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Daily Pose Link back to the front page: Cooperative Motor Works (The Co-op) The Co-op is proud to be a member of the elite new force of bloggers bearing their soul at the same time offering you an inside look at the things in their world through the WWW. Before a "blog" was called one, the "Daily Pose" had been here pumping out GMC owners and enthusiasts a dose of what its like hanging around our shop, seeing what we do and maybe picking up a tip or something that can maybe improve your GMC experience. Heck, I didn't know what a "blog" was, I was just having a good time showing you guys what we were doing. We certainly did not invent the blog but I will say it's good other people figured out doing it was an interesting thing to do. So here is our "blog" and for what thats worth I hope there is something here that helps you. I am most interested in your comments and suggestions. No holes are bared,
Well, if this is said to be food for the soul, lets get to the main course, I think we've grazed through enough salad for now! Enjoy the visit and thanks again for uramax
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7.3.09 Sorry, got caught up in Emails this morning. I only have so many hours I can devote to plunking on this keyboard I have several interesting things to talk about today, I hope I can get through them all. Hey, no one lives by bread alone and once in a while we will take in a job just because. Actually Janie tells me I do that way too much but hey, what are we here for anyway. A good friend, GMC owner and SS club member proposed an
idea to me that was just too cool to pass up! Ralph is a purveyor of many
things mechanical, most things automotive and certainly everything unusual and
interesting. If you think us GMCers are a tight nit group, think about the
Rolls Royce community which Ralph happens to be a member and actually has 2 of
those august machines. One of his Rolls is a seriously vintage, seriously
valuable one, it is a 1936 Rolls called a 25/30. It was hand build for
Woolf "Babe" Barnato. Talk about cool, this is nothing but-- has those
huge bugeyed headlights , that "big Daddy Got Rocks" grill and it all. A
very neat machine but it has a cracked head. Oh, lets run right down to
Auto Zone for one of those! What should he do? He purchased a
complete frame through Ebay
Oops, ran out of time, I knew I would. I need to get out there and get stuff done. Have a great 4th holiday.
7.2.09 First this morning, I would like to say goodbye to a
dear friend who succumbed to the inevitable which someday we all will face.
For some time he has been by my side supporting my efforts of
communicating ideas both victories and failures. He has given myself as
well as you guys a look at some of the things we have gotten into, has supported
my efforts documented it all and even helped and defended my in legal
litigation. Yes, I am talking about my trusted Nikon digital camera
As I said, my first Nikon did well and when it crapped out from just so much hard use I could do nothing but seek another Nikon. I know it probably did not mean as much to flash that name as it once did but hey, it did to me. So this little silver camera became my friend. I served me well until this wheek when once in a while I would get a white screen and the report "lens error". The lens would simply not come out. I had heard that motor drive lens assembly crank in and out a thousand times and though I have no doubt the guts ole "silver sides" is still spy, it's always the mechanical issues that kills things. If it's in this world of physics eventually mother nature will claim her own and thats what put down my camera. So yesterday after work Janie agreed that I needed a new
camera. Thats just the validation to plunk down money I needed. So
with my sweaty uniform on, I jumped in the Suzuki and started my mission.
I headed over to electronics row where all the places that might have a suitable
replacement would be. I passed up Comp USA where the first Nikon came,
don't know why. Next Best Buy came into view but in that they were my
dreaded adversary in the past when I was working with Circuit City back
when they really did care and the fact that I got Nikon 2, "ole Silversides"
there I figured I would first try the young buck on the street-- H.H. Gregg.
They had done me well providing me that cool new Toshiba flat screen for
Raymonds Duramax bedroom and the guys seems to be at least better than a bump on
a log. I parked right up front, rolled up the windows and left my Suzuki
to guard the door for me. Walked up to their camera department and there
is was, a bright shiny new Nikon camera! it looked just like ole
silversides but in red. Had a larger, in fact huge monitor screen compared
to my recent fallon hero. Was the same size, took the same SD card and ran
on again 2 AA batteries! The cost I felt was stupid cheap, I mean where
can you get class for $127.00! I told they sales guy who had come up to me
and seeing the name label on my shirt, stretched out his hand and said "Hi Jim,
can I help you". It told him this would be the easiest sale of the day for
him. I wanted that camera and I wanted their maximum protection plan.
He smiled, I probably made his quota for the day-- little does he know that like
the old dudy in the flivver on the Midus Muffler commercial his company would
rue the day I signed up for they anydamage replacement warranty! I now
have a new Nikon digital camera and I have a personal guaranty from Mr. Gregg
that it will be with me to 1095 days! I left the store with my new bundle
of joy, popped out my batteries from Ole Silversides, plugged in the 4Gig SD
card and threw the thing to my face and snapped my first pic of the delivery
hospital where my new child was birthed
It does everything Ole Silversides did but maybe I can
understand it better. It has some new tricks--- look, I can get a picture
that shows the indirect lighting on the remote controlled pleated shades
Yep, it rained good yesterday, well enough to dampen our enthusiasm. Like I said I don't know what is worse the depression you get when it's cold down here or wet. I mean being a "fair weather shop" when it is raining there is no way to keep from getting wet, when it's cold you are cold and when it's hot guess what-- you sweat! I do not mind the sweating part in fact I guess I'm like the other reptiles down here cause when it's hot I seem to have the energy I need, when it's cold I move slow and when it's wet I feel like simply standing under some cover and watch the wet stuff fall. Yesterday did have progress but not in the way I hoped. Steve had some binding to do elsewhere, the wet had sabotaged Craigs van and killed his brake lights so we spent half the day getting him where he could get to work. The rains came but Jason braved holding onto the welder and finished up the repair work on Kashi's frame. Buster is poised to drive Richard's coach north to him but after a call where we found out he and his family would be taking the 4th weekend away (pesky holidays) he stood down and would probably bug out Sunday. The afternoon socked us in with the rain so the day died with a wimper which is why I figured it was the best time for me to go camera hunting. At least that job came out AAA! So, I've got a new Nikon buddy and I'll do my best to get
use from my warranty. I'm not holding back and will promise to keep big
red by my side to capture everything I can. Thanks for todays visit, I
know there was not as much GMC content as usual but hey, man cannot live by
GMC's alone! Over and out for now. Oh, how bout this-- proof
positive that the GMC is always seen at important places with important people.
Did you know there is a GMC representing us at the Neverland Ranch?
Thanks again for the visit, the support and your interest in the GMC-- we all appreciate your attention.
7.1.08 BTW guys, the CMW password protected pages are back up, I had my entire "IT" department (that would be John working his 2 best fingers to the bone) to find and correct the problem. So have no fear, all is good again! We're into each afternoon rain right now and it's about as hard getting a full days work in as when it's cold around here! Hey, we'll just "endeavor to persevere"! Another milestone in the build up of the 26' Duramax, got
2 more headliner panels up yesterday as well as hung, another clamshell overhead
cabinet
Had a question as to what computer equipment I had to work
with around here. Here is the command center for the world headquarters of
the Co-op
The rains stopped Jason from completing the rust/ frame
repair on the lift. He did take the frame from this mess
So thats it, Craig is here, his van lights blew a fuse so we'll see what gives with that, probably has something to do with the deluge of water or something. I'll work on the Duramax, it's inside and the guys will do what they can. Have a great day, if your're in the sunny south, carry an umbrella! See ya later
6.30.09 First and foremost, I would like to thank all who sent Emails and calls in support. Guys, I really appreciate your input and interest, support and comments. It makes me feel good to know the reflecting sounds I hear are more than what bounces off the backwall! Also and next I would like to thank the support of those about my recent uncontrolled rant on the net about paint work on the GMC. Hey look, there are many ways and reasons for the manner folks do things. There is sometimes not the need for a higher quality work and I dig that. But, when the different levels of quality get mixed up and all of a sudden acceptible work is compared to quality work and the line of what it costs for them is blurred I feel it is important to redefine those lines. I am not saying there is no place for a scuff-n-shoot paint job, just that those the seek and produce a better quality finish should not be looked over as charging too much for their services. Likewise to say that if someone is discriminating enough in what they seek is not wasting their money in looking for a better detail in the work they pay for. In more ways that work is actually more cost effective because in the end you will get a return for the investment in a better looking that will attract more "gawkers" and potential buyers if you end up ever wanting to sell it and that is what is a real investment, to add value. A business like us, a "brick and mortar" specialty house as they call us dedicated to a narrow niche business lik we are only having a total customer base who owns only one specific vehicle is a very difficult business to have. I annot wear a sandwich board, walk up and down the street to drum up business-- no, we must cast a wide net, nation and worldwide and we must do everything we can to support our customers because frankly there just "ain't" that many of you. So having owners support us is most important to our survival and having us support you is the way we keep alive. If the specialty dealer network that the GMC motorhome has cannot survive, the real loosers will the GMC community. Who wants to buy a machine you cannot get the special parts for? This is what many other specialty vehicles face right now. Ask someone who has a Revcon what they greatest fear is-- I bet hands down it will be locating specialty parts. Ask someone who has a Brit car where they would be without Moss Motors or someone with a VW what they would do without West Coast Metric. The GMC community has a mission to stay out of the ranks of the unsupported vehicles and supporting the specialty dealers is the way to do that. I gotta tell ya you do not pay a premium buying parts and things from myself or others dedicated to the GMC. We work on a very tight margin to keep our parts reasonable. When you buy something you know it will work and if there is a problem you have someone with a vested interest to stand behind whatever the part is and the problem you are having. The last thing we need is to have unhappy campers so in reality buying from us is both a support for yourself as well as us. I started off todays pose by saying thanks and this is what I am thanking you for. Thanks for understanding and participating in the GMC community, thanks for supporting us and thanks for giving us the chance to support you. It all plays in to the name I came up with for this business-- "Cooperative Motor Works". Like it or not, we are inexplicably tied together with a common thread-- the GMC motorhome so like it or not we have eachother to keep us safe. Personally I like it, I enjoy doing the right thing at each turn and I appreciate those that appreciate that. Yes, I am a bit protective of the system -- that being we all need to work together so when someone says to buy stuff from some phone booth guy who does not know the GMC from the man in the moon I have to ask where his head is. Sorry but it just not makes sense to cut off your left hand with your right! If someone does you wrong then they deserve whatever happens to them so this is what ties us all together and assures you always will get a fair shake. The ritual of the "handshake" I feel is a very important thing. It started by showing you have no weapon or malice toward someone by extending the right hand open faced to show you did not have a weapon. In turn the person extended their right hand a clasp your to show they reciprocated that offering. I do not shake hands with someone I do not trust and when I put out my hand it is done as a genuine gesture that I have no ulterior motive toward the upcoming interraction and I seek the same from those I shake hands with. I think if we all make that commitment to those we meet and read that into the action, our dealings with others would benifit. So, give someone you trust a good, hardy handshake, my grandad said to give a good eye contact and a smile along with the shake and make it mean something. Yesterday, we kept on the unloading of Mark's coach, we
are deep into his breakdown now and the interior is going away.
The headliner in this Coachman interior is all but out
revieling the then state of the art in insulation technology
Anyone know what this is?
Whats wrong here
So it's now 9:30, I gotta get to work. Craig and the guys should be here soon. As expected I did not have time to play over there on the net so you guys please monitor that mess and let me know if someone is throwing spears at me so I can duck! Have a great day, because this is what you ahve been given, rejoyce in it and remember if you think you have it bad think of Bernie and know there is retribution here as well as in the future!
2.29.09 We're turning to on Mark's coach getting it ready for
paint The "troll" is outa there and the home is getting ready to the
new Honda power plant
Mark's suspension is pretty much done and as soon as the Q
bag system arrives it will go on.
Took a "day trip" this weekend for pleasure and work.
Thats one nice thing about living in Florida, no matter where you go you run
into people having a good time and you can see exciting scenery
2.27.09 Pete, Amy-- when you read this please give me a call
6.26.09 I usually stay away from politics and current affair here because it always seems I get crossed with someone I mean I'm not one who remembers or feels obligated to remember people, places and things of interest to others, I feel that if that stuff is so important to so many people I'll let them take stock in it all without me but yesterday the current event of the passing of Farah Faucet and Michael Jackson both on the same day left a certain impression on me that I feel compelled to talk a bit about. If you are tired of hearing about this and the press has a way of flogging stuff like this to death, pass over the blue print and go on to the rest of the post. Henry Ford said "bump is as good as a knock" to me means if you are in the limelight wether that love you or hate you, you are still on the top and of course being there attects everyone to pay attention to ya. Thus was the life of both people who passed on to their next reward. Man, that poster of Farah coming on the scene when it did caused man young men at the time a reason to look hard for a girlfriend! Then seeing that real live Barbie doll actually walk and talk on TV on Charlies Angels brought to home that fact that there really was someone out there that awesome and there was hope to have someone like that for your very own! She was the brunt of so many "dumb Blond" jokes but when all the snickering was done I always said to myself "yea, but what about Farah". She come off to me as someone pretty who could kick my ass so look out for that pretty leg with that stileeo healed shoe! It was hard to see the recent special catching us all up on the reality and ravages time had put on her kind like what time had also done to Patrick Swazy, I mean I still see him tossing that big lunk out of the bar! It kinda makes you think about your own humanity and what will eventially happen it us all. In the end I think life was kind to Farrah letting her go, it did not look like the recent years had been good for her, I only hope it will be that way for me. And then came the news of Michael Jackson. Oh come on, I know the first words out of everyones lips when that new hit was "no way". I never thought about life without someone occupying the slot of where Michael Jackson stood. I think you need a person or at least some figure representing different mind sets. Like "grasshopper" or "The Duke", Michael Jackson was on the shelf filling a space everyone has and wether you loved him as so many people did or thought he was eccentric or out of touch everyone had to admitt he really was a genious. I mean to come up with some of the sounds bites and concepts as he did with music was nothing short of brilliant. Being directly involved in the consumer electronics and sound industry in the 80's the music Michael Jackson came up with really showed off some of the stuff we were selling. Man, when the song "Thriller" came on the stereo, you could crank that mother up with thar first couple of bars and blow peoples socks off! The bass licks were awesome, stuff we could really use and to think of the guy who put that stuff together-- well, that stuff was genious! Then came into play his personal life, with him really caring about this world and wanting to somehow make a difference but being misread by some really hurt him and is persona. That video he made flying around in that make believe airplane looking very mad and saying leave me alone was reaching out big time. He had a problem with his popularity wanting to be treated like anyone else-- heck he wasn't anyone else he was Michael Jackson which meant he had to be treated and looked at differently and that manufactured the problem that ate him alive! "Billy Jean is not my Lover" just brings chills to my neck and wether you look at his music as pop or something critically acclaimed the stuff had punch to it. All that crap about "neverland", kids being whatever, facelifts, sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber with a monkey and all of that -- you really don't know if it all was true or not and really was no ones business. I don't sleep with a monkey or live in neverland but if I did I would not like to think someone would judge me on that if I did. And it did which troubled him to no end. I think in the end all of that stuff is what killed him, if he just wasn't so damn popular... So stripping all of that away now should leave us with gratitude for what he did give us. I certainly appreciate his music, the dancing he did-- heck I couldn't do that stuff-- I have to believe God will be kind to him and he will reap his manna from heaven as all of us who try and do the right thing strive for. See ya man, good luck and thanks for all that stuff. Farrah, I appreciate the testosterone you brought us and I'll always remember that one piece bathing suit and how you filled it out. I think history will put both of these people on a pedestal in their respective field and I think that is a good thing. OK, through with that, I hope no one was offended though it and everyone appreciated it all. I have little doubt that in the upcoming days and weeks we will get our share of press on these 2 people so lets let them talk for us and lets go on with some other things. We have some things happening on some new fronts, I turned Steve loose on Mark's interior yesterday 6.25.09 OK boys & girls, another "BIg Jim's Bus Hole Show" is
posted Go to
http://www.youtube.com/coopmotorworks I think this will get you there.
The bedroom TV project in the huge Duramax project is just another small win but
I take victories where I find them so take a looksee. Hey, and for the
"You Tube Challenged" which I was until my son John drug me into this century,
the overhead looks like this
Here was another battle victory that came together
yesterday, my son finally completed hammering the copper panel for the frig
front
OK, so while I was batting well I figured lets go after
something else-- the galley overhead cabinet. We had been building and
measuring, finishing, sanding, buffing, wiring and doing all the steps going
toward a completed overhead. You must have a vision to put something
together from scratch like that. Again, it was form first then function--
how did we do
Now we go after the sound system--- oh man, lets make our ears bleed! Craig and his son Eric are heading this one up and they are on track. Maybe another victory this week-- we'll have to see! Gonna be another hot one here, no rain maybe so we might have a good day. Accomplishing goals turns me on and we are really going good on the 26' Duramax. Had another interest in doing one, I have to feel that when people see this coach they will better understand the capabilities of the GMC and more will want this. We already have a derivitive of the look in process on Mark's coach. For those that say this is altering the GMC too much--- what is "too much" AND HEY, WHY NOT! I have a cartoon on the wall of my garage at home-- it shows a perfectly restored model T passing on the road a vlown T bucket with fat tires and a chrome chain steering wheel-- the caption reads "Stupid purist, lousey butcher". There is room on the road for both and they both appreciate and are proud of their vehicle so why can't we! Please remember this when the Duramax coaches show up at a rally near you and appreciate them for what they are. I'm off to the trenches, over and out for now
6.24.09 Yesterday ended up being one of those basic blurrrrrrs Had some pics downloaded but after doing that, fielding some Email questions and trying to catch up a bit on the GMC Net the day started running and I never caught up. We're getting into the AV system on the Duramaqx 26'.
After the extensive "prewiring" done in the past, it is now time to put the
thing together. The speakers have been patiently waiting for their time to
get mounted to thier box.
Raymond challenged me to first set the form then function. This means that we need to first make the interior look marvelous then adapt the function to fit that form. This is a very difficult way to design a coach in that you limit yourself by the design when you go back in to make things work. I do understand his direction and as far as this project has come from it's start we certainly do not want to cheapen up any phase of it so with the bedroom form set, I went about trying to hade a flat screen TV in the area. Another aspect needed to be convenience and on this project motorized stuff is the norm. OK, so where DO you hide a flat screen TV and a DVD player in there! Also, can we make it available at the push of a button. I can't hold back, I was here last night pretty late but I go it working. I'll do a video about it this morning and post it on the you tube site-- come back later for that. Oh and Raymond, yes-- I figured it out! We have a hidden 15" flat screen with DVD included in the bedroom. Whats that tapping sound? Yesterday Ray finished the
hammered copper door insert for Raymond's frig
Craig I Steve spent some time building another
transmission crate yesterday for one heading to Fredricksburg Va.
