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An American girl and English bloke blending cultures while exploring others

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Category: Clark Cortez

One American girl. One English bloke. One pup-kit-cat. One rare 1965 Clark Cortez. Together, one soul of a seeker.

  • Clark Cortez

Fabricating and Upgrading Our RV’s Air Intake System

  • by L
  • Posted on June 30, 2021August 10, 2021

Our Cortez’s air intake system was composted of a dilapidated hose, crumbling paper-style air filter, and no heat shield, which meant it was time for fabricating a serious upgrade!

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  • Clark Cortez

Our Cortez is Dead Again! Jump-Starting, Charging, and Replacing Our Battery

  • by L
  • Posted on February 28, 2021May 11, 2021

After the price of a starter motor and alternator were deducted from our checking account, we found ourselves forced to buy a new battery. This made me begin to realize the expectations of a vintage RV are that, well, there are no expectations with a vintage RV.

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  • Clark Cortez

Our 1965 Clark Cortez Motorhome’s Story: The Beginning to Now

  • by L
  • Posted on February 12, 2021July 26, 2021

Our Clark Cortez motorhome’s story has had different starts: In 1965 in the frigid state of Michigan, it came off the production line before moving to the sunny state of California. However, our story with this RV begins in 2019 in the all-seasons state of Virginia.

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  • Clark Cortez

Drums Versus Disc Brakes: Should You Upgrade?

  • by Andy
  • Posted on January 9, 2021August 30, 2021

Should we upgrade to discs and calipers — or should we stick to the original drums and restore them? This is the question L and I proposed to each other prior to getting our 1965 Clark Cortez motorhome’s braking system operational. Here’s what you need to know if you are considering the conversion.

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  • Clark Cortez

The Monumental Job of Repairing Exterior Lights

  • by L
  • Posted on October 6, 2019July 20, 2021

With nearly every exterior light not working, we soon found the culprits: Wires were scattered with butt and screw-on connectors while other wires were cut without protection on the ends and therefore frayed ends splayed. Still more wires were leading to, well, unused wires. And all of this was apparently our Cortez’s norm.

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  • Clark Cortez

Brought to Life Again: New Alternator Installed

  • by L
  • Posted on September 9, 2019May 11, 2021

Once more our Cortez refuses to fire up, leaving us on the hunt for a matching alternator, only to learn it would be our first Cortez part that did not have an exact match.

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  • Clark Cortez

A Step Closer: New Wipers, Washer Jets, and Washer Fluid Bottle

  • by L
  • Posted on September 1, 2019May 11, 2021

Andy and I stood back to look long and hard at our work.  Even though it was a small task, this was our first job we could see, our first visual gratification . . .

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  • Clark Cortez

Not of the Choke Generation? Here’s How to Get Your Vintage Vehicle Started

  • by L
  • Posted on September 1, 2019May 11, 2021

Sure we could be embarrassed about admitting that we forgot to use our 1965 Clark Cortez’s choke . . . but instead, we are simply happy it means we can ditch the starter fluid and get our motorhome running easily!

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  • Clark Cortez

Our Most Detailed Restoration Yet: The Brakes

  • by L
  • Posted on August 31, 2019June 23, 2021

It took six days — six long days — to tackle our brakes. It started with our first horror-filled rides in the Cortez then continued to a blend of wrong parts, sawed off brake lines, and angle-grinded exhaust pipes. However, it ended with us finishing the job, which I can say now — There’s no better feeling of accomplishment!

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  • Clark Cortez

Starting Our Vintage RV Restoration: Our Steel Beast is Alive!

  • by L
  • Posted on July 30, 2019May 11, 2021

“LET’S DRIVE IT AWAY!”  I yelled over the roar of our beast’s engine, pointing straight ahead to an unseen spot in the future where we would be traveling down some backcountry dirt road, following the Milky Way.  Andrew honked and honked and honked the horn because OUR CORTEZ STARTED!

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  • Clark Cortez

The Day of (and After) the Bull

  • by L
  • Posted on July 29, 2019November 25, 2020

It’s our first stop at the Cortez since it was delivered and we learn it has a dead starter and corroded engine wires.
But we expected issues like this — and we will continue to expect this as we work on our fifty-four-year-old motorhome.  But hey, we chose this because we don’t want easy.  We want different.

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  • Clark Cortez

A Light-Hearted Look at Pre-RV Life Discussions

  • by L
  • Posted on July 28, 2019February 28, 2021

Sure, there are discussions on ensuring all preparations are in order.  There are talks on planning routes.  There are conversations on emergencies. These, though, are not ones that we wanted to share. Here are our vanlife ramblings . . .

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  • Clark Cortez

Our Site is Expanding

  • by L
  • Posted on July 27, 2019February 28, 2021

We’re expanding our blog in two major ways, which will hopefully assist others interested in accomplishing similar dreams!

