to clean up the garage a little bit to fit the stuff from the back, it totally makes more sense to just do the whole interior at once. I found a bunch of rust under the front seats, making this decision all the more powerful. The exterior of the bus doesn't have much rust, but the rust that't there needs attention. At least one of the spots is a hole that I'll need to also treat from the inside, so, again, it makes sense to do the inside entirely first. Of course, that makes this a great deal more work. Better get crackin'!

To keep track of things, I'm playing with "a dark shade of cyan-blue" similar to that which appeared on the squareback in 1972 for the lower 2/3 of the exterior and a flat light/medium grey for the interior. Pantone detail for the similar blue follows. The pantone detail for the Enzian or gentian blue that matches the squareback blue is here.

R,G,B=0, 48, 92
Hex=#00305c
decimal=12380
CMY=cyan: 100 (1), magenta: 81 (0.8118), yellow: 64 (0.6392)
CMYK= cyan: 100 (1), magenta: 48 (0.4783), yellow: 0 (0), key: 64 (0.6392)

As always, thanks for following along...

School starts

So, Summer has effectively ended around here. We attended our friends' goodbye-to-Summer BBQ last night, and sent the kids off to their first day of school this morning with bags full of supplies. If going to see the Dead in a friend's bus wasn't motivation enough, there's nothing quite like the fear of Fall to get that Summer effort moving at a dead run. I've got to figure out what can reasonably be done with very little time between now and the rainy season and then Winter.

I figure I have about a month, maybe 6 weeks at the outside before the rains really hit here in the PacNW. Of course, it isn't drought between then and now so I need to plan while considering that could lose an afternoon to bad weather. I can't afford to lose a day to poor planning, like I lost Labor Day weekend. How did I manage that? Well, I took too long coming to the realization that I couldn't fit the new engine and the old fuel tank together. I ordered the WestMarine tank I mentioned in the previous post, but not until Friday. So, I was able to drop the engine and get the old tank out, but I can't move forward until the new tank is in hand and I've figured out how to fit it. Back to planning... I have maybe 3 dry Sunday afternooons and a few after-work evenings available. In order to be ready for rain, I need to have a few systems buttoned up.

1 - engine mount
This work needs to be completed, if for no other reason for my sanity. I think Hal's wife will have him on the couch if this stretches into the deep Fall anyway. We're very close on the tower, but the dogbone needs to be tied into the deal still. This will be close, and will keep Hal busy most of the way to the rainy season.
Estimate: 8 hours more.

2 - fuel system
The fuel tank questions need to be resolved and no longer force the engine to be dropped. Fuel tank in and fuel filler hose routed at a minimum. If the rest of it could tie in, that would be a bonus, as getting to the top of the tank isn't easy once the engine is in. This is my first priority. Tank will be on-hand Thursday afternoon. If I can resolve some fitment issues and get it into the tank bay before the weekend, it would be fantastic. I don't expect that to happen, however. Better expectation: lose the weekend to it, but done by Sunday night.
Estimate: 6 hrs.

3 - vacuum system
It is almost ready. Once the engine can go back in with the stock vacuum pump, this system is effectively finished. There's the vacuum ball. Figure a couple of hours tops for that. I can leave a few of the remaining lines disconnected, but I will have to seal them off for the Winter. This should take less than an hour. Hooking them up properly can't be completed until later anyway (no air filter, don't want to hook up the waste gate until the mounts are done).
Estimate: 1 hr now, 1 hr later.

4 - primary electrical
Once the engine is in "for good" I can put the starter in. It gets in the way of the p-side tranny bolt access, so I'd rather leave it out until the engine is in for the Winter. Installing the starter should takes less than an hour, but it'll probably be one of those after-work deals, and everything takes longer in the dark. You remember I don't have a garage for this project, right? After the starter, there's the battery and the hot-start relay. Those items can wait. There's little point in leaving the battery outside in the rain all Winter, and I'll need some thinking time on the wires to know how to hook up the relay.
Estimate: 1hr now, 2 hrs later.

