Hope for the best, expect the worst, or maybe something in between....lol!

7:36 am - Thursday - April 7th - Fontana, CA - 75° F, humidity 16%, wind 10 mph out of the north.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 96° F. On this date in 2015 TLE and I were hiking the Honiker Trail down to the San Juan River near Goosenecks State Park, UT......↴ 

When I called Continental Radiator Service on Tuesday they told me they thought they would be finished fixing the Newell radiator, and have it reinstalled by Wednesday afternoon.  I thought that was rather optimistic, so I kind of prepared myself for disappointment as TLE and I began the 143 mile drive from Montecito back south to Fontana Wednesday morning around 9:30 am.  I would have been satisfied to arrive back at Continental to find they had finished the radiator, but did not expect it to be back in the Newell Wednesday.

After a completely uneventful, rather light traffic drive south we arrived at Continental around 12:30 pm, and after unlocking the Newell entry for TLE I walked to the back of the Newell to see if the radiator was back in the Newell.....

....as I anticipated, it was not.  My next question, "Was the radiator finished?", was answered in pretty short order. I looked around and saw Sal standing talking with one of the workers about 20 feet away, so walked over to ask him about the radiator status.  As I approached he was talking, so I waited for a break in the conversation.....as I waited I looked down at what they were looking at and realized it was my radiator lying there on its back.....

.....that made me happy....I could see it had been painted, and was back together.  I spontaneously spoke saying "That's my radiator....", to which Sal said "Yes!.....we're finished fixing it, and we will have it back in the Newell by the end of the day ready to have its hoses reconnected to it first thing Thursday!".....to which I replied...."Cool!".  So, it was not as good as promised, but better than I had hoped, and I am good with that.

I noticed when I was inspecting the rear of the Newell a lot of rust scale on the support beam, and mounting brackets.......

....after talking with Sale I decided to walk to a local hardware store I had spied on our way to Continental Monday morning to buy a wire brush, and some black Rustoleum paint to get rid of as much of the rust scale as possible, then cover it with a good coat of paint before they set the radiator back in the Newell.  It took me about 30 minutes to wire brush all the metal, and then apply a few coats of paint.....

......the job of dealing with the rust courtesy Coastal Oregon will go on for some time, but I am getting a handle on it slowly, but surely.

Within a couple of hours of me painting the rear area of the Newell the guys were reinstalling the radiator....it took 4 guys......

.....and there she is....back in the Newell, and bolted in....now it is time to attach the numerous hoses!

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog we are in the middle of another Santa Ana wind event, and with it comes the attendant heat.....the high on Wednesday was 94° F, and the high Thursday will be 96° F....thankfully we are plugged into 20 amp electric, and were able to run our rear A/C all afternoon, and into the night.

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