The simple answer is I’ve been a wee bit busy. Sixty days straight of hard work without a day off, until last weekend. Six re-rentals that all required lots of cleaning and repairs, and one full renovation. And that right after I finally finished my new house and got it rented. And now? On to the the next project: resurrecting my poor old Dodge Chinook camper, which has sat forlorn in the back lot for three years without moving.
I’ve been neglecting my other work and projects for years now. When I used to write at TTAC, I just took summers off, which worked well enough, although I still got less done. But when I started CC in 2011, it became my personal ball and chain. The first three years I wrote several posts every day; it was a full time job. I started this new house in the fall of 2012; it took three and a half years to finish up. It would sit for many months at a time while I was in denial. I’d do one thing for a week or so, then slip back into the same old (CC) habits.
Finally in February of this year I decided I just had to get it finished. Even then, it took until the end of June, and tenants moved in July 1. I promise a full write up on my new curbside classic as soon as….
And then no less than six of my other rentals all needed to be turned around in a 36 day period, which included a full interior renovation of this house on its 100th birthday, including new mini-split heat pump/AC; new windows, new floor, and full repaint. It was full tilt boogie, and only doable thanks to my wonderful helper Nick who is always in great spirits, perhaps in part because he only likes to work about 5 hours per day. Better that than nothing.
Speaking of, here’s a little vignette of the kind of things that happen, right in the middle of the very busiest time, trying to get folks into another two units. A day after the new tenants moved into this house (the 100 year old one), they texted me to tell me that the washer wouldn’t stay turned on. The power button would light up, then off again, without starting to wash. Odd; as we had used it to wash curtains while we were renovating it.
Nick offered to take a look. He pulled the washer forward a bit, and saw that the power cord, way on the bottom in the back, was not fully plugged in. He bent way over the washer, reached down and plugged it in. And on the way back up, his head hit the hot water valve, which is connected to a CPVC plastic pipe with a 90 degree elbow. The house was re-plumbed with that stuff when I moved it there in 1997, because our jurisdiction hadn’t yet approved PEX plastic piping, a much better material than CPVC which tends to get brittle with age, especially the hot water.
Anyway, the valve broke off, and a geyser of hot water erupted, dousing Nick. I had just told the tenant two days earlier where the main shut off was out by the water meter in the street, and he ran out to turn it off.
Good thing the weather was hot and dry, but the new paint on the wood floor in the utility room started peeling off. I went home, got some CPVC fittings and glue, and glued on a new elbow and valve. I was a bit anxious, because there was still some water in the pipe, since I hadn’t drained the water heater. But I’ve done this kind of repair before…
I told the tenant I’d be back in about an hour or so, to turn on the water and make sure it was ok. I came back a bit over an hour later, and as I walk up to the back porch, I hear the distinctive sound of water jetting. Argh!!!
I run to the utility room window and see the jet of hot water geysering, and pound on the back door yelling. Their son opens the door and I bolt to the water heater to turn it off. “Where’s your dad?!? Why did he turn the water on?!?” “He’s in the bathroom…”
Eventually Dad appears and sees what the commotion is all about. “Hmm…how come you turned the water on before I came back?” “Oh; I thought the glue was dry, and it held when I started the washer…”
This is actually a nice guy, and he felt bad. And the truth is, quite possibly it would have popped if I had turned it on later; maybe after I left. Water and glue don’t mix well…but I’ll never know.
By this time it was getting late, so there were no showers there that night. The next day I came back, drained the water heater, and did the job properly. End of story, right? Wrong.
The next day I get a text from them saying the kitchen sink has no hot water. Sure enough; and I knew what the problem was. The hydraulic shock of the hot water going on and off so intensely had broken off mineral deposits from the tank or elsewhere, and had now found their way into the faucet valve. That particular faucet never had good pressure, and it was a hand-me-down from our own kitchen when we remodeled. It was 20 years old and obsolete. So I went and bought a new faucet and installed it. End of story, right? Wrong.
The next day I get a text saying that the hot water in the shower had slowed to a trickle…
This resulted in Moen shower valve brain surgery, since the valve and its mixer and its shut-off valves are all permanently fixed to the wall behind the shower and are accessible only through the little round hole behind that shower valve handle.
I took the main valve out and blew it clean, but didn’t see anything, and it didn’t fix it. Next step: the pressure-sensitive mixing valve right over the main valve. Nothing in there. Must be in the shut-off valves. Turn off the main water at the street, and the water heater, go home and get my socket set, and unscrew the inside of the hot shut off valve, and pull it out. Nothing there either!!
