Friday, June 30, 2017

Door Mods

Scamps are nice little campers. But their Achilles heel is the door. Some folks never have any problems. Others have alignment issues ranging from not sealing well (drafts, leaks) to popping itself open going down the road. The hinges are clever but not durable. The latch and pin lock is just, well, rinky dink. My door had a crank window. Opened more than a couple inches it hit the shell. It didn't break the window but did nick its hide. My door rebuild addresses these issues.

As a test the worn out hinges were recently replaced. I happened to have a new pair of factory hinges. The design is actually kinda clever. Because the door is so curved the hinge bolts are not inline like house doors. Instead, a brass ball allows each hinge arm to rotate off axis as the door swings open and closed. Of course rotation causes wear.

For test purposes I didn't install them that way. Instead, they were shimmed more vertical using washers. While not perfect the two hinges were better aligned with each other. That reduced ball rotation noticeably. Which in turn reduces wear. A step in the right direction.

Ideal shims under each hinge should

Sunday, June 25, 2017

Glassed & Gutted

With the frame reworked the Scamp was ready for renovation. This project is a complete makeover. Mine was the typical layout originally. The rear dinette table dropped down into a bed. The front couch back raised into an upper bunk. The seat bottom becoming the lower bunk.

There was a

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

OH!

We all have our addictions. For better or worse. Chocolate and peanut butter are two of my guilty pleasures. Little Debbie has known this for years. Since Junior High she's had my number with Nutty Bars. Although the name quietly changed to Nutty Buddy somewhere along the way.

No matter. They're still good. Tasting anyway. Especially if