Keep Sunshine Alive Forever
Operation Keep Sunshine Alive Forever
For the remainder of summer/fall of 2018, we’ll be in Florida, dirtying our hands in a complete Sunshine overhaul. Think: body restoration. You’ll find us cutting rust out of Sunshine’s dented and rusted panels, replacing her cracked rubber seals, and swapping out her old, beat-to-hell suspension with one that’s new.
The Plan: Practical/Minimal Improvements
Our goals for the restoration aren’t aesthetic in nature. We’re not looking to transform Sunshine into a show car, to make her a luxury camper (though we kinda think she already is), or sink money into unnecessary toys.
Instead, our plan is to cut out the bad, crumbly rust and weld on some new metal, pull out the deteriorating parts and replace them with quality pieces that will last. We’re trying our damndest to keep this bus running for 40 more years. JR said that his goal is to take a photo of Sunshine and I in the Rockies when we’re 70 years young, with canyon-deep laugh lines in the sides of our cheeks.
DIY Masochists
Because we love learning—and because we’re incurable masochists who love bruised knuckles—we’re planning to do pretty much all of this work ourselves.
Why Restore If She Ain’t Broken?
We’ve wavered back and forth on the restoration decision for over a year now. What finally pushed us over the edge was a firm judge from the universe…we received a phone call offering us a temporary gig and housing. Soon after, access to shop space opened up, which was uncanny.
Finally, we decided to go for it. The timing’s right, the universe provided what we’d need, and besides, we hate seeing Sunshine creak and moan and crumble. We can’t let her fall apart piece by piece. Without stopping to do this, we’re set to wind up completely out of money on the side of the road, with no way to put her back together. It’s time to own up and save her before she’s in pieces in a parking lot somewhere.
How Bad is She?
Last summer, during a brutal breakdown in Wyoming, we realized that Sunshine was showing her wear and tear. She was sunken in and dented….a hungry cancer of rust ate at her. All those miles of mountain roads, the snow storms, the bugs on the windshield, had taken their toll. Her camber was awful, the suspension so worn down we’d hear squeaking metal as we’d search for a camp spot.
None of this surprised us. After all, Sunshine is 42 years old this year, meaning JR and I have owned her for 12—and, on top of that, we’ve lived in her as our exclusive home for almost 7 years total. Considering she’s probably at well over 300,000 miles, what with all the Jeep trails we’ve followed to their faint ends, it’s understandable that our orange gal needs a break and a bit of life breathed into her.
We’re Unsure and a Little Scared…but Going For It!
We’re like a coyote with its head in a gopher hole over here—we have no idea how long this’ll take, what we’re capable of, or what the hell we’re doing, but, you know what? In our experience, that’s how all the greatest endeavors begin.
Let’s do this.
Kit and J.R.
