Making Progress

My dad showed up to help out with the airstream. He is doing a so much work.

We had to get the window off to get the panel off.

THIS panel. We got it though. It took forever.

And took out the insulation.

This dent was a pain to get out, but we did it. Here it is from the outside...

I will post what it looks like tomorrow. We took the outside strip off to get in there and seal it up better. Which was a good idea. I was against this at first, but it appears that this is exactly where the leak was.

More photos to come VERY soon....

Not much happening

   I haven't done anything to the Airstream in ages. Sorry. I need to work on it so I have something I can work on. I think I found the flooring though. It's a light Bamboo from Home Depot. It will look really good with the colors I plan to put in it.

   Derby....I got drafted. I'm so excited. I'm in the Main St. Mafia and I cannot wait to get photos in my new uniform. I will get some and post them. I've still been going to the intro group because I need it. I hope to be good enough to bout with the team on March 23rd.

   Mustang...I got a new clutch in Sam. He is doing great. I love him. I really enjoy driving him now. It took a lot for him to get there. They had to machine a new clutch for him but the mechanic was amazing and got everything done.

   School...I'm getting to the end of my rope. I need to to focus, but part of me doesn't want to. It's getting hard, but I'm going to graduate, because I need it. I NEED to get out of this school. I NEED to be done with class work. I NEED a lot right now. 

I really CAN scream like a little girl!

  I hope this guy just found his way in through the door, because I found a nest. A BIG nest that looks like it's abandoned but might not be. I will post the pic of the HUGE nest I found  later. I was a tad too scared after this bugger to actually take a picture.

I worked so hard and made no progress?

   Well, I busted %*@ today and I didn't make any progress. At least that's how it feels. We had loaned our ladder out to a friend, so I couldn't get on the roof. Today, instead of working on the seals, I pulled up linoleum. I had finished the bedroom last night. Here is where I started today:

That is the hallway in front of the bathroom and closet, and the kitchen/living room. I got about 90% done with the floors today.

  When I "gave up" today I had pulled up all that linoleum you see. I had also drilled out all the rivets for the panel where I need to work. Here it is:

   This panel leads to the other side of the dent outside. There is a HUGE dent that I suspect might be the cause of the leak. Once I pound it out from the inside, I expect it should solve the problem:

   This would be ok, if I did not find something that looks like another leak in the front of the airstream. I looks like they just screwed another piece of wood on top of the rot up front to cover it up. UGH! Why? But I didn't see it until I pulled up the linoleum under the couch. I am a bit worried about that one. I won't know how bad it is until I get all the linoleum up from the front. Sigh.....I can do this. I know I can, but with every new problem I just think, "1 more week added till this is finished." But, really, I got this, YO! Sorry, I've been watching a lot of Breaking Bad". No!!! I won't apologize for watching "Breaking Bad" EVER!

In the beginning...

I started working on the Airstream yesterday. Everything was taken out of the bedroom. EVERYTHING. It is completely empty in there. All the linoleum is gone from the bedroom, and I'm trying to get to the rest of the linoleum out of the rest of the place.

   I need to get the stuff I cleaned out of the bedroom completely out of the airstream, as it is currently stored in the living room. My friend Mickey's husband came over and helped me with a lot of things. First, he explained to me how to  repair that rotted wood in the back right corner near the electrical box. But...the bad news. The leak has to be fixed first. He gave me some ideas where it might be. It isn't the window in the back. We don't think, at least. Since it appears to be on the right half of the window and over to the right under the second window.
  There is a dent over on that side of the airstream on the outside. I'm going to rip out that panel on the inside and pound it back out. Get up on the roof and seal up any seams that might be leaking up there. Finally, I'm going to reseal that window which might leak be leaking. Won't hurt to reseal it even if it isn't leaking. All of this after what feels like a long derby practice this morning. It wasn't that long, but I had a migraine this morning and it feels like I got hit by a truck after one of those.
  Oh, also....I apparently have dirt daubers nests in my AC "squirrel cage" and maybe my furnace. But now I know how to clean it. I might could finish that this weekend. I do often tend to over extend myself. There is a lot of work to be done.

Cleaned bearings, finished helmet, possible start on the Airstream

I never posted my finished helmet. Her she is. Ain't she shiny?

I'm pretty happy that Jayne Snobb is ALIVE! Now I just need to get better gear. I'm skating on some Ridel R3's but I'm starting to save up for new skates, harder wheels and some bearings. I did clean my Bones Redz the other day, and that made them roll a tad better. I just can't shell out for $50 bearing right now. Here is what I did. First, I used a TON of Tri Flow. This cleaned all the dirt gunk out. It wasn't ideal, but it worked. After getting the oil and junk off the outside of the bearing I put speed cream in them. I put the red covers back on them, and put them back in the wheels. Voila!

I am basically hoping this will get me one more month with them. I bought these back in September. It is now November, but I skate on them 5 times a week, so maybe that is why they aren't working so well.

I mentioned wanting new wheels. I actually have some GREAT wheels. I'm using the reckless envy 62 mm. These don't have a lip, and I wish they did. I also want to use them with some hard wheels.

I do like them though. I'm taking suggestions for hard wheels to add to these on my skates. As for skates. I'm thinking Antiks, but I need to do a ton of research about them. Since they cost so much money, I'm going to take my time on them. I mostly want plates that have that screw to keep my toe stop from coming unscrewed. I'm so sick of those toe stops coming undone.

AIRSTREAM...
I mean you may have come here for that. Maybe I'm wrong. I am hoping to rip a hole in the floor this week. Sounds funny, huh? "Gee, I can't wait to rip a hole in my vintage travel trailer." Anyhow. I can't wait to start. I'm just busy and broke.

I am going to try to rip the beds out of the bedroom tonight or Friday?

SAM (the mustang)...
He needs a new clutch. I can smell it burning. NOT a good thing. Really. That smell is not a good thing.

OK, I will keep you posted.

Derby Helmet

This is that post that about derby I mentioned might be talked about. My derby name was approved last week. I am now "Jayne Snobb," after Jayne Cobb from" Firefly" and "Serenity".

 

Well, This means I needed to have that stocking hat for my helmet, RIGHT? Right. I knew you would agree. Here is how we did it. Firstly, I used 400 grit sand paper to scuff up the outside of the green helmet.

I forgot to photograph the B4 Helmet. So sand paper is all you get. After I sanded it down, we washed the helmet and let it dry. I put on rubber gloves to keep the oils from my fingers from ruining the paint when it goes on the helmet. We did a base coat of the yellow, but I we realized there was a lip where the "tripple eight" logo on the back was. To fix this we used lighter fluid to remove the logo.

I wish we I had thought about this before we started painting it. Use a light coat of paint. EVERY TIME. A thick coat and you get runs. The paint we used was valspar paint for plastic. It was great. Use this. I liked the satin finish, but they had glossy.

We did 3 coats of yellow base coat.

Then, after 8-10 hours I taped off the area that I wanted to remain yellow with paper and painters tape and we gave the orange 2-3 coats of orange.

After 8-10 hours I began painting the knitting stitches with the acrylic gauche that you saw in the photo of paints above.

After about 6 hours I finally finished the stitches.

We then used the high heat top coat as seen in the photo earlier and put 4 coats of clear coat.

I'm going to take that sand paper and wet it. Then hit the helmet again. This will get the ridges from the guache out of it. Then, respray the top coat once or twice. That should be it. Hope this helps with anyone who wants to paint their helmet.