So that's it, today is supposed to be dry, yesterday the rains came in the afternoon which made the shop pretty soggy. It's just something you have to get used to, it still effects me though. each time someone drops by, a parts rep visits or and one comes over for that matter the question always comes up, "How are you doing"? I guess that is the $50K question for everyone right now in this economic climate. It is a simple fact that this is a strange and scary time for any small business and if you cannot be honest and admit that then you are only trying to fool yourself because everyone knows this is a number one issue-- I mean why do you think they asked! So when someone asks me "the question" I first do not insult them by going the way of denial-- I've never been one to do that. Sure, things are tighter this year than it was last year. There is a large stable of coaches available and less people working on their coach as well as less people seeking restorations-- hey, that what has created the economic climate! But are we dead, is our business plan a failure and are we looking for lifeboats because the ship is sinking? I have to answer that by saying no, the GMC is the "cheapest toy in the box" meaning we all need to have something to occupy our time and energy. We just can't roll up the sidewalk at our place and stay under the mattress. We can't stop living because of all of this and dollar for dollar, there is a great return from investing a relatively speaking small amount to outfit a GMC for personal use. No, they are not "cheap" but compared to other forms of activity you can experience life on a scale much less with a GMC than most any other form of fun. You do not have to get wrapped up in long payment schedules, expensive repair programs, expensive parts and all of that. A GMC is an easy fix compared to the computer driven vehicle of today. Parts are easily available and heck, you can turn a wrench or 2 and do so much yourself or at a nominal fee from most any repair shop that putting time and money into a GMC really makes good sense if you think about it. This is the reality of our business and why I feel and and will be OK through all of this. Yes, it has effected us but no, I do not see our business in the same light many other automotive related industries do-- we are here and hope to be here in the future. If you have a GMC I feel you have one of the best values out there, keep it and if you feel the need to get a GMC right now is a great time to buy. Had a realator friend say when asked about his business that right now "everything was on sale" and it was a great time to be a realator! What an attitude and you know he was right. It is a great time to buy being an open market with many awesome deals. We need to keep this in mind and know theat America is a wonderful place to be from. In vest in your future and in fun, mess with your GMC and hey, we're here to help. Take small vacations near to home, use your coach and you will get joy from it. I think of Bob Heller, it seems he and Donna are out about every weekend using their coach-- what an awesome investment he has made in the pleasure of his time off. You can do this too. Jim Galbavy too has wrapped his coach into the life of his family and he too has a great investment in his fun. The GMC is much more than a hold to drop money--- if you will just use it. So if you are sitting there trying to figure out how to stretch your dollar, get out there in your GMC, your return will be worth the investment and isn't that called successful investing? Have a great day, the sun is out, I can feel ther heat coming in through the window. "Time to make the donuts". YTime to break a sweat and keep it so we'll see ya soon. Stay tuned for the rear TV video on you tube, I'll get it soon
6.22.09 It's 8:30 and the sun has already been up for over an hour! Hot---- man are you kidding! Triple digit numbers today with stupid humidity-- this is NOT the times we look forward too here in paradise! Hey, but you make due with what you have. Been trying to catch up with monitoring the net both for the CJ and the GMC-- looks like enthusiasm is alive and well on both fronts. Am getting many posts with specific questions about things-- thanks it's fun being in those loops. Hope the page here is a fun stop of your day & I'll keep trying to make it interesting. Check out the interesting paint job on this coach that
blew through the shop last week,
Got Raymond's 8" sub boxes ready for Steve to bind carpet
today
Hey, I think I found it! Roaming through an AV store
like I do just looking for new stuff I found this machine
Have a great day, it looks like a hot one for us here! Just walked outside to open the bays and worked up a sweat! Thanks for the visit, we'll talk again later
June 20.09 I'm trying as much as possible to not have the guys come in on weekends, it just goes to burn them out and I need them to be as fresh as I can but today we need to have them here. We started a water heater replacement on a 1973 coach that really has turned into a huge project. In 73, GM was still trying to figure out how to put these puppies together and may not even at that time needed to replace a water heater. The bath module seems to have been put in after the water heater which made it , how do I say "difficult" to get to. The mounting bracket on those first year coaches for the water heater resmbled a launching platform for a Scud Missle! It was in there and it has to come out to get the water heater out. Step one needs to be (Remove the rear bath wall) for this water heater replacement-- but wait, think about all that has to come out to do that! I could take my "sawsall" as Wayne did to his toilet that would not come out and hack it in half but hey, the coach is too nice for that Rambo stuff! So we make up new words, move this, trim that, and just make it happen. Craig & Eric are going "diver down" on this project & I have to hand it to them they are doing an awesome job. Hang in there guys! Now for you later coaches, I think someone woke up and redesigned the brackets and mounting for the water heater and though it is still a *&^%$ to replace at least it is doable-- you guys with 73 models stand ready when your water heater goes out! I occupied my waking time yesterday on the speaker install
on the overhead cabinets for the 26' Duramax.
The rebuiling of marks coach mechanically continues,
waiting for the Q bag system to arrive, Jason was putting together the rear
brakes and found this poor puppy
Here's an interesting idea for storage. How bout
"window storage"!
Finally and yes finally, Ken's 23' Duramax is peeping at
us through it's scrubs getting ready for some new color
So Happy Fathers Day for those that have take on the job. This day has some very important significance to in that my Dad that I grew up with finding out later in life that he was my "Step Father" who raised me better than I felt I deserved waited for me on that Fathers Day in 1996 til I was at his side to pass away. As you can imagine It was an emotional time for me but I was one who did get the chance to tell him all those things you want to before he was no longerb here, I am just so happy I had that time so Fathers Day is always good for a few tears of joy for me. My real father too was a good man in the end caring and interested in my life and how I came to be what I was. It was a real blessing to know him before his death, to know more about myself and where I came from and why I was the way I was. yep, we was a out of the box kinda guy, probably as tough to get along with as me but I bet he knew more in his life that many others and I did look up to him in that way. I feel these are the legacies we should seek from our parents and I feel what they seek to give us. My "fathers" were the best and I am really happy it all worked out as it did. I will drive to Jax. this evening to celebrate this time with my Mom, visit Ray's grave and remember what it's all about to be the Dad someone looks for. I certainly hope your Dad was half as good to you as mine and if so please honor him wether he's still here with you or not. Remember, you only have one, in my case 2 but still our Mom's and dad's need to be special people and this Sunday is the day to let them know and remember how special there are to us. I'll be doing something I enjoy, driving my Samauri with the top down, you guys think of something special and just do it! Talk to ya again soon
June 19.09 Sorry, no I have not started the account of last weeks incredible journey it has take about every ounce of energy to get this rock at the shop rolling again up the hill to spend time writing. It will however get me attention soo, I have gobbs of pics and many important things I learned along the way I want to remember so stay tuned I get to it soon. Oh and no, I'm not quitting my day job to start cleaning pools, Cal has that job hands down, I mean when one of his movie producer customers come out to talk to him about their pool, Cal introduces me and the customer says hey Cal is the best-- I mean how can you do better than that! Now maybe if I followed him around a couple of years..... naaaa, the work is too hard-- my shoulders were aching after just a day of it! So, back at the shop where I can do "easy stuff",
yesterday got many thiings accomplished. Kevin was over at paint sanding
on the 23' Duramax wheel opening. We had both agreed that it needed to be
more round so he went at it. Yep, they were supposed to get this stuff
done why ile I was away but you must understand they too had their issues so we
work with what we have. Kevin and Tank also started in on repairing
the molds for Mark's exterior ground effects project
Finally got cracking on the 8" "stelth" sub enclosures in
Raymond's Duramax. Had a question as to the shape of the actual enclosures
so here they are from the back
The rest of the enclosure will be covered in the awesome
carpet that raymond & LM chose for the floor. The end look will be
something like this
Yesterday Jeff came in to help me fab the cruved spacers
needed to mount the speakers to the front of the overhead cabinets. The
radius of the cabinets mating up to the flat baskets of the speakers made
special adapters necessary
The rain yesterday put a damper on our productivity a bit,
the rain with it's wind blew the water sideways under the closed bay door and
Craig had to fight the waters with the broom to keep it out
BTW, would like to say Hi to my Mom, she's got that lap top running again. I'll see ya soon and I love ya.
June 18.09 Another beautiful day and another delivery day to boot
This is Sandra & Greg's baby, we had finished it up some 3 years ago, they had
brought it in for some maintenance and today it goes back out on the streets--
man what a beautiful machine
Mark's totally rebuilt rear suspension bogy ssytem is
going on now and waiting for the Q bag system to come in
Had to order in the high density foam to pad the tops of
Raymond's 8" forward woofer boxes which slowed me down a bit but it came in and
was laminated on
OK, the sun is up and I can't wait to soap up the Phoenix. Have a great day yourself, make the most of it. We'll see ya later
June 17.09 So the Shuttle washed out again, don't get me wrong the shuttle program here in Central Florida is a big deal but you have to remember that the shuttle design is about the vintage of our GMC! Yep, it's been "renovated" to new technologies, controls and those pesky "O rings" but it is still just as our GMC when renovated of a vintage design and things must be taken into account. This morning the news folks said the problem was with a fitting that until recently had been very reliable but has lately failed 3 times. Sounds like rebuilt steering boxes and alternators on our coaches! You spare no expense to have component parts reworked only to find something happens. We always blame this situation on "Murphy" or say "stuff" happens--- hey but why? It's human nature to want to know why this is so, why did the wheel pop off after wheel bearings were replaced-- why did a Delco remanufactured dash AC compressor shoot it's clutch off into the front grill and why did a brand new fitting on a brand new hose just start leaking! Enquiring minds want to know and I betcha there are rocket engineers who didn't get any sleep last night that are asking that same thing about the hydrogen line fitting on the shuttle tower-- hey man, I feel your pain! Working with "old iron" these things happen and the way I have found to make it through all of that is to "shake down". A new part or something that has been refinished must prove to me through use that it will take and work as expected and if something does happen (an unexpected result) the best that can be done is to fix it better and keep going-- this is I know frustrating but it's just the way it is. Last week, another very frustrating happened to me while traveling in the coach "Gold Standard", the alternator failed first night out. Yes, I had our "combiner switch" and all I had to do is fire up the awesome Honda generator and I had charge but pulling into John R. place there in Niceville (yes, that is the name of the town) John ended up carting me around to 4 different parts houses before we could find a 100 alternator replacement and it had to be brought to us from some other place. I tell ya I feel for you guys trying to find parts out there in the frontier. Then in Bakersfield, Wayne wanted me to install a new cruise transducer in that the one that brought me cross country was not holding speed well. Again, we bounced around from parts stores looking for the elusive 36-102 rebuilt unit. 2 parts places didn't even know what we were looking for, one had a listing but could not get it and the 4th had it in their main warehouse which we paid for then went there to pick it up. Turned out it was the model without the light indicator terminal-- oh well, if it works it will have to do. Heck man, I can have the exact part in 30 minutes brought to me in Orlando! Again I felt the pain of trying to find parts out there. Hey guys, don't waste the gas, the time and have the frustration over your heads on procuring parts. Anticipate what you need and just call me, the parts we had were about the same cost as the parts places and one call will put it in your UPS drivers hands at your doorstep in a couple of days. I tell ya it's getting to the point that you need to look to the specialty parts dealers for these parts for your coach. Too bad there are no Shuttle specialty parts dealers around for those boys-- they have to pull out the prints and make every part they need! Jim G. knows about procuring specialty parts for aircraft, just be pleased they made 12,971 GMC in comparison to less that 10 shuttles-- now those are machine that really need a parts guy local! So yesterday was a good one, we have several repair
coaches preparing to hit the road, Steve got several component parts on the
Duramax framed up for me to now cover. The forward 8" sub woofer boxes are
now framed in and the first one has been removed for covering. There is
the driver side custom box
On the 23' Duramax front, stand ready for some
renagotiation on the paint scheme. Sometime all the planning comes down to
stepping back and actually seeing the real thing to show the reality of
everything and as far as the paint lay out on the 23' Duramax project this was
the reality. The ground effects creates lines on the coach that is a
radical departure so there is no model to follow on the color layout.
After stepping back and looking at the paint, Ken and I agreed that there needed
to be some suttle changes and it's the small things that make the big difference
when it comes to stuff like this. Currently, the 23' rocket is back in the
paint hanger getting prepped for some stripe changes
Jason is continuing the build up on Mark's rear suspension, we'll be installing the Quad bag system when it shows up so stand by for that. BTW, this deal has changed from what I used to call an "excotic" performance modification part to just about a no brainer upgrade with Firestone discontinuing our original 8301 air bags. Yes, there is an interim of the "4 bag" system for $750 which is now actually less money than paying the extortion those that still offer the original ending inventory of the original air bags. This system uses the same actual bags as the "Quad Bag" system and installing it will get you on the road for less bucks out of pocket. When you do save up enough coke bottle to go full bore for the Quad bag system you will not have wasted any money or time and the stationary member of the Qbag system can be added without throwing away major expensive parts. Yes, times they are a changin as the song goes, gone is the original 2 bag rear suspension and on goes the world on 4 bags. Give me a call if you want more info. OK, so the sun is up, looks like another cooker of a day down here complete with the afternoon rain showers. Last night lightening took out power to the house for over 2 hours--- welcome to the rainy season and yes, we are one of the lightening capitals of the world down here! Have a great day, we are on duty and doing what we can to rid the world of boring motorhomes. Thanks for the visit, we'll see ya again soon
June 16.09 Looks like most of you guys hung in there and are back, thanks I'm starting to get back in a groove of sorts around here. Sam is coming in this morninh to repair a broken return spring in the ignition system in a coach, Harry is driving in to fix a leak in his tranny and Jeff is coming in to work more on Raymond's Duramax dash. Craig, Eric, Steve and I will also be working on the Duramax project. Yesterday, another overhead cabinet came together and went
in the Duramax interior. More than just a pretty face, these cabinets are
loaded with hidden wiring
Like I said I'm getting back in my groove so thanks for the visit and come back tomorrow for more.
June 15.09 Back in the saddle again.... Yes, the world headquarters for Cooperative Motor Works, inc. is back open taking your calls and doing the work. Some may have thought it was nuts to shut down for a week but hey, what happened needed to happen--- it's done and the world is again safe from boring motorhomes! Yea right, now we need to get back to our work and there
is much to do and many exciting things ahead for us so stay tuned. I have
a story in my head of the past week that I want to put together for you.
It had many trials and tribulations that I think would be interesting to many.
Many of the things I have told you guys for years came into first person use, I
now know beyond a shadow of a doubt how unique the GMC is, how reliable it can
be and how well it can do it's job----IF that is--- IF you do a few right
things. It is a very forgiving machine unlike many-- you can rely upon it
to do your bidding--- the one I drove cross country after sitting for many years
made me proud. Here it is at the end of it's journey to it's new life in
Bakersfield
I must thank so many who made the past week such a
memorable time for me-- so many looked after me and made the time all it could
be. Along the way, John Richardson was most gracious to help me in a time
of need. Robert Foust and his family gave me a great stop off in Baton
Rouge , some good ole "Coonass" food and a nice relaxing time watching a
movie before off to the road again. And then there was the end of a 23
hour, 1000 mile run to Steve and Nancy Ferguson in Sierra Vista-- I looked like
a homeless guy and I'm sure smelled like one too! Not only did they open
up their place as a port in the storm but actually lead me with their coach to
the end of my trail in Bakersfield-- man what a help. I mean how much
confidence would you have following Steve! Pulling the Cajon Pass and
another mondo hill I cannot think of the name and all following Steve & Nancy's
yellow towd-- what a time. Made it through the Mohave Desert and other
like places that you just don't see in Florida--- you just don't know about
places like that until you drive one and even afterwards your mind has a
wonderful way of blocking trauma. Maybe I wanted to remember every
laboring moment! Oh well, I will have to do with writing it all down
before I forget it all so that's what I'll do. The couple of days I spend
with Cal & Roberta In Receda
I did the "red eye" to Orlando from LA getting in Sunday morning which made Sunday a blurrrrrrr for me. Slept many hours and when I woke up it was all behind me, the trauma was gone and all I now remember was all of the good stuff-- yes, our minds are really good on that point! Today, I'm getting back in my saddle looking over all that is the Co-op here. It's going to be hot and humid today-- same as it always is here, I'll sweat 5 gallons off and feel like I could drink a water tower this evening-- same as it always is around here. My lips are almost out of their chapped stages so at least that is gone, got some calls already thing morning from friends telling me to get back to work-- thanks for that, heck I need a little direction today to get going. I'll get back on the stick and give you guys updates tonight or tomorrow morning, right now I have thise huge bolder to get moving, we'll talk later, thanks for the visit, thanks to all who have gotten me back here and we'll get going right away. See ya later
June 10.09 Thanks to Nancy Ferguson for getting my computer up on
the WiFi , I spent the night at Augie's RV Park at Gila Bend Arizona-- not
next to the desert but IN THE DESERT! It's amazing what life is like
witrhout water anywhere! Here is the park
The "Gold Standard"
OK, a half pack of cigarettes (not really), a full tank of gas, it's dark and we're wearing sun glasses-- we're on a mission from God-- right, hit it! It's been frantic the past couple of days around here what with keeping all of the projects moving plus getting Wayne's new baby ready for it's cross country run, getting my head around what I am getting ready to self impose upon myself yesterday was such a blurr I didn't even get my computer truned on till Janie came in and the invoice program needed to be accessed. First thing yesterday I was truing the tire/rim set I will
be blowing out of here on this evening
So with the tires set up and on the coach
For those of you wondering about this coach and it's assets, let me tell you this is and will eventually turn into a really nice ride-- The project started by George F. who did things right but ultimatly decided to end his involvement, Wayne H. picked up the ball and already having a coach that will end up being a "core donor"-- it's an early 77 model GM floorplan Palm Beach which means it is equipped with the EL suspension system with the Quad bagger system BTW, it has one of the last 455 motor set ups (I would call this beast about a "best of the best" machine, the type 3 dash AC system totally rebuilt, it has the new Eagle wheels and some really nice slippers laced up tight, the water cooled Honda generator, a spiffy base clear paint job with our "raccoon" look lay out, nice new 1/2 aluminum micro mini blinds with our padded valence system. It has the original dash right now but Wayne has already got a "Mac Daddy" dash kit for it, 2 low profile roof AC units, our console scissors sofa, 4 of our captains seats-- I tell ya this will be a nice puppy soon! I am pleased and honored to be able to bring this thing cross country to it's new home and pleased to be a part of it's awakening. I've contacted several of you guys along my route as support so watch the skies for my con trail! I hope to make Sierra Vista and dinner with Steve Ferguson on Monday evening, maybe before that break bread with Marcel and Gary in El Paso, maybe call Scott S. and Robert F. in Baton Rouge, Rob( our Aussi contact) Mueller right nowin Humble Tx. among others. This should be a great run if I can fight off sleep. I look to "leap frog" from rest area to rest area doing 300 miles at a jump. Come on baby, do me right! So while I'm doing all of this, I'll still have a crew at the shop doing paint and mechanical stuff, no the office will not be open but I'll be on my cell phone (1-321-299-5707) if you need something. Steve and Craig are making headway on the work in the 26' Duramax while Keven, Jeff and Tank fret over the "23 D" at Ken calls it. Mark H. suspension is going back together and though Buster is on Vaca in the Keys with his family Jason is on duty. So there you are, we're caught up. I'm trying to get the ducks lined up to bug out on this odyssey . Hey, I love this stuff and don't get the chance much so I'm going to make the best of it! I hope to find WiFi access along the way so I'll catch you guys up as I can. BTW, think about this-- how unusual. Here I am hailing from Orlando where the "Magic" reighn supreme going to end up in LA where the Lakers kicked out butt last night! I'll be in the "belly of the beast" next week, pray for me and the team-- no I don't really follow basketball that much but like the "Super Bowl" and all, you always are interested in number 1 so I'm off to support our team. Cal, don't meet me with a basketball!
S Update And one other thought Take a look at this
6.3.09 Yesterday was one of those defining days everyone was here and working through projects, everyone was happy to be doing what they were and things were getting done. I want to tell you about a bunch of it at the same time I don't want to miss the morning so I won't spell check todays post (like I ever do anyway) and working with 2 computers at the same time right now I hope to while doing this post answer Emails so the thoughts i put down may start and stop a bit. Had yet another question about the carpet going in
Raymonds 26' Duramax, I mean what makes up a quality carpet to use. Well
forst thing the pile must be thick to bend 90 deg on the step-- look at this
stuff
OK, for me yesterday it was "buff day". I had the
final buff on cabinet doors and the overheads while Jeff wired and built them up
for install. Let me give you a sense of the labor involved in building
these and bringing them to a finished state. He is the days completed work
Speaking of labor intensive stuff-- remember we had
decided to make a hammered copper frig insert for the Norcold unit I had colored
black? My son Ray took on the task and was a "happy hammerer" at his job
yesterday
The guys were at the point yesterday of the first fit of
the forward sofa that Omar had covered
This morning I came in with anticipation in another
direction, we're coming up on Friday and my solo run to Bakersfield in Wayne's
"new" machine. Looking at it sitting in the lot this morning I could
swear it spoke to me.
