Last Updated: 19/12/2019

Tuesday I picked up Gigi from the panel beater and took it back home where we can finally start Stage 3.

If you have followed the Log Book, you would have read that Stage 1 & 2 did apply to the MAN coach. On the Scania however Stage 1 & 2 will be performed at later date as I seriously need to get this project on the road.

This month Gigi went under the knife and the following modifications were applied:

  1. Removal of the A/C from the roof
  2. Modify internal floor for the Mini Garage access
  3. Add a Tilt door to the side for the Mini Garage
  4. Add a Skylight in the Master Bedroom
  5. Replacing all broken seal and glass with panels where required
  6. Finish the installation of the Levelling System
  7. Preparing the roof for solar panels vents and new hatches

The Panel beater did almost everything as required, but he also managed to install the rear door about 20 cm too far forward. More importantly the quality of the workmanship (or perhaps the lack of), is also not what I expected… Too late now as I need to get on with the next stage. I’ll probably lose another week in fixing the new problems created by the fitting of the new door. On a great note, the door works as expected and it does seal perfectly, so it is the new Skylight..  :D

Moving forward the Garage door does create a new problem as there are another three walls in the Coach that cannot be moved. So this mean that the main bedroom may end up having the bed facing a latitudinal position, instead of the more conventional longitudinal position… We’ll cross that bridge once we get there..

So the A/c was removed, the floor was modify to accommodate the new Garage door, the tilt door was added as it was the Skylight..

On the left side you can see the Garage door in the closed position, while on the right you can see the Garage door in the open position and the modified floor to allow the door lock to be positioned at the same level on both side.

Finally, the inside view of the door.. The paint job is very rough as well as the timber floor job (read unfinished). The quote was cheap and the say “You always get what you paid for” couldn’t be more true in this instance.. But I’m looking forward to the next challenge and most of the panel beater mistakes (read lousy workmanship) are thankfully fixable…

He did however an excellent job in replacing the glasses on either side of the front of the coach and the broken glass on the main door..

All is left for me now, is to finish the installation of the levelling system and prepare the roof for the solar panels and other vents. Hopefully January, will be the beginning of the real transformation and some walls and new windows will be installed..

I’ll try to add in January two new blog under Modification regarding the Levelling system (with pictorial) and the Garage self loading ramp..

I almost forgot. As I was approaching the parking lot at home, right in front of the gates, Gigi decided to let all the air out of the tanks, leaving me stranded just 50 metres from the final destination..

This job does belong to Stage 1 and as mentioned above the Scania did not receive such attention yet. After a quick inspection it turned out to be two unrelated causes to the problem: the first one was an easy fix as the 6 mm hose that does control the main door had just burst. This is quite normal and you should always have a couple of metre of both 6 and 8 mm air hose and plenty of quick connectors for emergency like this…

The second problem was however terminal as the unloader valve (pictured here on the right) have decided to stop working.. That meant that the compressor was just pumping air for nothing as the valve was just sitting right open and not allowing any air at all to reach the tanks.. In the picture you can also see the two filters that together with the serpentine, does complete the dual Air dryer system..

I did found it quite funny that two air problem did present them self almost simultaneously, but I guess that was Gigi’s way to say “Merry Christmas.. I’m back..”  :P   Another possible pictorial of this component could be on his way if time permit next week, as this component is in every vehicle and it can save quite a bit of money doing the maintenance to it, yourself..

Merry Christmas to every one and a Happy New Year.. I’m going to have a beer now as it is nearly 40° outside..