And here we are , home for the next two weeks. An old fashioned , one bedroom motel. Concrete block walls , no insulation , no frills. Heater was on all night , every night and we still needed a blanket around us while watching TV. The whole experience did nothing to entice us back to living in a house , thats for sure! However it was very close to the workshop which let us visit daily to view progress , make "on the spot" decisions and 'gofor' various bits and pieces that were needed. Alan kept an hour by hour record of the actual hours as compared to the estimate , very handy. 
Now up the road we go to the workshop.
Alan was out front directing the action.
We waited for our directions.
"OK , drive in" - these were the words we were so eagerly awaiting to hear.
" Follow me " - "what , just through the door " I thought.
Once inside however follow was just what I did.
Through to the rear workstation .
Yep - thats us in the middle of the picture way down the back.
Jacob was the very competent Tradesman allocated to our project.
Can't find his photo at the moment - Sorry Jacob.
The rust was cut out well back into the good steel.
Pieces were being removed , left , right and centre.
Our motorhome looked like a mechanical version of a Swiss Cheese.
With every section that was removed we some what held our breath , waiting for the dreaded "oh,oh".
We looked into the inner sections and thought to ourselves that the rust in there looked fairly bad.
'Not so" said Jacob ," It is better than expected."
Wow , a bad one must be a real mess.
All these inner sections were sprayed with a Rust Kill product and then with a primer.
Pieces of steel were then cut to shape.
Bent to match the existing profiles.
These infill pieces were then very skillfully MIG Welded into place.
Next step was the leveling compound.
Commonly called " bog "in the workshop.
It was the sanding of this bog that caused the peculiar smell that permeated throughout the whole workshop.
Front and rear bumpers were removed .
Sandblasted on all surfaces back to the bare metal and then a coat of rust treatment and three coats of paint.
"They are as good as new" we were told.
H'mmmm - they should see us out then.
The work continued.
It was time consuming.
This piece had a setback and a flange on two sides - tricky work indeed.
All in a days work for Jacob.
Remember the windscreen chip !
Whilst trying a repair they broke the screen.!!!!!!
Another Blog will tell this story.
Next item was the very rusty panels.
Once removed , four of them would need rebuilding . A major undertaking that was not provided for in the estimate.
Alan estimated it would take us well over budget.
We loaded them into our towbehind and went to town.
We had decided to try to replace them with Aluminium . If we could , they would be another item that would see us out.
The first price was a shocker .
$2800.00 + GST - !!!!!!!!
We then went to where we should have gone in the first place.
A true craftsman who has done other work for us and for other motorhomers.
"No problem , pick the up in two days" he said.
"Er - How much" I asked. "$600.00" - I just about choked saying 'OK'.
Back at the workshop it was decided to replace one more.
Back to town - "that will be another $120.00"
"Will do I'll get it from the Bank tomorrow" I said and did.
Meanwhile , back at the workshop the welding , filling and sanding continued.
Jacob worked diligently but it took time.
The first layer of bog had a rust inhibitor in it and was quite coarse.
Nice to see develope but time was relentlessly marching on.
" OK at the moment, but ............... " said Alan with a shake of his head.
Oh dear I thought as I drove back to camp for a Dry Red.
The areas between the bog were being finely sanded in preparation of repainting.
We delivered the new locker panels.
Alan and Jacob cast their critical eye over them and declared them " a good job".
They fitted well and were soon undercoated.
The grey section of the rig was repainted with a Two Pot Epoxy paint with a clear gloss coat over it to finish .
The white upper section was touched up as needed with standard auto paint.
There is Jacob at the far end putting some of the trim back on.All the screws , washers , nuts and bolts were replaced with stainless steel ones.
The rearvision mirror mounts were rebuilt for us in aluminium ( by the same craftsman as did the locker panels ) to overcome the constant rust problem.
This is Jacob - all work and all smiles.
They had been cleaned , rust treated and repainted annually but still they rusted .
Not anymore Dan Druff - oop's showing my age now.
The final stages took us over the high range of the Best Estimate by some 28% and the two weeks became three.
However the total bill was still less than half the highest estimate.
There were no surprises - Alan kept up to date daily and the application of the overrun in time and materials was very considerate to us.
If we had to do another one - would we go back to Rowsells - YES we would.
On leaving the workshop I was so excited I forgot to get any photos !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