There must be something stuck in the inlet to the shut off valve, which is a constriction. I went and got some copper wire, bent it, and with needle-nose pliers, started probing and pushing into that little recess. This is all happening inside the wall, behind where that round chrome cover has been removed. As I said, brain surgery. If this doesn’t work, things will get very serious here…
Sure enough! A piece of beige material, sort of like a little chip, appears, along with one or two more pieces that the copper wire managed to break up. The pipes feeding the valve are old galvanized pipes, and they “grow” these deposits, and rust too. The hydraulic shock broke it loose too.
I’m feeling very chuffed! I put the valve guts back into my socket, and stick the socket back in the wall cavity towards the open valve body. And then…kerplunk! The valve insert falls out of my socket and down four feet into the black hole of the wall cavity. Argh!!! I’m so dumb; I should have supported the valve as I inserted it. One forgets that dropping anything in there is lost forever.
So I have to run to my plumbing supply store to buy this little valve insert, for a mere $37, and it doesn’t even quite look like the one I lost. I’m sweating bullets the whole way back. But it does fit, and I carefully insert it and thread it in. And this particular saga is over at last. The better part of three lost days later.
Enough; that’s the way it is when you own a dozen old houses. And you wonder why I don’t buy and fix up old cars? And why our own house is never finished.
And it explains why the Chinook has been moldering in the back lot for three years. The last time we used it was September 2013, when we took it to Camp Sherman, on the Metolius River in the Cascades. We hiked Black Butte one day, and this shot was taken up there near the parking lot, which is quite a ways up a rough forest road.
After the hike, on a rather warm day, I drove down the steep gravel road in first and 2nd gear to save the brakes. Further down, on the black top on Green Ridge, I had to stop for an intersection. And then it happened: the left front caliper locked up/wouldn’t release.
This had happened once before, several years earlier, on a hot day heading for the coast on a back road. Both times, we had to sit and wait well over an hour for the brake to cool before we could go on, with great trepidation of it happening again.
I took this picture right after that trip, and I was going to write a post: “Farewell To The Chinook?” I was just starting to feel less confident about it, despite the fact that it has taken us almost 40,000 miles all over the West and several trips down to Baja, without ever needing a tow, except one time when the ballast resistor went out at the coast nearby and I wasn’t yet clued into the cult of Mopar ballast resistors (“don’t leave home without one”). And these 40k miles is is on a total investment of about $2000. I bought it for $1200 way back in 2003. The other $800 went for a new muffler and exhaust pipe, a water pump, an alternator, battery, and a bunch of odds and ends. Maybe I’ve forgotten one or two other small things. The tires were almost new when I bought it, and are still good. And I’ve never even pulled the brakes, although I have babied them. It’s all been pretty much highway/back roads miles. It’s not a city car.
After Nick power washed one of the houses last week, I couldn’t take it anymore; the Chinook was crusted over in three years of pollen, slime, dirt, mold and moss. So I took the washer to it, and that made it look so good, I just had to try and start it, which it’s never failed to do in all these years (except that time with the bad ballast resistor). But not this time. The distinctive Chrysler starter sound resulted in not even a murmur from the heart of the beast. This time it was no fuel, not spark. As in a bad fuel pump.
A replacement cost all of $17.95. “Are you sure that’s all it is?” I asked the counterman. It probably won’t last as long as the original Carter pump, but if it lasts a third as long, that’ll be good enough. The 360 V8 started right up with a healthy bellow from its big single 2.5″ pipe and low-restriction truck muffler, which replaced the skinny little pipe and car muffler early on, after knocking it loose in Baja on an incredibly rough road. Baling wire to the rescue!
I had to do a few other things, in addition to cleaning the inside. Both the roof vents were shot ($14.95 each), and the toilet water line had popped off. Then I got some oil and a filter and treated the engine to a long-overdue change. And a chassis lube. I pulled out my phone while crawling under the chassis, as I didn’t want to break it, and made a mental note to get it…
After that, I told Stephanie I was going to Costco to fill it up and also get the propane tank filled. The 360 was purring so nicely, so I decided to head down I-5 to Creswell, and get propane there. Even the cruise control was working, sort of (it hates cool/moist weather, like my hips, but comes back to life in the warm, dry summer). Memories of so many happy trips came rushing back as I bopped down the freeway. This shot was from our last big trip, to Glacier, in 2012. That trip had some moments (with the Chinook), and it took a bit of improvising to keep it running. Which is why I’ve been talking about getting a new rig ever since.
On the way back home from Creswell, I started feeling a bit of a vibration in the steering. Odd… As I turned off at 30th Avenue, the vibration increased dramatically as I used the brakes, and then the left front brake wouldn’t release, at least not fully. But I could still drive, with it pulling strongly to the left. It got worse as I headed up 3oth Avenue; the 360 was laboring hard, and I could smell the brake now. I didn’t think it would make it home, so I pulled off a very dead little exit and pulled under the bridge of the main road, in the shade, as it was in the 90s. I reached into my pocket to pull out my phone to call Stephanie, as I had been gone well past our usual lunch time.
