Laguna near Galeana, Nuevo Leon, Mexico.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? In the mountains just south of San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? South!

Saturday, July 6, 2024

Introducing you to Igor... our new motorhome!

We've been running through suitable names for our new to us motorhome, including all the suggestions made by readers on our FB page. We had narrowed it down to either Eddie or Hector. We had pretty much decided on Hector. Then, we're out doing some running around yesterday afternoon, and Ruth says "Igor. Because he has a hunchback". (Like Igor in the movie Young Frankenstein). And we both laughed. Too funny. 

Igor is not Spanish, but that doesn't matter to us. A name of Russian origin meaning warrior. Igor is short, sweet, and strong! And, we think it's funny. So, Igor it is.

But poor old Igor needs a lot of work. And that work has already begun. Fortunately, the mechanical is fine and he drives really nicely. And, the body and structure is totally solid and rust free. So we've got good bones to work with.

Igor is a 1993 Airstream B190 on a Ford E350 Van Chassis with a 460 ci engine.

The cab area is nice with no cracks in the dash.

The front carpet is nasty dirty. You should have seen it before I vacuumed it!

We will either replace it or stain it. There's no way all that dirt will come out. We'll do something with it. 

The front seats are in reasonable condition. They are really comfortable. 

The driver's seat is a six way power seat. We were told the power adjustment didn't work, but I have already fixed it... it was just a blown fuse. As you can see, the passenger seat also swivels around.

The right side running board is in bad shape.

And in fact, I've already removed it. I saw photos of what this van looks like without the running boards, and I like it better without them. I'll remove the other side today. Also, with the running boards removed, it is easier to access and fill the propane tank, although Ruth doesn't like the look of the propane tank now being more exposed.

Propane tank.

There is a garden growing on the driver's side running board.

The paint is in overall good condition. There are a few scratches and nicks, but nothing that requires attention. Other than the roof. It's badly faded and peeling, but we won't do anything with it until we get to Mexico and then we'll get a quick fix done.

The awning works, but it's in rough shape.

Which is too bad, because these were a good quality brand of awning. But, in the two and a half years we had our European motorhome Max, we used the awning all of once. It's just not a priority for us. You can still buy these awnings.... they are $1,700 CAD ($1,250 USD). Won't be happening for that kind of money.

Ours doesn't close properly, and the fabric is on its last legs. I removed the entire unit yesterday.

The underside of the front cap hasn't been cleaned in years.

There have been some leaks in the front, but it's actually pretty minor. Because the entire roof assembly is fiberglass, it can't corrode, rot, or deteriorate. The wood frame supporting the bed has been wet, but it's easily replaceable and we will do that when we get to our daughter's place in Nova Scotia next month.

The old foam mattress is garbage.

All of this wood will be replaced.

The windows leak a little bit, but that's a common problem with these vans and it's easily repairable. Remove the window assembly, clean up the frame and opening, replace the butyl tape, and reinstall. Again, we'll do that next month at our daughters place.

The power roof vent is junk. 

It is also leaking, as you can see from the stains on the headliner. I'm going to replace that before we leave here. In fact, I've already got the new one sitting here!

I will install this on Monday!

Ruth has been busy inside scrubbing the inside of the fridge, oven, and cupboards. These old Airstream B-190's sure give you a lot of cupboard space!

Solid oak cupboards.

We don't use a microwave, and I have already removed it.
We will use the extra space for storage.

We are building this van for boondocking and dry camping, so we are also thinking about removing the roof air conditioning unit. I plugged it in, and it still works fine. But, we won't likely ever be plugged in. We'll see.

And, I've already bought a 200 Watt Solar Kit. It was on sale at Amazon Canada for $219 CAD ($160 USD) plus tax, so I scooped it up right away. What a deal, with all of the installation brackets and wiring and charge controller included. It's sitting at our daughter's place waiting for us to get there to install it.

Igor needs a bath... time to go out and clean him up a little bit more!

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Great deal on this Surge Protector Power Strip.

And in Canada...

Good deal on this Stand up Paddleboard, plus there is a $40 off coupon showing as well.

6 comments:

  1. Had no clue how handy you were Kevin. You save yourself a lot of money with dyi

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    1. Kevin is very handy with tools! We was in the car industry for a long time so that is an added bonus. When we owned a house he did quite a bit of work on renovations and maintenance on that. What he doesn't know how to fix he learns about and as long as he has the right tools he can usually get the work done. And yes, this definitely save us a lot of money.

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  2. Good going, Kevin! This is the kind of projects my husband is good at too. We occasionally talked about buying a van and doing an RV conversion ourselves, so everything would be new and high-quality (though pricey), but that was one of those ideas that never came to fruition. I am sure he would have been up to it, though! Looking forward to seeing the progress on Igor (great name!) as it comes along.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Emily! Kevin actually enjoys a project like this but he is not into doing a complete build like what you are talking about. The nice thing about that though is that you can build it exactly the way you want it but it sure is a lot of work.

      You never know, you could change your mind about doing a conversion, you aren't too old to do it. :-)

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    2. Ha! It's a huge undertaking, and Barry is 70 now, so if we were to get back to RVing in any form, we wouldn't want to spend that kind of time upfront; better just to buy something and get on the road. It is tempting at times, but right now we're so busy with the yard and gardens, it would be down the road a bit, and we'll be even older. :(

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    3. It is a huge undertaking and that is why Kevin didn't want to take on something like that. We agree, it is better to buy something and hit the road or getting a bit of a fixer upper, which is cheaper but doesn't require TOO much work.
      You guys are still young enough to still do lots of RVing, We know people in their 80's that are still doing it. :-)

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