Sad Day

After tearing apart the van to make it into a camper I realized it was going to need far more work than I am willing to put into it. This decision was made after I pulled the carpet and discovered that most of the rear floor was gone as well as part of the rear frame.
Maybe twenty years ago I would have scoffed at the rust damage and fixed it but I'm not that person anymore. It's too much and I don't have the money.
So with a heavy heart I drove it to the scrap yard and left it to its fate.

The end.

Van Project Entering Stage Two

It's been a while since my last entry, par for the course I suppose.  I have been in hibernation since winter started, its been too cold to work in my shop. But that all has changed since the weather is becoming more agreeable.
I started phase two of the van project. This phase includes gutting the interior and rebuilding it into a camper. I will also work on the engine, brakes and rear axle, all of which need some attention.
I will also start planning on my next project, a trailer. The trailer is what I'm going to use to move my shi stuff from the overly expensive New England area to New Mexico. Once I get there it will double as my living quarters until I get my feet on the ground.
I have been looking at manufactured homes out there and they seem to be very affordable. I just need to have a steady income once I get out there. And there lies the challenge.
I have a number of tools that I can use to make some money for myself, I just need good ideas.
Anyway, that's the update, I will have more on the van progress coming shortly.

New Project

I recently got my 1944 South Bend 9A Lathe back from the great white north. I will be forever grateful to my friend for bringing it home.
It sat in a garage with a leaky roof and it suffered for it. The rust isn't too bad though, the pulleys and half of the bed have some rust but the rest of the machine is good.
So this is now my current project because I get a great deal of enjoyment from using the lathe. It is very Zen.
I started working on the bench already. It is original to the lathe and is in good shape. The top is made of eighth inch steel and the cabinets are a bit thinner. I cleaned the rust off of the top and sprayed it with dark machine gray Rustoleum.
I'll post pic's later
There is not a lot going on with the bench so I'm not going to dwell on it.
When I get to the lathe I will take it apart in sections and make videos of the work. I have not found a good video of a teardown and reassembly of a SB9A on YouTube so I'm going to make one, or a couple. We'll see how it goes.
So, the lathe is a South Bend Model 9A. It has a quick change gear box and a horizontal drive. That means the motor and associated mechanicals sit behind the head. Other models have the drive in the base under the head and still others have the drive above the head. I think the over the top model I viewed was formally used in a factory with overhead belt drives.
Anyway, I picked the gem up in Brentwood, New Hampshire at an industrial consignment shop for $500 US. It's former home was a local high school. It has seen a lot of use but is not beat up too bad. The bed ways still have a little bit of the fish scaling left on it. The bearings are all buttery smooth and the motor, which is three phase, runs flawless. The bearings in this lathe are all just cast iron, no ball bearings at all. I'm going to replace all of the felts and broken oil cups. I replaced the main bearing felts a few years ago just so I knew they were getting oiled. I was using it a lot so I didn't want it to run dry. Now I have the time to do a proper rebuild.
Ok, more later.

I'm Homeless

I would have never thought that I was homeless but the facts are, I don't make enough to put a roof over my head.
Here is how I look at it.
I take home about 2,200 a month. Food costs are about 700 a month, I have a workshop that costs 250 a month, I pay my parents cable bill that is around 180 a month, fuel costs are around 400 a month and everything else is about 200 a month (cell phone, insurance, van maintenance)
So my total expenses are around 1,730 a month.
Leaving me with 470.
Even if I get my grocery bill down to 400 that leaves me with 770 at the end of the month.
The cable bill can go away but it would be replaced by utilities at an apartment. And it would be more.
I think I'm a little light on the fuel but this is just an exercise. If I sat down and figured out what everything cost down to the dollar I think I would be worse off.
So, renting is out of my reach. And I have no hope of buying a house.
That said, here is a little info about me.
I'm a 51 caucasion male. I work full time 40+ hours a week. I love my job. I have health, dental and vision. And I have weekends off.
Both of my parents are alive and I am currently staying with them. I was living in a shared house but the landlord decided to make it a single family rental and I had to leave in August. I have severe allergies to dogs, not the itchy eye sneezing type of allergy but the lungs close up type. I had to clarify that because I'm constantly told 'they make shots for that you know.'
I would stay with friends but they all have dogs.

What I have discovered over the last few weeks is that there is a growing population of what are called 'Working Homeless.' Link Most of these people work 40+ hours a week and are not junkies or drunks. Most of them have families. They are in the same predicament as me. It was alarming to me that this even exists. Most people stay with other family members or with friends. And some are on the street.

