Saving money on repairs occasionally creeps into every rv'ers mind and a few days ago it found its way to me. It wasn't going to be a big thing ... like overhauling the transmission (doesn't need it anyway) or repainting the coach (needs it but can't afford it) but something more modest ... something that's simple that I can use my vast knowledge of repairing things.
You see my windshield wiper blades needed replacing and the wiper arms needed painting so ... how hard can that be? I asked. Take them off, scrub them up with a little sandpaper, get a can of spray paint and presto'-chango'. Good as new.
So I dug out the tool box and started the project. First order of business was to take off the wiper blades. Pretty simple stuff until I found that mine were bolted to the arm with a very small shoulder bolt. I found the right tools and, with the confidence of Donald Trump at a cocktail party, quickly and surely managed to twist the rusty bolt in half thus ruining it. Oh well ... at least I got it off. After my first little mishap, the removal went smoothly but after looking at the arms, I thought why not take them to a powder coater to make them really look good. I tried out powder coating while in Florida to refurbish my metal heating vents in the coach and they turned out better than new. In a nut shell, powder coating is applying a powdered paint (sort of like talcum powder) to the electrically charge metal part. The charge attracts the paint and it clings to the metal. The part is then baked in an oven whereas the paint is melted onto the metal thus leaving a smooth, even coat.
So the next day I found a nearby company that did powder coating and stopped by for an estimate. 'Sorry', the lady at the counter said. The estimator was out of the office but if I would leave my name and phone number he would call me later. Day turned to night and no phone call so I thought I'd pay them another visit the following morning. After a short meeting with the estimator, he said they could do the job later in the week for $25. A little high I thought, but I said okay. He said he'd be happy to do the job but the wiper arms needed to be sandblasted first and they didn't do that type of work but said to try a couple of other local companies who could. Fifteen minutes later I was at the door of the first prospect. A greying elderly woman looked over her glasses and after I said what I wanted, she said in a slightly irritated voice, "What?" "What made you think we did that kind of work?" I explained that she was recommended by the other company but she replied, "we're a lawn maintenance company and we have a sand blaster ... but that's just for cleaning our lawn mowers!"... So we parted company and I was off to what I'd hoped, was a real sandblasting outfit.
After another ten-minute drive, I arrived at the second shop and found a worker standing in the drive. I could see by the equipment around the place that they did do sandblasting so I was getting excited that I might finally get this part of the job done. I explained what I needed and he went on to tell me of the intricacies of what I was asking him to do. I've done a little sandblasting years ago and do know that this was about a ten-minute job at best. Apparently he was used to doing bulldozers and tanks, as this was apparently high precision for him. He led me into the office and shuffled some papers around then said that he wasn't authorized to give out estimates but his boss would call me later; however, he did think that it would be about $25 to do the sandblasting. Again an outrageous estimate, but just an estimate from a worker-be so I thought I'd leave him the parts and wait to hear from the boss. True to form the boss didn't call that day so I went back the following morning and finally found him. I questioned him about the wiper arms and he gave the feeling that he didn't know what I was talking about, but after wandering around a bit, he found them in a pile of other parts awaiting blasting. No paperwork but I said those belonged to me. He looked them over and said he maybe could get to them in a day or so and that would be about $15 each or about $30. OMG are these guys nuts I thought? $55 bucks total to sand and paint a pair of wiper arms!
I wasn't a math major in college but I immediately figured about $6 dollars for a can of spray paint, a little emery paper and a little elbow grease and this crazy idea of sandblasting and powder coating would soon be a distant memory. The sandblaster boss guy apparently read my mind and silently handed over my parts. I said "thanks" and told him I'd figured out something else.
So having derailed my train of great ideas, I now had to buckle down and ... do it myself. Off to the big box store to buy my supplies I went. Flat black paint, a little sandpaper and I almost forgot, that broken bolt need to be replaced. Of course the big box store didn't have the proper bolt so I went to the local hardware store that didn't have the bolt either. Since we were going back to our home across the state, I waited until we got home and found a place that had the bolt I thought I needed. Then, back across the state I went a few days later with my new treasure.
It was a beautiful bright day and a great day to finish up this project, I thought. I got all the parts and pieces together and after sanding and painting the wiper arms it was time to get started with the assembly. Murphy's Law has always been my closest partner and today was no exception. To start with, the special shoulder bolts that I ran all over hell's half acre to find were an 1/8" of an inch too short. This discovery set off a chain of events that included sawing, hammering, pounding, three more trips out for more parts and the help of one other guy. Remember this all started when I decided to changes wiper blades. The last time I had the ones on my TrailBlazer changed the guy swapped them out for free. That's right ... free labor!
Okay ... what did I learn for this DIY debacle? Don't try it if you have any doubts! If your wife can do it ... let her. If not ... hire it out. I'm retiring my tools and the notion that I can fix things. It doesn't pay. A simple change of wiper blades took better than a week to accomplish, probably enough fuel for my truck to drive to Chicago and back, a level of frustration a guy my age shouldn't experience, and finally, I surely can find better things to occupy my time.
Now that the wipers are fixed, I can hardly wait for the next rain. So if you happen to be in our park and it's raining, you should look me up. I'll be the only guy in the park sitting there with the wipers running and a grin on my face.
Still livin' the dream and spending more time on Angie's List.
Phil
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