We are L and Andy, an American girl and English bloke that met when Andy left his country of England to cross the high seas for a six-month work placement in the States. In search of a long-distance hiking and backpacking partner, we met as strangers willing to set off into the wilderness together. Instead, our first talks focused on two dreams: traveling and restoring a classic vehicle. Three years later, we intertwined those dreams by making the spontaneous decision to use our wedding savings to purchase a rare 1965 Clark Cortez motorhome.
Currently, we are restoring, customizing, and modernizing every aspect of our antique RV ourselves while also documenting our entire overhaul progress in the hopes of helping others. After this, we plan to seek adventure by exploring the world. Join our journey by clicking 'Subscribe' and and leave a comment, too -- We appreciate the support!
For more details on our plans, head over to our website: SoulOfASeeker.com
Thank you! L is amazing with editing. I just hit myself in the face for views lol! Shorts seem to be hit and miss for us. Some do really well, and others just kinda fall by the wayside. Keep at it! Andy (and L)
@@SoulofaSeeker well for me. When i make a short i get like 800-3000 views. My last maybe 5 shorts combined have like 20k views combined.. while my longer videos of me actually showing ppl what im doing gets like 100 views. I think my short asking ppl if its heat soak/vapor lock on my ild amc 360 engine has like 6k or somrthing views lkl its weird how somrthing stupid like that gets so many views
Tried that-It didn't work. When everything came loose a lot moved out of position. Our wishbone is also in two pieces which didn't help things. Andy (and L)
@williamalexander1743 It looks like you didn't watch it properly. Apparently, you need to watch it again. There's two on each side of the RV. Andy (and L)
Hi there, and thank you always for your support. We definitely hope to hit the road soon and will be sure to share that crazy adventure when we do! Hope you've been well! L (and Andy)
Hi, thanks for your message! People have towed cars (and jet skis) behind their Cortez before. I wouldn't want to be pulling anything too heavy though, the Cortez is already heavy, and with the extra weight of a tow vehicle you're really going to slow down. Andy (and L)
The only thing we lacked was a ball joint splitter, which we got. (It is in our full-length video.) Nobody is at risk from anything on our RV, except exhaustion from trying this before our splitter. Andy (and L)
Although rather entertaining, this video was painful to watch. Replacing a ball joint for example shouldn't be as difficult as you seem to make it. Gotta love your passion though. If you'd want my 2 cents worth, feel free to comment on this post. Otherwise, I'll just leave it alone. In the meantime, stay safe while doing your Cortez projects.
That was the tastist negative sandwich I've ever had! We didn't make it anything other than the hard job it was. When we got the right tools to do the job, it wasn't difficult. I'm not really sure what we're going to get with your 2 cents, but part of me is interested to find out, so fire away! Andy (and L)
I feel ya on older ball joint. Heck, I just did the lowers on my 2001 Toyota Sequoia. The ball joint wasn't too bad, but I literally destroyed the tie rod ends trying to get them separated. Chalk up another $180 for new tie rod ends. Piece of mind is worth it though.
I don't think I've ever had a nice ball joint experience. Though the second one we removed was a lot easier, mainly due to the experience of doing this one. Glad you got your Sequoia sorted, I love those things! Thanks for checking out our video! Andy and L
"I want you to, like, be a... Use your man muscle." is my favorite part of the video! Fantastic to see you're still a stubborn Yorkshire man Andy. Great to see your videos back too.
Ey up Dave! Great to hear from you! Hope you're well! L certainly lets me know when I need to start working harder! Thanks for you message! Andy (and L)
Good video guys. Those ball joints can be a pain to get apart. I've done quite a few over the years. Don't forget you can move the wheel to the left or right to gain better access to the ball joint. Also it's a good idea not to put too much stress on the brake hose. On modern disk brakes you're not supposed to let the caliper hang by the hose. The weight of the caliper can pull the hose apart. A good 36oz hammer works well and if you can smack the spindle where the ball joint goes through, right there on the side, one good solid hit they usually come apart. I notice the Cortez is front wheel drive I'm going back to some of your earlier videos to learn more about it. Keep up the good work guys it will pay off in the end.
Hey @LightningFabrication thanks for your comment! And you're absolutely right about stretching the brake hoses--The only reason we weren't concerned is because we planned on changing them in the future. They're pretty old and tired looking! Hope you enjoy our other videos--The Cortez has a pretty cool history! Andy (and L)
Had to replace the hubs and knuckles on my GMC and it took a big hammer and a lot of hits to get the ball joints to come apart. Glad you can still get replacements, but it is frustrating when new parts aren't an exact fit. Nice work!