Some ass-hat suggested to me that I move to a more affordable area if I didn't like my situation. Most of my family and my friends live near me, plus it cost a lot of money to up and move to one of these fabled areas of lower cost living. These areas also have no work. I have already gone down that road.

Here, I have the option of crashing somewhere familiar. I don't have that option anywhere else with one exception. Both of my sisters live in New Mexico and they would (and have) put me up for a while. My adventure there is documented in this blog.

Worst of all, I recently had some issues with my back and teeth and I went from debt free to owing a almost 10,000. I forgot to add that to my list of expenses. That monthly payment is about 400. And yes, I do have insurance. FML.

So anyway, the current plan is to live in my van for some of the time especially during the winter because the drive to my parents house is bad during snow storms. I'm going to get to work outfitting the van this weekend.

Phase One of the Van Project is done.

I forgot my phone today, I felt lost without it and I had no camera.

So, I finished the rust fix by applying the sealant to hide the bad welds and it's black so I didn't have to respray any of it.

I cut out the rust in the front bumper skin and fit and welded a patch. I used the same sealant as if it were bondo to smooth out the welds. I hammered the patch to match the curve of the bumper so it wouldn't look too back yard mechanic. It looks nice, you can't see it unless the light catches it just right.

I painted it with flat black Rustoleum. After it dried I mounted it back up to the van with new hardware.

It was time to clean the floor and drop it back down on all fours. After making sure there was nothing underneath I had it down in a matter on minutes. It sat nice and flat. It looks really good without the side steps and hub caps.

I gave it a start and backed it outside so I could let it warm up and do a little more housekeeping.

My radiator seems to be leaking, it's only a few years old. I replaced the brass and copper unit with a new aluminum and plastic one. I think I'll spend the money on an all metal replacement this time. But it's not leaking too bad so that will be a project for another time.

When I backed it out It felt like a new van, the steering was tight, the brakes were tight and it rolled so smooth. I stuck my new registration stickers to the plates and new parking permit on the windshield and took it for a drive around the parking lot behind my shop.

The first thing I noticed was that the steering wheel was almost perfectly straight and it tracked straight as well, although I wont know if it does in fact track straight until I drive it on the road at speed. But looking at it, it seems to be pretty close.

All in all it was a good day and I finished what I wanted to get done for the first part. Everything else from here on in will be weekend projects.

Now to get the thing inspected and aligned.

Good Progress on the Van

Ok, first off I didn't post as I worked. My deepest heartfelt apologies. Once I get rolling with a project and I get in the 'zone' I don't think of anything else. As a matter of fact, the pictures I shot where at the end of the day.
So, the plan for today involved patching the undercarriage and ordering the brake part for the rear.

I stopped by Home Depot and picked up a sheet of 14 gauge steel, measured out the plate, cut it out and welded it in place. I hit it with paint and tomorrow I'll apply some sealant on the open seams. I couldn't find my caulking gun.

I put in my new driveshaft and it is a beautiful thing.

Here is another shot of the driveshaft. You can see one of the new shocks as well.

So after I got all that done I drove to the auto parts store and to my surprise they had what I needed in stock. I had a late lunch and drove back to finish the brakes.

I noticed a few other things I should address in the future but I think I'll get it inspected first and give my dad his car back. Everything else I need to do doesn't involve disabling the thing. They are all weekend projects.

Plans for this weekend

I'm going to work on the rust in the back of the van. It's not bad but there are one or two areas where it needs attention. I'm also going to try something new, I'm going to take pictures along the way and post them as I go. I've got all day and I'm going to take my time.
I need to find some metal to make repairs on the crossmember and bumper. I was going to go to Haverhill Steel but they may not be open this Saturday on account of the gas line explosions.
I can get what I need at the Home Despot. The metal doesn't need to be thick and I think the depot carries 16 gage. I wanted something thicker just so it would be easier to weld.
The bumper will be patched and painted. I got I good idea off the internet, taping off the bumper in a way to make a strip that covers the patch and spraying it with textured bed liner.
We will see how that works.

I got my driveshaft back from the shop!

And it's beautiful!

Once again, not my driveshaft, but until I have a picture of it this will do.

