GMC Motorhome: A test drive

I mean why do we do this to ourselves?  Taking a 40 year old ….motorhome and try to make it into something.  No really, it seems self inflicted pain believing something like this could be true……a 40 year old big ole thing…… an old technology still alive and doing a great job!  It doesn’t happen overnight, you have to work at it.  You cannot buy this kind of performance you have to make it yourself….or have others do what you want for you.  But if you persevere…… through long weeks of discovery, repairs and upgrades you finally reach a panicle of your efforts.  One (there aren’t many) perk of this work is getting to be the one who does the final test drive……. the shipyard will build the ship but it’s the crew that does the real shakedown.  Right now I’m playing the crew……… before the crew maybe to prove to the shipyard the vessel is sea worthy.  At the same time checking things out I get to experience all the cool new stuff…..if the interest of course of….well I can’t say anything other that the fun of seat time..

My hope is to find a new web master that can spend the time to take all of my ramblings and weave them into the fabric of the site……so this one will go into “Road Tests” when I get one.

If it becomes boring…it might just go on to another site, I do know one family that will print this:

ROAD TEST

1973 23′ GMC motorhome (resto-mod)

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If you think there cannot be a true performance road test on a motorhome think again.  I have the distinct pleasure of doing a road test on a GMC I would have to call a perfect machine.  There are no “bests”, that’s all in your minds eye but there can be perfection in many ways.  Today I call this road test on this motorhome “perfect” because and let me list what I like:

A 23′ motorhome, as far as performance is it, a shorted, lighter body with a tighter turning radius, better power to weight ration and being an early model (lightest body) and when I say early this puppy was fitting and got out of the bard with the first design (never went into production) Bargman entry door latch…look closely and you will see itSo right off looking at the dash you’re not in granpappy’s bus  An under dash snow blower, an original dash cluster bezel with the last one…our carbon fiber dash overlay.  3 gauges added, a wide sweep vacuum and transmission temp gauge in the dash with a small tach on the steering column…… great looking but another cool thing is the heads-up screen to the lest.  This is the FiTech fuel injection readonut screen  from where you can select from something like 30 different readouts from the fuel injection computer….for this road test I selected  tach (digital ), air fuel ration (you could NEVER have this before), vacuum (I like seeing numbers) and voltage (to watch that ole alternator).  Go to the FiTech site and see all of the options. 

I’m heading to my morning motorcycle ride spot next to a St. Johns river management canal.  Not a long run but one I know well and can get a feel for the machine.  Sunday morning is the time to do this, an open road, everyone sleeping off that hangover or whatever I don’t care, they’re just not on the road and I am!  This huge building popped up on my morning ride road…I was already having to deal with the backside of Orlando Intl. Airport….. Oh it’s a 2 lane quite road…right now  So I’m dialed in….@ 2400 rpm on the tach….13.9 air fuel ration…16″ of vacuum…that’s what you have at idle in geat!  And we’re sliding along at 45mph.  The machine is not working…..but ready to.  I pulled up to a traffic light before the road narrows…in the right lane a puffed up black Mustang.  He has to get over, wonder if he things I’m a road obstruction Catch my dust there pony, backing down after a light acceleration not fatter than 10″ of vacuum, I’m at 55, 13.2 afr, 2800rpm and 55mph…….we took the lane!…..

Dangit, they’re building something else on my ride…at least the trees over the road were left In all the time I’ve been going here I’ve never seen anyone else here..at least at the time I am and now I can share the spot with the coach  A morning sun, a big sky and a place to see full grown trees on their ownI usually pick up a Coke and a bag of salted peanuts (the universal red neck delicacy)  and sit here contemplating where are we going and why are we in this handbasket, today it’s all business…well, not really…take a look at the interior of this “resto-mod” and you can see what I mean.  Can you say light wood?  Can you say a wood burning stove or how about just perfect for 2 people I mean seriously, a real wood burning stove in this cabin!  Looks like it burns pinecones…brilliant!  Just plain a place that makes you relax. 

Oh, let me introduce you to the business end of this freight train.   A fresh Co-op/Koba roller cam 455 Olds power plant, new distributer, fresh transmission and a FiTech real time,  learning fuel injection system.  Our engine color is gun metal…no nonsense….don’t need to stinkin chrome grey.  This is a low rpm, low compression, roller cam, line bored and balanced, learning fuel injected motor ready to take on bout anything you can throw at it.  A can tell you I was not the big guy on the road everyone needs to pass 

I can’t believe it didn’t impress those 3 cars…it did me when the light changed and I stayed up with them to the speed limit….cool!  I HAVE THE POWA! 

Pulling in to my local bodega “Ray’s Deli and more” to get a frothy beverage to write up this road test  The sun was just right to make the coach just glitter Hey but this set of wheels so much more than a pretty face……. this is a bad boy, I am honored to be a major part of bring this baby blue example of a classic motorhome back to the road in a big way.  Dang guys, I want one…I always want the last one I drove…Janie, my wife and partner is right to limit me to 2 motorhome tags….I love them all! 

And this coach drove so straight at proper ride height I felt confident enough to snap this pic next to a long row of Jersey barriers…. either I’m stupid of confident!  So THIS is what owning one of these beasts is all about…..You can’t go out and buy this kind of performance…you have to make it yourself…….. no one will ever sell a coach in this nice a condition so just don’t look…….  I have had many people come to us asking how to get a really nice coach and one of the hard things for many to understand is just this…you cannot find something like this for sale……why would eneyone ever offer THIS for sale.  Understand that and don’t just keep griping that you can’t find anything really nice…it’s simple…you won’t!

Our job here at the Co-op is to take what you bring us and  build something like this.  The owner did the interior…it’s awesome and he had the paint done…a nice job but the drive train was ours and it IS a train heading down the mountain……..just like we know it should

Thanks to all our supporters and customers…… get yours like this and I know you will be happy.

See ya later………  Nothing be hind me and nothing out front means the road is mine….get out there and find your road…………………………………………………..

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