HEC updates

[romanyrose]

Talk about getting ahead of what one should be doing , i guess i will never learn even though i feel i have all these little men running around in my bonce thinking i am superman , i somehow have to inform them my bag of bones and muscle gone slack need's a day or two off sometimes .

Anyway having had some visitor's yesterday who encouraged me to at least get up, this will maybe help with the rather nasty flu bug i told myself and for a while i guess it did, due to being able talk about my hobby/obsession ''which i know i am not on my own with'' it did help and might lead to having more space also releasing some tied up fund's .

Anyway less of the wingding , having had one of my many fall's in a way i was lucky to have fallen on the driver's side panel for the rear body which just happen to bend and snap but it at least broke my fall which is all that matter's, i will however be able to use the two half's somewhere eventually so they won't be wasted don't worry .

Luckily i had a spare bit of marine ply just big enough from my friendly neighbor which is sort of cut to size but i need to move the truck to either open the side door to measure and fit or just empty the cab .

With this in mind and me puffing and blowing like a warn out steam engine i decided to call it a day, i was ready for a brew and i needed to make sure my lass who is also crook was ok anyway but at least i achieved a little something today .

Catch you later. R-Rose .

[romanyrose]

Well what i need to do got the better of me and after doing my duty with my boss ''a St Bernard'', the first job was to turn HEC around which meant emptying the cab so i could find the steering wheel along with anything else that is needed so i could drive it .

Because she had been reversed in the yard meant the steering wheel was tight against the fence meant i had to roll her out of the drive, with that done and lift pump primed the old gal fired up on petrol that has lost it's edge so to speak .

I can now fit the marine ply panel that did need a bit of trimming but it is in and flush maybe another step forward, however i had a problem but this time not my bag of bones but my darn glasses kept steaming up , i pulled out the board and applied my glue then put it back in and applied a few screw's to hold it in place.

By this time even though it was bitter cold outside my glasses refused to stop steaming up along with me being wet through with sweat i just had to call it a day again.
PS there is one thing i did notice when turning her around was the steering was a lot lighter than before also along with the brakes working she just might be ready for an MOT .

Catch you later. Dreamer come story teller. R-Rose .

[romanyrose]

Oh! silly old me , having road motor cycles in all weather's goggles misting were a common problem so a wipe with a blob of fairy liquid on a clean rag is all one need's , fancy forgetting that .

Well that's the side panel in all glued and screwed, hopefully tomorrow having cut a recess out for the reel of the seat belt to sit in it's just a case of blanking in the end's of the panel then apply some filler where needed and leave to dry.

My lass came home from work so i shut up shop so to speak for a brew and some , you will also be pleased to know i could see what i was doing all the time today which really makes a difference.

Looking forward to my next step. Catch you later. R-Rose .

[romanyrose]

Eh Up chap's, having been really upset with a neighbor across the road complaining about my strip light's in my garage and a single 40 watt energy bulb i have to work with in the back of my truck,Oh! not forgetting the street light outside my home .

This person does not live opposite but more in line with my next door neighbor and it's not the first time she has had a go at me either knowing i am one big softy {these day's anyway}, the fact she has an ASBO against her by the council should make me feel better but it doesn't .

Anyway in the end i sorted myself out and today i just carried on as normal finalizing the recess for the seat belt spool which is all bolted in place nice and neat working as it should, strange as it might seem though i think it took longer finishing the recess off than it did to fabricate the whole thing

I turned my truck round due to the howling wind and rain promptly breaking a mirror while i was having a coughing fit during reversing into a tight spot , i should have stopped but i was to busy holding my chest and head knowing there was nothing behind me and the fact the door was not shut properly didn't help .

Anyway me being a tad odd i took out each screw one at a time countersunk it a bit more then refitted it so nothing stood proud ready for a touch of filler tomorrow and a light rub down before applying some stain.

Catch you later. R-Rose .

[romanyrose]

It is 4 in the morning you little tinker but my St Bernard who sleep's on my bed with me had heard something outside, and with my truck being parked outside my bedroom window i thought it best that two old crock's should investigate .

Armed with a lump of wood and a dog that does not like the dark but has very sharp teeth dressed only in my dressing gown we went for a wonder outside, the wind had got up and not realizing i had trapped an old rag in the top tailgate when i shut up, this had dried in the wind after the rain and was flapping away making quite a noise .

Anyway after a brew and not giving into my Bernard who wanted her breakfast it was back to bed relieved if nothing else apart from being very cold it was sleep till six when i really didn't mind feeding her having at least alerted me to something different.

It was tad warmer when i eventually opened shop so to speak but could i find my wood filler for the rear side panel , rather than waste daylight i decided to lightly rub down the top of an old hob i had revitalized then gave it a few light coat's of silver heat proof paint i had found then stood it close under a lit light bulb to help stop the blooming along with helping the paint run and set.

I eventually came across the wood filler safe so i didn't knock it over but by then it had started to rain and i needed to fetch my noddy car and motor cycle in out of the element's.

I asked my lass to put up some pictures but she just muttered something to do with Christmas and having a lot to do so i went no further and carried on in my own little world but i guess with a tad more work for tomorrow because i just don't like Christmas .

Catch you later.Bar Humbug R-Rose .

PS i had come across not two but three mirrors so at least i got that repaired .

[romanyrose]

Not being one that celibates Christmas meant the cul-de-sac i live in was dead quite just like a ghost town, it seemed like it was just me and my wireless along with my thought's.

