Newell Renewal - Day 11

7:10 am - Tuesday - April 28th - Wittmann, AZ - 67° F, 25% humidity, wind 6 mph out of the northeast.....clear, blue, hot, sunny skies again today with a forecast high of 99° F.  On this day in 2014 we were staying at the fairgrounds in Sioux Falls, SD.......

.....on this day I installed the new faucet in our bathroom.  It ended up being all day affair as I worked in very tight spaces to stop one leak after another.

After a day off Sunday, we were back at it Monday finishing up the solar install.  Now that we had the additional 2 gauge lugs Tom and I got busy installing crimping them on to the black cable.......

.....once that was done it was time to connect all the remaining wires to the appropriate lug nuts....

......we will pick up the new 8d batteries on Tuesday, then the 12 volt electrical system will be operational once again so we can test out the new solar system.

I spent some time Monday cleaning off the front of the 1984 Newell Classic......the insect residue from their drive through southern Arizona was still present.......

 Bugs be gone!

....meanwhile Tom was busy under the coach running new air lines from bag to bag.....

....it took a little longer than he expected, but he got it done, and now we can take the coach off the four 22 ton jack stands and air the system up once again with, hopefully, no air leaks!

Meanwhile Glenn and Laureen began to put things away inside the coach, as well as finishing the reattachment of the dashboard underlayment with screws.....no nails, or staples will be used this time!  They'll reinstall the padded top of the dashboard on Tuesday.

Depending on when the new tail/turn signal/brake lights arrive (sometime between Monday and Thursday), and the new flange gasket for the Leece-Neville alternator arrive (sometime between Monday and Friday) we could be rolling our wheels as early as Friday, but it is looking more like Sunday morning.  We are more than ready to escape the heat of southern Arizona.

For dinner TLE and Laureen put together a platter of cold cuts, which we consumed in the salon of our 1982 Newell Classic.....kind of a preview of things to come over the next few months.

On another note, my good friend, Claude Banker, called me the other day to let me know he was hitting the road again in his 1984 1/2 Bluebird Wanderlodge in early May and wants to hook up with us somewhere along our journey to the northwest.  Below is a picture I took of his rig at Morro Bay back in 2009.....

....it also is powered by a Detroit Diesel 6v92, and is 36' long just like our 1982 Newell.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Newell Renewal - Day 10 - Rest Day

6:39 am - Monday - April 27th - Wittmann, AZ - 69° F, 36% humidity, wind 5 mph out of the north......partly cloudy day today with a forecast high of 98° F.  On this day in 2016 we had arrived in Lone Pine, CA on our way to South Lake Tahoe for the summer.....

.....behind us the iconic Mt. Whitney standing at 14,505' in elevation.....the highest mountain in the Continental U.S.

As I alluded to in the last post we took off Sunday to rest our weary bods from 9 straight days of work on Glenn and Laureen's 1984 Newell.  I puttered around in the morning washing the Beetle, and then dumping our black tank for the first time in 10 days.....I love how easy it is to pull that dump valve handle upward.....every time I do I remember how hard it was the last couple of years, and makes me happy I spent a whole day fixing it.

Around 10:30 am TLE, Glenn, Laureen and I hopped in the Beetle to drive into Surprise.  We needed some time away from Wittmann, and the ever present Newell Renewal.  Initially we stopped off at Home Depot, but when we saw the line was several hundred yards long we decided to find the things for which we were looking elsewhere....namely Target.  Glenn and Laureen needed to replace the fire extinguisher they used to douse the smoldering circuit board when they first arrived in Wittmann, and found that at Target.  I bought a plastic storage container for the trailer, and we were on our way to our next stop.....O'Reilly's Auto Parts to pick up those missing copper lugs we need to finish the solar project.  I also picked up a gallon of antifreeze for our Kohler generator.

By this time it was approaching 100° F, and we were all ready for some cold drinks, so we headed directly for Starbucks (located next to the In-N-Out Burger place we have visited previously) to utilize their drive through line.....of course I got a Venti Mocha Frappuccino, whilst TLE got a Vanilla Bean Frappuccino, and for Glenn and Laureen two Iced Chai Tea Latte's.  We sipped on those deliciously cold beverages on our way to Trader Joe's, and while we stood in the pretty short line to get in the store.....they allow 20 people at a time inside the store.....Trader Joe's will never be more uncrowded.......

.....of course, we were all wearing our masks and giggling as we walked up and down the well stocked aisles.