Gold Standard has a morning appointment for it's exterior
makeup then at noon it comes back here for it's new shoes
Can you tell I'm getting pumped up for this run west? Hey, I need to be to do this. I'm stopping by my doctor to be sure I'm good to go for the sleep deprivation, the case of Rd Bull I'll be sucking on, the crashing at rest areas and all it will take to do the white knuckle drive west. We'll have a non stop to Sierra Vista to Steve Fergusons to drop off A arms and to visit my son John. Can't wait to check out his motorized bike and maybe check out his work at Ft. Wachuka (spelling is off for sure) and the UAV stuff he's doing before making it on up to Bakersfield and where Gold Standard will make it's new home with Wayne. This is exciting stuff, at least for me it is and I feel honored to make this all happen. Cal is going to figure in to this move and will get me to the plane on time to LA next Friday, thanks man for that help. Heck, that will be another cool thing-- he just got his coach back from having one of our crate roller 455 motors installed from his worn out 403! I'll get to break bread with that beast too! This is just going to be too much fun! So today is a good day, yesterday was good and TODAY SHOULD BE A LITTLE BETTER AND THATS THE WAY IT SHOULD BE! Eney your new day, it was made and is here just for you, at least you need to treat it that way. Come back tomorrow and see what messes we get into. Ken, the paint guys are going at your coach, the wheel wells are going in, the forward stripes are coming off and be thinking about turning the lower insert to a "blackout". I'll talk with you later about that. Hey guys, these are the things you just can't plan until you see what you have-- we're being proactive on our work so stay tuned. Thanks for the visit, have a great day...
6.2.09 And just about the time I say use this, something goes wrong Yep, "Murphy" lives here too! Yesterday I talked up Delco stuff soo you know I had to be shot down-- hey, we just live in that "imperfect world" and most anything should be expected at most any given time we put in all those new Delco parts in Wayne's dash AC system, we drew it down and we just started pumping out ice cubes and it stopped! Yep, on looking at things, the high dollar Delco expansion valve froze up and that as they say was it! Gonna replace it with another one and this time will also replace the thermostat as well! Maybe we sould also replace the goopenpucky on the heater core, the knob on the blower switch and how bout that screw holding the radiator overflow tank! hey, whatever we don't replace and even something we do might cause the next problem--- it's just the way of the world so don't look so perplexed and start thinking "conspiracy theories" next time something happens to you. Wish you could still buy one of those "(*&^ happens" Tshirts! Now don't get all excited when I start talking about
carpet in Raymond's 26' Duramax. Just because carpet is usually the last
part of the job here Steve is covering the custom sofa bases
So I'm off for another day, we're putting Wayne's coach in shape for my cross country solo run. Going to stop in Sierra Vista to see my son John and to drop off A arms for S 6.1.09 Got a bit of a late start this morning last week was a bit of a mental drain so this weekend I needed to perform some "refurbishment" for the soul. Yesterday Janie & I hitched up the bike trailer to the Suzuki, loaded up the CJ, dropped the top on the beast and did a winded run to the beach for a day away from the world. Saturday saw several issues I have been dreaming about come together and when you get the chance you need to recognize and let those small victories set in and looking into this week I see so many things that are huge steps I just needed to get a handle on myself before it all started pushing, I needed a fresh mind.eveFerguson, anyone else over on the left coast need anything brought over? Don't forget about the aluminum rims laced with Kuhmo tires I'll be "testing out" on the trip-- hey they could be yours! Moving forward in Raymonds 26' it was time to start
dressing up our wiring. There is consideranble runs of wire and getting
the front 32" TV operational
Hey, I'm still plunking away on the lap top so please excuse my spelling errors and stuff-- just no time to go back! We're also trying to capture storage and use as much space
as possible in these Duramax designs, Raymond now has a "basement" in the back
of his coach. The riser needed for the proper demensions from the rear
seats to the floor
I wish I could just blow on Raymond s coach but there are also other projects needing
attantion and here is one that has come up and will be a biggies here quickly.
Wayne H. has picked up a project he had started for another customer. You
have probably been seeing this and that happening on this coach
As you know we just about exclusively work on the GMC,
it's not that we can't do other stuff it's just I try and stay with this because
it's what we know bestt. Once in a while we get weak and someone we know
needs something done so hey, why not. Steve's wife needed some dash AC
work on her GM car
The paint shop will have the exterior parts done this week and after some new rims and tires to get me there, I will be bugging out of here on Fri. for a white knuckle drive to Bakersfield Ca. to bring this puppy to it's new home. But of course to get there (and that entails a cross country run) this thing has to work and I mean really work! I'll be ordering in new tires today-- BTW, remember last week I put in a blurp about someone on the west coast couls have a new set of rims and tires on a good deal? Let me bring this up again: As you saw from that pic before, the coach has the 16.5 steel rims and actually one of the tires blew out just sitting here! Wayne already has Alco rims on his "burn unit" so the 16" rims and tires I will put on will need a home when I get there. Now if you are looking at new 16" rims and tires soon, let me give you this option. We will run on these tires from here to Califoirnia, they will be trued & balances and you will know when I get there that the rim/tire compliment will be good-- so, are you interested? You can get a reall deal on the rims, on the tires and a free true & balance thrown in no charge. We need your help, Wayne does not need 2 sets of aluminum rims and you could be the victor on this deal! Call me if you are interested. Oh, and this trip is going to be interesting, I'm hoping to stop off in Sierra Vista to break bread with my son John, maybe hook up with Steve Ferguson bringing him some A arms to play with and I found out this weekend there is a Pacific Cruiser rally that weekend near Bakersfield-- heck, I might be able to make that! Of course now ist all falls back on the coach and can "the chick hold the smoke"! Been sitting for a couple of years, we have done our best to get it in shape doing needed stuff yes for Wayne for him to have a nice machine but also for me to get there! We're down to the wire on all that so stay tuned! Here are a few posts with some comments I thought you might be interested in:
Sorry-- the day is on me-- gotta go-- I'll try and pick this up tonight
5.29.09 So the question was how did the Duramax drive? Thought more than one person may wonder that, I know 2 people that wonder that question. It is soliforniarta difficult to answer that in that all I have done is drive a short distance not even getting past 2nd gear and many perameters must be recalibrated but there are some statements I can make at this time so I'll give the question a stab. The first time we drove the 26' Duramax, my driver was a young guy who really felt at home on a 1000cc Vtwin Yamaha "crotch rocket". He was still at that age where he was invincible and would push anything he drove past what was safe just to see what would happen. Following him over to Walters for what I not have to call the most awesome paint job I have ever seen jumped out of the coach when arriving-- I asked him that question then because of course all Enquiring want an answer to that question and his remarks was "scary fast". At that time it was in safe mode where it would not run over 30 MPH (for in shop use before a dash was connected to the OBDII computer) but he still managed to bring it up to 30 MPH right now. The acceleration from a standing stop to it's governed speed at that time was right now. He said when he touched the pedal, the turbo spun up and he was gone. That was an exciting debriefing but I was on the recieving end of the report. Next, Craig drove the 23' Duramax to it's metting with paint, I again followed him the 1 1/2 mile run in my Suzuki I think like a mother duck stays close to it's hatchlings as they cross the street. I could not figure out why the brake lights were staying on as we drove along at @ 30 MPH. This time we had the dash cluster (all fly by wire). When we got there I again jumped up to the door for a debriefing, Craig said (mainly because he was sitting on a steel milk crate) that when it hit 2nd gear at 30 MPH he had to keep his foot on the brake to keep the coach from running off. This was especially distressing in that he never touched the accelerator pedal! OK, so driving back the 23' he got in it a little more and there was no way my Suzuki could keep up and I tried. He took off, passing people in the left lane like they were standing still. Again off the line it was gone like a shot. I was too chicken to drive, maybe still wanting to protect the machine from others on the road but I knew at some point my time would come. Both coaches went right inside the bay upon arrival at the shop because the next phase had little to do with motion, the considerable work on the interiors had to start and in that there is so much impossible stuff never tried I knew it would be a bit before I could even try to drive either coach again. Well, this week the time came to take the 23' coach back over to paint for some final stuff. The huge amount of work needed to secure and smooth out the grond effects had cut into their normal work flow so badly that I had to give them time to recover plus the fact that they moved into my old paint facility right behind my shop was great. It was only a scoot around the building to get it to them now but I still call that driving. We cleared a path out from the bay and after getting the mirrors mounted so I felt at least a little safer, I fired that mother up for the run. Sitting back some 8" from the original drivers position did feel a bit like driving from the back seat but I could tell with a little time behind the wheel it would be OK but it still did feel like back seat driving or maybe a very small kid driving a very big car! The turning radius is super tight the chassis being designed as an in town shuttle bus, it seemed like I could just about make a 90 deg. turn on a dime. There was no overhang so I kept wathing for the tail to come around as I made the turn out the bay but it never came-- it just turned. As I let off the brake to move, I felt the torque converter lock in and each time this happened the coach lurched both up and forward at the same time. I have no doubt there was surface rust on the rotors and that probably helped to make the brakes grab a bit but man did it have bralkes! Touching the accelerator pedal I had to slip the brake because when the converter linked the motor to the drive shaft we went forward with gusto! Instand motion with no laws of physics involved is what I felt, kinda like some huge tractor trying to link up with it's trailer. As I got square to the gate with a little open space I let off the brake an nudged the gas (what do you call the "gas" pedal on a diesel motor) the coach just stepped out and went. It scared me and I again reached for the safety of the brakes. The coach stopped forward motion and everything inside moved forward a bit. Wow, the first move was no more than 50 feet but it scared me! The rest of the way I let the brake slip to allow the coach to move, once I hit the gas for a vrief moment on the straight in front of the building but in my mind I used the excuse that there were too many loose things inside to do any more. Good, I was off the hook and could just let the coach slip around the corner to paint. There would need to be some training to harness what I would call unusable power and braking. I hope we can recalibrate the brakes down a bit in pressure (with the Wabco-Meritor computer controlled braking system you actually can dial in each wheels pressure), I also hope there is some adjustment on the "gas" pedal because it feels like off then on with nothing in between. I think this is what it must feel like to drive a top fuel funny car-- you are on the start line and when the tree goes green you are gone! Ok, now with the 23' Duramax safe in the paint bay, it was time to pull out the 26' coach to get it washed off then spin it around and stab it into the bay where the other coach had resided to get it away from all of that saw dust in the trim shop bay. Again, I braved up and sat on the milk crate and fired that mother up too. Pushing the "D" button on the eletronic shift pad, the coach dropped into drive but with the brake firmly down the coach did not move forward, it just went up! With no where for the torque to go with the wheels help firm the pressure had to go somewhere so ir went to stress out the suspension components and the coach went up @ an inch. The is a very weird sensation, it's kinda like having a rope tied to an oak tree and stressing out the hemp as the machine tried to rip the trees roots from the ground. everyone was standing around watching the bay door to besure I did not rip off a mirror or drag the tail as I turned out of the bay. There was no way I was going to take that chance and I could mark my forward progress in inches-- my I was wimping out just letting her fly. Lurch, forward, then stop was how I came out of the bay. Again the response of the gas pedal was off then on and the turning made me feel like we could swing the front end 90 deg. on a dime. I turned out of the tight outside the bay in a way that would have been impossible with out backing and restabbing. The chassis just turns so dang tight!. Effortless motion forward is all I can say, I never touched the gas, just slipped the brake and it was all I needed to make the thing move. We will really need to try and reprogram something because the on them off feel of the coach is all but extreme! On a straight line like I drove on the drag strip there is just no telling what this thing will do! Oh and you know when we get the chance I'm gonna do that! I needed to pull into the bay to havre the door on the proper side to work, good thing because I think backing the coach into the bay with the response it has would probably look like a 16 year old figuring out how to drive a stick shift in drivers ed. I had again one person on each side watching the mirrors-- for some reason everything just felt bigger. When they said I was in position, I pushed "P" on the shifter pod and the coach settled down the inch or so to a relaxed condition and I really felt like the "Eagle had landed"! My first experience "behind the wheel" may have seemed like a wimp ride but for me it was enough. I mean after bleeding over this machine for "how long" I just did not feel like flapping the leather to say "giddy up", walking arounf the paddock was just fine for me! So I think my report to you would have to ring the same words that I heard first from Jesse--- "Scary Fast" and I didn't need to actually go fast to feel it! This really is not just a strong GMC, this is a kin to lighting I think an SRB because I think when I do have the chance to let her go it will be something like "holy &^%$"! Betcha the sriver of that top fuel rail knows what I mean, I thought I would never get the chance to feel the " almighty mother of acceleration" but just maybe I will so there ya go, this is what I feel about how the Duramax drives. These chassis were set up for 20,000 pounds + and with somewhere around 10,000 pounds on their back they really have a difficult time to be compared with anything I've ever driven, it's sorta like the time I asked the operator on the dyne who spun up the first Koba motor we build for Arches coach. I asked what he thought and he said I have no idea, no one has ever asked me to pull numbers just off idle befor and rolling off just over 3K, most motors are just starting to spool up! He said this "pump motor" has nads in places we never looked so if it fits what you want I would call it great-- and they are. I know this was a very unscientific driver report, these machines were built in the time honored process of "do it and lets see what we've got". It's kinda like the high school days when my best friend decided to buy everything in the catalog to fit his 340 Duster, wre started bolting that stuff in and when we were finished we had no idea how to make that thing run! We've grown up from there and now we can make it run but I still remember when that 340 motor first fired up, I felt it would suck the watch off my arm if I got too close to the carb-- I think we have had the same feeling again! Stay tuned for more, the coaches are shuttled around for some more work, the blankets are covering the horses again so lets call this a wrap and keep working on the interior and exterior finishes. I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that we have some serious equipemnt under the hoods of these machines and I think thats enough for now. Hope this answered the question. Moving on, Mark's coach is in full hover mode right now with no sign of any suspension save the 4 jack stands holding to to the surface of the earth! 5.28.09 Still on the little keyboard so hang with me, not as much fun for me either! Anything worth doing takes work, I think this must be a
universal saying and if you don't have a few choice words to go with a great end
to a project I kinda think you must not be done-- at least it seems like that to
me! Yesterday Raymond Cruz called up and we talked about the recent
progress and what his ideas were from here. On the frig cabinet I
explained how we were pretty "dense packed" cramming as much as we could into
the confined area trying to do it all with what we had. Now every Norcold
frig I have ever put in had always come in black. As Henry Ford said,
black is a good color and with all the black on the outside of the coach, the
systems panel in black with other interior accents in black-- hey a black faced
frig would work. The option was to go after the copper kettle majilite
color but with the frig already black hey, I get to have a "gimme". Oh no,
that won't do and when I thought it I immediatly thought I would not suffer
enough to make this project look good-- and I was right. Now every Norcold
frig I had ever installed was black faced--- except for this one! I opened
the crate and found a tan faced frig smiling at me!
OK, you asked and it was time for it's first bath anyway
so behold, Raymond's 26' Duramax in the light of day, out of it's cocoon for a
looksee on what we have. We had a fine layer of sawdust after the coach
sitting next to all the saws and things while the interior has gone in
That is of course unless Ken's 23' Duramax pulls up and
yesterday let me get behind the wheel of not only the 26' Duramax to move it in
and out but I actually ran Ken's 23' Duramax around the building over to Kenin,
Jeff and Tank for some finish touches on it's exterior. Oh dang, was that
fun!
OK, so now THAT'S what I'm talking about! These machines represent so much time and effort, so many new and untried ideas and what I would call all out creativity there are some and I understand that will shake their heads and say, "are your kidding". My answer to that is "you betcha". Please don't think this is all we do, please understand if we can think through this, we can certainly take care of a "mere mortal" GMC. Hey, this is way too far out there for most, me included. We cut our teeth and still pay our taxes on supporting the GMC community so come on over or call when you need something, I think we will be able to handle it. Speaking of "mere mortal" GMC's, we went after Wayne's
dash AC system yesterday to wake it up after a long sleep to see what we had
OK, just when you calmed down from the awesome Duramax
stuff, Mark H. has his coach in process for a full restoration and first things
first we're doing the mechanicals on his.
Don't wanna spoil the excitement but we have a few interesting twists on the renovation of this Coachman Royale, stay tuned for that fun. I know Mark will be glued to his screen! Hey and it's only Thursday, proof positive that even though you plod along not thinking anything will ever get done when it all comes together you see just how far you have gone! I remember going to Philmont with the Scouts some years ago with my sons-- you plod along that 63 mile trek, stump your toes on every rock sticking up, slip on every slope you walk, stop at every watering hole and open latrine along the way. Eat stew mixed with dirt for flavor, hunker down to do what you can to keep the lightning from turning you to a crispy critter and then on the last day standing on top of the tooth of time looking down at base camp knowing you have, in the words of Bilbo Baggens ""Gone and Back Again" you see just how far you have come and felt the good pain of the adventure-- it's just so damn worth it! I hope right now you gays are saying "Hell Yes" because this is the way I feel about this. No, much of it may not make perfect sense on the surface but deep down I know I would not have it any other way so thanks for the visit, thanks for the support and thanks for making this trip more complete. We're way down our yellow brick road now and the tin man has his stride! Finally, Cal sent me this pic and I just had to share it
with ya. Just about the time you think the deep end of the gene pool is
clearing out, you find a few strands still stuck to the bottom, Guys-- trust me,
you really do not need to take this risk and if you have an idea that this is
OK, move away from the beer!
5.27.09 I'm still using the program of the lap top here so if I have typo errors it's because of the smaller keyboard I think John figured out the problem with the slow moving office puter but I am still staying with this program for the time being so bear with me please. Hey thanks for the posts on opinions on the Duramax projects, I got maybe a bit carried away yesterday but I field so many times the same questions on the projects I thought I would wack at several of your birds with that stone. One comment was it did not look like a cost effective venture for either party and I have to say to that -- you got it! Thats right, I cam makew a nicew looking machine for far less than it is taking to invent this wheel and slap a GMC body on a Workhorse frame, this is true but wait-- am I just doing this for the heck of it? Well, maybe in a way because we can , I think, but also there are interesting possibilities and outcomes. Everyone has always said a GMC with an engineered turbo diesel, state of the art would be something awesome-- well then OK, you can talk about that all day long but Raymond, Ken and I are doing something about that! We always talk that a diesel with it's torque curve could pull a GMC much more efficiently, maybe get fantastic mileage-- OK then, lets see. With this Allison electronic transmoission, if we can get into "top cog" the numbers say our performance should be awesome but no onw will really know until it's done and we will be doing it with a 26 and a 23' coach. All of the modifications all come down to seeing if all of that will really come to pass and that my friend is why it is being done. And of course the fact of building an awesome, really cool, one of a kind machine and hey, isn't that what makes people choose one vehicle over another. I mean if it were all down to the simple fact of which vehicle is more overall cost effective, why in God's name would a Hummer or a Cady ever end up in anyones driveway! I will guaranty you when either of these Duramax machine show up at a rally, a car show or any place where car lovers that appreciuate something unusual gather, they will be all over these machines! I mean come on, it my not be your cup of tea but dang if they won't command a crowd. And as the word passes through the crowd that it is a Duramax turbo diesel with and Allisoin transmission, still front wheel drive the natives will turn restless! And there will be Ken or Raymond cracking a smill that will wiggle their ears. We may need to increase the width of the doors so they can get back in their coach after a session like that! That really is a serious factor on many things we do, we do them because the customer wants it hey and thats good enough for me. Use any criteria you choose on looking at these coaches and at some point you will have to stand back and say they are pretty cool. Actually, we are looking to mold in the ground effects kit on the next restoration so the look will be there even if the turbo diesel isn't. I thinbk that this is great and we're preepared to do that mod for Mark H. OK, so I've blown a few more verbs talking about this, it's only because of the Emails I got showing you guys and having a good time following this. I feel you understand I have no preconceived notions that this sort of thing is wanted by everyone but most of you are interested in it's outcome and thats enough for me. As long as we continue with this and you guys understand the insanity I think we can all have fun with it and when these puppies do start to roam the world you can say "I was there" when they were built will be all worthwhile. Here are a couple more pics of the 23' while it was outside:
On another subject on the 23' Duramax, Steve has followed
through with the design and the basic structure of the galley cabinet has taken
form
Oh look, a new present came in the mail today
So thats it for today, I need to get out there and work before the rains come in which they will now every afternoon. Thanks for the visit, we are ejoying all of this and I hope you are too. Ken & Raymond both are biting at the bit to have their puppies off the sidewalk, we want that too but I'm not going to do anything half way so everyone calm those jets and stay tuned, good thinga are happening and the soup will be done when the water boils! Thanks all for the visit, the Emails, the calls and the support. Don't worry, I'll tell ya when it's enough, in the meantime lets let the good times roll.
