I thought it might be nice to have the whole story in one spot. Why I think I'm still not sure, never seems to turn out good for me....
I got it registered yesterday with little hassle. Key word little.
I walked in, she said in order to do it she needs an inspection - I talked her through the spiel - they used to do inspections, but no longer do, I called and verified this with the DMV as well as the WSP.
She called her supervisor, who made another call, who confirmed this.
She then asked me the GVW, she said I needed to have it weighed on a certified scale before she could register it. I told her since it is an RV, I believe it be exempt, she called her supervisor again, who confirmed this.
Since it was an odd numbered year (1997) she said I have to have a current emissions test, So registered it to my in laws house who live out in the stix where emissions testing isn't required.
After much adieu, she asked me for a check for 309 bucks, and I walked out with plates!
Don't ask me why it was so freakin expensive, but at least I walked out with Motorhome plates!
After getting it in the yard, it felt really good. All the neighbors came over one by one, and we talked about what we are planning to do, and everyone seemed okay with it. My neighbor even has a friend with 2 skoolies, who'd of thunk it. My other neighbor said he was jealous and wished he had a bus to tinker on. All in all, neighbors complacent for the time being. We brought some fresh picked strawberries around, that helps too.
I got half of the seats removed. I think my initiation has begun. I went to harbor freight, got some channel locks and tried that method. It worked for a couple seats, but it was a real pain crawling in and out from under the bus. It was painfully slow as well. It took me 30 minutes for the first seat. When I started I was real careful not to damage anything, on the third seat I would have used a chainsaw if I could have.
I then tried using a sawlzall to cut the heads of the bolts off. No good. I hooked up my compressor and grabbed my angle grinder. The compressor wasn't big enough, I needed more power. Off to lowes to buy an electric angle grinder. I picked up a 6 amp hitatchi for 50 bucks or so with 5 grinding wheels. Much better method! The bolts got hot, glowing red hot, after about 10 burns later ( use safety equipment ) I had most of the seats removed. I got a piece of glowing metal debris in my eye, that wasn't much fun. One stuck to my lip as well, and one on my eyelid. Did I mention you should use safety equipment?
It was getting dark so I was done for the day.
The next day I had my son to watch while my wife was at work, so no angle grinding. I did get a chance to clean out half of the engine compartment and engine. It was really disgusting with years of really nasty diesel dirt everywhere. I ended up dumping some of the water on the grass, and I'm really hoping I won't have a huge dead spot now. It looks much better though, and I can actually read some of the part numbers. Hopefully I won't have to read any of them any time soon.
My tranny fluid smells burnt, so I am going to replace it before any trips. The oil is a little dirty but seems okay. The coolant is going to get analyzed before I go changing it. Air filter is okay based on the gauge.
I walked in, she said in order to do it she needs an inspection - I talked her through the spiel - they used to do inspections, but no longer do, I called and verified this with the DMV as well as the WSP.
She called her supervisor, who made another call, who confirmed this.
She then asked me the GVW, she said I needed to have it weighed on a certified scale before she could register it. I told her since it is an RV, I believe it be exempt, she called her supervisor again, who confirmed this.
Since it was an odd numbered year (1997) she said I have to have a current emissions test, So registered it to my in laws house who live out in the stix where emissions testing isn't required.
After much adieu, she asked me for a check for 309 bucks, and I walked out with plates!
Don't ask me why it was so freakin expensive, but at least I walked out with Motorhome plates!
7/6/2009
We got the bus home from my inlaws house. We managed to get it parked in the yard after a 22 point turn, a missing fence post, and we are going to need some new sod. (and sprinkler head) The bus overheated on the way home, wasn't much fun. We parked and turned it off (not supposed to do that) a dumped some water on the radiator (not supposed to do that) and then waited. Eventually it cooled off enough and we were back on the road. Besides that it was rather uneventful 
After getting it in the yard, it felt really good. All the neighbors came over one by one, and we talked about what we are planning to do, and everyone seemed okay with it. My neighbor even has a friend with 2 skoolies, who'd of thunk it. My other neighbor said he was jealous and wished he had a bus to tinker on. All in all, neighbors complacent for the time being. We brought some fresh picked strawberries around, that helps too.
I got half of the seats removed. I think my initiation has begun. I went to harbor freight, got some channel locks and tried that method. It worked for a couple seats, but it was a real pain crawling in and out from under the bus. It was painfully slow as well. It took me 30 minutes for the first seat. When I started I was real careful not to damage anything, on the third seat I would have used a chainsaw if I could have.
I then tried using a sawlzall to cut the heads of the bolts off. No good. I hooked up my compressor and grabbed my angle grinder. The compressor wasn't big enough, I needed more power. Off to lowes to buy an electric angle grinder. I picked up a 6 amp hitatchi for 50 bucks or so with 5 grinding wheels. Much better method! The bolts got hot, glowing red hot, after about 10 burns later ( use safety equipment ) I had most of the seats removed. I got a piece of glowing metal debris in my eye, that wasn't much fun. One stuck to my lip as well, and one on my eyelid. Did I mention you should use safety equipment?
It was getting dark so I was done for the day.
The next day I had my son to watch while my wife was at work, so no angle grinding. I did get a chance to clean out half of the engine compartment and engine. It was really disgusting with years of really nasty diesel dirt everywhere. I ended up dumping some of the water on the grass, and I'm really hoping I won't have a huge dead spot now. It looks much better though, and I can actually read some of the part numbers. Hopefully I won't have to read any of them any time soon.
My tranny fluid smells burnt, so I am going to replace it before any trips. The oil is a little dirty but seems okay. The coolant is going to get analyzed before I go changing it. Air filter is okay based on the gauge.
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