We were home by 1:30 pm with big smiles on our faces.....we didn't buy a lot, but we enjoyed our time away, nevertheless.  I personally spent the rest of the afternoon estivating in my recliner watching 'The Martian', and then the end of 'Annie Hall'.....I'm pretty sure there was at least one long nap along the way.  TLE and Laureen played cards with Darlene, and I'm not sure what Glenn was doing, but we were all doing something other than working on the Newell.

Laureen made dinner for the four of us using the kitchen in Tom's mancave, and we ate that wonderful dinner in their Newell.......

.....I cannot tell you how good it is to see Glenn and Laureen smiling again, and how good it is to see the interior of their coach usable once again.......

......and that my friends was our very relaxing, restful Sunday.....thank you so much for stopping by!

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Newell Renewal - Day 9

7:07 am - Sunday - April 26th - Wittmann, AZ - 63° F, 34% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the north by northeast......high, wispy clouds today with a forecast high of 100° F.  On this day in 2018 we were visiting the St. Louis Arch......

.....it twas a beautiful day to see the city from on high.

Numerous notable things occurred Saturday.  First of all we closed up the generator, and reinstalled the chrome front bumper........

.......Tom installed all 8 of the new Firestone airbags, and we gathered the old ones together in preparation for their disposal......

 Two of the 8 new airbags installed

.....Laureen began to put the dashboard back together.......

......Tom, using his hydraulic 'crimper', installed several cable lugs at the various junctions in the red and black solar cable.  Below he is installing the 'ON/OFF' switch for the solar system.....

The 'ON/OFF' switch

......I sealed the hole resulting from the removal of the Winegard batwing TV antenna over a week ago.....

.....I finished the installation of the XM radio antenna........

......Glenn cut a hole in the floor under the couch so we could run the black and red cable into the house battery compartment.......

......Glenn installed the breaker switch and the 'shunt' in preparation for the connection of the black and red cable.......

.....I removed one of the 8d batteries to make room for the breaker and 'shunt' installation.....it was later determined through the application of a 'load test' that all four batteries (2 house, and 2 engine) need replacement so this battery will not be returned to its cradle, and 4 new batteries have been ordered....

.....I cut the cable, Tom crimped on the lugs, and I connected the red cable to each terminal on the breaker.....

.....Laureen installed the Victron charge controller and plugged in the cable to the appropriate lugs.....we came up 2 lugs short of finishing the solar installation, but those will be acquired on Sunday, and installed on Monday.......

.....and Tom began polishing the ALCOA wheels on the 1984 Newell......

....she's beginning to look 'purdy' again!  Finally, Laureen discovered a blown inline fuse on the CB radio, so the mystery of  it not working has been solved.  We finished our whirlwind day around 4:30 pm.  It was our 9th consecutive day of the 'Newell Renewal' project.  We are within a few days of wrapping up the many projects we began 9 days ago.....we have maybe 2-3 more days of work, but we will take a day of rest on Sunday....I think we've earned it!

I caught this cool picture of the crescent moon hanging out below Venus.......

.....thanks for stopping by!

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Newell Renewal - Day 8

7:31 am - Saturday - April 25th - Wittmann, AZ - 72° F, 24% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the north......clear, blue, hot, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 98° F.  On this day in 2018 we found ourselves in St. Louis, MO visiting TLE's brother, Creig, and his wife Kay......

....we stayed at the St. Louis Elks Lodge just a short distance from the Mississippi River....

About mid morning Friday Tom and I drove into Wickenburg to the local Napa Auto Parts store to pick up the 8 Firestone airbags Glenn had ordered for his 1984 Newell......

......this small town of 6,677 residents seems largely unscathed by the pandemic.....you don't see anyone wearing a mask, or gloves.  Life seems to be going forward...sure the restaurants and the one single screen movie theater are closed, but otherwise life goes on.....

.....we were back at Newell House within 90 minutes unloading the new airbags......two per corner, and then it was back to work crossing things off the long 'TO DO' list.  While we were gone the FedEx truck had delivered the new Dinosaur Board for Glenn and Laureen's Dometic Classic absorption refrigerator.  I took a picture of the old board (below).....

.....before I unplugged the 12 wires connected to it.  Then using that picture I reattached all the connectors.....

....and then went inside the Newell to turn on the fridge......it takes about 4 seconds for the LED lights to appear.....it seemed like 4 minutes, but come on they did.....we now have a functioning refrigerator once again.....