4 - coolant system
Based on the estimates for the other systems I'll be working on, I should be able to focus on the coolant issues by the mid-point of my 2nd dry Sunday. With the fuel tank resoolved, we'll be back to the original (auto-tranny) water flange, so the biggest immediate issue will be resolved. The best goal for now, though, is to have a clear plan for locating the radiator, and routing the pipes. Perhaps, if that is planned early enough, I can have the pipes routed before the rain hits. Not terribly likely, but if everything else stays within estimates, there will be 1-1/2 afternoons.

5 - engine holes
The turbo is loosely hanging on the exhaust ports. The oil cooler is disconnected. The water system is open. All this needs to be closed up, and rags hammed into openings. We won't get to the new oil cooler unless something uber-fantastic happens, so the old one will be put back on to seal the system.
Estimate: 1 hr.

Anyway, no real meat since the last post other than I ordered the tank, and I got the luggage rank re-installed on the top. I never got around to painting it, but at least it's clean underneath it. I'll post pictures and progress on the tank after its in-hand and (hopefully) in-bus.

Travel planning, the old bus way

For the past few years, we've planned our Summer camping trips in winter. This seems awfully early to most folks I know, but camping in an old bus isn't the same as camping in a class "A". Besides, when better to think about warm weather camping, and swimming holes than during the typical NorthWest ground-soaking downpours. Not to mention the 40 degree temperatures. So far, we've planned a run down through southern Oregon to Lake Shasta, CA and a couple of weekend trips that are more local. The big southern run, though, requires more planning than just throwing a dart at the map.

how far can you sit in that 30 year old seat?
My backside answers: shorter than last year, and you didn't plan it well enough then either. Quiet you. This question, though ties into travel with kids in that they can't stay in a seat for too long either, regardless of how comfy. Seeing how there's no integrated DVD - game console - kid quieting machine in a '72 bus, frequent stops and an abbreviated travel day is necessary. Figure too, that camping in a non-class "A" manner means you have to do more than park to set up. This brings on the second question.

how long does it take to go from pull-in to set up?
Like the first question, I usually underestimate our ability to get set up, but the other way. My wife barely has time to say "we're finally here" between the time we pull in and the kids are tooling away on their bikes. Setting up "the shed" (2 person tent we use for holding the stuff we don't want to trip over in the bus) takes all of about 10 minutes. The rest of the set up of tablecloth, sleeping bags, coolers and stove is much faster than we realize. So, though the class "A" parked next to you may have pulled in and had the tv on faster than you could say "my, that's big", the microbus camper really can go from pull-in to dinner cooking in about 15 minutes. Faster if you put your beer down, but I have to do that enough at work.

now hot will it get?
Without A/C, this is actually an important question. The aircooled bus needs to cool off when the ambient air gets hot. Driving in 100+ degree weather is rough on you and the bus, so frequent stops are necessary to exchange the fluids in your body and to let the bus cool off.

what does the google map say?
I take the google map estimate and add at least half again to it. If they say it'll take 4 hours, I plan on 7. Why? Well, for one thing, the bus top speed is 60. That's straight downhill with a tail wind, etc. It goes 0 to 60 in about 15 minutes, so figure that in the amount of time it takes to go from dead stop to full speed, you could set up a campsite. Besides, between restroom stops, getting drinks and stoppnig to look at stuff, it really is a miracle we get out of the neighborhood, much less our destination.

In the end, we plan our travel around destinations, like everyone else, but we plan around midpoints nearly as much. We will stop every hour for something, even if its only drinks, and we'll get there after everyone else. Since we're making our reservations in March, we don't have to get there early to get the last of the unreserved sites, so it doesn't matter. Now's the time to plan your Summer, and don't forget to consider how far you need to go, who's riding with you, and what you're driving. Stop often, and when you can, take a side road. It can make the trip.