Every time I sit down to plun k a little here I get confused on all the stuff going on and what I should talk about. It’s tough things are going now much faster. We’ve been backed up over 12 months on coach intake since really I can remember…. hey, we’re only 6 months out now! Can you believe it in only 8 months we’ve caught up another 6!
So today and maybe for a bit, lemme focus on a couple or mayme even one project in the mornings … at least for a little. So much is happening… this was not supposed to be a daily novel!.. Heard the door slam on Willies barracke so it will be off to breakfast. Lemme do that and I’ll be back for some plunking….. get a shower and I’ll be back…
Breakfast now where it’s supposed to be we can move on.
This morning I want to go over some work we’re in the middle of on JD’s dash. Forgot to take a before pic but here’s one just as the can is opened… It really didn’t look bad and things sorta fit…
Ahhh but beware of the Jabawak…. this coach had been loved for years by a GMC club member and enthusiast to a fault. He had to have it all… all as he saw it and over the years went about putting it all in there. On top of what you’re getting ready to see, there was one of those Electromotive Tec II direct port.. sequential… coil pack racing first design fuel injection systems with it’s own plethora of wires and sensors…. Here is the dash after it was allowed to fall. The steering column was holding it in place… oh and the wire wad helped too! 
. Hey, lemme put the 2 side by side and compare…
Moral is guys please don’t do this….. I know how it happens, with all the right intentions we seek to install some doodad in our coach. First thing is where to ingratiate your experience and pick a spot to put that goodie. Then you rig it up to see if in fact it’s a cool as you think it could be. You may even drive around the block rigged up just to see it work!
You get home, insufferably pleased with yourself… hide the wires, leave the rig to deal with it later… a beer is at hand and success on yet another awesome thing your GMC can do….. you leave that rig writing it on a “round tuit” and put it in the jar. Time passes, we come and go but these motorhomes stay…. you sell it with everything working, the rig still in place. Then one day I open up the dash for the new owner and…. Bob’s your uncle!
So we’re here looking at Uncle Bob’s pile. What do you do? There are 2 issues here first…. the original dash and all of it’s support has rotted to dust and failed. The original dash will never fit back in place……. fact and no way around it in a cost effective manner. The best thing now is to call mac McNeal at www.custominstrumentpanels.com and pick one of 2 fiberglass dash panels and an all new look for your coach.
Sorry but this is where your coach is. Now ANYTHING can be done with cubic dollars and we did even try and produce another option… an original looking full dash panel 
. Made 2 and that was it. No, Mac’s dash options are where you need to go
The second issue in this project is the wire wad…. “ghosts in the machine”… we can’t have that. I need to know what’s in there and how it’s wired soDanavan jumps in there tracing each wire… one at a time Here’s a before and an after the basic new molex connectors are wired in. The green tape segregates the secured, completed harness to the original wire harness, the rest of it will all go out and if we use that circuit again it will be completely rewired to EIA color code.
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The original dash AC control panel vacuum and electrical wiring has been extended to relocate in into it’s new location 
and so the fun here continues.
What do you look for when buying a GMC to lessen your exposure to such wiring “modifications”? Look under the front hood for stuff like this 
A WW II style Bakelite terminal block with jumpers and various colors and sizes of wires. A couple of relays wired in and this guy must have had a extra roll of plastic sheethed light blue 12 ga. wire. Guys I’m sorry but if you don’t know what all that does what are you going to do when you break down on the road and one of those doodads let go? It’s all gotta go if you ever want your coach to be reliable… or you make the conscious decision to go out on that thin limb anf jump up and down! Yes, there is going to be labor hours involved but guys it’s the right thing! JD is a military helicopter mechanic trainer…. yeah for the military and he knows what we’re looking at here. That’s why it is here right now….. and we’re doing what we’re doing.
Hey so the day is on around here… I need to get some paperwork done or we won’t be here so excuse me in drawing today to a close. Exciting new things are happening… lets see what the day brings… see ya later…
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