But there was no phone in my pocket! I never picked it up when I set it aside to lube the undersides. Damn! How could I go off on a test drive of a rickety old rig without my phone! And I was far from anywhere, or anything, stuck under the shadow of the main road with a frozen caliper. It could take over an hour or maybe two or three, in this heat.
What to do now? I had to switch mental gears and revert back to a pre-cell phone era. Folks used to deal with stuff like this back then… It took a minute or two and then I remembered that I had filled the water tank. Aha! I grabbed a cereal bowl from the dishes cabinet, filled it from the sink, and walked out and around to the left front wheel, and tossed it strategically at the back of the brake and caliper. It instantly hissed off in a little cloud of steam.
I made some ten trips or more, before the hissing and steaming stopped. I put it in neutral, and gave a little tug; it was free. I hopped in and headed over the hill, and did everything humanly possible to avoid using the brakes for as long as possible. I had three lights between me and home. I lucked out and made it through the first two on the green, but the third one caught me. And sure enough, it stuck again, part way on. But this time I just chugged on home, with an ever-stinkier brake and the steering wheel pulling hard to port. I pulled in the driveway, grabbed the hose, and made some more steam. And sheepishly explained to Stephanie what had happened and why I wasn’t returning her somewhat anxious calls.
So that was yesterday, and this morning I got out my breaker bar and biggest socket and had a bit of a time cracking the big lug nuts free, for the first time since I had to put in new front bearings in San Diego, on our first trip ever, heading to Baja. It took a cheater pipe on two of them. Then I jacked ‘er up and took off the wheels and then the big hubs, which have extensions for those dished wheels.
I was really curious to see what shape the pads were in, as I never really checked them when I bought it way back then. They were like 80% new! I couldn’t believe it. Yes, I use the old A727 Torqueflite to engine brake, and babied them, but I was shocked. And the discs were as smooth as a mirror. So I did what has to be a first: I bought two new (rebuilt; $37.95 each) calipers, and no pads! I’m not going to throw out perfectly good pads! But the rubber brake lines were both badly cracked, so I splurged on them ($17.95 each). And of course the nut on the flare wouldn’t come loose, even with the right type of wrench. Someone before had rounded off the brass nuts. Dang. Everything else was going so well! I was really enjoying taking the brakes apart, which were much easier than I had somehow expected. Now what? Grab my biggest slip joint pliers, and have at it. Bingo! It worked; and it needed to be done on both sides.
So does it all work? Ask me tomorrow (Tuesday). I had another rental to rent (for Oct. 1), and put in the ad this morning. I instantly got calls and folks eager to see it right away. So my day was was very chopped up, but the cottage is rented already, and the Chinook’s brakes are all ready to be bled in the morning. Stephanie knows the routine. “Push; hold; release. Push; hold; release…”
At six I quit, as a summer day is never complete without a hike and swim in the evening. And now it’s way past bedtime, and I’ve prattled on way too long.
Anyway, I’ll eventually get a new(er) rig, but for this late summer and fall, the Chinook will ride again, presumably. Stay tuned.
Sounds like a real nutty couple of weeks. Glad it worked out, though, and that the Chinook rides again. Seriously – it’s a sweet, unique ride, and hopefully you can enjoy it for awhile longer.
Your tribulations with the Chinook are infinitely more palatable to me than your plumbing debacle. It’s weird, but I’ve found that people who love working on houses generally hate working on cars, and vice versa. I love working on cars, but find home repair miserable.
The Chinook’s looking good, as are your rental houses. The checkerboard floor looks great!
As a friend of mine once said, any time you bring water inside of a house you are just asking for trouble because it will spend eternity trying to escape.
With our century-old basement, it’s sometimes the opposite during heavy spring or summer rains. Keeping water out of the house sometimes seems like a futile task.
That’s mostly true, about working on cars vs. houses. But oddly enough, I’m actually really enjoying working on the Chinook right now. My problem seems to be more that out of the three (houses-cars-CC), it’s the latter that I’m struggling with. 2 out of 3 is doable, to some extent, but not all three. There’s just so much energy to go around.
Come winter, that’ll probably change.
Every time I see a dashboard shot of your Chinook, I remember how much I used to love driving the 73 Royal Sportsman Maxi that belonged to a friend’s dad. It had the 360 also, and what a sweet drivetrain that thing had. Howard didn’t keep vehicles long, but he kept that one for 5 or 6 years.
Wow, I have not done brakes in a long time. I guess I am getting lazy in my advancing age. And there is nothing like fixing something for just a few bucks worth of parts to give a guy a sense of real satisfaction.
It is a sweet drive train, but it sure could use a fourth/OD gear. Every time I enter the freeway, I keep waiting for it to shift one more time at about 45-50. The rear gears are like 4.30 or so. I don’t have a tach, but it’s spinning pretty good at speed. I run at about 63-65 on the freeway, but one time feeling rushed on a trip to CA, I slowly let the speed creep up, until I was doing 75 for hours. That resulted in a cracked exhaust manifold. No more.
