Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Home improvements and repairs continue.....

7:45 am - Tuesday - February 19th - Wittmann, AZ - 34º F, 84% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the northwest......clear, blue skies today with a forecast high of 55º F. 

Monday, following the unexpected rain overnight, it was heavily overcast until mid morning when we began to see patches of blue peaking through the cloud cover.  By early afternoon there was more sun than clouds and things began to dry out a tad.  It never got warm enough for t-shirts and shorts, but by early afternoon I had switched from shoes to flip flops.

It was important that I test the repair I made on the TRICO air operated windshield wiper motor, so I turned on the block heater to warm up the big DD so I could start it a couple of hours later when I was ready.  Otherwise, I spent time fiddling around with the MAC valve I replaced back in early January, and as far as I can tell now it is working as it should, so it will go back with the other spare MAC valves I carry with us.


About 1 pm I lit the fires in the DD 6V92, built air pressure, and then tested the TRICO air wiper motor......it works again!  I don't know if my repair will last, but now I know how it works, how to remove it, take it apart, and put it back together again......successfully.  My good friend, Guy Cobham, owns a 1984 Newell and recently had issues with one of his TRICO air wiper motors (driver side).  He was able to find a truck parts place in Rome, GA (Rome Truck Parts, Inc.) which carries our exact TRICO wiper motor, so if I do need to replace ours I now know where to get one ($175 shipped).

Exactly like mine 

By 2 pm it was getting cold outside again, and time to head inside.....you've got to make the most of that 4 hour window.  

TLE spent the better part of the afternoon working on our curtains.  Several years ago she worked on the front curtains that cover the passenger and driver side windows, as well as the front windshield at night.  The 'pull ends' were getting a little shabby, so she bought some light weight 'ultra suede' material to rebind those ends, and it really came out well.  As the years have passed the other curtains have begun to show their age, so over the past week she has been doing the rest of the curtains.  The curtains themselves still look good, but the ends where you grab them to pull them open and closed needed attention.....

 Curtain on the driver side with 'ultra suede' now covering it

 An 'unbound' curtain end

 The original work TLE did a few years ago on the front curtains

.....the dark brown'ultra suede' looks good, and 'renews' the curtains for a few more years, as well as adding a little color to them......the color matches our faux dash leather covering pretty well, don't ya think?  So, home improvement continues at a brisk pace.  When we get back to Fontana TLE will begin to work on our 'blackout' curtains for our trip to Alaska to block out the midnight sun.

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