It's shiny, painted black and most important, straight and balanced! It was a bit more than they quoted me for but it's still less than buying it new. Apparently the tube size is odd and it's a pain for them to weld the ends so all of this cost about double of what they guessed over the phone.
It's still a win.

The trouble with driveshafts

So, when I purchased my van, I was aware of several defects. Some I was told about and some I found when I inspected it. These issues allowed me to get some money taken off the asking price.
The driveshaft was one that got by me.
I didn't see it, didn't expect it to be bad, didn't look.
I found it when I removed the driveshaft to change the universal joints.
I dropped it out of the van and onto the floor and pushed it so it would roll out from under the chassis.
I witnessed what can be described best as a trying to roll a banana across a table. It made one revolution and rocked back and forth in place. I just laid there staring at it, at first not connecting what I just saw.

Not my driveshaft but it's close.

I got up ad dragged it out and up onto the table. Upon inspection I found a large dent and good bend in the tube. I wasn't upset, I figured I could just get another one at the junkyard. I didn't know how wrong I was.
This van is a 1997 Dodge B2500. The year is important because it is the year dodge moved the engine forward about six inches. This 'transition' year makes it pretty much impossible to find a driveshaft. I even tried older years with no luck.
The closest I came to finding one was in a junk yard in Massachusetts, they had the exact year and model conversion van with the same transmission. They told me that they remove the driveshafts and toss them in the vehicle so the fork trucks wont damage it. Well, did I mention it was winter and the yard was all down hill and the van was about as far back as you could get in the yard.
After what could best be called an expedition, I arrived at my frozen prize. It was flat on the ground with no tires and about half buried in icy snow. I dug out the side doors and looked inside but I did not see the driveshaft. I sighed and started digging out the undercarriage. Once I removed enough of the ice coffin I peered in and found that the driveshaft was still in place and bend worse than mine.
The climb back to civilization was not only difficult, but without what I had gone to recover it was almost unbearable.
The guy at the desk apologized and offered to find me one in the vast collection of parts available on the online database of junk yards around the country. Luckily, he found one close and had it shipped.
After a few days they called and told me that it was there. I drove down that same day excited that my dilemma would soon be over.
I walked in and they went into the back room to get my new (to me) driveshaft. what I saw when they brought it out made my heart sink. It was aluminum. Being aluminum, it was for the later version of my van with the pushed up engine. They had me check it anyway.
I rolled it under the van and with the help of the counter guy we held it up in place. it shot past the transmission a good six inches.
We walked back to the office and apologized again and he jumped on the parts net once again. This time he found one that was steel, he confirmed it by calling them. And a couple of days later we had it.
Now, here is where I would like to make a suggestion. When you have a catalog of parts available online, there should be standards for things like descriptions, materials and most importantly, measurements. The length of a driveshaft is a crap shoot as far as who takes the measurement.
As I had found out. The one we got in was too long by about three inches. My best guess is that it was out of a van that had a different transmission or rear end or both.
One of the other problems with my van is that it is a conversion van. It is a B2500 (3/4 ton) but the driveshaft is not the same as a standard 3/4 ton. It's more like the B1500 half ton.
So, they told me that they were now losing money and they would not ship any more in. That door shut.
Discouraged, I drove back to the shop, pulled the driveshaft out and straightened and balanced it the best I could. I could not afford a new driveshaft so I left it.
Two years later I tried another junk yard and found one that appeared to be right. It sat behind me in my van for another year.
Three years later here I am going through the van to repair all the issues it has. I dropped the driveshaft out threw it up on my bench and compared the two. It was too short.

Again, not my driveshaft but it illustrates my point.

I'm going to make a sculpture out of it.
After searching the interwebs for a solution I happened on a shop in North Andover, MA who specializes in rebuilding driveshafts. That is were it is at the moment I'm writing this. I should have it back tomorrow. And the bill should be less that three hundred.
Between the driveshaft I bought a year ago and this one, it's still cheaper that buying a new one.
So I'm calling this a win.

Progress on the Van Part 2

I have some time at home to sit at my desktop and properly write this.

In the past two weeks I have removed the front bumper,

And removed the front suspension parts. ( sorry about the bad photo )

I also removed the running board covers, leaving the structure.

I replaced the passenger side idler arm with a new high quality one.

I also cleaned and painted the frame and surrounding metal.

This is a shot of the drivers side. I replaced the upper and lower control arms as well as the steering linkage inner and outer ball joints as well as the connecting sleeve.

Same for the passenger side.

I also replaced all four shocks.