Update BTW if there is anyone out there on the left coast interested in getting new aluminum rims and tires, I've got a deal for ya. The 5th of next month I am delivering a coach out to Bakersfield, driving it from here there is no way I am going to trust the old 16.5" rims or the tires on it so I am mounting and truing a new set and will run them west but when they get there they will need a home. I'll give you the truing (1 $180 value) if you will pick up the brand new Eagle rims for the $210 each and the price of the tires. Get with me by tomorrow and I'll buy whatever tire you want! Help me out with this and you get a bonus to boot. I know Ken will enjoy seeing his baby outside, we pulled
it out to clean it and the bay up
5.26.09 Just got a post from a friend, hope I can link this properly for you
http://www.lshs64.com/enjoytheride.html
Thanks Wayne for that "down to earth" link for my thoughts, hope everyone comes away with something they can use. So how bout this rain! The lift
resembles a boat ramp!
Anyway, this I guess starts our wet
season with a real bang, hope your Memorial weekend was good, I drove the
Suzuki (oh boy what a ride!) to Jacksonville to be with my Mom. I
dodged raindrops there and actually there was a little rain there but
nothing like Orlando or Daytona. Coming back Sunday, I stopped off in
Ormond to see if everyone had floated into the tide and what jumped out from
the corner of my eye as I wizzed past but a GMC and better yet I knew the
coach! It was Bob and Donna in the perfect spot for a holiday getaway
OK so I'm back at the shop with great plans on the Duramax coaches. Had a post asking what I would call the $99,999 question of these projects--- Why? If you say why do all of that when you could just update all the original stuff in the coach that is a very valid question if you were looking at the economics of the move. Good thing thats was not the criteria for starting them. I have answered this question to many and thought hey, maybe I should go over this question here so more can understand if they wondered: It's certainly not for economics that I threw out the baby with the bath water actually tossing the tub, the bathroom, the south end of the house, it's foundation and the dirt it was built on and built these GMC's onto the Workhorse chassis as we did. No, it was more of a concept of what would the GMC be today if it were still being produced, what sort drive train would it be if the concept were laid out on a board given today's "state of the art" technology we have today. Not a hobby approach of simply mating up a new technology motor to the old drive train or simply updating the brakes or whathave you but actually replacing every component part and I mean everything! A chassis is engineered to work in consort, together-- each component is designed to not only compliment but also live with eachother and not only that but is a documented, tested, engineered complete device. It's not pieces parts from different eras but a machine that not only works but can be maintained and repaired by someone other than the person who put it together. The Workhorse chassis we used to bring these machines to life not only can be maintained by any authorized Workhorse repair center but there is no wondering what part fits, the parts and pieces that make up these machines are all catalogued and available throught the normal parts and services distribution network. Updates and performance enhansements such as chips, and computer enhansements can be accepted by the "OBDII" on board computer. This is an extereme departure and way to look at an update for the GMC, in fact just about the only "original" part of these coaches is actually the body-- all other components including the frame, suspension, brakes, drive train, electrical system, steering all are new and state of the art to today's standard. This also is probably-- not probably but for sure-- the reason that these projects have been so involved. Going into something like this, you look at whatyou think it will take to build it but actually you cannot see just as you cannot fathom what it took to design, set up to build and manufacture a new car. And if you did say "Hey, lets build a new car ourselves" good luck because there is so much to consider that only a company like GM, Ford or folks like that have the expertice ands funding to pull it off. Hey, we are a small business, we have the talents but as far as the millions of bucks it actually costs to pull of a new product, we are not that person so for us to say "lets build a completely new machine" is something mose small businesses would say no to. By us saying "yes" we are saying something like the maintenance crew for the Hoover dam saying "Sure, we'll build you another dam just like this one!". Yes, they have the knowledge and the experience and maybe even the parts and pieces but man, that is a big chunk to bite! So here we are, putting into life a concept most businesses of our scope would not tackle, doing a project that is new and exciting for sure and one that when complete will make a special statement and go to a place few will ever go and one I want to do why-- because I think we can. Not because it is the most cost effective way to produce a motorhome, not because it has been done and now we seek to perfect it but because it has never been done and until someone has climbed this mountian no one will know what it's like to stand up there and look around. I hope this answers the question for John, I hope it also sheds some light as to why we lost our minds and attempted such projects and what to expect as they pull out of the shop and onto the highway. This should happen soon, I certainly hope so because we need to get back on task on projects we can do that's within our standard scope of business. Project like these are not support for our business, they are exercises on how far someone can go, how high the bar can go and how far your dreams can take you. Howard Hughes lost his butt on the "Spruce Goose" and I have no doubt that until Orvil & Wilbur's contraption left the ground they had people that frequesnted their bike shop look at them and wonder what they were doing. I won't be so bold as to put our small business in those categoies but I will say these projects are a similar departure on the norm and "boys and girls" do not try this at home! So there, thats why we are doing this and how. This is the main driving factor that 2 people looked at the idea and said "lets do it". This is the reason to try something like this, maybe the only reason because God knows where it will end up and maybe that too is a good reason to try. "At the end of the day" as Rob would say, what is all of this about anyway-- to do something meaningful. Now granted there are many ways to do that but this is one and this is why we are here and what we are doing so keep watching, keep wondering where it will all end and what it will be when it's done because I too ponder that question-- and isn't that the cool part of this! Enjoy your day, I hope the visit here was worthwhile, we have many things to do that is if the weather holds, come back tomorrow and see what happened. You may want to go to the top of this post and run the "enjoy the ride" link again cause really thats why we are here. See ya next time and thanks for the visit.
5.22.09 "Rain rain go away, come again some other day" Hey, we've got over 12" in 4 days-- what the &^%%!!!!! Stop it already! Dodging raindrops is not conducive to work around here! Between showers we needed to do something about the water
leaks in Wayne L. coach so Craig and Steve tackled the problem
Next Steve joined in and the top lock bead was pulled out
to allow them to squeeze new sealant down under the gasket to that body seam I
was talking about
So after yesterday's post here and some phone calls and such I got out on Raymond's 26' Duramax for the big fit. Using 2 computers makes the mornings stuff go faster-- thank goodness, I hate loosing daylight messing in the office but hey, somebody has to do it and I see updating to you guys whats happening as pretty important! I know it is to the guys with their coach in here so there we go. Pieces/parts are coming together on the 26' Duramax, I had a post asking the usual questions -- how is it going, what mods are you doing and when will it be done--- it's funny maybe but less funny than the reality of it but I had to answer all of the guys questions as open ended. I really can't say it's all going fine cause it has become so much more than anyone ever imagined-- the list of modifications is dizzying and really I do not have the time or want to write down all the stuff we did so far and as far as when will they be done-- heck, throw up the bones and see where they land because everytime we get into one project we find another one waiting! It's just the nature of the best and along with trying to stay solvent with our business working on these projects takes up every waking and spare moment we have. I could tell by the questions that the guy had not followed our daily blood, sweat and tears on these things and I ended up telling him if he were considering to do something like this himself to not try at all. This level of modification is not for someone looking for a budget restoration-- far from it-- this is a job for insne people who want something "because they can"! Anyway, I just wanted to get that off my chest, you guys know more than most anyone how insane these machine are and how insane the journey has been, I have had to rethink my roll and the roll of us in this project. They are not a "money maker" job in that so much time is put into design work that no one can afford to pay for. This is one of those project you take a picture of and set on the mantle as a crowning achievement. Here we are doing 2 of them at the same time-- I figured the second coach would take less time and together it would be a cost effective project-- wrong-- each one took on a life of their own and the differences in a 23 and 26" coach made most of the mod project just different enough that massive amounts or work had to be custom fitted for each. I mean the rear suspension on the 26' used the original bogy system while the 23' used the 2 wheel suspension on the frame. The floorplan because of the door placement was all weird, the front platform was all different and the awesome ground effects had to be so altered that it was a very involved process to fit a set designed for the 26' coach to fit the 23' unit. Hey and this is just what comes to mind right now. My guess is no one would be crazy enough to try this at home less even trying it at a shop-- it's just that unusual. Hey, there may only be 2 of these machines ever produced--- but I will have 2 pics on my mantle that says :I did them both" and maybe thats what this is all about in the end. The owners will have a seriously one of a kind monster and I will have the scars and the memories and "at the end of the day" as a really smart and good friend on mine always says, that may just be the best reason to do it. So after a couple of hours of fitting and employing some
of what I learned fitting the pass. side bedroom seat in, with my camera on my
side I had to stop and take this pic
So while I was at it and had some good "Juju" on my side,
I fitted something else just to see if we were doing good. Behold, the
look of the galley
5.21.09 Couldn't find the time to finish yesterday post, I fell asleep in my chair and the next thing I knew it was time to get up! The rain down here has been relentless-- hey, the weather man and forest service guys did their rain dance now they are passing our waterwings! 61 roads are closed because of flooding, schools are closed so I hope they are all happy! This rain has really screwed us-- we have to work inside for sure and in that our roof had dried out and shrunk so badly, we now have leaks aplenty in our building! Plastic sheets & buckets are strategically placed to keep our ship floating. Steve brought in some roof patch goo he was using on the roof at his house (he's scheduled to have a new roof for his place put in next week and is trying to stay afloat till then. Bail faster man, the water is rising! Anyway, yesterday between rain and flooding, I got a chance for some quality time in the bedroom of the 26' Duramax. After so much work, measuring, dreaming, planning and the time it has taken to get to this point-- it was time to put the rubber to the road and fit then install some of the awesome features we have been working on. Doing such expensive custom work, there is little room for those "unexpected results" that always comes with such work. It is a scary proposition at this point but it is time and it has to be done. Rob Mueller called in yesterday to check in, he's back in the states from Australia and he gave me the moral support I needed to just go for it so that what I did. I'm in the bedroom now, putting in the finish materials and fitting the actual convertible seating. Anyone who has these seat/bed arrangements in the back know they sometimes are not the most comfortable. I mean they are really nice in that they pull duoble duty as 2 seats or a bed but if left as original you will usually have a sore back in the morning. Hey, we can't have Raymond show up on set like an old man holding himself straight up-- don't care if his production company is named "Crooked", I'm not looking to validate that title! Omar has gone to great lengths with new higher derometer foam and other stuff to make these seats as comfortable as he could. I now need to adjust them on installation to fit, operate and sit well as a bed and as a seat-- like I said if you have these you know what I mean! OK, The procrastination factor has brought me to the point
where all of the predetails are done and nothing is left but to put it in.
I mean all the wiring (and there was a pile) is done, all the lighting (LED,
twinkies) are in-- the overheads are operational, the wall ands ceiling
materials are in so it's time. The problem now is to fit and adjust the
overstuffed, refinished 2 seats into the bedroom. We have all sorts of
dimensions to consider. When something is to move and fit superior in both
positions, there is much to consider. I started in and really forgot to
mess around with my camera-- it was one of those "stay on task" things. So
after everyone had left, the sun was gone and I was the only one in the shop I
looked up as I walked into the coach and snapped this pic coming down the hall
ran out of time, more tomorrow
5.20.09 How about that After a couple of days thinking about it, fitting and trying this and that-------------------it fits 5.18.09 Here is a pic of leaving the shop last week with my
Suzuki tied to the back of Marylin's coach I was checking out the
lights before leaving
First off, Ken's 23' Duramax is getting the bulk structure
of the interior cabinets installed. Not just any structure, we must build
around, over, under the unique floorplan making sure access and the ability to
route wiring and plumbing is not compromised. Here is the basic
galley counter structure
A question was asked about finishing the base structures, we build the structure then finish them off with laminate or whatever material thats called for, this way we can focus on building the design and worry about the finish later-- works well for me. OK, I tried taking pics in stages on Raymond's bedroom
install but found I just could not remember to stop often to take the shots.
Between work myself, keeping everyone else going, answering their questions,
ordering parts, explaining stuff on the phone and taking orders taking pics took
a sort of back seat but I was able to do a few. This is what I started
with yesterday morning.
5.17.09 I hope the page loads a little faster now I had to figure out a low tech solution to what looks to me like a high tech problem. Yes, my work computer is spazzing out a bit. I mean I go in early to work just to sit there now and watch the liittle red button on the box like it was regurgitating digits to get going. It's Sunday night & I'm on the lap top, like I said, a simple solution to a big problem! Like I said, Janie & I just got home from another awesome rally. The Sunshine Statemen 2209 rally schedule is over looking for next year. So while I am at the house catching up on CBS Sunday morning with Charles Osgood the lap top is acting as my second level of multitasking. This weekend was good but next week at the shop just might be even better. Working in my mind how the bedroom in Raymonds Duramax bedroom, I thought I might do a pic an hour or something like that putting the interior panels together. Might be interesting, stay tuned. It has been a great couple of days and I would really like to tell you about it but first I must get on task. Tomorrow wants to be a creative day on the Duramax coaches, both of them. I have been working toward several defining moments I guess and several come together tomorrow. This is the part of all of this thats the most fun, bringing things together so lets see what happens. We have rain today, our plan is to finish the punch list on Marylin's coach and deliver it to here in New Port Richey tonight, wish us luck on that. Rain I know is good for our forest services with this fire threat and I guess I should be thankful for the many days of clear skies but hey, the water from the sky has us at a disadvantage right now. Oh well, as Ben Franklin used to say, "When it rains it pours" See ya then
5.15.09 A sight for sore eyes, Omar pulled up to Man, it was a real pleasure working with this nice pair
Wayne is off too with his refinished exterior so while
Craig finished up his new alarm system
Well, I guess that's about it for now. Bob H. will probably have the club "WiFi" rig at the rally if he makes it so If that works out I'll post to you tomorrow. The last rally of the season, it's really been difficult to make each but being first violin this year I felt it was important. This is the last one, it's where Ed J. will take over and man was it a year! The club went to see the Blue Angels in Pensacola, went to the 1st annual winter Palatka Bluegrass Festival, had the 3rd annual Drag Race rally, did Ormond Beach and a ride up the Intercoastal, Caravanned from Alachua to Dothan Alabama and helped the GMCMI convention with our tent, Christmas in Kissimmee at Old Town yes-- it has been a great season. I hope you are supporting your local GMC club, it takes people to make them go. I've been pleased to serve and everyone made it all work -- and yes, we were pretty lucky , ity never hurts! By the time you read this I will have made to run from Orlando to Jacksonville in Marylins beautiful coach. I hope as good for you. Talk to ya soon
5.14.09 Man, when it rains, it pours! We have things going on all over the place and now my computer is doing weird things! I come in to work early to mess with this thing and then it takes me 30 minutes of watching the little red button flashing spasmodically before the thing will do something! Yea, yea I know my web site is big, I know my invoicing program is being pushed farther than it was supposed to go and all that but hey, aren't these machines supposed to help you do your best? What does it mean when you run down your computer-- does it mean you need a new one, am I asking too much of it-- what gives! Bear with me while I figure out what the monster needs! So between making up new words for this keyboard and that red flashing light, with all thats going on sometimes we have to break and push out a coach or two, it's delivery day and Marylin's coach is one up for takeoff. Yea, I know I talk too much about paint quality and adding to the investment of your coach by doing good by it but look, I really feel strongly about this. Paint is the first thing someone sees when they look at your coach and though you may not call yourself an "exhibitionist" I know you want folks to admire your GMC and the best way to get that going is with paint. I have been struggling trying to get our new paint system organized. Why is that such a struggle? I guess I am just a bit picky and swithching to a new way means adding in everything possible to do the best job we can. So here is the first coach to put out a foot saying "I'm ready".
Pick the 2 that pertain to this job: price--- quality---- speed I'll tell ya now this job took way more time that we
wanted, we were able to bring the cost of such a job down and the quality-- well
take a look at these pics and tell me what ya think:
The last rally of the season, in my home town, turning over the gavel to someone else and doing it all in this coach-- we will enjoy this! One of the new features we are now using are new LED
exterior lighting. The new LED side marker lights are $14.50 each and I
feel have a really nice look on the coach
Not wanting the others with coaches here to feel left out, here is a report on other projects around here. Steve took off today but progress on Ken's awesome 23'
Duramax is coming along well. After getting the swapped side
headboard/blanket locker completed in the bedroom
Raymond's 26' Duramax is getting more overhead cabinets
built and installed installed
Wayne L. coach got new body mount pads yesterday ready to go him today Gotta go right now-- more to come
5.12.09 I think part of our load problem is the size of this page. I'm trying to load much of it over to the Archives but that too is going slow so please bear with me. Steve is still building Ken's galley cabinet and other interior issues on the 23' Duramax. He stopped to make the galley doors for the 26' Duramax yesterday but for the most part he is doing a great job at staying on task with Ken's interior. I on the other hand, have not been carrying my camera to show you guys pics-- shame on me, I'll do that today. The big deal for us and the push right now is getting
Marylin's paint job to completion. As I have said before, the actual
"painting" is not that big of a deal, it's all of the before prep details and
after the paint is on the finish details that make a paint job what you see.
Before walking out of the gate yesterday, here is a pic of where we were
They have done it again, Hot Wheels just loves to keep
bringing out retro designs for the GMC. Tank was at Wal-Mart last weekend
and found this actually on the shelf
I get Emails like this often and I gotta tell ya it does my heart good to hear I have helped out even if it is in a small way. Here is a post I got this morning:
So we have 40% chance of rain today, great for the forest fire we have going on, bad for our finish work on Red Racer. The sky is clear right now so I need to get outy there and get some work done. Man, I wish we could get more room to work! Hey, anyone out there want to invest in a commercial building in Florida? It's a great investment, you can't go wrong owning commercial property in Floris and hey, you will have a fantastic tenant---- me! Be a part of the Co-op and help us help others, our business needs a bigger place and we sure need your help with this. No "handouts" here, just a sound investment strategy! Check it out-- there was a GMC at the end of the last
episode of Breaking bad!
Hi-ho,hi-ho-- it's off to work I go--- don't step in oil, look down for screws, be sure to wear a hat -- the sun is hot and you'll bake your brain but I'm sure you knew bout that hi-ho, hi ho hi ho hi ho!!
5.11.09 Good Morning, for some reason this program is running very slow so it's going to take a little time to get caught up here Hope your Mothers Day went well. Janie & I spent it away from it all at the beach. Time is the one most expensive thing I have to offer so the weekend went to those persuits. We made the most of that time and I'm here this morning ready to go. We have the big push to "birth" Marylin's paint job outa here. All the little things that always seem to come back and bite you has to be done today. We're to that wire so stay tuned for that. Ken's driver window seems to be cured so the next step in
it's installation can go forward
Raymond's galley overhead went in Friday so I'll do some
prewire cleanup and start loading the galley
Waiting now for the rest of the crew to come in, the sun is up and the heat is coming with it. Hey, it's better than that cold stuff! We'll get going soon and see what can be done. When Marylin dropped by the other day to check on
progress, she brought a few pics of the last time I drove her coach to her.