I’ve never even changed the fluid in the A727. Maybe that might be a good idea?
I’d take a look at the fluid. If it’s still red, it’s possible that the previous owner changed it. Draining automatic transmission fluid is a thankless job, but if it’s never been done, you should probably do it.
Regarding your calipers/hoses, it would have been wasted labor to not do both at the same time, because it could have easily been either. If the original hoses were on there, it’s a good bet, but I’ve had calipers stick after under 10 years on a car. I’d be a bit concerned about the severe bend in the hoses, and would certainly be double checking part numbers, and not ruling out a mistake in the parts store computer. It’s probably also a good idea to double check the hose routing. If a previous owner installed it, s/he could easily have installed it incorrectly, and if you followed the old routing, well… On the other hand, there’s often only one way those things can attach to the caliper.
The fluid is still nice and red.
The hoses are just like the old ones were, same length and with a tight bend right at the top (where the rubber cracked on the tow old ones), and pretty tight all the way. But as you said, there’s only one way they will go on.
Gear Vendors can fix you right up for about $3k with an OD unit that will bolt onto your Torqueflite. https://www.gearvendors.com/d2wd3s.html On the one hand, it’s a lot of money. But on the other, where else are you going to get everything you have plus OD for $3k? The driveway installation would be a great CC series. 🙂
The payback on that, with cheap gas? …let me go find a calculator. Actually, never mind. 🙂
I’m still not to sure about the long haul on the Chinook, as it has no cab a/c, which limits us to non-summer travel. And there are a few other shortcomings…
I see this as a temporary solution. We’ll see.
The payback (with affordable gas now) would be less in the mpg department, but more to the overall enjoyment and longevity of the rig. Yes its an aging RV but lets face it…that thing is well kept. For the price of a new one, you could go thru that one how many times over? The lack of A/C upfront would be the biggest thing to overcome from what I see.
Welcome to the ranks of the self-employed! 🙂 Those houses look beautiful, you do very nice work and they look much better than many of the rentals in my neck of the woods (and yours too I suspect). I suspect that (like me and some others here) you have the gene that requires everything to be just so and if you’re going to fix it, you’re going to fix it right, verdammtnochmal! But you need to raise your asking prices if you always have people lined up for them…
But I know you know that this is still way better than answering to some schmuck in the corner office who has no idea what he’s talking about or working your butt off on the floor while some bossman is cracking the whip while waiting for the whistle.
It’s nice to hear of the Chinook being out and about again, I sincerely hope you get the opportunity to fix any other little things with it and take it out for a good length of time. The beauty of that one is, as you’ve found, you can get parts anywhere and they are cheap. A new one would be great for a while but then something would let go in the middle of the forest and the best warranty in the world won’t help whereas any Auto Parts store in Hinterland, USA would have an alternator for the Dodge for example…
Anyway, thanks for the update, and glad to hear most of the crises are handled (for now). I’m amazed that with all of that you were able to do the CC Meetup in mid-June, I didn’t have half as much going on and still couldn’t go…
“Welcome to the ranks of the self employed”? I’ve been doing this since 1993. 🙂
Well; I didn’t drive to Nashville….in my F100. So I was gone a total of 48 hours. Quite doable, and a nice break. But so much for writing up the Lane Museum. I have several hundred pictures. Maybe this winter.
Ah, the fabled Chinook. You’ve mentioned it many times but I think this is the first picture I’ve seen. Good-looking rig, and I love the fact that it’s 70’s vintage but the stripes are *not* some combination of brown, orange, gold, or yellow like every other camper from that decade. The blue and green works well. (I suppose the interior makes up for the lack of gold/orange on the outside!)
I try to do some of my own work (though badly in many cases) but brakes are something I’ve never done, not even pads. That may change in the near future as the Forte needs rear pads, and the Crown Vic has a shudder under braking that I think is most likely warped front rotors. The Internet is a wonderful tool in these cases as there seems to be a tutorial for everything on youtube these days…
In 1978, Chinook changed the two big body stripes to….orange and brown.
The curtains are a wonderful vintage paisley. But the very first thing I did was tear pout the lime green shag carpeting…yukk, And not just the color; who wants shag carpeting when you’re put in the woods/desert/beach? Gross.
Brakes (discs especially) are actually very easy. Ask me what it’s like to change the water pump in one of these, with the hood the size of a mail slot. 🙁
That’s actually my biggest gripe; access sucks, except for the back half of the engine, which is very easy to get at by lifting the dog house inside. But all the stuff that wears out (water pump, alternator, belts, etc. is in the front. 🙁
Yes, disc brakes easy, drums, not so much. I have a “nice” scar on my palm as a memory of what can happen when a spring is not fully seated and then slips out of the grasp of the pliers. Lots of kinetic energy in that puppy.