For the first time since I have owned this vehicle, the front end is tight as it was when it was new,

Next week I will have pictures of the work I started on the back. There are some rust issues i'm addressing.

I'm also working on the rear drum brakes.

Van project part 1

I'm starting my new project involving my van. Here is the breakdown.

Remove:

Front bumper
Running boards
Rear seat
Carpet
Front Upper Space

Repair:
Front end
Driveshaft

Rust Issues in Rear
Engine vacuum and gaskets
Front blower
Front Bumper

Key

Finished

In Progress

Not Started

It's not a complete list but these things tend to add more items along the way. This is a good start.

The job is still great

For the past eight or so weeks I have been very happy with my job, and this is a change for me. I usually start getting bored about now.
As a matter of fact, I started looking for a place to live. I guess since my job isn't stressing me out I had to find something to make me crazy.
I've been looking for about three weeks and it's not going well. The rents are crazy high anywhere near work, which is about 30 miles.
Now, I don't make the big bucks, I have a standard but steady job and I make a decent, or what I consider decent money. My friends would not agree with me. They would place me in the near poverty category. Although if you look up the poverty level wage it is a lot less. My friends just make a lot more money and most of them are married or live with someone so they don't get hit with the whole monthly cost. They seem to forget I have to foot the entire bill every month.
Now I understand why rents are high, it's all tied to the realestate market and what the public is willing to pay. But when the best excuse is that's what the area is charging, I start to wonder if any property owners remember how difficult it was when they rented.
So, since I couldn't get a straight answer, I started into my own investigation. Why are rents so stupid high so that an average wage earner, as defined by the government, can't afford a decent place to live. I don't want to live in a low income area in the slums, I don't qualify as a low income person and I don't want the indignity of living like that.
Thankfully, since I don't qualify as low income, I also don't qualify for low income housing. But the surrounding areas are the affordable areas. Low cost, and all the squaller. Somewhere I would need to expect my car would get broke into regularly, have loud neighbors and generally be a demilitarized zone.
And when I say low cost, it's still about half my monthly salary. This is another sticking point for me. As defined by some organization, I should expect to pay one third to one half of my monthly income for housing. Who thought that up? I looked up the current living wage as defined by living wage.mit.edu, it states for a single person a living hourly wage of $12.93.

Another independent group whom I can't remember the name of did a more comprehensive study and determined that the real living wage for Rockingham county was more like $21.70. I agree with this number. Unless someone is willing to show me, with math, how a single person can live on $12.93/hr. I don't want to hear any critiques about my statements.

Any how, I find myself in a pickle. The places I can afford are not in good areas or beyond a reasonable distance from work. One option is to move back in with my parents, I don't want to do this, I should be able to take care of myself on what I make.

Ok enough rant for now.

Ok, i accept that i may be somewhat predictable

I'm not going out to New Mexico yet. I was offered a great job and I took it. So for the meantime New Mexico will be my retirement.
I sold my property in Canada so I have some money to put away. I'll use my great insurance coverage to get myself back to a normal state and hopefully it will not break the bank.
So, what am I doing now. I'm a warehouse manager. I ship and receive and maintain the stock. So far it's going very well, I'm enjoying myself. The building is climate controlled so the hot Summers and cold winter won't be an issue.
I still sweat like nobody's business though. It gets annoying.

Let try this again.

Random thoughts,
I turned 50 this year, 2017. My sister purchased land in New Mexico and has invited me to homestead on it. With any luck, I can make this work. I think I'm due for some good luck since I have only had bad luck for a long time.
It's Thanksgiving week and I'm collecting information before I move. The land has water and power so we are already in good shape. Now all I need to figure out is how to make enough money to support myself.
My CNC router business is not going well on account of I'm not a salesman. I can build them but can't move them.
My house is going to be sold at a rediculously low price just to get rid of it and I can use that money to build.
I'm planning the living area and green house so we can grow food and possibly make some money.
None of this is going to happen until the spring.

Give life a chance

Well, I've moved to Durham NH and found a job in the same town. This was eight weeks ago. I'm keeping very busy helping a friend build a 3D printer for his son and helping another friend build cabinets for his tiny house.
The cabinets will be mostly done today and the printer will be a couple of weeks.
I may have a CNC order on the horizon which will be fun.
I'm using my phone to post this and I can't find how to post a photo,?!?!

So, that was fun.

