Big Blue's Bucket Seats

[Gary Lewis]

Well, I didn't powder coat those, just used the self-etching primer and the satin black since they were handy.  But plenty of parts on both trucks have been powder coated.  

[ArdWrknTrk]

It wasn't an observation.
It was a suggestion, I know that you'll be back to better call those things!  

[Gary Lewis]

Water isn't too hard.  Have used this ~2 gallon tank-type water heater for 15 years but it finally gave up the ghost.  Not sure I'll go electrical tankless as they sure look pricey.  Will get along w/o hot water for a while as I figure it out.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I've "camped" in places with no hot water for extended periods.

You have to be careful of the microbes when you're not allowed to build a fire.

Potassium permanganate is your friend in the jungle, but don't over do it or you'll look like you were eating beets.
(I don't understand how some of those idiots survived )

[BigBrother-84]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

Potassium permanganate is your friend in the jungle.

 
My daughter and her husband are hikers.  She has a SteriPen for multiple years.
We used it for a two weeks canoe river trip, in deep woods, was very useful.
We just offered one as Christmas gift to one of my sons.
And I plan to buy one for my own uses.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Tell me how well that works for hydrating an entire insertion team, on the run.  

[BigBrother-84]

Well, we were 6 adults and sterilized 6 water bottles, twice a day.
It takes 90 seconds and some swirling to purify one liter of water.
Maybe not an insertion team, but we never missed fresh clean sterilized water.  I’ll never go back to pills and powder.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Well, the '80's were 40 year older technology, and when you're on the move you need to fill the platypus and get the heck out of there....
Lifestraw works well enough for what it is.
Exactly what"survival" means depends on the situation.

[mat in tn]

I'm sure that you are looking into all of the specs on the water heater options. a typical 50 gal has an electrical requirement of 30a 240v and most homes are wired that way. yet a comparable tankless on demand requires three times that. additional wiring is needed. this is when I would comp it against a natural gas option if available. the ones I have installed seem to work much better in the response time, but it has been a few years so improvements may have been made.

[Gary Lewis]

I only had a 2 gallon 110V water heater in there, and there's no room for anything larger.  It is just for cleaning things that might need hot water to do a better job, so I'm going to do without it for a while and see how badly I need it.

[ArdWrknTrk]

You don't need scalding to wash your hands.
It's $100 for an under sink 120v unit..... 🙄


https://www.amazon.com/Tankless-Electric-Instant-Kitchen-Bathroom/dp/B0BRPW4XVQ/ref=asc_df_B0BRPW4XVQ/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=647310506369&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14447962510708189669&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1014778&hvtargid=pla-2161092483832&psc=1&mcid=df080040b4533bd9802284420e249e78

[Gary Lewis]

I'll have to check to see what size the breaker is, but that one says "plug current: 27-32A".  So it would have to at least be on a 30A circuit and I don't think the wire is that big.  Obviously something I'll have to check - after I drink this cup of Verona and a cup of French.  Gotta get my motor running and head out on the sidewalk.

[ArdWrknTrk]

A few feet of orange wire isn't gonna break you.
Or, you could get a 240 one @15A

[Gary Lewis]

The breaker box is about 60' away, but the run goes through the insulated ceiling and down an outside, therefore insulated, wall.  So I don't want to rewire when this has been working fine for 15 years.  That little tank has had all the hot water I needed.

[Gary Lewis]

The breaker is a 20A unit, so I'm quite limited on what I can put in.  The label below is off that heater, which shows that it is a GE model GE06P06SAG, and it measures 16" in diameter and 15 1/2" high, which is obviously as high as it can go.  And the 2KW means it can pull 17A @ 120V, so that 20A circuit is adequate.  But it also limits what can go back.




And here's what the setup looks like:

[Gary Lewis]

And now back to our regularly-scheduled program.  The platform and seats are installed, with pics to prove it happened down below, and it is time to start preparing the console for paint.

But I have a question for y'all.  The slide handles for the seats don't have "knobs" on them.  The DS one is 1/2" wide and the flat is about 1" long, but the PS one is folded into a U.  You can see this in the last two pics.  I'd like to put something on them that looks a bit more finished than nada, so do you have any suggestions?  I could pull the PS one and flatten it to make it take the same knob as the DS if needed.

[ArdWrknTrk]

You know..... Plastidip was made for this very purpose!  💡

[viven44]

Wow what a difference painting has done !!

Is that same as the Flex Seal dip ? I used it to do cowl seals based on an old post here, and it worked wonderfully. Flex seal / Plasti dip is the way to go !! Maybe 2-3 dips should do it.

[Gary Lewis]

Vivek - Glad you like the outcome.  

Jim - Hadn't thought about Plasti Dip.  In fact, I've never used it.  I thought it was just a dip, but when I looked it up on Amazon I now see that there are spray cans of it.  Wouldn't the dip be the way to go?

I can get some of the dip and pull the seat tracks off to dip them - maybe dip them a couple of times.  The indentions on the driver's lever will help hold it on, but I wonder about drilling a hole in both levers so the dip can flow through and give it more grip?

[ArdWrknTrk]

You don't want to spray, peel off garbage the kids put on their wheels these days.

Get the dip in the can, just dip the lever.
This is what we use for pliers and the like.
Maybe do it twice.

Prep like you were going to primer it.
Sandblast, texture, whatever...