The next stage for me was to draw up a diagram of a long cupboard i intend to make on the drivers side that incorporate sliding door's rather than opening out doors that require more room. I had on previous campers found that once the door was opened you got what you needed but then had to shut it before you mistakenly knelt on the part of the locking catch which was screwed to the door or just mistakenly forced the door back on it'self bending or breaking something.

I normally just go with the flow however this time i know what i would like to achieve so knocking up some drawings then adding measurement's might help with me and my confusion , but it is worth a try and as strange as it may seem to some i am adamant a ruler/tape measure along with figures and i are going to get on .

Everyday is a learning curve for me,just because i was told you never will doesn't me i can't, i am going for one stage at a time and that way i might not get so confused so please bare with me in my quest to prove other's wrong.

The height of this cupboard will be to join of the roof so my alpine window's at least let a bit of light in, it will also give something to fasten to, although i will probably use my spare bonnet clip's as a way of fastening or for quick releasing , i guess that will be decided when the cupboard is built.

At least today the back was hoovered out before going onto sorting the wood i will be using, this of course meant if the wood was a tad wet while i am drawing etc it could at least dry out, not that i work fast .

Catch you later. R-Rose

[romanyrose]

A change of plan as usual ,having already built a work top in the rear of the back body i thought i would have a bash at making the sliding door's all be it a smaller version just to get an idea of what i need to do.

While i was looking for something entirely different in my electrical shed i came across some new length's of window channel , i wonder if i can incorporate the channel and some nice ply wood to make cupboard door's .

Looking at the cupboards in my kitchen which has the type of wood runners i need , can this be bought , as you might have gathered i am no joiner so use what i can find but it would be good if when i build my larger cupboard i could buy these runners .

Having flattened the wood filler on my marine ply sides where i had either made a mistake or it was already damaged which of course includes the other rough areas i hope to stain it all tomorrow. At least if i can make the smaller cupboard doors i will be able to store what i need without it rolling around if only for a couple of day's.

At this moment in time i need to travel but to do that i need an MOT , as for the rest of the work it will happen all in good time .

Catch you later. R-Rose .

[romanyrose]

Well i thought i had typed a small bit today and can remember almost word for word but having just woke in my bed maybe it was all a dream .
I knew there was something that was bothering me of how the sliding door's and runners work but i just could not place what it was i should remember .

While stood at the back end of HEC pondering on the fitting of the sliders for the cupboard doors my neighbor stuck his head over the fence, for once i was happy he was interested in what i was trying to achieve.

I explained my intention's which apparently you can buy the runners but they are not the same , the top runner is deeper than the bottom runner allowing you to fit the sliding door in the top runner first then drop it down , i just knew there was an easy way and never thought of something so simple but then i am not a joiner .

Now the funny or should i say frustrating part of this story is a few years ago my lass bought me a wood working kit that could do most thing's, not that i know how to use it but i am going to have good fun trying to at least read the instruction's .

I didn't realize yet again that because i was so engrossed in new to me simple knowledge the weather had turned bitter cold, maybe that's why i got a tad confused knowing what i wanted to type , that we will never know but at least i know more than i did yesterday which has got to be a bonus .
Sorry for any repartition i think the word is or just confusion but that's just me and my daily life . Catch you later. R-Rose .

[romanyrose]

Having been up and down during the night i realized just how cold it was so i was in no rush, however my Bernard had other idea's with me having got up and dressed meant it was time for a trundle.

I can't say i was that enthusiastic about rubbing the filler and interior side panel's down a bit more for there final coat's of stain, not having had a light's on in the back body to give off a bit of heat to help the stain was my excuse to myself .

Last night while packing up i had noticed an old hob from a caravan under some doofer junk [do for another day], anyway with that in mind i thought i would dig it out just incase it had some grill panels i could use, i am in luck and they were carefully taken out and the pair had a good clean up.

The first hob i bought from Matt for £1 only had one grill section, i cleaned her up anyway just incase i came across something that would do the job, the gauze was bent to shape and fitted into the shield which meant leaving only the grill section to be fitted at a later date.

My lass arrived home after her day out so it was inside to make a brew, while supping and having a chin she had knocked up some tucker and i took my boot's off which is not good, for some reason when my boot's come off my brain think's it's the end of my day for tinkering.

I sat down with my jacket tate and bean's to watch the news, i ate my jacket tate and bean's but as for the news i missed it again and woke two and a half hour's later in time to lock up .

Catch you later. R-Rose .

[romanyrose]

G'day chap's, progress has been very slow i am afraid but i have got what i think will be the final coat of stain come boat varnish applied, i mixed the two together having ran out of funds but it look's ok and has gone on well and dried .

I was a bit worried something would react but in true romany style using what one has available is all that matter's to me,even down to applying it with a rag the shape of a tennis ball meant no brush mark's .

It turn's out i have been more ill than i thought ,although perspiring to the stage i could not get my cloth's off without help, a raging head ache along with a cough that made the headache worse and feeling as weak as a kitten staying in bed was the best thing to do according to my lass.

Hopefully it seem's i am over the worse and i think it was down to me not giving in and working it out, according to my lass an ex nurse it was down to her trying to keep me in bed to sweat it out that has helped but i am not going to argue.

Maybe i will see if she will run me to the hardware shop tomorrow , i can then make the smaller sliding doors on the passenger side if of course i can get the wood with channel to slide the doors in .

Like i said above i would like to try and cut out my own runner's but i don't thing my darn head could stand the noise and vibration yet anyway. Catch you later. R-Rose .