A bigger hammer would have certainly helped! Starting off with that little fork-style splitter was never going to work--The proper ball joint splitter certainly made the job easier, and you're right--Replacing a part only to find it isn't exactly the same fit is really frustrating. It has now happened to us several times. Thank you for writing! Andy (and L)
Great to see Y'all in action again. PB Blaster , whacks from different directions, then go do something else. Let it soak for at least an hour, then get to it. You're not wasting time, just getting a head start on another job while the molecules work for you.
I love that you said you are not wasting time because it is as if you knew exactly what I tell Andy when he says we need to something sit after spraying it with PB Blaster. You're right in looking at it that the time only means a head start on another job -- The impatient person in me needs to remember this! haha Always great to hear from you, L (and Andy)
We appreciate it! I don't know if it was for better or worse that we put off this job, but you're right -- We are grateful to move forward! Thank you for writing! L (and Andy)
Hey Joe!! How are you? You know, I had a suspicion they were kinda important but our Cortez is so heavy that it'll slow down by itself pretty well! Ha ha! Hope you and Mary are well! Andy and L
Thanks for your message! It's great to be back! We have loads of videos to edit and release and we're going to try and be better at getting out content in the future! Andy (and L)
I had wondered what was up. You have my admiration for your tenacity. You've hung in there, when I would have probably googled up "best ar-son techniques". :) I'm glad to see the Cortez is still with us. Good luck!
Thank you for the laugh. Admittedly, in our next video we do discuss fire as an option to get our stubborn ball joint out so it is possible we are on the same path of thought haha Appreciate your support and taking the time to write! L (and Andy)
I feel your pain with the RV. On restoring my RV (1969 Lifetime) ran into major problems also. Took a break from it. And yesterday was the first day getting back to it. Hopefully I can get it on the road soon. And you guys keep up the good work and don’t give up!
What a great comment to read -- Thank you tons! Also, I just looked up a 1969 Lifetime -- Love it! How long have you had it? What jobs do you have ahead? Feel free to email us and share pictures (2people1soulofaseeker@gmail.com) -- We love swapping stories of pain, heartache... er, uh, I mean great victories on restoring vehicles. I'm glad you got back into it, and again thank you for your support! L (and Andy)
I have two Cortez's a 1964 and 1965 both run one I started to rebuild has front disk brake conversion will sell both for parts .If you or someone you know are interested reply also all manuals and parts books.
Hi there, We do not know of anyone who wants a Cortez (and we definitely do not want another! haha). We suggest reaching out on the Facebook page as there are occasionally others who are gluttons for punishment! L (and Andy)
Yea it was pretty tired and we got a new one shortly after. What wasn't helping was a drain on the battery when it was connected to the RV wiring harness. We replaced a few grounds and checked things over and it has improved since.
I don't know that our RU-vid channel will help you with finding a new home for your Cortezes. However, I wrote a post on where people can buy or rent Cortezes in a post (soulofaseeker.com/2019/07/20/where-to-rent-and-buy-the-cortez-motorhome/). The links to these sites, like the Cascade Cortez Club on Facebook, are great places to post ones for sale as well. Best of luck, and I hope this helps! L (and Andy)
Hi Leonard, Best of luck restoring your Cortez and sorry for the late response! We have tried to keep a massive parts list (though we are going to add many more parts soon) on our site: soulofaseeker.com/vintage-rv-restoration/ This will walk your through mechanical, bodywork, electrical, etc. sections with full part information and links! Hope this helps and keep us posted on your Cortez restoration! L (and Andy)
Hey so i watched a few of ur video ….i live in same county as yall ….i might be getting one soon ….i need some advice if possible to meet you 2 in person
Hi, friend! Your message means so much to us, and we are very sorry that we are this late in writing back. We are hoping to pick videos back up (we have not stopped filming at all!), but we found our website seriously lacking in updates about the Cortez so that's where our focus is right now. If you're ever interested in catching us there, it is soulofaseeker.com Thank you again for stopping in -- It truly does mean a lot! L (and Andy)
Hi there! Your comment is so sweet -- We took a break from RU-vid to catch up on our site (soulofaseeker.com) as we found we hadn't recorded our progress on there at all. The good news is we have been consistently still filming and we are just now caught up writing to where our videos were so we will be back to doing videos again. Your support means so much! Hope your Cortez is coming along -- We'd love to hear more on its progress! L (and Andy)
Just for future reference, which i hope you have figured out by now, goats will return to their pen at night fall, animals know where they live, especially when they get fed and watered every day, relax lady.
