11-29-14 ENGINE CHANGE PLANNING. ROBERTSDALE, AL.

11-29-14 Planning the engine change

Still in Robertsdale, Alabama at Wilderness RV Park.

I've been on the phone and internet a lot this week ! As you might believe, trying to plan an engine change this far from home can be a challenge. Locating a mechanic and an engine has taken up a lot of time. I put an ad on Craigslist for a mechanic and got a call that evening from “ Robert “. He lives about a ½ hr from us and gave me a fair quote for labor. I located a low mileage 454 engine with 33k miles on it that has been taken out of a motorhome.

My friend and neighbor, Phil, gave me a ride today to meet Robert at the salvage yard and we all checked out the engine. So far, so good ! Robert is supposed to call in the next few days to set up a date for the work to be done. He's guessing next week and 2 days.

I'm praying this all happens without any glitches.

Since we live fulltime in our rig we'll probably have to grab a motel nearby for a few days. Gonna research that soon. Might be in Loxley, Alabama for that, judgeing by my preliminary search.

I've done a lot of “wrenching” in my life so I have some knowledge of what needs to be done. If we were back home it would make all this seem so much easier. Probably would be done by now. But, be that what it may, here we are. I started out with estimates around $9K and now have it down to less than $2K..not bad !! This whole job should take about 2 to 3 short days, about 24 hrs at the most. ( at Geezzer speed ! ) Robert is, I guess, about 30 years old and seems knowledgeable. I remember being that age ! Full of confidence and brawn !! Oh, those days were crazy !!! But, we got a lot done back then !

I'm not totally without transportation. Got the Goldwing. I'm hoping the weather allows me to ride. I'll try to help out where I can and try to stay out of the way. I know how I am when it comes to having someone hanging over my shoulder when I'm wrenching. Interruptions only confuse the whole job. It takes a lot of focus to do this kind of job.

So, next up is a call from Robert to set a date for the work.

REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY !!

Charlie & Heather