It's been a while since I updated my blog. Reason is, I couldn't find a job that would pay enough for me to live on my own. I ran back home with my tail between my legs so I could collect myself. 

My van needed to be re-registered and I had to find something by way of a job so I could restock the monitory units. 

Since I've been home, my van has needed some repair by way of a water pump and other annoying but typical repairs. It hit 100,000 miles on my way home.

I found a decent paying job here although it's not quite enough to live on. But by staying with my folks I can save enough to give it another go. 

This time I'm going to leave in mid to late spring.

I really miss New Mexico and in particular my sister et al. We had a lot of fun while I was visiting.

I just need something to do to make some money while I'm driving around the country.

That's all for now.

It's Tuesday and I have officially been here for a week!!!

I'm going to post at least once a week from now until the foreseeable future.
The job hunt is going well, Iv'e posted many resumes and I'm currently in the process of making some contacts. I have started exploring Albuquerque and yesterday was very warm with a gentle cool breeze.
What I have found so far is that Albuquerque is chock full of restaurants and things to do. There is a place to eat for anything your could possibly want. I had lunch at a giant salad bar, and that's about all they had. It was great.
After that I ventured down to the one Makerspace in Albuquerque called QueLabs (I think it's pronounced KEY-Labs).
They are a very well equipped shop with a couple of Knee Mills and a South Bend Lathe, a MIG Welder and a full compliment of wood-shop tools. I'm going there tonight to meet people and get a feel of how they operate.

Looking for work.

Here I am in beautiful Albuquerque, the sun is shining and warm, the breeze is crisp and there's the faint smell of opportunity in the air.
After reading several hundred job postings I have learned one thing. Companies are seriously in need of someone who can write a job posting that reads well and doesn't contain every cliche known to the written language. Oh and someone who knows something about the qualifications and/or function of the position.
I may have mentioned in the past about my disapproval of ads asking for entry level applicants with a minimum of 2 years experience. Luckily I have not come across anything like that. However, I have found that a lot of postings are overwritten and look like someone had just cut and paste from other entries.
You can say what you want and tell me what requirements are needed, but really how much can you say about a pizza delivery job? It made me feel like you need a degree in rocket science with a minor in nuclear physics to get a job plunging a toilet. You can put lipstick on a pig, but. . .
And don't get me started in the grammar and misspellings. I know I'm not the best at either but my computer is smarter than me and if I let it, it will help me the best it can. So why can't people just take a second to proof-read their posts before finalizing them?
I do find that I'm amused by some of the posts and it makes me chuckle. Is it in poor taste to send them a reply pointing out the issues? Heck, they may ask if I want a job. Opportunities sometime happen in the most unlikely circumstances.

 

Here are a few pictures that I had on my phone. I think only a few of my friends will understand the first picture. The second is a picture of me about to cross over into New Mexico, and the picture on the right is a selfie at a rest stop in New Mexico with a complete strangers car in the background.

Day - 09

Okay, I finally got to a wireless zone.  It's at my sister house, so, good.

Ok I can't figure out how to put these pics in order. So this one above is me cooking noodles in the van, in Texass. 

This is of the visitors center in Texass.

There was a cool windmill inside the Texass visitors center.

And here is the view off of the patio in front of the Texass visitors center.

They have nearly everything there for the weary traveler, everything except wireless. As a matter of fact everywhere in Texass I stopped there was either no access or paid access. My entire trip, from Boston to the Texass border had wireless. Even in the poorer states. But wait, once I entered New Mexico I had wireless again. Thanks for nuthin Texass.

So here is a picture of a rest stop in New Mexico. I thought I got more pictures but I can't operate an iPad.

Here's another one, exciting huh?

If I find, oh, I know where they are. My phone. So pics later.

I made real good time and ended up on my sisters doorstep around 2:00pm. 

Now I have to catch up on all my interweb stuff. Thanks Texass.

Oh and it is beautiful here. Sunny hot with a cool wind. It can't be more than 65.

Texass sucks.

Day 08 - Update

I crossed into Oklahoma a little while ago. Here is a picture of the sun setting in the west. This was taken at a scenic overlook. 

I stopped at this rest area for the night. It is about sixteen miles from the border and there was just enough sun to get a picture. The light to the right is a lamp, just in case anyone was wondering. The sun is just about gone and on the other side of the building.

The weather is a chilly 62 degrees, burrrr.

I'm tired and I'm going to sleep for a couple of hours. Hasta manana.