Or...The Weight On My Shoulders
This weekend, I, with the help of my friends, made huge strides towards the end goal of this whole project, and for the first time in a long time, in fact, for the first time ever, I'm starting to see a glint at the end of the tunnel.
My last blog was, admittedly, pretty bleak. After the breakdown, and the subsequent appraisal of what needed fixing, I felt pretty bleak. Once again, in accordance with my history, everything seemed to be falling apart at the last minute. As my dear mother would say (hi Mom), "if it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all."
After these last couple of days however, and for the first time since buying this heap, I've finally caught a break. It took a little longer, and a whole lot of swearing (hi Mom again) than expected, but the drive shaft is back together, and more importantly, I've managed to fix the fuel issue.
How, you ask with great and not at all waning interest? Well, the plan was to replace the entire fuel system, from the pumps all the way to the engine, and I got to start right after I got off work this past Friday. I'm a fair shake with a wrench, but I'm no master mechanic, so I started with the easiest piece to replace, the fuel filter. Two hose clamps and a little tug, and it became readily apparent that this little $15 part was a major problem. I don't expect too many of you to know your way around a fuel line (I don't even know my way around a fuel line), but for those of you who are interested, gasoline is a yellowish brown color, but what poured out of the original fuel filter was a bright red. Hint: it's not supposed to be red. I had just enough time to get that changed, then the sun set on my Friday night.
The next day I didn't get to do too much in the RV itself, thanks to a whole lot of rain. The day was spent packing things up in the house, talking to my parents on the phone (hi Mom and Dad). By the end of the day, a good chunk of what was coming with me in the RV was loaded, I was caught up on my Netflix shows, and I had a wicked long to-do list for Sunday.
I woke up Sunday knowing it was make or break time. I had people coming to help me move, I had a decently warm and sunny day to get work done, and I was quickly running short of time. I'm not normally a breakfast person, and I knew I had a couple hours to kill before anyone got here, so I think to myself, what the hell. I've replaced a part, let's see what it did, and what I might still need to do. I can start the RV, that's good, that means that the fuel pumps are filling with fuel, A few laps around the neighborhood, and it definitely feels better to drive. A cheap little fuel filter does make a hell of a lot of difference. I do a bigger lap, and everything still seems fine. Better than fine.
After my second lap, Eric was at the house, so bring him along for the biggest lap yet. The trouble started before when I got to 50 mph, so with my friend in tow, I put the RV to the test that it had so fabulously failed before, interstate speeds. Thankfully Lexington has its own little highway, and on it, I pushed the RV.
And She. Delivered. Beautifully. Without even trying, the RV hit 70, with enough juice in her to go faster if needed. With nothing more than a $15 part (in chrome no less, because that was the cheapest), my fuel issue has been solved.
Finally, a little luck comes my way.
Now, to finish up. Tomorrow (Monday), after one last road test (I had problems on hills, so I need to test on hills), we finish loading up what's left in the house to my storage unit, and putting what's going away on the curb. Then it's decision time, and I'll write more about that then.
For now, I'm going to enjoy a day that I will gladly call a success, and get back to work bright and early in the morning.
-Z
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