Janie & I towed the Suzuki to drive home and made an evening of the event
Went over to update myself on where the paint shop was, I mean the pressure is on those guys! Hey, have a great day and if you see something that needs doing-- do it. Could be a small thing or a big one, it's all the same-- it's gotta be done so get in there and do it! Talk to ya later
5.8.09 First let me get a few issues out of the way and give some quick updates before I get into something I think is extremely important Ken, Steve has really been diligent in building up your interior. He is now turning his attentions to the galley cabinet. I will do my best to give you pics maybe this weekend but we have some critical issues that I need to pay attention to so hang with me. Wayne H. and Wayne L., we have had to turn to another project for the last couple of days to get it out of the way, Please bear with us, hey -- there are only so many hands here. Mark, the guys have your frame processed to an
undercoating level, the Ospho is on
We have some parts B/O but things are going OK there so you guys with them stand by. OK, I'm ready to blow a little time talking about
something here that has been way up front on my minds eye for a bit. I use
a great deal of laminate material when refinishing interiors, some ask my "Jim,
what have you got against (real wood) finishing?". I mean our direction
has been to simplyfy interiors and use laminate for many reasons one large one
being the cost factor in the labor that it takes to actually do a proper job on
real woord. I see coaches at rallies that retired or hobby woodworkers
have done to their coach that is beautiful but if you ask them they will all
have to admitt that they could not charge a person for all the labor it took
them to do such a job-- thats the reality of stuff like that. It's not
that I hate or cannot understand real wood finishes-- in fact my Grandfather and
family was raised in Marion NC and he was in charge of the finish wood dept at
Broyhill-- heck wood is in my blood! My house is all wood interior
Specifically the aspect of wood finishing has grown to the point of working with to me the most expensive materials in the most labor intesnsive way doing stuff I have never seen except in my mind and he has said to me to go for it! While it is true and there is little someone can change the fact that on custom work there are 3 goals of which you can only pick and have 2, namely (quality--- speed-- price) Raymond has directed me that Form must come first, function is second and then the time that it takes to do that is just what it takes -- this list of priority is something I rarely get a chance to follow-- yesterday I think it is all starting to come together & what it took has all come together to any outstanding level of finish. One ingrediant that made this direction is when Raymond
chose LM Pagano and her design ideas for the interio. She came up with an
interior direction that challenged us all. Specifically on the wood and
it's finish is red Walnut burlwood-- hey, thats is not made, you have to make
that yourself! Burlwoord materials of that size is un-natural! You
have to seek that finish and go hard to get it. Thats where we wanted to
go and thats where we went. Yesterday, I pulled out the 3" air powered
buffer and went after the galley overhead cabinet. After days of design,
building, fitting, covering, sanding, veneering, sanding, clearings, sanding,
clearing, sanding... we were are this level and the buffer was bringing me home
Yesterday, Jeff stayed on task
BTW, go take a look at the You Tube site, I brought in a light and reshot the operation of the motorized overheads-- it's a little better http://www.youtube.com/coopmotorworks Our focus today must be Marylin's coach paint punched out but maybe today I can get that galley overhead hung-- we'll see. Hey, everyone involved, thanks for helping me do my best, I hope it's what you wanted-- we have reached that level of hand craftsmanship I have been pushing for! Gotta go, the day is upon us and great things are coming. Thanks for the visit, we'll talk again
5.7.09 Walking over to the paint shop this morning
it's great to be able to say that-- I mean having again my paint shop just
behind us-- a great sight came as I got closer
Steve is narrowing in on Ken's 23' Duramax bedroom area
We had first figured we would spray on the Ospho on Marks
frame but to assure we had strong coverage Buster decided to brush on the rust
killer to be sure it was all dead
OK, so here it is, I have dreamed and thought about this
one till my thinker was sore. The overhead cabinets for the 26' Duranax
has to be something special and here it is. To my knowledge, this is the
first electric opening overhead clamshell cabinet-- certainly in a GMC but maybe
anywhere. Here it is closed
Gotta tell ya guys that you just can't duplicate fun like this! Motorized oberhead red stained walnut burlwood clamshell cabinets-- I mean where can you see something like this! Gotta go, we have so much happening right now that I can't wait to hit the shop. More to come so stay tuned and thanks for the visit and support/
5.6.09 He's gone home Yep, I got Manny to the
airport early this morning for his flight back to California where he says he
has 2 transmissions waiting to go out. I tell ya there is not a harder
working man out there! Yesterday eveing Manny was cleaning out the bay
where the magic was done
Ray come in to help me with the final buffing of the
overheads for the Duramax 26' coach
I'm driving Craig and his son Eric nuts with Mark's
undercarriage
Buster and Jason though will go "diver down" on the frame
and where after a serious pressure wash, they are replacing the crushed frame
pads
Jeff helped me set the glass in Ken's expanded driver
window
So thats it, I'm sitting here just after 8AM, the sun is up and the temps are on the rise. He've been hitting 90 every day so far, looks like the blow drier is getting ready to switch to Hi around here! Hey, better that than the cold stuff. I like it hot and it looks like with a 5" drop in our rainfall as of today I'm going to get my wish. It will be nice to get me Suzuki back for a bit. Manny has had it since he got here & I've had the side car bike for transport. It was fine and I had a great time but hey, too much of a good thing is not good! I'll do some pics for ya on Wayne L. and Marylin's paint work, Jeff is pulling his hair out there. We'll be in contact later
5.4.09 My weekend was filled with sanding while Manny was over
in the "back 40" building transmissions You really must understand the
importance and complexity of the work he is doing for the community.
Probably more so thanmost any component needed to keep our classic coaches
on the road, the transmission is one of those parts that there simply is no
substitute! We can make other parts fit in application but the GMC can use
only the front wheel drive 425 Turbo Hydomatic transmission-- and guess what,
there are parts for this transmission that are no longer available!
Yep and when you need one of these internal component parts for your
transmission-- as in the words of a good friend of mine from Canada, "You are
hooped"! See the great thing with the units Manny builds is that he has
those parts!
So while Manny is elbow deep in transmissions, I was over
in the metal building as I said sanding my butt off! Had a post ask why
the sanded finish looked so white
Kevin stopped by to run the gun
Wayne L. coach should peek it's head out from the paint shop with it's new stripes and Marylin is dropping by to inspect the progress on her coaches exterior refinish. Sam C. left his coach at the shop for the weekend and will be driving in for some work on his and Steve goes back down with the 23' Duramax interior. This looks to be another great week of work. Hang with us and see how it goes. Thanks for the visit and we'll see ya soon. Call if I can help and hey, go give your coach a hug for me-- everyone needs a little love!
5.2.09 There's Manny, explaining how his transmissions are
different from others
Had a post asking what was going on with the Duramax
projects-- realized I had not posted anything lately, sorry bout that guys--
been doing some "grunt" work that really does not show a finished spiffy looking
produce but hey, it all goes into the finished product. Waiting today for
Jeff to mix up the 3rd pot of clear and shoot it on Raymonds overheads.
I've been a sanding fool lately
Ken's 23' Duramax dash plate is in and the inspection
inserts fitted
After being in "Hover Mode"
We do have a fuel residue trace on the bottom of the fuel
tanks which means there is some level of leaking
Wayne L. coach is getting a new "racoon" stripe today
And last but not least, Wayne H. coach gets it's original
Palm Beach sofa and dinette seating out
The "Motley Crew said farewell to Russ
BTW, I know many of you guys come here to see what we're up to but this daily Pose was originally put here to give folks like Mark, Wayne, Rick and others who have their coaches in here a view as to how we're doing with their coach. Raymond uses this pace to check out colors and all for the Duramax, Ken and I have had many design decisions made with pics here on the 23' Duramax, Mark is seeing how his baby will shape up and thats what this page does. I appreciate and have no problem with you guys watching it all and invite your comments and suggestions. This page also gives me an outlet so hold on sometimes cause my soap box comes out and there we go. it all comes together as a win-win for all so thanks for being a part of it. Talk to ya later
5.1.09 Even though we were trying to keep the cost down and BTW, thats what everyone wants to do, while we were on the lift, Russ wanted us to look over his fuel system. Seems that his generator stopped running one day and there had been times when he thought his tanks filled slowly. We dropped his tanks and there is was again-- crushed hoses! Yep, the body pads had crushed and the hoses were caught in the "squeeze play" between the bottom of the body and the frame rails. So even though we really didn't want to run up the bill, those hoses needed to be replaced and new body pads had to go in. We found out his generator electric fuel pump was bad-- why-- could have burned up because of not getting fuel-- maybe so that was replaced. Now when Russ pulls out today, he will have a Manny Tranny, a new diff, a fuel system that really does work, a generator that is more than a boat anchor , heck he's got a real motorhome now! Took a day to download pics from Craig's Olympus camera, his memory card would not fit, his cable was different, it's amazing how you have to have everything just right to play with this new technology---ah, but when you do it's just a breeze. Wayne, here is more on your exhaust system. This is something I had on the "dumpster", way back. The dumpster was the first Co-op flagship and it got it's name for good reason. We brought that ex production studio back from the brink of disaster for trying new things and the single muffler exhaust system was one. The problem as I see it with out original 2 muffler system
was many fold, first the mufflers were too close to the motor for the length of
pipe to the rear of the coach. If the motor backfired it was sure to blow
up one of the mufflers. Plus with that length of pipe, backpressure to the
mufflers caused them to burn out, blow out or for whatever reason go out.
A low RPM, high torque motor creates a great deal of backpressure and I think it
is important to get rid of it in a different way than the original system does.
So here is where the single muffler system comes in. First, you certainly
do want to load up the exhaust when creating a high torque, low RPM motor of
course but lets do it another way. Lets remove the mufflers and bring the
"Y" pipe together to help balance the motor.
Now, with the exhaust balanced, lets use that long pipe to
the back to load the exhaust pressure. Lets expand the pipe to 3" for the
long run back
The noise is in the back, not in the front. The heat is no longer under the floor and the looks are just under your bumper-- hey, it's all good! Wayne lives in Bakersfield and look man, you now HAVE to go the a hot rod show because you will be the biggest, baddest hot rod on your planet! No, we do not sell this system, better than that I'll help your local muffler man build it up for ya, he needs to be a little creative, know his pipe bender machine and be willing to listen but if he is-- brother you too have have a set of pipes to die for! Look, these are the small things, the details I feel are important when putting together the classic 26' hot rod. Don't need no stinken chrome to be bad. Don't need to throw money against the wall to see what sticks, you just need to go back to basics, figure out what's needed and do it. Sure, we build in original exhaust systems, I'll do anything someone wants and hey, the original design has served us well but that does not mean you must close your mind to ideas. This single muffler system was not done to save bucks, in fact Ben spent a great deal of time hugging the exhaust pipes up to keep good ground clearance but thats the details that you always want to have, the things that is worth paying a man to do for you and the things that makes the job stand out. Thanks Wayne for telling me to "go for it", he's good that way. Today is Friday, we have coaches leaving, some coming, I have overheads to sand and clear, Jeff and paint to sand and buff and the world keeps turning. You guys are out there working on your coach and thats a good thing, healthy for you and your coach-- keep it up and we will do the same. Viva La GMC!
update Wayne, the pics I had for you would not
connect out of Craigs camera, I'll have them tomorrow. Here is something
to wet your whistle!
4.29.09 OK guy, you're going to have to hear me rant a little
about paint first this morning. I say that to try and get those who do
not understand why "real" paint work is not really found cheap and cannot be
done fast. We have been putting together a new paint crew which is a very
important part of our work. I man if it runs great but looks like crap---
I mean all you have is a fast turd, pardon the expression but it's true.
Another thing thats true about the GMC is if you paint it the way they do a
commercial truck--- thats what you will have and most paint shops that are
willing to paint a "billboard" as large as out coaches paint in that way-- it's
just a simple fact. This is the stuff that takes the time
Hey, and the details make the difference---- oh yea man,
now thats a nice pair!
OK, back to the fun, the prez of Zip Dee loves to come by
when he's in town, yesterday he and his partner dropped by to gawk a little at
the 26' Duramax
Gotta go right now to pick up Waynes coach at the muffler
man "Ben's" place. Wait til you see this masterpiece-- a rear mounted
single muffler design-- transverse mounted one in-2 out free flow system-- all
the noise if any is at the back of the coach, no floor heat-- very nice.
I'll show ya later today. We have Wayne's blind/valence system ready to go
in
Finally, we got Russ tranny out and Manny found the
problem
OK, gotta go, it's going nuts around here today, Sam C. came in last night from Cocoa, he's my designated steering column repair tech-- you know how some tilt mechanisms get loose, he's here to fix several coaches. Hey Tim S. in the UK-- your machine is getting fixed along with mine, the flat bed and anyone else around here that needs this. Hey, we all get by with a little help from our friends and here is a prime example-- thanks Sam, you are the one! Thanks guys for the visit, we'll see ya again soon
4.28.09 Do you have an extra one of these in your coach
Why am I bringing this up this morning? Got a call
yesterday just after lunch, a fellow was leaving the "sun-n-fun" fly in aircraft
show in Lakeland and found his coach not shifting. He said just before
that started he noticed his speedometer stopped. I talked him through
pulling out his governor to check his plastic gear and sure enough he had a flat
spot chewed out of his old gear
You guessed it, the transmission went home to Stovocore!
Sometimes your best option is still not good enough. He really needed to
replace his gov. gear when it went out, first gear was not made to run for long
periods--- and it didn't! The option was not to drive it but without a tow
service ti was all he could do-- rolling the dice did not give him a win.
I waited and just after dark Kpt. Hook came in toting the dead soldier
4.27.09 This weekend was full of moving around, cleaning and
organizing Yes, there comes a time when you just have to stop and clean up!
Our lot is just too small for what we do, playing "musical chairs" with these
coaches in this small lot is not the fun part of this place. I have
several coaches here that just sit here in the way and it just complicates
things. I am making an effort to clean the place up and move things around
so please bear with me.
Picked up Manny this morning @ 1AM at the airport, he's resting in JayGee as we speak. He's here to build up an assembly of transmissions. We all are most fortunate that Manny is willing to go through all this for us to have quality transmissions here for us on the east coast. Watch this week as he builds transmissions. We're pulling Marylin's coach over to the paint shop for
it's wet sand & buff process. Good news-- our paint crew sighned a lease
on our old paint shop just behind us and now I am close enough to yell at them.
The landlord fixed up the building (those that have been here know that was
badly needed)
Buster is hard at work on Wayne's "new" coach. I'm
going to drive it out to Bakersfield to him but before that he's getting the
benifit of having it here to get some critical things done. Buster is
elbow deep up in the motor
Pulled The carb filter on a coach in for service, the
coach was running fine but look at what we found
Got another coat going on to the overheads in Raymonds Duramax today. Found we have to let each coat cure well befor I can sand on it. Have the bedroom are about ready to go together, waiting on Omar to bring the stitched red velvet to build the last panels. man, you gotta hang around for this one! The day is here, the sun is up and I'm giving Manny another 5 minutes before a wakeup call. Have a great day
4.24.09 Thanks to Bob Heller, our club "IT" support Guru I think I have successfully downloaded a loose edit of the Motorhome Drag Races from last weekend. Go to http://www.youtube.com/coopmotorworks and see if it's there. It may take a couple of hours for it to show up so if it's not there try again later. My ears smoke from all this new technology, hope it came out OK. It's another Friday and we have piles of stuff going on around here. We're trying to seal up Marylin's coach exterior before the wet stuff hits us. I'm sanding my fingerprints off on Raymonds overhead cabinet clearcoat layers and Wayne's fuel tank job is ending so now the guys will jump on updating the motor and all that. The weatherman says we have clear skies so thats good. Just tried the Bus Hole Shw and the video has not downloaded yet, give is some time. Have a great day and thanks for the visit.
4.23.09 As you say in the update bringing a coach home from
the trauma of paint is a big deal so now we are on it like ants to a twinkie
sealing it up before Mother Nature decided to bring in the rain. man we
need a larger place!
Speaking of finishes, I walked over yesterday evening to
lock up the metal building and man did something jump out!
So the sun is up, no one is here yet so I get the chance to hang those mirrors and move around the lot before the day starts-- perfect! Have a great day, you can see how mine will be. And really, thanks for the posts and calls, it all helps me keep it together. Don, take your time on that wiring, it's probably something silly, Scott-- let me know how those torsion bars work out, hope you can find another "porkchop". Oliver, glad the shipping folks over there in Germany found that body mold package. Janie really did not want to ship it again. Hey Joff, can you believe both bolts on your fuel pump came loose and until the fuel line broke that dang thing was keeping you going! Yea guys, the nut fell off the mechanical fuel pump, the bolt was loose and until the metal line fatigued and sprang a leak the motor kept going-- just a small oil leak and hey, who doesn't have one of those! Further proof that these things will run broken! The rest of you have fun, hug your coach cause everyone needs a little love.
Update So in rides Elvis
4.22.09 OK so it's probably not on the top of most of our
minds, but today is "Earth Day" so you need to at least do something to say
you just don't want to mow down all the trees, suck all the oil out of the
ground and melt all of the icebergs. It's not much but I pulled out my
bike and rode it home and to work this morning.
Speaking of danger and stepping out of the box, let me
show you what my son John came up with all by himself-- if there is any question
as to wether he hatched from this nest or not, I think this will put it all to
rest! Over the years, he has seen some of the transportation rigs I have
come up with, he observing and actually seeing what the outcome of many of them
have been has a unique position but still I think sometimes these ideas must
have been to interesting to totally discount because a couple of weeks ago he
sent us these pics of something he has picked up out there in Sierra Vista
working for General Dynamics
So do something today for Earth Day and it does not have to be just wearing a green T shirt. Progress is happening on the 26' Duramax headliner with
the bubble foil in I can finally build up the embossed headliner. You have
never seen a GMC ceiling look like this!
On to a similar project, Ken's 23' Duramax is at the point
of the dash build up and bringing to the table the process used on the 26'
Duramax Jeff, our electronic engineer par excellence it fitting the "leaded
foam"
Wayne's coach takes possession of the lift
OK, so there ya go, I'm working hard to get back in the pocket on the Daily Pose along with the workload and Email pile. Hope there was something in today's post that interested you. We have Marylin's coach coming home this morning, Jeff has already called telling me to "foam the runway", this will be some excitement for the day. We have Burke coming in with a punch list and one of our dual dash AC system coming in for service. The rest of our projects will also hopefully keep moving and so on the beat goes. Thanks for the visit and the support you guys give us here, it's a good feeling and believe me I feel it! Over and out for this day-- Earth Day 2009
4.21.09 This morning I'm trying to catch up on Emails bear with me, I may not have much time here. Have had several Emails asking questions and all about the Drag Race Rally-- I would tell you the best outcome was that it was just plan fun! Bob Heller, the club "IT" man I think said it best with
this pic
Tomorrow we have Matylin's coach coming out of paint for
us to start putting back together. It has taken more time that we figured
hey, but what doesn't anymore. Stay tuned for that. All I can tell
you is we are more concerned that everything is right than the time it is
taking, sometimes it's tough to stay on focus but thats just what you have to
do. Her coach is an interesting mix of a 23'machine she had before
Steve is closing in on the frig cabinet on Ken's 23' Duramax, will do pics on it today and Craig has figured out the dash on the 26' Duramax, pics coming on that too. Raymond is taking the interior of the entry door to a new level, he's having the black entry handle I showed you earlier wrapped with the red leather and having the chrome interior latch possible brass or copper covered. man, I've never seen anything like that-- have you? It's all just becoming too much fun and then on top of that-- Mark blew in last Friday for a new project we will get into next. Remember I told you about Mark blowing in after a non stop run from the northern .. Gotta go, more later
4.20.09 Here it is Monday and I feel like I need a rest! That's when you know you had a good weekend -- when you feel you need to get back on the job to relax! I could say I missed the shop and all that goes on here and maybe I did but this weekend was one for the record books in many ways. Have not even pulled up the pile of Emails to see if something blew up, I wanted to come here first and just give you a first report on what happened at the 3rd Annual Sunshine Statesmen GMC Drag Race rally. I'll get to the rest of it all in a minute, right now let me just first say thanks to all who made the Drag Race Rally what it was. We had 13 coaches come and dry camp at the Orlando Speedway for 2 nights of fun and crazyness. There are just so many stories, so much stuff happened , so many "Hey you'all, watch this" stuff it will take me a while to put it all together. Morning looking south (cut-n-patste) then hold it up to your face and you can see a panoramic pic. Yea, I know it's a bit nuts in itself but it does work! So how did we do? Yes, we have racers
and though I did not make it there with the flat bed (thats another story) I did
get out there with JayGee and we turned some heads and some tires! Rear it
a weep boys
Let me tell you this quick story of Mark, driving in non stop from Ft. McMurry Canada-- yep thats NW Canada about as far away from Florida as you can get. Mark drove in landing at the shop about the time we were heading out to the drag strip. I told him to turn his rig around and follow us. I think us southern boys impressed the Canadian with what we do at our club rallies because the other times listed on my ticket was him running me! His wife called to see if he made it to Florida and what he was doing, when he told her he was in the staging lanes with their motorhome waiting to see what 1/4 time he could turn--- there was a long pause on the line! Yesterday taking him to the airport he said he would never had thought of such a GMC rally or how to have such an awesome time. His 403 turned a respectable number and he said it was certainly a first time for him. Like I said, I need to get back to work to
settle down. So Eugene just pulled out to get some new rear blinds in his
coach. Good, it will get me past all this and back in the saddle again.
