The BIG push!

I am working like a fool right now!  We don't have much time to go until our camping trip, so hopefully we will have a camper to go in!  :)

We've been able to cross off some exciting things from our "to-do" list.  The electrical is nearly done.  We just need to order 1 more light that we added later.  As well as make all the wiring at the panel nice a neat.  But having the electrical done allowed us to see all the lights work!  How EXCITING!  It wasn't all peaches and cream though.  After I got the new electric panel hooked up and installed it kept tripping the breaker in my house.  Arrrgh!  It only took me about 4 hours to find the issue.  It ended up that they style of 30 amp plug that I bought from Menards was a hunk of junk.
As you moved the plug around, one of the contacts would wear thru the insulation on another conductor and make a tiny pin sized cut that would eventually short out.  Once that was all figured out it went much better!

We also put most of the cabinet doors back on.  Looks GREAT!!

Finally I rebuilt the door.  The only thing I re-used was the aluminum.  The rest was very rotten.  Now it blends in nicely with the rest of the interior.  We used the old back splash above the old stove to make a cool looking kick plate for the door. 

OH!  I almost forgot about the upholstery!  We got a quote to do it.  $870.00!!!!!!!  Man, I about fainted when I heard that.  I think for now we're going to buy the foam on our own and use that until we figure out what to do.

I very excited about the "BIG Push", but man is it expensive!!!  I took it to 5 Seasons Tire and they said the tires are SUPER old and need replaced asap.  I'm also going to buy a spare and have the bearings re-packed.  Say adios to $370 bucks!  I've been putting off some the expensive stuff till the end, and the now its time!  ;)

Shellac + Birtch = Coolness!

Oh WoW!  Now I understand why they put shellac in these trailers!  It really makes the natural wood grain stand out.  I bet if you put on a TON of coats of clear after the amber it would almost give it a
3-D effect.  So far I've put 3 coats of amber on all the new birch, and 1 coat of amber on the existing birch.  I'm pretty happy with how close the new and old look.  Now, I know I can't get it 100% perfect, so I'm looking for reasonably close.  I may do 1 more coat of amber on the new birch, but I'm undecided as of right now.  Either way, I'm going to run everything over with 0000 steel wool, clean it, and do a final coat of Clear Shellac on everything. 

Spraying the shellac was quite and experience in itself.  Thanks for yet another good tip Chuck!  I must admit I've thought about blowing up my trailer, but never with me in it.  So....I setup fans the best I could to get the air circulated and prevent spontaneous combustion.

  I had some problems with the spray gun for the first coat.  Lets just say it was a very THICK first coat.  But I found the problem and the following coats went much better.   Time for a mini rant....  Why can't anybody sell the Bullseye amber Shellac in GALLONS?  Its like double the price when you have to buy it by the quart.  Arrrgh!   I feel better now.  :)

I can't wait to be done with this stage!!!!  I'm looking forward to getting the lights hooked up, and the electrical setup.   Lets just hope it all works since all the wiring has been covered up now. 

Maybe I should change the hair color on my Driver License to Amber...

Let the countdown BEGIN!

JULY 21st!  That is the offical "leaving for camping trip" date.  So it had better be ready or at least usable by then.  It just hit me this last weekend how little time we have left to work on it.  So its time to DIG DEEP!   We have to priorities to get it usable by then....

Priority list:

1.      Air Conditioning  (no need to explain this one, right!)
2.      Shellac, Shellac, and more Shellac.  (We're thinking about spraying it on to speed things up)
3.      Finish electrical.  (Install Lights, switch, outlets)
4.      Order foam and cut so we have something to sleep on!
5.      Rebuild the door.

Hmmmm, after I made that list I have my doubts if I can get it all done by July 21st.
I really hope that we can!  I think that tomorrow night I will get all the woodwork done so on our day off on Wed. we can start filling holes and shellacing.


I started installing the A/C just to make working on it possible in this heat.  Its basically a huge solar oven!  So after about 3 hours @ 350 degrees I'm cooked.  You can see the basic plan for it in the pics.  The ultimate plan is to install the HD drawer rails and a locking system to let it slide in and out.
Also I have to make a duct system to get the air seperated and try and circulate the air. 

Here are the newly installed upper cabinets...

This is the lower kitchen cabinets.  Tonight I modified the bottom drawer to be short enough to fit.



Finally got the end piece made for the bench.  I like the look of it since it appears kinda orginal.

So here you can see my latest issue.  As you can see I had to buy "pre-stained" molding for the corners of the paneling.  Its a foam-ish type of material.  Its the only thing that I could find to make the bend.   You can also see the new trim above the window to hide the panel seems.