Instrumental Hygiene

Sorry, Blog. This post has nothing to do with music. Not oral health either. Rather it picks up where a recent post about new gauges in the old Chevy left off with an electrical mess that needs cleanup. Here's what

Rrr's Matey

Hey, Blog. You know the Eco 3R's that concern our environment?

1. Reduce
2. Reuse
3. Recycle

I embrace them all and more. My list has 6R's at least. Yes, REDUCE (1) and REUSE (2) both early and often. But not so fast with RECYCLE => (5). It's important but so are other R's, some of which come before recycling. What else?

Square Gauges

Hey, Blog. Thought I'd share a progress report on another project. I'm doing a truck camper build. You may recall the camper part a few years back. That project is still paused. Others bumped it down my list.

Which brings us to

Smart Isolator

Our motorhome uses a conventional isolator between the coach and starter batteries. Basically just a heavy duty solenoid relay. It worked. Until

Clock Works

I recently found a cool wall clock at a thrift store. Turned out

Quatros Amigo

Half Pint has been a faithful travel companion for many years. Albeit less in recent years than former. Summer 2024 she participated in another chapter of life on wheels. We both got

Door Seal

My new door seal arrived

Dumpster Tetris

Remember back in the day how folks said TV rots brain cells. Then it was video games. Well today's screen addiction is even more prevelant with everybody playing games on their phone. And on personal computers, video games have gone crazy with virtual reality, photo realistic effects and so on. While I don't play video games anymore I do have some fond memories of wasted youth spent going for high scores and besting my friends. These days I'm enjoying second childhood doing very different activities. Yet there are times when things work around full circle.

Bypass Drain

The last post documented the original toilet in the old SportCam project. That post also described extra gate valves under the kitchen sink. Those valves allowed the sink drain to bypass the holding tank when desired. Instead of storing dirty water onboard, the drain path could be diverted directly outside so dish water could be collected in a bucket. That gray water could then be used to fill the toilet reservoir, instead of flushing with the limited drinking water. That was the concept.

This post documents that creative plumbing in more detail, including some pix.

Recycling Toilet

The toilet in the old SportCam was novel. And green! It could actually reuse waste water. Seriously?

Furrion Fiasco

It's certainly been an interesting summer. After dealing with house business in MA my attention turned to doubling down on the old SportCam project. Plus a return to one of my favorite stomping grounds, the White Mountain National Forest. Camping an hour from Conway, NH afforded a great selection of stores for materials and supplies to facilitate the project. Including a Camping World, which just happened to be running a big sale on air conditioners.

Since the stock roof AC was scrapped, I heard opportunity knocking.

She's Forty

We interrupt the irregular schedule of updates on the old SportCam project to mark another ceremonious occasion. Since hitting the road in 2011 this Recreation Engineer feels fortunate. I enjoy a remarkable lifestyle in part thanks to my trusty sidestand steed, Half Pint. Despite an overlong hibernation in storage for several years, she's back.

"Let the good times roll."
--The Cars

Yep. Half Pint just rolled 40,000 miles. For a typical car or truck that's nothing these days. Barely broke on. However, for a

Roof Leaks

Progress on the old SportCam project continued with leak fixing. The loft had two vents. A big hatch that flipped open as an escape hatch. And a fan to circulate fresh air.

Both leaked.

Window Dressing

Can you believe the SportCam had nine windows? That's a lot of potential leak points. Upper and lower panes (that didn't open) in the door were fine. A small pass-through window under the loft was permanently "closed" (ahem) with silicone and plexiglass. That solution should work until an eventually more camper friendly truck motivates replacing that window. Maybe. Someday. Meanwhile, three down. Six to go.

Next tackled were the pair of small slider windows up in the loft on each side at the head and foot of the bed. Both leaked pretty bad. The rubber trim around the edges shrank and pulled away from the metal frame. Mostly in the tightest, lower front corners. But also in the mid butt joints on top and bottom.

20#er Chimenea

Our storage facility has a community junk pile. Locals leave scrap metal which eventually gets recycled. I noticed an old propane tank so asked Ms Sara. She said I could have anything I could use. The first step was removing the float valve; aka overflow protection device (OPD).

Roof Distortion

To help address SportCam leaks the whole rooftop air conditioner was removed. Once gone it was easier to "read" the roof distortion. It's true. A picture can tell a story.

Scrubbed & Gutted

Since the SportCam was so filthy we began with exterior cleaning. I started scrubbing the roof. Lots of soap and water. Lots of elbow grease. It was tedious work but Mr. Clean Magic Erasers really helped detail the gelcoat. Cleaning just the roof took most of one day. It cleaned up surprisingly well, so that effort was well rewarded.

Slippery Scope

Can the SportCam be saved?

SportCam Project

This blog's been neglected long enough. Time for another project. This one's a truck camper. I'm actually not sure whether to call it restoration, rennovation, rehabilitation, or remodel. Probably all those, I suppose.

My new project is a 1999 SportCam slide-in. They're rare. Not many made. Not much info. This Truck Camper Magazine article covers their main claim to fame: self-(un/)loading design; plus another fun fact, or two.

Leaky Axle

Blacky's been a faithful draft horse for many years. Of course aside from preventive maintenance, some repairs must be expected, eventually. At 19 years old and 273k miles the rear axle started leaking oil.