Have no fear, I'll put together more pics and the videos in time for ya.
Let this pic of a couple of tired puppies tall the story
Let me go for now, I'll catch up on all the Emails and all tonight. Bear with me and have a great day!
4.17.09 Had a great day at the shop yesterday Got both coaches ready for pick up to make it to the drag race rally here at the speedway. Got the flat bed down to a short punch list getting it ready to race. We've installed a line lock on the rear wheels which should be good for an entertaining burn out! Hey, it's all for fun so why not. Steve was hard at work on Ken's 23' Duramax, Craig & I went at the 26' Duramax and the rest did the deal on the rest of the pile in the lot. Today, we will be closing early heading out to the drag strip for this weekend's festivities. Sure with I could have had one of these fire breathing Duramax coaches there, that would have been a sight! Sure with Larry was running, he was built for a rally such as this but I'll be bunking with john Norrie with the flat bed carrying the Co-op flag. This will be the first time that machine is out there doing it's job so think kindly of it as the Q-Jet carb opens it's secondaries when the green light flashes on the tree. You betcha I'll have pics in fact we're doing some video so you will see some of the fun. Gotta go, it's race time fans, I hope you have half as much fun as we'll have, if not hang in there I'll show you how it went for us. Doubt I'll have any WiFi at the track, we'll see
4.16.09 Yesterday and pretty much today was and will be filled with making design decisions, doing up details on the Duramax projects and preparing ourselves for the weekend's drag race rally. Ken and his wife are doing the "decorator fret" on color-- not something for sissies because when it's in it's extremely hard and expensive to turn back. That's also what we are doing with Raymonds 26' Duramax. With the interior door panel covered, next is the handle selection. That may sound immaterial but the further you take form over function, the more important each decision is. Let me explain: The interior panel needs a pull handle. The original one
was pretty limpy and you know how I hate to do something just because.
Here is a steel reinforced textured rubberized handle we have used in the past
that has proven itself to be an ultimate in function
We have different issues on the 23' Duramax which concern living space which we are working through. Stay tuned for that. We have 2 coaches here for weeks that are going to the
drag race rally, we have only one full day left to solve their issues.
Yesterday, while truing John's new tires, we looked around at his suspension.
I noticed a pile of grease on the inside of his RF wheel while truing it
Another coach looking to bust-a-move on the track this
weekend had a complaint that when filling the fuel tanks, some of that liquid
gold was spilling so the coach went up on the rack for a looksee
Today will be stressful, we also have Marylins coach coming out of paint, I promised pics for her so stay tuned for that. I imaging Raymond will help is with decisions on his entry door handle and Ken will start to narrow in on interior colors. All is good and we are having a great time here in paradise. The weather is clear and the race looks like to be on. Thanks for dropping by this morning, thanks for the support and I hope we are entertaining and informative. See ya tomorrow
4.15.09 A good clear morning and it looks like a clear weekend to boot for the upcoming Drag Race Rally here in Orlando. I know I've talked about this before, this will be the 3rd annual Sunshine Statesmen rally at the Orlando Speedway where we will have whoever comes given the opportunity to run their motorhome on the 1/4 track and get a speed and time for $5. We'll be doing footage for RV Buddies for them to edit and use in one of their episodes-- yes, really! I've got the flat bed running pretty good so I may be batching it in that thing the weekend-- Janie is not nuts enough to stay in it with me and I understand that! So if you are close and have a mind to do so, come on down. I'll do my best to do pics for you guys so don't feel like you'll miss it-- should be a blast. I came in early this morning to get Tom's agreed
evaluation completed
Miller Insurance 1-800-622-6347 talk with Cheryl or Marlene The policy you have may be perfect and if so great, but if your policy is something other than an "agreed statesvalue" policy, look into what you have. OK, I've done my part-- good luck. Tell them I told you to call, they know all about our GMC, it's special things and what you need. So I was not sure if I could do it-- but there have been
and are still so many things like that (you always have that stuff when you do
things that have never been done). I'm talking about covering the interior
door latch panel on Raymonds 26' Duramax. As I have said before, we are
going for the "gold" on this coach so each piece has to be at it's best.
The original interior metal latch panel is a pretty interesting piece
We now have our "bubble foil" insulation in for both
Duramax coaches so now the walls and headliners can keep going in
I've had folks ask me why interior work, specifically
laminate work is expensive so I though I would use this opportunity to explain
the steps in laminating even something simple as a cabinet door. You need
to think about it like this-- to build a double door for an opening you of
course need 2 exact cut pieces of wood, you also need a cut piece of laminate
for each edge, thats 4 per door or 8 strips and 2 laminate faces which makes 1
pieces of cut laminate
BTW, if you look at your air bags and see something like
this
4.14.09 I really should not chant "Rain, rain go away-- come again some other day" because we need the wet stuff around here but it's calling for some serious thunder/ boomers so we will I guess have to live with it. Watching the clouds on TV this morning during my Cheerios the rain was just north of us but I think we are in it's path sometime today. Isn't it amazing how those weather people can pinpoint all that. Yesterday was good, got several things done, Craig figured out some pretty weird things on the Duramax dash issues. It's the "figuring" that really takes the time on stuff like we are doing on those projects. Give you an example" We're wrestling with the floorplan on the 23' Duramax. We need a 64" cabinet to be "king" on the frig and closet enclosure-- we have 48". What to do, how to solve this and what effect that will have on the rest of the coach is a $99,000 question right now. Another good one is the AV system on the 26' Duramax. Raymond is challenging me to really "go for the gold". Which is more important -- function or form? In the case of the 26' Duramax those points are equal in importance if not form taking the lead. We just need to make that machine outstanding and standing out so now the challenge will be to have all of the goodies in the bedroom but hide it all, keep the style in the front while making the bedroom all it can be--- a pretty tall order but thats the level we want to reach here. I have some ideas so hang with me while we do the impossible. Jason and Buster are going after yet another Q bag system
We pulled out the mondo crate that brought us the nice
replacement rear wheel wells for Mark's 32' stretch yesterday
The lightning is raging and the weather man is saying "hunker down". Janie just called and told me to turn off the computer so I guess it's over and out for now. Have a great day, we'll see ya on the other side.
I think a pinched nerve is natures way of telling you "I told you that you would hurt yourself if you didn't slow down-- now you HAVE to slow down" I tried to step up into the coach this morning and couldn't do it! Been strapped to my chair all day-- man, I hate this! It does give me a little time to think and thats a good thing so you just do what you can. I've taken the overhead cabinet in the bedroom through several revision, I think it was useful, we'll see. I also had time to think through the 23' Duramax floorplan. We defenetly need to get into the "dual use" mode to make that flooplan work out. Ken has posted me with several ideas. He said he took the 23' coach he has at home and taped out the floorplan-- thats good thinking. Hey, we all get by with a little help from our friends and I gotta tell ya it's exciting to have all of you supporting our efforts. Sometimes I feel like that duck swimming along-- you know, looking at him he looks all calm just moving along checking out the weed while under the water he's paddling his butt off! Thanks Scott C. for that analogy, it's a good one! Yep, thats the trick to look calm and collected while you aqre gong nuts behind the scenes. Restoring a motorhome with all of the considerations is a great deal like that. So many things to consider and if you miss one everything is effected, I think thats the challenge of it and probably why not many people are crazy enough to try it. Anyway, the down time today I think was good, lets see if I can get it together tomorrow and build some stuff. Talk to ya later 4.12.09 Happy Easter-- A great holiday that actually stands for something important, that didn't stop me though, my back was working so I was too. Got all of the burlwood cabinets ready for the clear
OK here comes the new plan for the bedroom AV system-- we have planned a clamshell overhead for each side but with them there is no room for the 17" LCD/ DVD. So now we loose the driver side overhead which would be at the feet if you were laying in the bed. The flip down TV goes in place of the cabinet and we build up this wall panel for a nice AV presentation --- wait, before I show the look, let me tell you how I got to this point. The picture is only part of a movie, you need sound.
Most everything today is at least in stereo so speaker type and placement is
very important. The sound needs to be from each side of the screen and
that is difficult to do. Speaker type is first to decide. The big
problem in speaker design is surface area. The more cone area the more air
you can move so we need to use that largest speakers possible-- thats not easy
in the limited space bedroom and getting them on either side of the screen is a
must. Think about speakers in cars, the best way to get a larger cone area
in a car is to use "ovel" cone speakers-- as in 6x9 speakers in the rear of a
car. 6x9 speakers is way too large for this application-- but there are
other oval speaker designs. In this application I chose 4x6, dual come,
very efficient OEM style speakers. The output of the flat screen has a
common ground output which means it is less than 3 watts. Hey, thats OK,
it's not how much power but what you do with the power. The OEM speakers I
am using is very high efficiency which means they will give out a loud sound
with a small signal input. Thats how the factory radios can sound loud
with the crappy small output amps
4.11.09 Again, thanks for all the input having to do with Raymonds bedroom video set up. I am again today in pain from my *&^%$&*%%)% pinched nerve in my back so sitting here talking to you is about all I can do to keep from hurting myself further and do what Janie says and "give it a rest"! Since several of you are showing interest, let me go over all the issues involved in making the decisions as to how to proceed, you may enjoy that. Parameters: The unit in the bedroom needs to be in a position comfortable to watch while laying down as well as useable when the room is set up with seating. Since we are limited with space and a DVD is required, the DVD player needs to be incorportated in the unit. This also makes operating the system simple. We need good sound and stereo imaging is important in today's movies so we need a good speaker system to place sounds where they need to be. We have a satellite system on the coach so the unit needs AV inputs for that signal and of course there MUST be a remote! WE are limited in space one because of the size of the bedroom and 2 because of all the "stuff" already in the bedroom. The system needs to look hi-tech and good. The unit: We have a 17" wide screen ceiling mounted flip down unit. To date the largest screen I have found space for in the bedroom is a 15". The unit has a built in DVD player and inputs on the front for both video and USB inputs. It has speaker outputs for remote mounted speakers and has a couple of lights built into the case that can be used as room lights when the unit is folded away. It has a remote with a billion buttons (looks like it) and has a hi-tech finish. The challenge: To bring the unit into the bedroom in a manner that it does not detract from the decorator image our decorator (LM) has for the coach. To place the unit where it has the maximum value as an entertainment center and draw Raymond to just lay there and enjoy the show! Laying down watching TV is an Olympic sport not to be taken lightly. Twisting your head to watch TV in bed can be most annoying so great care needs to be made to make this sport a winner for the players. Oh yes. we also need DVD storage built in for those must have movies, CD's and video game data! So there ya go, sounds simple--- right? Well, these are the things I go through to put in stuff in these coaches. It's how you need to look at any custom build. Anything worth doing is worth spending time to figure out-- it's what makes some of the work move at a pace of "stampeeding turtles" but I think it can only be done this way. I risk pushing timetable doing this stuff but hey, the outcome usually makes it all worthwhile. If you have any suggestion as I put this together, let me know. I already do have the unit installed but the pics look weird. I need to bring it more to fruition before I try and show it off. Stand by for more.
4.10.09 OK, so it's "Good Friday"
Yesterday was a good day, got good work done. First I want to thank all who have posted recently with comments and suggestions on things I have been talking about here. Sometimes I plunk here and wonder if it's really meaning anything to anyone. When I get Emails it makes me feel all this just may be worth it. One post chided me a bit about the replacing of the fusable link with a fuse saying he did that and the fuse blew putting him on the side of the road and that my suggestion was a dangerous one. I first want to say I appreciate both good and bad comments, I look at them as constructive criticism. I would like to spens a minute and give a come back to that comment. If this is not interesting to you skip the following blue text: If you have over 40 amps of current flowing through the 12 and 14 ga. engine electrical harness be afraid, be very afraid indeed! Hi current can be very damaging and you can arc weld with 40 amps! In this application, if you have a 40 amp fuse heating up in the application of this fuable link, this means as a "fail safe" that fuse blew and you need to stop and check things out. Our GMC electrical system does have a few excessive current draws that a regular car electrical system does not have. First and foremost is the air ride compressor. On power level systems, the full load of the compressor which could excees 30 amps at times goes directly through the ignition circuit. One suggestion I give is to reroute the current drain of the compressor to it's own "home run" fuse to the engine battery. It should have it's own 30 amp fuse and it it blows a 30 amp fuse by itself under heavy load you may want to replace that power sucking pig! The Dash AC blower can pull in excess of 30 amps on it's own on hi blow. Now how many of you ever move the fan control off of hi? My bet is not many, so it would stand to reason to relieve the engine electrical harness from this massive current load and run a fuse from the hi blow relay to the center terminal of the battery isolator with a 30 amp fuse there and if this fuse blows often you may find a new blower motor in your future! Just pulling these 2 circuits from the fusable link will go miles to giving it a fighting chance to do it's job protecting you from the catastrophic electrical failure it was designed to protect you from. Hey look, the GMC was the only motorhome the GM designers ever built, they learned a great deal from the 1973 to 1978 models. It stands to reason that using sound electrical theory we could further improve on the design. Another good one is the Alternator trigger circuit. So the big question on that one is why does the GMC suffer from the affliction this nichrome wire melting the harness to a pile of ooze when most all of the GM electrical harnesses of the day were wired in a similar fashion? I feel my answer to this question is the fact that a motorhome has different requirement of it's harness than a car does and somewhere in the electrons of the system there is an anomaly that causes this circuit to melt down. Some feel that installing a diode in line will fix the problem, I feel that I am not smart enough to know the fix only that I do know there is an issue and to me the way to render the harness safe is to turn off and install a completely new circuit for the job that is totally safe. See, we live in America but if you use your noggin for something and think through issues, a remedy for problems usually can be found that will work. I do not follow that path of least resistance or that herd of lemmings. I want to think I investigate a problem as much as possible and do my best to do the right thing no matter how unpopular that may be. So everyone, along with changing out your fusable link, do some other good things for your coaches electrical system, isolate the current from the air compressor and the one to the dash blower motor. Insulate that 2 ga. cable on the front crossmember of your coach. Turn off that nichrome trigger wire to the alternator (this procedure is explained on my "information" page). Do these things and your coach will thank you for it. Just heard from Wayne in Bakersfield about his motor that caught fire, looks maybe the wire harness around the dist. got hot, melted and he had a good ole fashion smoke test! Look at the wiring on your motor carefully, look for heat damage and route them away from heat sources. Hey, that intake at the middle gets hot as a firecracker! Years of hanging around, these wires are not covered with asbestos, keep them from harm, use your noggin, be safe and you have a better chance of being. OK, thats covered I think and thanks for prompting me to
clear that up, L _ _ _ _. now, on to more fun. Had a post
asking where I had the 23 Duramax at the shop, here ya go
I have more people come by, look at these Duramax coaches and ask why. Hey, it's a good question cause I sure could build up an original 455 drive train for much less. I guess my best answer is if no one pushed the limits of what was accepted, cost effective and resonable, Roger Banister may have never broken the 4 min. mile. Hey, I was pulled through a 4 minute mile behind the pickup of my coach in college-- me shoes were burning me feet! If Joe Kittinger had never jumped out of a plane at some stupid altitude and did a freefall we may never had kown some valuable information about decompression and weightlessness, if the Challenger had not flown that fateful day, NASA would have never taken a serious look at their safety procedures and if we had never tried to really install a completely engineered turbo diesel drive train in a GMC then we would never know what it would take to really have a state of the art GMC of today. I'm not putting this project in the same category as that other stuff but I will say that it is a totally out of the box concept, a truly "throw the baby out with the bath water", take out the bathroom along with the south side of the house and the dirt it sits on way to build a better mousetrap! When completed, these coaches will truly be maintained at any Workhorse repair facility. All components will be recognizable by any up to date mechanic with all parts off shelf, no custom drive train components. No "morphodite" here, an OBDII computer diagnostic procedure will tell any mechanic the problem just as they diagnose your new car. This is a huge step forward for the GMC! This is the concept and the goal, to make a currently state of the art coach and this is the goal. Sure, these things are going to be rocket sleds with a toilet-- a 22,000 GVW chassis with @ 10,000 on it's back the power to weight ratio looks to be a stupid number, one of the perks of the project. Us motorheads glisten with an inner glow thinking of the possibilities there but it's not the reason we are doing it-- though it's a good one! We have gone to great lengths to keep all components in the same position as Workhorse put them and accessible for easy repair-- this feat in itself was touchy. So where do these project end, what do they culminate to and why were they proposed and done? These babies will push the limit of how far you can take a GMC into the future. I would like to try other things like this with a GMC, ok I'm nuts but it's what wakes me each day! I have a great appreciation for those that are standing with me on these projects and for those who are helping with their suggestions and comments-- they only make things better. Oh and when these things are unleashed onto the road and you hear they will be at a rally near you, just get in your coach or even your car and come to see them, I guaranty you will enjoy checking them out. So are we nuts? You betcha but watch out, they call the Wright Brothers nuts too! OK, so here's something interesting we did yesterday. Remember I said the Raymond challenged me to hide the over the window lights. Looking at the issue, there were several way to go. One of the criteria is I wanted the twinkies to be visible at times from the outside giving the exterior of the coach a look at night so with this in mind here is what I did. With the blind up, the lights are hardly visible from the
inside
Now we have a big delima, we have so many cool things in Raymonds bedroom, we can't find room for his TV! We have ceiling mounted 17" wide screen LCD with a DVD player that just has to go in there. Come back later for our idea of how to do it.
4.8.09 The day started out clear but a little chilly for us,
in the 50's Everyone came in and it looked like a good day was coming.
