Varnish, varnish & more varnish

Today I varnished nearly every piece of wood panelling in Myrtle. All that is left is one wall in the back corner by the bed, one wall in the living room area and the kitchen lower cabinets/drawers. It really brought out the texture of the wood. Of course later I will be doing the walls I did not get to and then all over again with a light sand and a 2nd coat of varnish.... The stove is pulled out to allow better access to paint the interior of the lower cabinet. For a bit of fun and to more easily find stuff we are painting the interior of the cabinets, drawers and closet a blue color to match Myrtle's exterior. Speaking of closets, we are scrapping the existing doors and shelves and building new. We've kept the closet walls. The new build will allow for more functionality and storage.

We also pulled off the front and rear bumpers to get chromed (if it is a reasonable price), as well as the back "Dodge Motorhome" lettering. We painted the metal floor board under the driver and passenger seats with black rust paint. Additional metal floor boards were made for extra reinforcement and will be welded on top.

There is a rear exterior storage cabinet that now has a fresh coat of 'recreational white' rust paint to brighten it up. It previously held an old generator, and is sadly missing its' door. I imagine it will be impossible to find a replacement door so we will likely have one made. We lucked out and found some weather stripping at Home Depot for the front and back doors and that fits well. Myrtle is one of the few Travcos I have seen with a back door.

My better half is currently drawing up plans for a replacement muffler and exhaust system. We have also made a decision on the interior layout. Myrtle did not come with a dinette or couch (although she still had her original couch cushions which we have hung onto). After much deliberation and discussion we have decided to have two couches, one on either side of main living area, and use vintage TV trays as tables, when required. This gives us more usable space for entertaining. As noted in a previous post, we have the kick ass orange, vintage, vinyl couch that folds down into a bed. That will have a box built under it for storage. On the other side we will have a bench with storage and couch cushions on top.

Myrtle is actually really coming along. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and it does not appear to be a train.... well let's wait and see what happens when we start her up after a year of sitting!