I agree that most people either can work on houses or work on cars, with very little overlap. My brother inherited the carpenter (and plumber and electrician) gene from our father while I did not; I sometimes have trouble even driving a nail in without bending it. On the other hand, back in the day when we drove inexpensive cars and had to do our own repairs, my brother was lost if confronted by anything more complicated than changing the oil.
At least you have good access to the distributor. That has to be the worst part about a small block in an A body.
All in all, I think the mopar big block is much more mechanic friendly.
@ Chris M
re your Crown Vic warped rotors: they are almost certainly NOT warped. in fact, “warped rotors” is one of the biggest scams in the auto repair business.
just think of the logic…disc brakes have been around for at least 60 years and they are specifically designed to cope with the heating/cooling cycle of frequent braking WITHOUT warping so why would they?
i went through several years of having rotors turned then replaced on a Dodge van before getting frustrated and doing some research on the issue.
turns out that rotors hardly ever warp but it is easy money for a shop to tell you that they do (a bit like that 10 second battery test that results in the “dead cell” statement that is also almost certainly a lie).
what is usually actually happening is that we often come to a stop after hard braking and leave our foot stomped on the brake pedal. this leads to a transfer of hot brake material onto the rotor and this then hardens. when you next use the brakes the strip of brake material leads to that pulsing you feel.
you may be able to solve the problem by just going through the “new brakes” bedding in process. i won’t write it all here but it is worth Googling as i found I didn’t even know there was a specific bedding in process for brakes. i thought you just had to treat them gently at first.
so, folks, don’t believe everything your friendly neighborhood mechanic (or Midas) tells you.
I’d bet a buck it was your brake lines… had the same thing happen with my ’64 Beetle. The rubber on the inside swells with age – you can force brake fluid through, but then it won’t come back when you release the brake.
I’ll echo the comments about your work – beautiful! Kind of an “Other Side of the Curb – Classic.” Love the arched cabinet door treatment, too.
We’re nearly 15 years into our ‘semi Four Square’ farmhouse remuddle, so things I installed new over a decade ago are starting to need replacing. Our place turns 100 in two years… I hope to have it all “done” so we can have an open house celebration.
The latest crisis for us was having an underground power line blow out a couple days ago. We’re the last power pole on our road, and the line runs underground from the pole across the street to the 400 amp transformer out behind the house. The power company folks said it was probably a lightning strike up the line that did it, and said once an old buried line fails the first time, it usually becomes a regular habit until they have to run a new line.
At any rate, once they got the power restored, we found it also fried several GFCI outlets in the kitchen, plus a circuit board in our furnace (which actually caught fire when I powered the tripped breaker back up).
Ah, the joys of home “moanership.”
+1 on the brake lines. Mom’s Dodge van had exactly the same issue. I didnt even bother with the calipers, it was just the hose.
My 71 Chevy pickup did seize up a caliper piston due to rust from a torn outer boot, so it can be caused by the caliper.
My 70 year old rental house had a similar electrical issue. After Edison did a transformer change, most of my tenant’s electronics fried and they called me, terrified that the house was going to burn down. The neutral wire was not properly bonded to ground. Fortunately, they had renters insurance which covered the personal belongings.
Dealing with older systems can be fun. My own house turned 70 this year..earlier this month we had to have our sewer line replaced, as tree roots had grown through it in several places, creating blockages. This was enough of an issue considering it’s 6+ feet underground as we have a full basement. But not only that, while replacing the fresh water line as it’s in the same trench, they discovered that the copper water line serves as the ground for the entire house’s electrical system when one of the plumber’s crew grabbed it and got a hell of a shock for his trouble! This was new information to me also…
I went through the root sewer problem in my 1943 rental house in 2014. The new tenant was using those “flushable” wipes, and the rooter company found them with the camera, caught in the roots that were growing through the seams of the old concrete sewer pipes. The power snake got things moving again, and the plumber wrote a $2000 estimate to replace the damaged section and install a clean out. Me and the plumber both stressed that the flushable wipes aren’t, and to never use them again, especially until I got the pipes replaced.
I found a plumber that would replace the pipes for $200 if the ditch was dug, and the root point was marked on the surface. I made an appointment for a couple of weeks down the road, when my nephew and I could dig the pipe up and have him replace the root infested section. Did I say I told her, NO MORE WIPES! A week later, she called me, the bathtub is filling up with the washer running. So I had no choice but have them come out and start digging. As the camera was run through again, he showed me where more wipes were caught in the roots. So a $200 repair turned into a $2000 repair, (not to mention the $600 snake and camera job the first visit) and me and the company being there until 3:00 am.
