Saturday 10 August 2013

The Countdown Begins

As of today we have 35 days until our wedding day - eek! So the past week has been a hive of activity trying to get things finished in time as we need her ready for the honeymoon where we shall be journeying along the west coast of Scotland hopefully right up the the top coast if we have the time. There's nothing quite like a deadline to get jobs done!


Ryan got some help from his Dad and got the rear leaf springs replaced as they were very tired and done some welding to the underneath. He's also began getting to work on the extensive rust on the cab, before and after pictures to follow...

Ryan is also in charge of our gas system which needs re-routing from the gas bottle in the rear locker to a new LPG tank under the body, and the wiring and electrics. He's put the batteries in to their final resting place under the sofa and is sorting out the charging systems so while the sofa's in pieces I'm getting it painted as it was looking very tatty. He's made a switch panel too which is positioned on the wall between the living area and kitchen for the lights & heating etc so that we can reach it from either side for convenience.

I finally got a nice piece of carpet fitted in the cab as for far too long the cab has been still housing the filthy grim grey-black carpet tiles so I tore them out with pleasure! Ryan's parents had an off-cut of a tough beige and brown carpet spare which was perfect.

If you've ever fitted carpet before in a car you'll know that's bad, but Waki was typically far more trouble due to the huge foot wells and contoured arches. The process took quite a long time involving me laying on my belly down the slope between the two seats struggling with my arms outstretched, bashing my head on the seats and dash many times and getting in a tangle with the pedals but I got there in the end! As with previous experience though using spray adhesive in such a small space will always put me in a happier place ;) Don't worry I did have the doors open, but it's still strong!

My next job is to tidy up and fit the old cover strips and also a new length to bridge the carpet-to-laminate join to the living area. I'm also in charge of fitting the cupboards and doors, modifying cupboards, painting (of course!), making panels and boxes, cleaning the old laminate section of floor from ground-in paint and any other fiddly things I can find that need attention.

Another bit of women's work for me is to edge the rug to stop it fraying from where I cut it down to size to fit in the living area. I'm using some recycled wool from an old cardigan of mine which has untwisted enough to be like sewing with multiple strands, and so far it seems to be working really well but it just takes a lot of force to pull the needle through so I'm having to do a little bit each day to avoid blisters. I guess my fingers will toughen up soon enough and I've found a piece of rubber grip mat to use as a thimble which helps a little. It also works out that the off cuts will make perfect mats for the step and should help absorb a lot of water and dirt before we get to the walkway, as it's quite annoying in wet weather to be at home with our shoes off and tread in a wet patch on our way to the kitchen or loo! I love being able to get a use for something instead of throwing it out and we save money too!

At this point I'm really not sure if I'll have time to do lots of Blog updates on our progress as we go, or whether it will have to be after the wedding but I'll try!