Mobile Scout Camper Progress-Lights, Windows, Air Conditioning!

Even with his crazy, crazy work schedule, the Hubs has been able to sneak in some time over the past few weeks refurbing the Mobile Scout. Awesome additions have been made!

Air Conditioning!

He had cleverly finished the new a/c cabinet and we'd been watching the end of summer sales (really? in early July?) Lo and behold, we snagged a Heuer 5000 btu unit at a steep discount. Did a trial run on a 100 plus degree day, should be perfect for our needs. "Hallelujah!" is all this Kansas camper has to say.

Lights! 

One of the decisions we made at the beginning was to replace all exterior lights with LED. We've stuck to that pretty faithfully, except for the original tag light.

But here's the fun thing...after seeing how much it would cost to purchase custom taillight flanges, the Hubs decided to do a little Kansas engineering that involved, you guessed it, tin cans! Thanks to a #5 can of pork & beans and his brilliant strategy, we now have taillights that match our classic canned ham camper. (Buy the beans at Walmart, you'll have the can AND the beans for about five bucks!) I think they're perfect! What do you think?

Mechanical Stuff

While painting the wheels, the Hubs also decided it would be wise to repack the bearings with grease and make sure everything wheel-and-axle-wise was in good running condition. So grateful for his cautious soul. By the way, the painted wheels make all the difference in the '61 Mobile Scout's profile, don't you think?

Something else that made a big difference in the Mobile Scout's curb appeal was to take the time to wash the windows. Who knew that removing a couple of decades' worth of grime would make Sweet Melissa sparkle?

Painting Science Tips from the Hubs! 

One more awesome hurdle cleared in the past couple of weeks was to paint the front above the shiny diamond plate we'd installed earlier. Hubs says the secret to great painting is to purchase a Wagner HVLP paint sprayer (be sure you buy one that is 4.1 fluid ounces per minute output or greater).

This will allow you to spray all types of paint up to and including enamels or epoxies. He also wants me to tell you to be sure to experiment with how much you thin your paint. The correct mixture of paint and thinner makes all the difference in a smooth paint surface. One more painting science tip: we used Zinsser Bullseye Cover Stain Primer. It adhered to the aluminum surface perfectly and gave us a good base coat for the color applied later.

Seriously, we're going to have our vintage camper ready for fall camping season, in fact, we bought insulated chairs for sitting out in the campground on those cool autumn nights. Can't wait to use them!