My lease now states flushables are not to be used, or tenant is responsible for repairs. On the bright side, said tenant has been great since and she says she wants to stay forever.
As old as the Dodge is, and as cheap as rebuilt calipers are, it was a wise move to change them along with the brake hoses. I would be double checking to be sure the brake hoses are in fact not too short, as this puts your life on the line. I would replace the master cylinder at this point as well, probably cheap and you need to bleed the brakes anyways.
I noted your tips on clogged valves in the shower, in my house the shower pressure in the hot water is getting weak, a new faucet in the kitchen and cleaning out the screens in the bathroom have fixed the low pressure in these areas. I have 1975 galvanized pipes that are original, although the main water line was replaced back in 2000. That time a temp fix allowed me to dig up the water line and save quite a bit of money, just had the plumber replace the line and shut off valve under the house for around $500, including permit. It was a black pvc that fails after 25 years, and was replaced with a upgraded white pvc that is supposed to last 50 years. Within 2 years my neighbors on both sides had their water lines fail as well.
I don’t know how you find time for everything and CC as well, Paul. You keep those old houses in beautiful condition. The guest writers and the re posts, many of which I missed the first time are doing a great job of keeping CC alive. I appreciate the effort, I remember when you were going to sell or shut down the site, and we all whined to you to please keep it going. Above and beyond the call of duty, you have managed to keep the site alive and interesting. I thank you.
Had a similar issue on one of the two houses that wasn’t moved and still had cast iron pipes. But my lease says very clearly that plumbing stoppages that happen as a result of what goes down from the tenant is not my problem.
But I’m nice and snake out hair balls from young women with long hair; free the first time. Not the second time.
Thankfully all my sewer lines are newer PVC: smooth and slippery. And no cracks for the roots. That’s a major problem.
$2600? You got away relatively easy. Ours was twice that, and that’s going with the lowest of three bids (the highest was $7k). At least that’s a “fix it once and it’s fixed (mostly) permanently” problem. Plus there were no cleanouts on the old line (snake/camera had to go in by removing the basement toilet) whereas there are now two.
+1 more on the rubber brake hoses. Same thing happened to my 71 F250.
Huh!?! You mean that was all in vain?
My research suggested that the pistons in these are prone to sticking when they get old.
I guess I’ll never know.
On an related issue, the brake lines seem a bit short to me, and they have to make a very sharp bend right where they connect to the rigid line. Not much extra for suspension rebound.
I once worked on a ’79 Dodge van that had the right front brake caliper lock up when hot also. Turns out some of these vans were equipped with phenolic pistons in the calipers and the combined factors of age, wear, heat, and muck caused them to seize. I replaced both calipers with remanufactured ones with metal pistons and the problem never reoccurred.
Oops, I see Bob B. has a similar comment down below!
Paul: I am glad you are back as an author of original articles again!
I hope it’s heartening to read that despite your frustrations and the underlying pressures of having to meet deadlines and deal with the people whose expectations and needs undoubtedly weigh on you through these processes, for some of us a post like this is inspiring.
Oh, to have my daily work schedule read like Paul’s. As I click off the last months of my forties I frequently find myself compiling lists of lifestyle aspirations to have in place by 55 and by 58, then ultimately by 60 and 65 and beyond. Posts like this one serve as fodder for what I might like to have things “look like” by some not-so-distant point in the future.
To be busy and productive, and to give service to your family and community while still honoring your own interests and doing work that brings personal satisfaction is what any man should aspire to as a goal. While still doing the work that simply pays the bills and keeps the cogs of sustenance turning is honorable in itself, some of us who are still in that stage need stuff like this to help paint a picture of what life can look like beyond this moment. Thanks, it’s good stuff.
Nicely said.
Heh, we’ve lived in our place since 2013 and I still have yet to perform a similar Moen brain surgery. Eh, we never use that tub anyway.
Gotta leave for work and will finish rest of story later but wanted to say thanks for posting. Been there, done that on a lot of this stuff. I do the same black & white checkerboard tiles in the kitchen, same colors inside, always white on the trim. Your new house looks fantastic and so do the interiors. I repiped all of mine immediately as I hate plumbing issues and know what can happen when a pipe breaks.
I’m interested in the wall unit a/c that you called a split a/c / heat pump. Is that like the Mitsubishi system they advertise on the radio, as “ductless a/c”? Have an old house and rental units that are (barely) getting by with window a/c.
Yes; a ductless system. Look into them; very efficient heat and cooling; reasonable cost. And super quiet inside. I will probably put in more; there are tax credits available too, here in Oregon, as the heating is much more efficient than electric resistance heating.
I got a mini split in the rental unit as well. Back in 2013 my tenant called and said someone at the door was offering a free mini-split system and installation if I approved it. I almost told her to send him away, figuring it was a scam. But I asked him to meet up, and he explained it was a BPA/utility company program for 200 houses in the neighborhood. He was going door to door, and told me many people turned him down, figuring something shady was going on. They would have weatherized/insulated the house as well at no charge, but this had already been done by the previous owner. I went to the utility company office just to confirm this was legit, and it was.
