Rockwall, Texas
Weather Condition; High 98, Low 76, Sunny
We have continued to be busy while parked in the driveway. We had a list of things that had to be done.
Such as the following list;
√ Replace Fridge
√ Replace Waste Valve
√ Wash & Wax Exterior
That is a short list. The problem with this short list is all the
things involved in getting the list completed. Replacing the fridge for example,
we had to shop around and find the fridge we wanted at the price we wanted to
pay. That took a couple of days. Once we found the fridge at the right price,
then we had to remove the existing fridge. Next we had to spend a few hours
cutting the cabinet opening widen enough to accommodate the larger fridge. With that done, the fridge had to be
installed, bracing the floor below the fridge to help with support of the weight.
It weighs about the same but the weight of the RV fridge was more towards the
front of the unit, which was attached by screws to the outer cabinet. But first
a hole had to be cut in the cabinet beside it in order to get the braces in
place. Once the braces were in place then the hole had to be patched with
another piece of wood.
Replacing the waste valve was another trick all of its own! We drove to
a local RV parts store and bought the external waste valve. With the valve in
hand, all I had to do was remove the cap and twist on the new Waste Valve! Not
so fast! Our friend, Mike and I had to crawl underneath the fiver, drop a
portion of the underbelly skin and locate the valves for the kitchen and sewer,
once located; we had to make sure to open the valves all the way. That took a
couple of hours but we got it done. I now have to repair the hole we cut in the
underbelly skin. That should be an easy fix!!!!!!
The reason we decided to go this route was due to horror stories we
have heard from people that ran into problems with valve cables breaking with
the valve in the closed position. Now we have that taken care of!
Washing and waxing the fiver is time consuming as you already know. The
washing was not a problem. It’s the waxing that takes so much time. While we
were in Rockport this past winter, we put a good coat of New Finish on the
fiver. The problem is that since that time we have stayed in a couple of places
with many trees and the tree sap did a number on the fiver’s finish.
The tree sap and black streaks were plentiful and the whole thing just
looked horrible.
We’ve tried many things to remove black streaks and haven’t been able
to find anything that really does a decent job. That is until now. Meguiar’s
Scratch X 2.0. It’s a fine scratch and blemish remover. You can only do a small
area at a time but it works. Our friend Lisa is the one that told us about it.
She said she bought it at Wal-Mart for about $4.00 a bottle.
It removes black streaks and polishes as you go. It leaves a great bead
when it gets wet. We can only do a little
at a time because we work on it in the mornings before the fiver skin gets too
hot.
We are getting it done. We have NO idea when we will be pulling out or
where we’ll be going. We are just trying to get these things taken care of
first.