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  • Clark Cortez

An Overview of Cost and Labor for Our Cortez Overhaul

  • by L
  • Posted on July 26, 2019July 16, 2021

As we work to refurbish, modernize, and customize our 1965 Clark Cortez motorhome, we are tracking costs and hours. Here is that overview.

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  • Clark Cortez

An Overview on Progress for Our Cortez Overhaul

  • by L
  • Posted on July 26, 2019September 25, 2021

In an effort to document our Clark Cortez’s overhaul progress, here is a breakdown of what we have completed and what is to come.

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soulofaseeker

Y’all know we’ve been focusing on our mechanic Y’all know we’ve been focusing on our mechanical overhaul for our 1965 Clark Cortez motorhome restoration, and we’ve almost wrapped up our mechanical work — which is absolutely the most exciting hard-to-believe sentence that I’ve ever written here. But before I tell you what we are working on currently, we have lots to catch up on and now that it’s getting warmer, Andy’s and my thoughts mainly go back to this one mechanical job…

Back in April last year, we replaced the spark plugs on our steel beast. We were hoping this would solve our irregular starting problems while also allowing the Cortez to run better.

What we found was cracked, sooty, and oily spark plugs — good news because that means the culprit of problems — so we replaced them with beautiful clean ones… and that meant a test drive… which is when we found a much larger surprise inside our antique RV — a SNAKE!

The speed at which Andy and I literally propelled ourselves from our steel beast — let’s just say a fire couldn’t have moved us faster. Meanwhile, our harmless four-foot common black snake was more than happy to move in and not leave. Consistent move to eat? Yep. Shelter? Check. Zero threats or disturbances? Well, mostly.

Long story short, that sucker took some persuading to get out — and those ridiculous antics are totally in our YouTube video (link in bio). But here’s the craziest part: The truth is we had ANOTHER SNAKE move in after this guy escaped! So listen, if you’re one of those people posting about mice problems in RVs — Let’s just say we have ya covered. The solution is a snake… or two…
***
#crazyvideo #snake #snakes #snakesofinstagram #cantbelieveit #v8 #mopar #sparkplugs #engineservice #enginework #testdrive #dodgeengine #360la #vintagecampers #retrorides #antiquerv #antiquevehicle #classiccars #clarkcortez #motorhome #rv #camper #vanlife #restoration #overhaul
If you’ve been following our Cortez restoration If you’ve been following our Cortez restoration story here or on YT, you’ll know we’ve had problems getting our steel beast to reliably start. Andy has maintained swapping to EFI, or electronic fuel injection. Meanwhile, I’ve stubbornly stayed on the other side because EFI is costly and I’m not gonna be throwin’ more money at our lass unless I know fundamental parts of her are strong.

“What needs to be there so you change your mind?” he asked me one day.

“Her engine,” I answered. We’ve stupidly and blindly done all this work and don’t even know — for sure — if the engine is actually *good*.” See, the engine we have is not original. Instead of the factory inline-6, our girl’s was changed to a v8 at some point in her life — so it should be powerful… should be…

“Right,” Andy responded then immediately followed up with “We will do a compression test.”

This has been at the top of our list of Jobs to Do… but, well, y’all know how to goes when you restore an antique vehicle…

Needless to say, Andy and I made the journey to the farm with fingers crossed because, let’s be honest here, the last bit of news we wanted was that we needed to swap an engine.

Turns out, after a dry and wet compression test, our girl has a super strong, reliable engine!
…so now, talk to me about that EFI 😉
***
#engine #v8 #mopar #dodgeengine #360la #engineswap #compressiontest #compressiontester #antiquecar #vintagecar #classiccars #rarecar #antiquerv #vintagerv #retrorides #classicrv #rarerv #clarkcortez #clarkcortezmotorhome #1965 #1960s #rv #motorhome #camper #campervan #vwcamper #restoration #overhaul #vanlife #rvlife
Andy and I are keeping our gazes forward this new Andy and I are keeping our gazes forward this new year, crossing off still more work on the Cortez, which makes me want to pause and go back to where we left off in our story here…

After restoring the fuel tank and confirming there were zero fuel spills, we did what any sane person would do — we turned the key in the engine to start it… only to learn the Cortez would do what any finicky antique vehicle does and that is not start. So we fiddled. So we investigated. So we reworked. So we added. So we tried. And let’s just say the list goes on because our old lass just did not want to turn over. Can you guess the problem? Because it was Andy’s first guess and made him only stand firm in our goal for the most expensive RV upgrade we’ve had yet…
***
#dirtywork #havealittlefaith #fuel #fuelingup #fillit #storyofmylife #fueltank #fueltankrestoration #antiquecar #vintagecar #classiccars #rarecar #antiquerv #vintagerv #retrorides #classicrv #rarerv #clarkcortez #clarkcortezmotorhome #1965 #1960s #rv #motorhome #camper #campervan #vwcamper #restoration #overhaul #vanlife #rvlife

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