My house qualified as well, my rental house is close by. In my case the house got weatherized, blow in insulation in the attic and complete floor insulation. The inspector noticed my sewer PVC pipes under the house were cracked and leaking. As part of the program the pipes were replaced at no charge since the insulation couldn’t be placed over leaking pipes. They wrapped the water heater and all pipes under the house as well, and replaced all faucets, shut off valves and undersink drain pipes.
My house is so well insulated I use the heat a lot less, and now both houses have AC, which is nice. And my electricity bill is way lower. The mini splits work great, and are super quiet. Remote controlled as well. I really love my power company, what a great deal!
I can vouch for them too, we have had one for 4 years now, and rarely use the electric heat. Only on the really cold (-20 C) days do we have to really supplement it with the electric baseboard heat.
Our power bill dropped 40 percent over the run of the year using it.
I like your camper. I could use one like it 3-4 times a year. Just not ready for storing one the rest of the time.
Always surprises me to see an RV without a big block in it. When I was growing up, we had an RV a little bigger than yours with a 318 in it. Must have had deep gears, too. I drove it some just around the time I got my license. Actually worked better than expected – as long as “expected” was under 60 MPH and no big trailers.
Re: 2 person brake bleeding – I’ve recently been gravity bleeding systems with good results. Can take a little longer though.
Is it safe to say your 100 year old rental no longer has cloth insulated wiring? The 100+ year old farm house we rented for a while still had that throughout.
The joys of home ownership – I can only imagine the fun with the number you own. Two weeks ago I tore out some of the walls in the basement in preparation of a remodel that will happen sometime before 2030 or so. And I’m still needing to replace light fixtures and reinstall one in the master bath.
However, when talking about the water problem, the first thing I thought of was what is your incoming water pressure? Obviously not the problem, but that question sure entered my mind. When we bought our house last September the incoming water pressure was only 135 psi when most appliances recommend about 65 psi maximum. The water pressure regulator had called it quits. The base of the water tower I’m tapped into is probably a good 500′ higher than the house due to terrain.
The seat upholstery in your Chinook is identical to that of a ’77 Dodge RV my in-laws had. I couldn’t help but smile.
Actually…it does have some old rubber/cloth insulated wiring for the overhead lights and some wall outlets; everything else is newer, and its protected by a breaker box. I kind of wish I had replaced it all, but that would have taken some doing.
With CFL and now LED bulbs, the loads on the light circuits is getting lower and lower. If it does short out, the breaker would pop. But it’ll probably be alright for another 50 years. 🙂 I’ve added additional wall outlets on new circuits. That’s quite a bit easier, coming up from the crawl space.
I did completely re-wire some of my houses. But that’s a lot of work.
Our water pressure here is well regulated and in a moderate range.
The red house looks spectacular , good job .
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It’s nice to see a land Lord who takes the time to do a good job , I only ever had one or two like you Paul .
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The devil , as always is in the details and the details show in your photos .
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The Dodge looks very clean ! I can’t imagine you wanting to seriously replace it .
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Question : is it possible the front spindles were swapped by a DPO/DPM ? the brake hose looks not quite right .
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The reruns are fine IMO , I keep reading ones I never saw before .
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-Nate
“DPO/DPM”?
The spindles look very original to me, and the calipers fit just right. What would the spindles be swapped out for? These Dodge vans all used the same front disc brakes for many years.
But yes, the brake lines do look a bit contorted and the bends are awfully tight. But the ones on there were the same.
“It’s nice to see a land Lord who takes the time to do a good job , I only ever had one or two like you Paul .”
I was thinking the same thing. Ive seen some real dumps as rentals, but the quality of the remodels that Paul has done look as if he might have done the work to live there himself. Pride of ownership says a lot, and offering a properly done place will surely attract a higher caliber of tenant. Makes for a better experience on both sides.
Your plumbing issues reminded me of my MIL’s old house. Dad had used copper, PVC, and galvanized in no particular order. Every so often a faucet wouldn’t work and sure enough, a piece of crud from the galvanized had made its way to the end of the faucet.
Saw that deal play out about a dozen times when the fleet I work for had a lot of 70’s-80’s era Dodge trucks and vans. While the hoses could cause that problem, the cause was usually the phenolic brake caliper pistons Dodge used during that era. Over time they would swell up in the caliper bore and pesto- stuck brakes. As I said, hoses can cause a similar problem, but a quick check is to open the bleeder screw and see if the brake releases. A stuck piston will not release if the bleeder is opened.
That’s what I had read, about the phenolic caliper pistons. Thanks for confirming it.
