Getting Sherman ready for another motorhome adventure!

We're slowly getting all of the little things done to Sherman to get him ready for our motorhome exchange. Tana and Graham have arrived in Canada, but they've gone to Vancouver first and they're taking an Alaska cruise prior to coming here to pick up the motorhome on June 8th.

We got the new tires last week, and I made a new cutting board to fit the sink properly.

We had a white plastic one but it was getting pretty worn and it really didn't fit the sink very well. So we bought a thick wood cutting board, and I had to trim it to fit. It was a little tough to cut out the part where the base of the faucet is because I don't really have a lot of woodworking tools here. But I took my time, and it turned out great.

There! That's better!

And Ruth has been busy making a dash cover for Sherman. The original beige colored plastic dash is fine in the shade, but when there is direct sun shining on the dash there is an awful reflection on the windshield. So we had a couple of dark colored towels thrown up there, but it was never the best. So we had bought some material when we were in Mexico, and Ruth borrowed a sewing machine from a lady here at the park. (Thanks Sharon!)

Notice the reflection on the driver's side windshield.

With the dash cover, there is no more reflection.

It's not totally done yet because the edge that you see isn't finished. Ruth is buying some more edging in town today.

Ruth, hard at work at the sewing machine.

This is the rear edging done.

She's also been working on new curtains to replace the blinds. We're tired of the roll up blinds, and we've replaced them once already this time, we're trying curtains. She bought some blackout material and we're just doing the front ones for now. The bedroom blinds don't roll properly, but we usually never put them up anyhow.

In the meantime, I've been getting everything necessary to replace the exhaust manifold bolts. This is a common problem with the pre 1996 Chevy 454 (7.4 l) engine. It's not going to be an easy job, but if I have all the right tools I can do it myself.

One problem.

The exhaust manifold studs from GM are discontinued. 

So it means that I have to match them up with something aftermarket. I found a product that will work, but do you think I can get somebody in Canada to sell them to me? It's ridiculous. I even called the manufacturer in the U.S., and they will only sell to a distributor in Canada. So I made a few more phone calls and the best I could do by the time we got through it all was a one month delivery date. Unbelievable.

So, I found a parts distributor in the U.S. (RockAuto) who would ship them to Canada. A little pricey, but at least I'll get them. They might not show up still in time for me to do the job before June 8th, but if not, it's not a disaster. The exhaust has a minor leak on the right side manifold and it's been there for years. Another couple of months won't hurt. But, I really wanted to try and fix it before giving the motorhome to these people.

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