Date:         Tue, 16 May 1995 11:10:52 -0700 (PDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         David Schwarze <schwarze@superc.nosc.mil>
Subject:      73 Safare update - curtains/cabinets/carpet/CB/cool!

Volks,
	This last week was one of drastic change for the Wagen. 

"Carpet for the cab"
I had originally bought a large chunk of dark blue, short pile carpet,
and cut a piece out for the back "living area" of the bus.  Saturday I
drug out the remains and cut a piece for the cab floor.  I used the
rubber mat as a stencil.  Pulling up the rubber mat, I found tons of
dirt.  Swept it all out and cleaned the floor with simple green and a
rag.  A couple spots around the accelerator pedal the paint was gone
and some surface rust starting.  Also, a 12 gauge wire that I had run
along the floor under the mat several years ago seems to have reacted
somehow - I now have a rust stripe where the wire was.  D'ohhhh!  I
guess it must be something about that rubber mat and the little air
pockets that helps keep down the rust.  Installed the mat and the
carpet over it without incident.  Looks nice, but doesn't seem any
quieter, as I had hoped it might.

"At last, the return of the stove!"
As of Friday morning I had only cut the top for the L-shaped unit that
would contain the stove and fridge, and constructed the bottom frame
of 1x2s).  Friday night I built the top frame, then attached the
vertical pieces, nailed and glued everything together.  Finally was
able to make space for the original Safare drawer over the fridge,
but in order to get the fridge out I will have to remove the drawer and
the frame that supports it.  Made that part easily removable.  Stayed
up till 3 am working on it.  Saturday, worked all day constructing the
shelves, cutting and installing paneling, etc.  Sunday, finished up
by actually installing the unit in the camper, lining the top surface
and putting an aluminum strip around the edge.  I was a little bit
sloppy with this unit as I was running out of time, and ended up
using an old Safare door to hide the shelves, even though it was not
in good condition.  Installed the stove, attached the propane and 
turned on the gas for a test.  Leaks everywhere.  Shut gas off, took
all connections apart, cleaned them, and used the vinyl tape to seal
and reinstall.  All seemed well, but I checked all connections by
spraying with windex just to be sure.  No leaks now!  Reinstalled the
fridge door to open on the right side so I can reach it from the 
drivers seat.  :)

I left a 5 inch wide space open in the cabinet behind the drivers seat
to be the electronics "center".  From the aux batteries in the back,
I ran two 8-gauge cables (yes, I cut some jumper cables up!) up to this
spot.  Put a 30 amp household fuse near the battery.   Bought one of those 
little distribution blocks that has 40 lugs on it to distribute power.  
Hooked the cables to it, then hooked the fridge wires in and installed 
the fridge.  Mounted a 110V receptacle in the panel that covers this
area, and a switch that will turn on the inverter to power the
receptacle.  Installed a 15V panel meter from Radio Shack to monitor
battery voltage.  Bought some rectifiers and wired them in line with
the solar panels so they will not drain the batteries at night.  Oh,
I ordered a 600 watt (1000 watt surge) inverter from Damark, after
being tipped off by Bradley M.  It should arrive tomorrow.  Guess
I'm gonna have to replace that 30 amp fuse with an 80 amp, at least.  
On the up side, I will be able to run that little microwave now that
I've had my eye on, the 500 watt model.  :)  I'm also thinking about
getting a blender for those yummy campground margheritas Martha is
always asking for.  The inverter was $200, with no sales tax, free
shipping, and they split it up over 4 months interest free!  How could
I turn it down?

"
Speaking of Martha, I owe her bigtime.  I bought 10 yards of material,
cut it up and sent it to her, and one week later she sent me back a
batch of new curtains!!!  And the seams are even pretty straight!  I
was a bit worried, cause I heard that she was havin a little party at
her house while she was sewing them!  Anyway, thanks to Martha, my
curtains are now all the same color, and there are none missing (for
the first time since I've owned DaBoat).  They look great - people
have told me it makes a big difference in how the bus looks.

So last night I had finished up, cleaned the inside of the bus out, and
headed over to Target to stock up for the trip.  Bought a sleeping
bag, another solar shower, bottled water, granola bars, oil, etc..
I then cruised through the drive through at Albertos for a late night
snack, and right as I'm accepting my food, the bus dies.  No warning,
just lights out, belly up, dead.  The headlights work, but no dash
lights, and not a peep from the starter.  Uh oh...

My first thought is "fire" so I run around the bus sniffing for smoke -
can't find any.  After I'm convinced it's not gonna burn up, I push my
wonderful creation out of the drivethrough and park it on the street.
How pathetic, I just put 24 hrs of work into this thing in the last
3 days!!  Anyway, I sit in the back and eat my burrito and think about
what could be wrong.  First I pop the hatch and check for loose wires.
None.  Try to look at fuses, but no light.  I couldn't believe it, but
I had NO source of light with me.  No flashlight, no lantern, nothing.
I finally found some matches in the glove box, and strike a few to
check the fuses.  YES!  one blown.  16 amper.  Replace it, and I'm on
my way.  Wondering why it blew.  Turn on the CB.  Notice that now, my
transmit signal strength is up to 100%!  Before it was at 75%.  Also,
the fuse didn't just blow, the entire strip of metal was missing!  I
figure the fuse must have had a bad contact.  Turns out Scott Sminkey
was right that my CB was not getting enough voltage to transmit at
100%, and it appears to have been the fuse that was at fault!  If the
fuse doesn't blow again in a few days, I'll assume that's what it was.


-David

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David Schwarze                     '73 VW Safare Custom Camper  (Da Boat)
SAIC Comsystems, San Diego Calif.  '73 Capri GT 2800            (Da Beast)
e-mail:  schwarze@nosc.mil         '87 Mustang Lx 5.0           (Da Sleeper)
http://papaya.nosc.mil/~schwarze   '93 Weber WG-50              (Da Piano)
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