My ’83 Ranger has phenolic caliper pistons, and have never been a problem. In fact, I like them. You do not get the galvanic corrosion problems inherent with two dissimilar metals in contact with a electrolyte, which in brakes, is the constant deluge of water we get here in Oregon. I have rebuilt them a couple times since ’91, no wear, no pitting on the iron bore.
This wouldn’t be the first time that Chrysler was first out with a good idea but muffed on the execution. I don’t know if it was the composition of the phenolic material or misjudging for the effects of heat and age in specking the dimensions, but those things were notorious for problems in the late 70s.
Just like with fuel injection, Chrysler got there first but Ford was able to make it work right.
Thanks for that play by play , Paul. That house looks like you have respected the period it was built, yet updated it. It still has the basic character and purposeful look of an older house and not some bowling alley re-no. Nice work.
You have my sympathy re: the hip joints. I just had the right one replaced and the left will be done in mid Sept. Even on a walker, recovering, I am getting around without the constant bone on bone pain that has limited my life for the past couple of years.
That said, thanks for being a window out with your writing and CC. It’s a daily, sometimes multiple daily visit thing for me. CC is a drama free zone without the snark and trolling and character assassination of so many other sites.
Enjoy that Chinook. The story reminds me of why I don’t do my own work: things just snowball out of control for me and there’s no way to get back.
As much as I love cars, if it can’t be removed and replaced, I’m lost. Even the shop manuals never look like what I’m working on. It just doesn’t transfer from head to hands.
As I’ve said before, you are one of my favorite writers, Michael Lamm, Brock Yates and Steven Lang being the others. Farago was great too.
I hope you get back in life as much as you have shared with so many. You deserve all that positive energy coming back to you ten fold.
If the brake fluid is changed regularly ($8/L + one-time $2 vet syringe for bleeding) most brake system problems cannot happen. Still on original hardware on my 12 year old car, brakes and clutch. (I learned the hard way on my list of fixers, so not smirking) Bonus was clutch not bled right from factory. Spray the bleeders a couple times in the week previous to get them prepared and it takes maybe 30 minutes. Up there in rainland I’d do it ever year on a dry day.
Moen are a PITA, that overpriced little inside part reminds me of my brother’s Dungeons and Dragons set. Last time I worked on one I wanted to drop the whole thing behind a wall somewhere. But it would have been more of a battle to replace. They engineered those just this side of that line.
Vinegar (cheap at Costco) can remove minerals if given time. A wide-mouth plastic jar (i.e. coconut oil) can be used to soak small parts, including shower heads and faucet valves.
Doing that valve wet was…well…hmmm
Don’t know about Oregon, but in Chicago the houses are all very narrow because the building lots are only about 25 feet wide ! Toronto is a little better – maybe 35 feet, but still crazy. You need two lots to build something interesting. My home is 19th century, but the site is 100 feet square, which is reasonable but not overly generous.
Your red home is great. The small square windows..are they above kitchen cabinets or something? Looks interesting and I’d like to know, as my new hobby is looking at new house plans rather than old ones. I like this house..a mix of old/traditional design yet has neat new modern touches. (I believe this is your new home you built which you featured here before).
What a nice rental. It too looks great..mix of old and new (bright white old woodwork with light walls). As an old house lover, I appreciate the work, and for keeping its charm. You even included ‘colonnades’ in the post without likely even realizing it. I think you said you were building a small new modest rental..dying to see your work on that.
Beautiful scenery in the picture of the camper van, literally takes my breath away. Wow, that’s living–I’d be out there as often as possible! Say good bye to what isn’t working for you!
If the tires were new or near new when you bought it they are not still good, they may have a good amount of tread but I wouldn’t trust them out on the highway for any length of time. The general rule of thumb is after 6-7 years the tires should be replaced even if they have tread. Pull out the Xb owner’s manual if you have it and you’ll find that is what Toyota recommends.
Two points. One, PVC hasn’t ever been legal here in Ontario for pressure pipe or even above ground drains. It is not a good material. Two, Moen has a lifetime warrenty. You just call them and describe what you need and they send it to you. Free. No proof of purchase. NADA. This does take a bit of time though. The HW store is faster. All of my faucets are Moen.
Not legal for above ground drains? What is legal? ABS? I happen to slightly prefer PVC over ABS for drain lines. What is the supposed superiority of ABS for drain lines.
CPVC is not PVC. It’s been chlorinated to make it much more resistant to heat, and keep it more flexible. I much prefer PEX, but CPVC doesn’t exactly have a bad rep either. It’s been around since the 60s.
PVC is ok to use with cold water, and almost all irrigation systems and such use PVC. Maybe they’re switching to PEX too?
Yes, I know about Moen’s warranty, and I rather like their valves and their support. If you buy a Moen, you’ll always be able to fix it or service it. Can’t say that about some other companies that come and go.