.....while in town we picked up the new coolant reservoir for the Kohler generator, and a new coolant hose.....it was my task to install them. I first had to drain out the coolant from the system before removing the hose.  I then installed the new reservoir, and poured in the coolant I removed a few days ago.....

 The new reservoir....

 ....the old reservoir

....next up was the new hose which was a perfect fit......

......when Glenn and Laureen left Austin, TX they had mentioned in one of their phone calls that the cruise control was not working.  Upon their arrival we discovered that the air line connected to the air operated Bendix cruise control line was kinked, and no air was getting to the Bendix....I removed the old, kinked, red hose and installed a new one free of kinks.....

.....and with that task my work day was complete.  I took a break and began to cross a few items off the 'TO DO' list I created on my Samsung Galaxy Note 5 when Glenn and Laureen arrived last week....

....there were 14 items on that list when we began, and now we are down to 7.  We have the air bags, and the alternator.  We are awaiting the arrival of the new tail, turn, brake lights, and the flange gasket for the alternator.  The solar will be mostly finished Saturday along with the installation of the airbags. In fact, as I write this morning (Saturday) Tom is busy doing just that.  Glenn, Laureen and I will also tackle the final elements of the solar installation after I finish with today's missive.  So, things are coming into focus, and most of the major issues have been resolved.  We are hoping to wrap things up by the end of the coming week, and then begin our trek northward to cooler climes.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Newell Renewal - Day 7

7:29 am - Friday - April 24th - Wittmann, AZ - 70° F, 31% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the north by northwest......clear, blue, hot, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 97° F.  On this day in 2019 we arrived at Ramona Oaks RV Resort to begin our 9 month stay......

Glenn and Laureen arrived a week ago Thursday with a laundry list of things to fix.  I'm sure they felt overwhelmed with the enormity of what had to be done before they could roll their wheels again....I know I did.  Well over those 7 intervening days we have essentially gang tackled that long laundry list and things are coming together rather remarkably.  

I began my day wrapping up the roof top portion of the solar installation by gluing down the 'combiner' box, and then attaching the red and black large cable leads to their respective terminal screws......

......once that was accomplished it was time to replace the water tight lid, and tighten down the 10 allen head screws.....

.....next up on my list was to get their block heater operational.  Whenever they would turn on the block heater switch the breaker controlling that circuit would pop, so we knew there had to be dead short somewhere.  With Laureen's help we determined that one of the two lead wires was bad so we eliminated that, and used the good wire.  I wired up a new cord to attach to the block heater wires and then plugged it in.....

......we then turned on the breaker switch, and then the block heater switch......it worked!  Within 45 minutes the engine water temperature had risen to 110° F....perfect.....

....while I was working on that Glenn and Laureen installed new drain valves on their air tanks which will enable them to drain them without going under the coach to open the petcock valve (in the picture below).....

.....now they can just pull the cables attached to the new drain valves to drain out any water accumulation......

.....around the time they had finished that task Glenn got a call from Turbo and Electric of Phoenix where he had taken the dead alternator a week before advising the rebuilt Leece-Neville alternator was ready for pickup.....

....so he got cleaned up and drove over around 2:30 pm.......he asked me to go with him, but I knew that rush hour traffic in Phoenix is not for the faint of heart, and that drive at that time of day would be a 4 hour round trip, and I could get a lot done in that time.....

There she is on the service counter....all brand spankin' new!

......Glenn was back a tad before 6:30 pm with the alternator.  Now all we need to find are the oil seal and the flange gasket to reinstall her.  I found them online at a diesel parts store in Baton Rouge, LA, but we are going to try and find a local source......

This little piece is crucial to the reinstallation of the alternator, and was missing for a few hours, but Glenn found it in Tom's truck where he had left it!

......while Glenn was gone Laureen and I worked on turning the door window right side up once again.  One of the prior owners had the last initial of their surname etched in the window.  It was a 'W'.....the last owner's name was Morgan, so they turned the window upside down so the 'W' would become an 'M'.....that was cool, but the unforeseen problem  was that upside down the window leaked....a lot!  In the picture below you can see me installing the new butyl tape which will seal the frame of the window from any future water intrusion.....

 .....and that was the end of the 7th day of our 'Newell Renewal' project.  Our short term Jello goal is to be finished with the remaining projects by May 3rd....that gives us about 10 days....hopefully it will not take that long.....lol.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!