Hi Alion In Tights, Thank you for watching and writing. Sorry for the very late response. I learned that this goat escaped often and couldn't get back in. It apparently would sit outside of the gate until someone opened it and off he'd run back inside. The good news though is the fence and gates are improved, and this fella hasn't gotten out since. From one now-relaxed lady, L
Glad to see you back! A while back I almost bought a Cortez, in my research I found people saying the GMC H2 Hummer wheels and tires are a direct fit on the Cortez. Just In case you want to replace your wheels. Good used set can easily be found on Craigslist.
Hey! Thanks for your message! It's good to be back! Yea, we have a set of Hummer wheels on our "potentials" list of replacements for the originals. Hope you're well! Andy (and L)
We've been doing lots of work on it since our last video but we've been so busy videos took a back seat. We've got lots of updates to share with you all! Andy and L
Thank you so much! We missed making videos and talking with you all but we've been so busy it's been hard! Bring on more work, travelling and more videos! Andy and L
Hey David! Thank you so much! We're ok thank you, we've just been so busy that videos had to take a back seat. Hopefully we'll do better at keeping up moving forward! Hope you're well! Andy and L
Looking good. Shell Rotella also has high zinc and it's pretty cheap at walmart. I think that hose clamp on the fuel pump is made for fuel injected systems, I think you need to old school ones with the slits.
Yea I thought about Rotella but wanted to give it the VR1 as I'd read good things about it. The leak was down to the hose literally falling apart. We replaced it and didn't have any more issues. Andy and L
I understand, some days I wish we would just hand this over to someone and say "call us when it's right" but at the same time we have so much fun working on the Cortez together! Andy and L
Hey guys! We're back! We know it's been a while since our last video so we hope you enjoy this! We don't mind getting stuck in with our Cortez and are trying to do as much of the work ourselves -- including mechanical, electric and building. If you own an RV do you try to tackle all of the work yourselves or do you hand it over to someone else? We see so many people working on RVs and van conversions lately! To our new subscribers, thank you and welcome! We really appreciate you being here! If you haven't yet subscribed please take a second to do so -- It helps our channel grow so it can be seen by new people who common interests! Best regards, Andy (and L)
Do you happen to know the part number of the fuel pump you used? I have a 1972 Dodge Sportsman, and I’m worried the fuel pump isn’t large enough to hold enough fuel, in comparison to the old one.
Hi there! The fuel pump we used was a Delphi AMF0010 which was made for our engine (as well as others). The fuel pump itself doesn't hold any fuel, it just pulls it from the tank and sends it up to the carburetor, the carburetor holds fuel. Are you having problems with your Sportsman? If so does have a 360 LA engine? What problems are you having with it? Andy and L
I have a question? New to your channel and I love your video, you guys are funny lol. My question is, would this be the same location for a 1972 dodge sportsman fuel pump replacement? A friend asked me can I change hers and I wanted to get a look up on the location.
@@loneroadpictures9712 Hi!!! So happy to hear you're enjoying our videos! Honestly I have no idea about the Sportsman. It would depend on if it is a small or big block I think? - I don't know if the fuel pump is in the same place on the big blocks. Ours is a 360 LA (small block). If you want to find out more on what we've bought for our engine you can find information here: soulofaseeker.com/vintage-rv-restoration/mechanical/ Thanks! Andy and L
Thank you! We've still got a long way to go but have been making lots of progress recently and we have lots of video footage to work through. Andy and L
Great job getting the carb apart (and back together!) I like the stop motion re-assembly. The engine 'valley' looks really clean(valve covers werent THAT bad. I think that 360 has a lot of life left(subject to compression/leakdown tests)
Thank you! It was a great little project, something I'd not done before. Yea everything looked really good and we later did a compression test and got great results wet and dry! I hope you're right! :) Andy and L
Im late to the party(as usual) but the smaller pulley makes the alternator spin faster (at the same engine speed) You MAY find that it's a bonus, bc it will charge more at idle than the original one. Were you able to get the new alternator with the same amperage as original? Liking your videos, and your genuine enthusiasm!!
Hi Larry! I'd not thought about the smally pulley but you're absolutely right! Yes we got the same spec (which I can't remember right now) and so far it's served us well! Thank you! We know it's alot of work and I'm pretty sure a lot of people will question our sanity but for us, in the end it will be worth it! Thank you! Andy and L
