Thanks for the input on this subject and I agree if your motorhome is more of an object for your frustration and you relish having that cute little thing still pumping by all means mess with the original Onan Power Drawer…….it’s possible to take it out in tact, put it on your work bench and have at it.

The problem is as I pointed out is the cost of competent labor today.  Literally, the generator I described yesterday COULD be repaired….but putting maybe 50% the cost of a new generator to simply make it work again fixing what’s wrong with it today….what about tomorrow, the next day or that day that it’s hot as blazes and the Troll says no………what do you say or do now!

No money to replace the generator, take out that 800 pound boat anchor…the left rear corner of your motorhome will thank you.  Clean up the compartment and get ready for what comes next.

So I’m not telling you to dump that pig……..but some might take it that way and I feel they will be better off if you want a reliable motorhome……… as said, “opinions vary”.

Moving on…..agreeing there are 2 camps on generators and that’s the American way…….. our next delivery is coming together.  The new dash AC/heat system is not connected….you can see the new condenser and hoses Also you can see the new LED headlights, battery switching etc.  The dash in project #3 is in…textured side panels, recovered dash and MacDaddy mod.  New carpet with a sealed and insulated floor    The glove box door gets it’sd mod today.  The fresh bedroom also has the new epoxy texture process on the overhead cabinets and rear panel    In the light, you can see the detasil around the textured original rear speaker grills    The original rear 4×10″ speakers present another unique problem.  The speaker must be a thin mount design to fit in the shallow column.  Guess what, like other parts in our classic coach, thin mount 4×10 speakers are no longer available.  Yep…they got us!  You can get a 4×10 sporting some huger, oversized magnet with tweeters sticking out proud on the surface…..but try and find 1 that will fit in this application?  That’s a tough call………

As in parts that have low sales, the auto industry will “group” several parts together to try and get enough sales to justify keeping the part available.  They have done this on many parts and in this case, speaker sixes like 3.5″..like our front speakers, 4×6″…used in some older cars…..and our beloved 4×10″ thin mounts are getting really gone over the past 2-3 years.  One speaker company did inderstand there was still a need for these funky sized speakers and offer a 4×6″ speaker with “adapter wings” making the speaker bolt into a 4×10″ speaker location    Yes, a smaller cone surface but still a descent foam surround, a plastic cone so the bugs won’t have lunch and a “wizzer cone” to help give you a bit more hi freq. range than a standard single cone speaker could do.  All-in-all this is a pretty descent sounding full range speaker and with the retextured original grill with stainless steel screws makes for a nice finished look as you saw above.

Next, I’ve got Marco’s air ride suspension system rewired.

You can see below the chrome case of the Viair compressor.  Let me explain what I mean by “rewire” on this 1973 first design power level air ride system.  if you have 2 rotating knobs on the middle of your dash….you have one of these systems too.

First of all, the best thing for a compressor doing this job is enough current to do the job.  Our original Power level wiring routed the possible 30amp compressor requirements through the ignition key switch, down sometimes 12 gauge wire through pressure switch points.  Brother, that’s not what I would call good current to the compressor.  We send power to the new lower current requirement Viair compressor through a Bosch 30 amp relay through 8 ga. wire directly through a 30amp fuse to the constant power terminal coming off the battery.  More current available…cooler running compressor……. longer life on the new 110psi of 145psi off regulator.  Bumping the pressure from the original 120psi Max. regulator to 145psi….we have more pressure on hand and faster action of the system.

This coach had some older modifications of having a second original compressor added.  maybe back in the day that was the option but wired with 12 ga. wire as well now possible pulling 60amps at full power this modified system is not stable.  The new compressor is a 100% duty cycle motor meaning it will dissipate heat it creates even running constantly……a mark of a quality compressor………

So “rewiring” here offers lower current requirements, increased current service to the compressor……cooler running.  A new fixed regulator bumping pressure 25psi, a fused circuit “home run” directly to the battery means less failure points and easier on the rest of the original harness.  Done……..  We may need to go farther as we get his coach on the ground and cycle the system.    Another system undated…this is how you build in reliability.  Davis S., I did the same thing to your 1973 coach    You can see the compressor shining to the right of the AC condenser……..

So guys, small details like the speakers….BTW, we have also a thin mount 3.5″ wizzer cone speaker for the front speakers as well…you have those David…and Tom H……and on Ruby.  That along with increasing reliability to the early air ride systems all take time.

A have had told to me that the story on our work is it takes too long.  I wear that as a badge of honor……..I’m not as interested in spending money to rurry a project rather I spend that money to do a good job.  I could have left those hideous original 4×10″ speakers in the bedroom and they may have worked….for a while.  But speakers do wear out…what’s the use in having the awesome double DIN fancy DVD…Blue Tooth, hi tech radio with original crap speakers?  Yes, it took time to have a viable option and to execute…..the 4×10″ speaker issue came up this year…… OR….I coulddo the right thing that took time.

I could have made the original Power level electrical system work as it did before….Might burn out the original ignition switch points next….melt wires and just leaving well enough alone……….brother that’s just no way to work on a 40 year old beast like a vintage RV.  Use that approach and you will have one failure after another!  It’s how you look at the work that makes the difference and makes it impossible to know exactly when you will be finished.

We purposely have no delivery dates on our projects……so you say Whaaaaaaaaa?  All the fun, good times and new things we do get all confused when it comes time to finish. Don’tt equate quality with getting the job done “on time” and I have to say “on budget” too.  How can you exactly estimate what it will cost to renovate a 40 year old house….car….one a house/car for that matter?  And throw 8 or 9 of those old house/cars into one shop……..what could possible be the outcome?  So yes, we are slow…when compared to jiffy lube or maybe Bubba next door…”Hell, I ain’t got nuthin happenin…lemme look at that thing………..good luck there!

So don’t let the stress of getting a project finished get confused with the quality of the work.  So to those that sit around the fire and say this…..you damn straight that’s us…and I don’t care.  It’s just not worth hurrying a job, this is a fact.

Oops, let some of that red neck out……I’ll keep working on that and other reactions to trolls and other such misguided opinions.  If the mark of a quality fishing vessel are the bird following it into port………we have birds sitting on our mast!  As long as they don’t crap on us I’ll be fine with them………they know where the food is!

Ok, enough cryptology……….. have a great day, go hug your coach and think just how lucky we are………

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