Guppy Remodel Project

In the bedroom of The Guppy there was a cabinet that wasn't really useful. It had a rod for hanging clothes but the cabinet wasn't tall enough for most things you would put on a hanger. Also it got in the way when making the bed or if you wanted to turn the mattress over.

The cabinet with padded strips around the bottom. Can't understand why there was a gap between it and the overhead cabinet.

The Old Lady wanted it gone so I removed it. Turned out it wasn't too hard to remove. It was screwed to the walls. Once I took some paneling off I was able to get at the screws.

Cabinet removed.

We figured the thing to do was install a shelf in the space where the cabinet was.

Pieces parts. These were cut from pieces of the cabinet.

The shelf.

Used paneling to cover the shelf and piece across the front was framework for the door opening.

Now we have a shelf for storage and the cabinet that was getting in the way is gone. When the cabinet was there I had to be careful getting into and out of bed. Now it's no longer a problem.

Gear Shift Knob

Last year sometime the gear shift knob came off in my hand. It was just pushed on the gear shift lever and the plastic inside the knob had broken.

The pieces should be inside the knob all in one piece.

I looked for a replacement knob at a couple auto parts stores and couldn't find one that was right. Most of them were screw on ones. So I just used electrical tape to put the pieces back together and some on the shift lever and put the knob back on.

Today I made a quick shift from first to second and the knob came off in my hand again. I stopped at NAPA and the only knob they had was a screw on one. On the way home the knob came off a few times as the pieces had fallen out. I noticed there was a hole in the end of the shift lever, so I thought maybe I could tap some threads into the shift lever and drill hole in the knob to use a screw to hold it on.

If it comes off now I will have a real problem!

I would have preferred a new knob, but this is a good fix for an old truck (17 years old).

Addendum: I know I could have gotten a new knob from a Ford dealer, but I'm still kinda pissed at the local Ford dealers because if you buy a Motorcraft battery it has a longer warranty than the Motorcraft battery that comes in a new car. The battery died in The Old Lady's car after 3 and a half years, but it was only covered for 3 years under the car warranty.