Manita De Gato project...

"Manita de gato" is a phrase in Spanish that probably can be roughly translated as "light touch fix". A more literal translation, "Kitty paw fix".
This is a reference to how a cat gives itself a "shower", by lightly licking itself here and there. Not a "real" shower but something like it.

In the last couple of days I "fixed" a number of things that perhaps did not need any fixing. Just a touch on retentive-compulsive tweaking. The kitty paw fix list included:

• Seal an open air gap under the kitchen side bench
• Relocate a sub-woofer speaker under said bench
• Scrub and paint the rusting areas of the Hensley hitch, plus grease it.

We winterized the trailer some weeks ago. While looking for the water pump, I unscrewed a section of plywood under the cushion of the kitchen side diner bench. The pump was not there, but perplexity was. I found under there a hidden sub-woofer for the JVC stereo system (?). Also, in the same area, an opening for electric cables coming through the wooden floor. The opening generous enough to let light and elements form the outside in.

At the time I figure that I wanted that speaker out of there (it sounded pretty good once out) and that I needed to seal that hole somehow, but all these needed to wait for more important things like winterizing and fixing the roof vents.

Well, the time came to deal with these little issues. For the open gap, I cleaned the area and sealed it with "Great Stuff" foam. This is really a nice product. That corner (upper right area on the photo) reminded me of the bathroom initial design and condition. Not sure what goes on at the Airstream factory in terms of quality and labor, but it seems that there is just not pride or care for craftsmanship and attention to detail. You can see the floor linoleum and wall material just flopping around. There were several staples in that area that never reached any surface to tack on to. Their only purpose seemed to be nail unsuspecting fingers attempting to straighten up the mess. Here is the area without the speaker and the hole sealed.

Here is the sub-woofer out and secured with velcro. It is removable so the benches can still be turned into a bed. I think that in the end, if I can not rip the CD changer and use that input for the iPod, I may replace the whole thing with an iPod Bose system.

Next. While reading the instructions to grease the Hensley Hitch, I read that the thing needed also re-touch paint to prevent excessive rusting. So after greasing it, I embarked on a surprisingly futile hunt for orange industrial grade enamel. Only red, green, black and cooper available. I found a nice tough silver enamel with a hammered finish, and I settled for that. I carefully removed the original Hensley stickers and I will put them back after the paint dries. I scrubbed the rust and weak paint areas with a wire brush and repainted most of the piece. Next time...it will need sandblast and proper air gun paint. Here is the before and after pictures.

While I was busy "licking" all these things, Vicky measured and fitted nice plastic containers under the bed, in the lower pantries and other areas. We also ran some drills with the propane appliances. With all these latest activities, we are just about a week behind. We wanted to do our first test trip on the Jan 1 2010, but we fell a little behind. Next week we will do it.