Had appointments for checking out 2 coaches, John showed up first then Tony
right after
Janie went out and picked up 3 pizzas and we made a party
out of the day
Listen, here is something I want everyone to go out and check on your motor. The Olds 455 motor uses a "ported" vacuum system. The vacuum to the dist. comes from the ported output on the carb not from the intake. If your dist is connected directly to the intake, it is plumbed wrong and the dist will actually detune your motor when it needs to create power. John had a general mechanical shop tune his motor recently and after that he felt it was not running well-- kinda slow. If your dist is connected directly to the intake manifold please call me and lets talk on how to replumb that-- this is very important! So leter in the evening Tony first got done
All this time Steve was on his own mission. He and I had been laboring over the sequence on where to get going on Ken's 23' Duramax interior. Here is the floorplan sketch we had decided to follow:
Steve laid the "cornerstone" yesterday dropping the first
support board in place
Speaking of making history, I love it when folks give me
challenges, Raymond was checking out the Twinkies on his new electric blinds and
asked if I could hide the lights somehow
OK, so thats enough, I could sit here all day telling you about all of the goings on around here, we are having a blast -- an awesome time doing something we feel is worthwhile, hey and isn't that what it's all about! Have a great day today yourself, find something to do worthy of the time you have-- do it with all you have and make something with saying "I did that". You'll sleep just that much better tonight. Over and out for now
4.7.09 Jeff was a busy boy today
Wayne's coach is coming together, we have the rear brakes
apart
BTW, here is what those nasty fuel senders are supposed to
look like
So here's something else you might want to check on your
coach. On all GM floorplan coaches (not 1973 models) there is a 2 gauge
cable running from the boost solenoid under the pass. front hood which runs all
the way back to the generator compartment. It runs down to the front
crossmember of the frame, across to the driver side and then goes into the
firewall and on inside the coach to the back, This cable is well
insulated--- except up front
Last but you know not in the least this remote is very
special
Anyway, much happened yesterday, much should happen today. We're watching the road for our bubble foil shipment, maybe tomorrow is the day. We will start building cabinets on the 23' Duramax. See ya later, call if I can help
Update Finally got over to the paint shop and a looksee at the progress on Marylyn's coach
4.7.09 Much of my day yesterday was in a chair I'm getting better but man when your back hurts, everything hurts! I feel pretty good this morning so I'm going to venture out, slow but out there. Jeff & Kevin came by to double check on the striping lay out for Marylins coach, come back at lunch & I'll have a full report on that progress. Wayne has picked up George's coach that was under
construction here
I've left Craig & Steve alone working on the Duramax interiors yesterday. I'm waiting on some bubble foil insulation for the ceiling and walls while in the meantime they are working on infrastructure issues. I'll give you a report on progress there later. It seems like progress on small issues is never ending. We had to relocate the remote transmission fluid dip stick to run the dash AC vents. Whoda thunk there would be a problem there, thats the sort of stuff we are dealing with now. Hey, it's all nothin but a thing but it all has to be done. Ok, now here is something important for all of you who still burn gas (most all of us) in your coach. There has been much debate on the new fluids now available. Oils and fuel formulations are on the change and what that all means to us seems to be covered by a healthy layer of smoke. Well guys, check this out! 1 1/2 years ago, Richard put his coach up in covered
storage here in Orlando
Totally filled with fuel, Richard was going to take me up
on the offer to drive the coach back north for him so he had filled the tanks.
Draining the fuel out and dropping the tanks
Just called the radiator shop where he's eyeball deep in
the tanks (BTW, those are NEW fuel tanks, not original ones), he agrees with me
that it has to be the ethanol. I'm no chemist but something is going on
here in the Florida fuel supply! If you have had your coach in storage for
a while I think you really need to have your tanks investigated! I told my
guy that I have several sets of tanks to check out, Wayne-- this is some of the
stuff we will be checking on your coach. Guys, this "ain't no joke", it's
past April Fools and really, this was a new fuel sender 1 1/2 years ago
OK, it's daylight now, it's in the 50's here today, looks like someone left the back door open! It's a clear day so I hope to get stuff done, just a little twinge in my back, I think I'm good to go-- at least for a while. Thanks for the visit, hope it was worth coming and we'll see ya later.
4.6.09 Hey, I'm here not worth as much as I usually am, those muscle relaxer pills turns me a bit loopy after taking them but if the guys all show up I can get them doing stuff while I count stars or whatever those things that are spinning around just above me! I think lying flat most of the day yesterday helped, of course we'll have to see how much better I actually am when the pills wear off. Right now, the song for the day could be "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"! I've got the bubble foil on the way today for insulation in the 23' Duramax. Thought we had enough here on hand but we're short. Jeff came over to double check on the stripe lay out on Marylin's coach 4.5.09 Sorry I have not posted is a couple of days We have had many challenges around here, I have obviously pinched a nerve or something in my back and am now walking around with the help of Aleve gel caps and weather and materials issues have hampered our progress as of late. We do have progress and I'll get into that on tomorrows post but right now I wanted to remind you about the Sunshine Statesmen 3rd annual "Drag Race" rally coming up. Go to http://www.gmcss.com/drag_race_09.htm for details. Guys, I promise this stuff will not effect our workload but it is a planned annual event and we must support the club here. Will probably not be able to have either of the Duramax coaches there so you have a chance to by "low ET" if you come. Besides the thrill of the run, there is the thrill of watching and thats what the club hopes will bring out the crowd, so if you are in the Central Florida area on the dates, you just need to stop by. Hope to see ya there. 4.2.09 Well, we made it through "April Fools", no virus eating my computer--- I think--- and no pranks though I hoped someone would have so I could deposit some of my misplaced aggression! No, just another work day filled with fun stuff. Omar came in and backed his van up to the bay which is
always good for something exciting and this time was no exception!
The 23' Duramax is having "grunt" work done, fitting panels and all, not much to see, Ken of course is keenly interested so I'll do some pics for him today.
I have been lax at getting over to the paint shop to take pics for Marylin on her paint work, bear with me-- I'll get over there today on that. Had a post from Billy about the interchange manual and if there had been any changes in parts sourcing that I could help him with. Billy is doing a super job helping GMCMI with all the paper flow and internet stuff, he is asking the specialty suppliers to help him with the interchange book as he did when he reset the format. I fielded his question and when I was done (you know how I am when I get rolling) I think my answer to him may also help many of you as well. Here is what I posted to Billy:
Billy,
Thanks for the post and for doing all that crap
keeping up with the rederic. Hey, somebody has to do it.
I would tell you to best
help the GMCMI membership and the spec. GMC dealer base, to get folks to
seek help through that dealer base would be the best way to help them
with their coach. To get them to join in on the Black list and to stay
active with the local clubs and continue to support GMCMI & WS is their
best chance to stay current and to keep in touch with that they need to
keep their coach on the road.
We can no longer be an island to ourselves, too
much is changing rapidly now and too much is at stake. You cannot rely
anylonger on the regular source of distribution to have parts readily
available on the shelf as you used to, Then, you could find most any
part on the shelf, today there are too many considerations, too much
"grouping" of parts and too many parts houses carrying only the top 20
parts in any category which means the parts we seek will many times not
be on the shelf. The day of being fearless as long as you have the
interchange book are gone. The community is tied to those that can help
and that do stock those funky parts and if the community does not wake
up and support those specialty parts dealers they will be gone and then
they will be in a fix!
This is the reality of the parts industry, the
parts houses are scrambling to stay alive and current, the
auto industry is working hard to lock the
small aftermarket parts houses out of the loop, they want the cars to
come to the dealerships for work so they are strangling the independent
repair centers and all this is happening under the disguise of
progress. I mean tell me you think you can rebuild a motor in an 08
car!
Radiators are going to throw away aluminum and
plastic parts which is killing the small radiator shops. Do not go that
way cause a radiator shop cannot repair an aluminum radiator-- it can
only be replaced and one day when the good aluminum radiator wears out--
and they do that, you cannot have another one built-- you will have to
just buy a new one off shelf and there are no replacement radiators on
that shelf!
I tell ya the parts thing is getting serious!
Brake combination valves are now custom made, Moog is telling us they
will be dropping upper and lower ball joints and with Firestone dropping
the air bags the only place to get a replacement anything to hold the
ass of the coach up is through a specialty dealer-- and this is the
direction all of the parts are going!
So, we need to put an article at the beginning of
the parts interchange talking about this and promote folks to ID the
part they need and then call a specialty parts dealer for help in
procuring that part. Maybe switch the interchange from part numbers to
identification diagrams like the GM parts manual and give them direction
so they can call the specialty dealers & better explain what they are
needing. That might actually be more helpful. As it is they are
confused as to wether they should try and locate the part by themselves
or go to a specialty supplier. Many think it will be more expensive if
they do that, in most cases the local parts place will charge them more
if the part is not in their top 20, thats the way parts places price
parts.
How about an article explaining all of this and
helping people understand that it's now less a battle of finding the
part at a local store than just finding the part at all! You can no
longer use the off shelf Toro
drive shafts to
replace inner & outer CV's, the offshore replicas will not work on the
GMC! That part now must come from a specialty dealer-- and there are
many, many more.!
Let me know how I can help you,
Jim Bounds
--------------------------
So there ya go, this is really what is happening under your nose on parts. I really feel sorry for folks with Airstream motorhomes sporting a P-30 Chevy chassis, those with other specialty chassis needing really rare specialty parts. Heck, they made over 12,000 of our coaches and thousands of Toronados! We are in great shape compared to those folks! Ok, so in between all we are doing, we're pulling
out 2 coaches to clean them up
4.1.09 I'm updating here tonight not waiting for the morning, I have Eugene here today getting new tires and a couple other things. I need to get his needs handled while keeping the pressures up on the Duramax coaches. Tomorrow morning I'll true his new tires and he'll be handled. Oh looky Mommy, it's a present-- what is it!!
On the inside of the coach, I got 2 more headliner panels
fitted
On the 23' Duramax, we are coming forward on the headliner
and walls starting from the bedroom as we did in the 26' coach
This really is an exciting time for me, after literally years of planning and dreaming about how these machines would come together, so many things considered, so many impossible issues solved-- we are seeing fruits of our labor. It has been a serious struggle. I'm typing this while watching the SiFi channel with the intro to Interprise playing-- "I've got faith, faith of the heart" how appropriate! I only wish you guys could be here and experience some of this--- awesome! It's all coming together-- maybe at the speed of those spempeeding turtles-- but we're getting there and after all of this do you think I'm going to rush thus--- not a chance! Stay with me, stay tuned and as they say down here, "Hey you'all, watch this"! 3.31.09 As promised the seats arrived
There's something about using big tools to do impossible
small jobs. In cleaning out my SD drive in the camera, I found a couple of
pics that did not get into the Dothan story. OK so here is the questions:
How many guys does it take to remove the vertical bar on the front driver/pass.
windows
had some comments on the Thomas Paine video I linked to last week. If you will remember your history from high school, emotions ran high back in those days of how to deal with the Crown's taxation and the treatment they were under. There were those who wanted to work within the framework and other that wanted to throw it all out in favor of something, anything --- many just wanted to be free. They had no idea what it meant, how to do it or what the future would bring -- they just know something had to change. I see us at that point again. I know we should probably not mingle politics into this page if I am going to call this entertainment and for those that also feel this way I apologize for bringing that stuff in, it's just the economy of today weighs in so heavy on us small business people, us middle of the road citizens, those of us who do not have any sort of political agenda that I just get upset when politics brought on by others effects our very existence. Yes, I want to give this economy support, no I am not looking for insurrection, I just want to be free. I worry about our country every day, I hope the president can get this thing going again not like it was maybe but going in a direction that solves some of the problems we all know we were headed toward. If it takes slowing the economy down, redirecting efforts, reshaping things like the Federal Reserve or the banking system or big business I just hope someone up there does not forget us down here. Hey, I did not see the GMC specialty dealers listed on the bailout and maybe we don't need it-- maybe we just need everyone to relax and take all of this in. We are busy, we have work and we have dedicated customers interested in keeping us here doing the things we do so maybe that is out version of a "stimulus package". Thanks for your continued support, we are here for you so keep remembering us. Keep remembering that the GMC is the cheapest way to get away-- there are no security searches, no terrorist threat inside of your GMC and other than adding fuel, you are not adding to the huge over budget and manufacturing problems the economy is facing today. Our coaches were manufactured decades ago, in that we do not contribute to overpopulation of our streets, heck we've been here for years-- it's all this other foreign made cars that are doing that. We are an American classic. In a very real way we are "green". There is no vehicle of it's size that gets better fuel economy or costs less to run than a well maintained GMC and there is no way cheaper to live than in a motorhome, you leave the smallest carbon footprint compared to a house or even an apartment. So when someone looks at your coach and scoffs that you are wasteful just ask them what their power bill was last month! OK, that's enough, I need to get to work. The weather is great down here, a bit of rain maybe today but we need it. Marylin's coach should finally be in primer, I'll make pics today and Ken's headliner gets attention today. Talk to ya later
Update Oh and Marylin we'll have your paint job back from
the guys--- and Mark, it's time for the side wall action. Heck, does a one
armed paper hanger in a wind storm sound familiar? Have no fear, I'm
felling better now, the weather is holding and a friend gave me a bottle of "Mona.Vie
for my health. Hey, I'm game, I'll take help from anywhere! I do
have my camera on me so you guys can help me by just being there-- do your part
and come on down from the cheap seats and get involved. Any questions, any
comments on what you see all go to help motivate me so don't by shy! I'm
off to the trenches, we'll see ya later
3.29.09 OK-- and this is a BIG OK-- we've popped out the other side of the tunnel now, a little worse for wear but we have made it. Larry is down for his sleep and I have the flat bed hosed off. Commitments and responsibilities are over and now I have but one mission-- well, really 2--- I have the 23 and the 25 Duramax coaches poised and ready for me to get to work. No more stopping for this or that, no more anything--- these projects have grown as they progressed into the most involved projects I have ever been involved with-- they have taken on a life of their own. I took the bit so now I am on the down hill stretch on both and we are picking up speed. No more games, we're on the job. I will probably start posting here in the evening because the mornings are the best for me and I want that time to be all Duramax! Thanks to all who worked hard at helping me relax while I was away, my appreciation will now come out in some serious work. Call if you need something of course but make a list, hit the points quickly and know that I am counting minutes. We have those awesome distressed red all leather seats hitting our door tomorrow, the headliners in both coaches go in tomorrow, everything is here and now it's "my chicken"! No pics this time but I will make sure I have my camera on what is coming, Ken & Raymond will be glued to their monitors to see their babies come together, the rest of you are also welcome to see this. I'm rested now, I'm focused and now I am on the job. Wish me luck and definitely stay tuned. As Lynard Skinnard said it best "Gimme back my bullets"!
Update So at home now and there maybe is time to tell you about the journey to Dothan and back sounds like the journey of Bilbo Baggens but it wasn't that earth shaking, maybe not to you but maybe to me-- matbe not but it was an event and in that it was something to do. GMCMI is a community that really is vital to the future of the GMC not because it is like the former leaders used to think but becaudse of the people who make it up, because of the people who lead it understand this and because the members of the club understand why we are together. It's the motorhome, not the social event but the motorhome itself. This is where the GMC motorhome differs from most every other motorhome group in the FMCA community-- it's the machine, not the people. I think thats the way is should and needs to be. OK, enough of all that, how was the Dothan rally? Follow the Sunshine Statesmen trip to the rally and my view at the rally, go to On to Dothan for more. 3.27.09 You know you have done something important when you have the realization you are on the other side looking back. Looking back at something automatically means there was something to look back at, in other words so today I'm siting here on a Friday saying I'm on the other side and boy wasn't that interesting! The guys will not be back until Monday and though I have a great team here today will feel like a Saturday-- heck-- I'll have 2 of them in a row! I've got Email coming up on the lap top while I'm writing this, it's dueling computers here this morning trying to catch up on all this communications stuff. If you have sent me a post, please bear with me I'll get to them all shortly. Dang it-- this &^%$# computer dropped a pile of stuff just now. I'll try and type it in again but the way I just spew stuff out-- that will be tough! As I was saying: I am answering Emails as I post this and it is refreshing to have so much support-- so many newbees asking questions looking for coaches, so many with machines supporting what we are doing here and just the fact of being in so many "loops" hey, it's why I do this and if you think I'm in this for the money-- you just gotta be kidding! As soon as I finish the Email returns, I'll pull them up on this computer and post some for ya-- you just gotta see how exciting it is from here to see whats going on with the GMC. I know many of you are sitting there is a small town probably having the only GMC in town, having people think of you as that kook with that old 6 wheeled thing. I feel that but really, there is so much interest going on right now you must understand this! Yes, the economy sucks and you can buy a nice coach right now cheap! It's not a good time right now to sell a coach and get a good price but it is a good time to buy one and get a good deal. There are people interested, we just all need to pull together! See, I don't have a problem talking about the state of affairs right now, for some it is tough while for others it is an opportunity. In say that though, there is no need to look at it like you are being screwed or you are screwing someone-- understand that it is simply supply and demand and it's all how you treat eachother. Know that things are tough, support those that support you, do your best to uplift others and treat folks with dignity and they will support and appreciate you. Be a jerk, push people down with your thumb and you will be part of the problem. Don't recognize there is a problem right now and blame everyone around you for it and -- boom, you are part of that problem yourself! Chill out, take it easy and don't get all upset cause in the big scheme of things it won't help! Boy, am I sounding like some soothsayer or what! Hey, I don't have any answers and thats for sure, I just believe in what I am doing and believe that we all get by with a little help from our friends so how can I help you and how can you help me--- thats how it should be. So I'm bouncing back and forth between the 2 computers trying to keep one from locking up-- this sure is a challenge. Hope I don't get mixed up. Just talked to Michael Bozardt on Email-- he was talking about being bummed about not making the Dothan thing-- I told him to buck up, we all still loved him and all the work he is doing to support us with a GMC bone yard. Hey, ya need to call him and say he's doing a good job, buy something from him so he knows someone cares. It is critical for us to have a place to turn to for some funky old part that no one has-- I call on him often to help me in time of need. It is so refreshing to have the support I have in times where there are so many loosing everything. I took a drive last night with the top off the Suzuki, filled up the gas tank with $12 and just got out there with the breeze in my hair and felt good knowing I was getting over 30 MPG while I was relaxing. Life was good. This morning I am blowing through all of this interest with the goal of getting this out of the way so I could focus on some really interesting stuff with the Duramax coaches, Marylin's paint job among other things. Just answered a post saying the electric servos are in. One of the problems doing things for the first time is accessing the special components needed to do those things. We have been waiting on customs to clear a container shipment to get them. Oh happy day, now lets see if UPS can find me! Gimma a minute, I'm watching a you tube video thats really good. I'll try and post it for ya, stay tuned: OK, I say the "Daily Pose" is here for GMC content and I know you guys come here for that. I work hard at giving you that and I think probably thats the reason you come here. We want to keep that just that way. We get so much red tape doom and gloom, politics, finances and all other sorts of stuff that I know we are all (at least I am) fed up with it all that this blog is somewhere I go (kinda like watching cartoons ) that all that other stuff just cannot go--- but--- here is something I really think you should watch and after this I will get back to the other stuff you have come here for and you can go to those other places for the mind numbing stuff they shovel out at you. Here, watch this and I'll be right back:
OK, I just realized in checking out to see if the link worked that I have rambled on here for a bit, sorry but I guess I've had just so much pinned up inside that I had to let some of this out. Let me get out in the shop and get some stuff going. Janie is still over in Arizona visiting our Son so I'll have some time a bit later to post more. Let me say that here now I have a renewed vigor and sense of direction. Maybe it was my birthday haircut from one of my Eagle Scouts turned barber, maybe it was the wonderful inexpensive birthday dinner at Taco Bell I had, maybe it was a full nights sleep and time today to do what I want at the shop-- I'm not sure but I do feel good, I feel like I do have a purpose and I feel there are folks out there wanting my best and willing to help me do just that. Man, thats just so much to be thankful for that I just need to be. Have a great day, you've been here long enough. Thanks to all at the rally who made me not only feel welcome but also needed. I'll still tell the rest of you how all that went and a story it will be for ya! See ya later, call if you need something and please lets keep us all, collectively and together in our prayers.
3.26.09 And I could not make the WiFi work at all at the National Peanut Festival grounds in Dothan! So yes, I am back in Orlando-- no, I'm not at the shop--- Larry came in on Mr. Hook giving up the ghost @ 30 miles east of Tallahassee at 2:30 this morning -- oh and say happy Birthday to me! Yea, it's gonna be that type of day, Fed-Ex wants to charge me extra to redeliver a huge box and I want something to eat, I'm hungry! I'll be in tomorrow for any more darts but today, it's a beautiful blue sky and I'm going to go out and do something in it! No problems for this day. I'll tell ya about the run to Dothan and all later, it was a good time but for now it's over and out.
3.22.09 "On to Dothan" continues, go to On to Dothan for todays details Update OK, we have access, go to On to Dothan for a report on day one 3.20.09 Well my bags are packed, I'm ready to go Hit
the shop early to get some last minute stuff in place before I leave to the
GMCMI convention.
You can follow the "On to Dothan" story. If I have internet access out there I will post here daily. When you pull up the page, scroll down to the latest entry. On to Dothan Jason and Ray will stay behind though they will not be
answering the phones and the gates will be locked. Jason is building up
the trailer hitch for Ken's 23' Duramax
Ray is tinking out another hammered copper countertop for
Raymonds 26' Duramax
Mark has a week to figure out our direction on reskinning
the 32' stretch. We'll get into that job when we get back. Many have
marveled about the potential of this machine.
Marylin's paint job is happening while I am gone, I'll try and run over for some pics this morning on it before I leave. Paint has been a real problem for us getting our new crew up to speed. Please bear with us while we get things wired. Her coach is prepped and ready for paint, when I get back we should see the primered moth turn into a beautiful butterfly-- thats the plan anyway! Stay tuned for that too! BTW, Bill's motor fired yesterday, sounds sweet. Buster said it stepped right out on the test drive. Like I told you guys before, the whole problem was not changing the oil on a regular basis and not having proper levels of ZDDP in the oil. Bill and I both along with you should take this lesson and not waste it. Take care of your motor, just because you cannot see a problem does not mean it's not there! Got in the glass for the amp panel yesterday for the 26
Duramax, what do ya think
So there we are, I'm off. Not the best time to be leaving the shop, I mean with all thats happening I sure don't need to be doing this but hey, getting away for a little might be good for me. The pressures around here can be debilitating and it will be great hubbing shoulders with the many friends I've made messing with these coaches. I'll do piles of pics, got a 4 gig SD card for the camera so if I fill that up we'll be in trouble! I'll be on my cell phone if you guys need to call 321-299-5707. We'll be arriving sometime Sunday afternoon at Dothan so if you'll be there come on by-- I'll be in the vendor area, look for the only motorhome there with no windows and an awning on both sides! Hey, buy something from me while you're there, I need new shoes! You guys that are home bound, check in here-- if I can get internet access I'll report how things are going. Have a great day, a greater weekend and an awesome week. Call if I can help. Cal, I betcha Miguel will have your babby kicking next week, lets keep him on his horse! 3.19.09 First, I want to say thanks to all who have sent posts and called supporting our efforts here at the Co-op lately I tell ya in this economic situation it really feels good to know there are those out there supporting us, I tell you now it means everything! I'm packing for the rally today while working on the Duramax projects and other things, I wanted to show you a faid amount of stuff today, not sure if I will have internet access out there next week so I will give you many things to consider here to give you something to do. First, all of the comments coming back about the 23' Duramax have been positive, Ken was worried some of you might not like the decision to have only 2 rear wheels but I think Don said it best when he said we nailed the design on the 26 and the 23' coach have benefit of the rag twisting we did on the design work. Heck Raymond had a design team in Hollyword work with his! Talking about design, check out the final burlwood design
and color tint of Raymonds cabinets
The bathroom color is in
Richard came in to pick up hiss machine late yesterday
OK, for you guys who says all this "hoopra" about ZDDP and
oil lubricity is stupid--- I gotta say "you are stupid" if you do not listen to
me now! We built and installed a motor in March of 04. It was a flat
tappet motor and only went 4000 miles since then. The motor developed a
knock. We heard some excessive valve train noise as well so replacing the
lifters and added adjustible push rods we got that quietened down but we still
had a knock when the motor warmed up-- no noise cold! Pulled the motor and
I tell ya guys, the inside of that motor was eaten up!
OK, I'm out there packing for the rally, the guys are showing up so the day is upon us. If you're headed to the rally I hope to see ya there. Come hang out each evening at the SS tent. Come buy something, I need new shoes! Thanks for the visit and the support, it is critical to our survival. Talk to you hopefully soon
Update 2 Just got this post from Don
Jim:
Can't believe how good the thing
looks; K/A! I thought it would look strange with only one set of wheels in
the rear, but it looks like it came from the factory that way. It's
proportioned like a full-size van, only better. Great Job! I'm starting to
think you guys know what you're doing, Ha! Will the "ground effects" drag on
entranceways,
gas stations, stores, etc.?
Don
I appreciate that. Betcha Ken is smiling right now, we went back and forth so much about that and about the flares, their size, shape and all-- the look was the number one issue. Would it look bad, wrong, not normal--- we really struggled on trying to make the coach look right. Thanks for your comment-- see that Ken, it worked! Here are a couple more pics, we have a few issues on the paint that needs attention, the white over the windshield needs to get fixed, there is still some detail on the swoops needed but hey, I think you can get the idea. OK, so our madness starts to spread around! So who else is interested in one of these? Yep, it's a pile of work, yep, it takes a while to build one of there and yep, there is NOTHING out there quite like them! So now that it's all out of the bag or at least you can see it, tell me whet you think. If you truly want a unique machine, a retro road rocket of the largest order, something no one else has, something not only state of the art and new but a whole new idea. We want to start up another project, give me a call if you are interested. If you still are not convinced then stay tuned and watch the 26 & the 23' machines come alive. BTW, I finished up the overhead cabinet covering today
Tomorrow we start in on the coloring, stay tuned.
Update Hey Ken, look what's in my mirror!
3.17.09 They tell me tomorrow at noon Yep, I will get to get behind the wheel of the 23' Duramax for a 1.5 mile ride back to the shop. You know I'll be driving! So it came, I drove over and picked up the walnut burlwood
vineer for the Duramax 26 overhead cabinets. A little working with the
materials and by sundown I had 2 overheads covered
I'm updating this tonight, I'll hit the shop in the morning before dawn and will be out there in the shop, I've got materials so it's time to work! Call if you need something please, we're here to help. We'll talk to ya later.
3.16.09 I missed a chance at a real "keeper" picture yesterday evening. After going in to the shop early to try and get something done, I came home and crashed on the sofa waking myself up once or twice snoring. After blowing part of my day in a coma state, Janie was determined to get me out of the house so we went down to a little place we know to have a drink and watch the shuttle take off. No, we cannot feel the ground shake in Orlando but it is a very cool visual thing watching all that power and our tax dollars light up the sky on a night launch like happened last night. Julies Waterfront has an east facing outside area and you can see the bright light come out from behind the trees on the other side of the lake and man, last night's launch was awesome! The little eatery was packed with locals doing the same thing we were, a cheap entertainment thing, watching the shuttle go up. It's another one of those Central Florida perks. So the time came and from Julies porch you could already see the landing pattern for Orlando Intl. airport and the plane lined up to land and than from behind them came a bright yellow and white cylinder of light and there was a collective "WOW" come from everyone there. You can see the smoke pushing away from the huge plume of flame. The "Con trail" is thick and you just know there is some serious combustion taking place. Remember this, the space shuttle and the idea of strapping to roman candles to the side of it and a huge fuel tank for the on board engines was designed at the same time as our GMC! Yes, certainly updated, just like we update our GMC, the space shuttle is still the best space craft for going up and coming down in the world. Still, there is no one who has surpassed its usefullness and I'm talking about the shuttle as well as the GMC! There are motorhomes out there that seem to do the same thing, the Russian rockets do take stuff to the International Space Station but they are spent when they come back and are probably ground up into Toyotas shortly after they return. The Shuttle is refitted and goes right back up as soon as it is ready, our GMC goes right back out there on the roads and kicks butt again right after a fresh motor, wheels, paint job and new steering wheel. Both machines were engineered for the ages and have not been duplicated. Here they are trying to retire the shuttle saying it's too old. Heck, it is old, a 30+ year old design, 30 year old technology and a grand idea to strap everything they could find together to punch a hole in the sky and get up there. The GMC took every idea of the day, put all that off shelf technology and some wild idea to power the front wheels not the back, build an aircraft fusilage onto wheels and punch a hole in the air and burn up the road. OK, I'm getting a little too hooked up about this but really, as I looked up and watched that critter get it, blowing smoke out the back and proving it was the baddest rocket on the pad once again I just could not get out of my head that our GMC really does the same thing. You have to respect the shuttle, it had problems and still does but it really flies, it is an awesome machine, the best and still doing it's thing. There it is-- the GMC is still the best and still doing it's thing! I choke up a bit every time I watch a rocket launch, it just took some damn may people andf so much flipped money to make that happen. It is a testament to our society when we can put together a spectacle such as pushing a chunk of humanity free of gravity. Up until recently they said it could not be done, the engineers involved said, "yes we can" and there it is. I have to put the GMC in that same bucket. Over 30 years ago, a machine was designed that they are still trying to duplicate and up until we lost out minds and put a GMC body on a front wheel drive, turbo diesel chassis it was the best-- and it is again! Technology marches on, the shuttle that took off last night had electronics updates, new technology on the foam covered fuel tank, better "O" ring seals on the SRB's, more seating, more payload capacity, better everything-- does all of this sound familiar? OK, I've burned up many words here but last night really, I missed a great photo op, seeing that shuttle blow through the sky, I wondered where I would be when the last one went up. I sure hope I don't see the last GMC pull to the side of the road and maybe thats why we do what we do here. There is a tight group of enthusiasts that keep the GMC on the road. We believe in this engineer designed shuttle, I mean motorhome and we want to keep it on the launch pad, I mean road. We don't care that it's older than anything out there in space, I mean on the road and we certainly do not think it's time to put it in a museum-- either machine that is! This weekend, as a bit of a bust, Ken's Duramax is still
getting it's rub out, Marylins coach is still waiting for it's colors and I ran
out of 1x1 aluminum "L" channel or I would have had these custom valences I made
these on Saturday
Ray it getting to the end of his tinking on the 20 ga.
copper sheet walls
I'll go over and once again rub the shoulders of the painters -- come on guys, lets get her done! I tell ya, with the economy slow down, when things are on the depressing side, it seems like works go slower. I guess it's human nature to probably do that but guys, it's not depressing around here! We have work going on, we have stuff happening and we really need to get this stuff done. Around us suppliers are laying off, cutting back-- heck our GM parts supplier has told me their dealership is dead in the water! Their parts prices are on the rise even moreso than they were before but I guess because of our niche market, we still have work. There are still people who understand that the GMC is the cheapest toy in the box and spending money to keep their machine up or getting one of these is still the best way to spend their dollar! Yes, our business has slowed like everyone else but you are watching us every day and you see the work we have, you see how interesting these machines are and how they are a good deal at whatever level you have yours. Buying parts and fixing up your GMC is still far cheaper than buying a new motorhome, even at their give away prices and remember, a piece of crap is no deal at any cost so they are trying top get folks to buy the RV machines at a lower cost, remember they are thill the same boxes! An outfitted GMC is still a better buy, hands down! I hope you watched the shuttle take off last night, I hope you thought of your GMC taking off with it. They are both time tested winners. Have a great day, go sit down in a lawn chair and take a good long look at your GMC, you are looking at history-- and it's all yours!
Update <<<<<< Important Message >>>>>>>>>>>>> IF YOUT ARE TRAVELING IN YOUR COACH AND HAVE A Q-JET CARB., CARRY A CARB FUEL FILTER OR 2! WIX #33052 Coaches coming out of Florida are not going far! Trust me on this one! Thanks Dave for this info, good to see this is not our only choice. Hey Nerl, maybe they haven't given in ALL away yet! Jim, If you need good tires in a 16.5" size, check out
Firestone Transforce H/T. The 16.5" tires are only $125 to $136 bucks.
I'm running the 16" version of that tire on the back of my coach, and they ride
very well. I think they only come in E rating, so weight is not a problem. In
the summer I run them on the front too, and traction is pretty good even in the
wet. (winter I run Revo's on the front) BTW guys, Raymond Cruz -- our Duramax owner is on Breaking
Bad as Tuco, the drug lord. Check him out on the AMC channel.
3.14.09 Another Saturday hey, we lived through another Friday the 13th! It really wasn't that bad and I had faith we'd make it. They say you can't rush someone who's trying to do a good
job so I guess I'll have to continue to be content that things are happening.
Ken's 23' Duramax "ain't soup yet"! Went by there yesterday to find that
yes, the clear is on and now Jeff and his son are pouring over the coach wet
sanding it to death!
On putting new tires on Richard's coach yesterday
My son Ray has learned much in working copper sheet, here
you see the pattern he has found to attack with
Today I am building valences and hanging the electric blinds-- fun, fun, fun! I love doing stuff like this-- adapt and overcome is the key. Have a great weekend, we're going to go after that ourselves.
3.13.09 Was pointed out to me this morning in my Emails that the daily pose page was 99 pages long. Sorry bout that guys, I keep forgetting to dump the older pages over to the archives. Funny though I did a dump yesterday so let me know if the page is short enough to download better. Was sent this Q about the LP rant a\I got into yesterday. It is a very good question, one I think I would like to field with you all:
Just read your dity on propane.
I for one would someday like to convert to a duel fuel system you described.
Gas prices are only going to go back to where they were last summer
and it would be nice to have an alternative.
As for the design of the system
my concern would be the placement of the LP tank. I don't want to give up
what little room I already have. Realizing the tank used for the duel fuel
system is different (don't recall the difference) from the current OEM
tank would it be possible to remove the OEM tank and install in its
place the dual fuel system tank but still be able to use that same tank for
the fridge and stove?
Yes, the idea of
preparing and have at least an alternative to me is worth doing and I think
that is the best reason I know to do it. I know it is $ but 3K
or so to be able to say "I'm looking at green" is a good think.
The other comment about the placement of the LP tank and it's options is also right on. There are advancements world wide on pressure vessels for holding gas. You need a "liquid" takeoff for running the motor which our original tanks do not have, our on board LP appliances use a vapor feed. We have a company in Canada that can custom build a tank with both liquid and vapor ports so that can be overcome. Placement and size of the tank is also an issue. I really think you need a larger capacity than the original tank has so with the tight space of a GMC, this is an issue. With a GM floorplan coach, making a dedicated bed in the back does give you area under that bed to run one or more tanks across the coach to the generator compartment. This is what Nigel in the UK did with Charlie Brown's 23' coach and it worked well. We installed a 47 gal. tank just behind the driver seat that created a counter back to the entry door. Yes, this is a bit odd but with the coach being a Transmode the plan is to build the interior around the tank and enclosure so you must consider tank placement but there are options. As far as the weight of the storage vessel goes, there are companies offering "pancake" aluminum tanks from New Zealand which really would go a long way to make it easier to hide. This is a challenge though for storing the gas on board and as I said is a good question to talk about. I would have to say anything worth doing will have it's obstacles and you must commit yourself -- adapt and overcome to succeed. Thanks for the comments Jon, I hope others were interested in your Q's and my comments. On another subject, I think it's interesting lately to read is I've seen article talking about how to "keep" you job. They tall people to "get to work early, stay late", "take on additional work" and basically being more valuable to your employer will help you keep your job. How bout that, we've now come full circle-- all of the writers have told people for years that you have a right to have a job, you should look for "loopholes" in jobs to help you make more money and do less. As the song I want my MTV said by Dire Straights "Money for nothing and chicks for free". I think the American work force and the world for that matter have all tried to ride on the backs of the business world trying to carve out their own plan to get as much as they could for the least they could get away with and I have to say I think thats what has put us in the problem we have today-- at least this was a contributing factor! "Let your money work for you, retire early and create a life where you can do anything you want"-- I think this motto and goal is counterproductive to our human race. You CAN'T just sit in a chair and do NOTHING! Atrophy will set in, you butt will grow sores and you will just turn into to some sort of veggie! You say, hey, I'm doing something, I'm watching taking a cruise every month and keeping my cars clean-- What I'm talking about is you should look at doing something to add to the gross national product. If everyone did noting to help the bottom line, there would be no bottom line. Heck, someone was to do something to move us along, the financial world has now proven that just letting your money the your work is not enough-- the bubble burst and something different needs to be our mantra. Nature has also proven that "if you don't use it you loose it". I have found that true in my life, I don't run anymore-- I should and if I did I bet my health would be better! I could also volunteer to help some worthwhile charity, no wait I have my own charity I am doing-- trying to keep my own ball rolling up hill so I am doing as I see it my part. I have always felt I wanted to be the best value for anyone I work for, that would by my strongest job security. Over the years, other workmates would funk out, come in late, leave early and get paid the same amout I got. People would laugh at me saying I had my head up someones (&& or maybe my own and they were the ones making more for the cubic minutes they spent on the job. Where are they today? Maybe everything worked out fine and they popped out on the finer side, maybe not but whatever happened I know what I have and I know I got it fair and square. I may loose in the end, I may win but whatever happens I know I did my best and this in itself give me satisfaction. So you guys worrying about your job, listen to what the new articles say, be the best damn value to your employer, work hard and be meaningful because that is what they look for in their workforce. Stop looking for ways to get off, make more and work less, come in late and leave early-- turn yourself into a profit center for whatever you do and the only think you will need to worry about is the entire business you do totally flushes. Doing this, you will be the one that turns off the light for the last time if that happens and at least you will know it was not you who caused the problem. I whole heartedly agree with this course! Thanks you article writers for giving now the best advice you can for the workforce today! Boy, was that a big soap box! Sorry if I stepped on toes, I just really feel strongly about this, it's been something that I feel has been wrong with America for a long time! Hey but what do I know, I'm just poor working stiff! Today is another clear one, we got a bit more done on
the Duramax, a couple more ending projects are started and a couple of ones
we were in have moved toward completion. The pollen count here has
done a number on my sinuses
We got Richards coach out of covered storage "exile"
Update, Finally got the you tube video up go to www.youtube.com/coopmotorworks and take a look. Going over first thing in the morning to hopefully collect the 23' Duramax-- wish us luck. 3.12.09 One more day! Went over to paint to check on
the 23' Duramax and they were hovering like ants on a jelly bean working.
The clear is coming out nice
Last night ended with the ability to take a great pic
Cleaning off the table late last night I found a
handiework of my son, I like the creativity!
Didn't get all I wanted done yesterday but hey, when is that not the case. You have to shoot for Mars if you want to get to the moon so every day is a challenge to get as much done as possible. Thats just the way I do it, creates the motivation for me. Speaking of motivation, I'm going to start looking at another idea that I feel is timely and extremely important. Right now it seems like the 2 big issues on everyones mind is the economy and energy. OK, there's not as much for us "little people" to do about the economy other than hold on and this energy thing seems to be more a matter of convenience for than anything else for us soft Americans. When the fuel price drops a bit we act like there is no problem and keep on sucking off that gas pump. Seems like we just don't care! We all know that sooner or later we will reach a point that our extravagant lifestyle will be forced to change but in the meantime we just keep doing what we want. Here, T. Boone Pickens is spending millions and more to try and change a fundamental concept of the American life by pushing to get us off the foreign gas thing-- how's that doing? I think writing congressmen will not effect things short term and it will take some catastrophic thing to get us to wake up. OK, so I'm wanting to do something more than making sure
my newspaper gets recycled but what can I do? What can a small business in
a down economy do other than just hunker down? Well here is something I
think I can do. For the past year or so, we have been investigating all
sorts of alternative fuels to be used as motor-fuel.
When someone starts talking about running a car on something other than gas, they pull out the ole calculator and want to see the payback and the economy specs. Hey wait---- did you buy that Suburban because you ran the numbers and found it more cost effective than the Toyota 4 banger? No, you did it cause you wanted it and installing a dual fuel system gives you the opportunity to suck off a pipe other than the gasoline one! This is why we need to do this, yes it does have economy and if you use the system it will pay you to do it. The motor creates less green house gases, hey and thats something everyone says they want. OK then, stop just sitting there and do something about the ecology! The motor will last longer, this is why local governments use it, they can see a savings. It's just too bad we are so lazy that we will not change our ways. Well, I want to do something about this and I've applied to the state for an LP installers certificate to legally install dual fuel systems. Hey, you can sit there all day and tell me it's great, it's not or you have no idea-- why don't we give it a try? The word is if we keep doing what we are we're doing bad things to ourselves, our country and our world so what the &^%$$-- lets try something, even if it's less than perfect, even if it may be a bit more work or money or whatever, why don't we try this? The technology is not new, heck you can power a vehicle on gasses made from burning wood for gosh sakes! 30 years ago there were cars and truck running around with this exact same parts to run them on LP. The cost of converting a vehicle is still about that of 30 years ago so why aren't we doing something-- I don't |