Oops, breakfast calls……. today starts what I think you will enjoy… we’ve all talked about in any restoration, “mechanicals” comes first. Renewing all of your mechanicals… stem to stern. Let me show you all of those things and how we will take a really nice coach and bring it totally back to the road… just like a full restoration but the only thing that’s needed in this case are mechanical related. It’s a beautiful older restoration that’s been perfectly kept… but… she’s sporting an original motor …. trans…. suspension…. fuel tanks…. holding tank…. …. & …. This puppy is getting it all. I’ll be back after breakfast… you go get some too… talk to ya in an hour….
You know it’s true, those nooks-n-crannys in an English muffin smathered with grape jelly, now that gets your day started!
So here’s what this is all about and may be something you want to consider. The previous owner of a newly purchased GMC probably loved that coach. These machines become part of your family and hey, it’s hard to put your pet to sleep. Even harder when it sits out the front door waiting for you to play…. the guy who you bought your coach from showered his pet with money and had a great time playing with him but as all things… something changes and without a mission.. a reason to live we all go into decline. So your freshly picked up object of your frustration may be awesome looking…. garage kept and an interior you can hardly believe is still so pretty…. but… and here it comes…. the mechanicals have been maintained well but many parts are still working long past it’s half life. This means you can’t get upset if anything mechanically happens because you are relying on maybe 35 year old parts and most certainly old repairs which in themselves are past their reliability. If you buy a nice looking “survivor” coach you are also buying the maintenance cycle the coach is in. Old parts ready to look for a place to fail! Really, do YOU want to be responsible for all those possible problems?
An easy answer should be NO. It’s too easy though to say “Hey, it’s working fine, if it’s not broke… don’t fix it” and I will agree but if there is old stuff in there naturally you cannot expect that to be true forever. When will something go wrong? If it’s at the worst possible time… which seems to happen to me…. well…. there you are and there it is! It’s your fault you hear “dueling banjos” in the background as you deal with no brakes….. in Jackson Mississippi on a Saturday night……..!
No, the right thing to do to a 30 something year old man made object is to completely go through it! Yes…. it works but …. how long will it? Some folks just bring the good part with them and the tools and must enjoy trying to figure out how to fix things on the side of the road…. kids screaming and the wife is saying “What haoppened?? Didn’t you check that”. See… now it’s all your fault! Every screw that falls off ends up a nail in your coffin for buying that pile of crap!!!! Stop torturing yourself, have full mechanicals done to the coach NOW… before you break down … so at least the problems you DO run into should be less. You need a mechanical baseline if you need to rely on the machine.
To much build up but guys… welcome to my world! Folks want me to look over their coqach mechanically and come out surprised there is so much to do! So much that is if you want to rely on it. You may be able to drive it home…. the coach we’re working with here drove in from up north and had a fine trip! It is a very nice, well kept and loved part of someones family for a long time… now it’s pulling a new duty from it’s new owner and the mechanicals need to be as nice as the rest of the coach. THIS is what I want all of you new owners to see and understand.
A good looker, still has his original motor with over 150K on the odometer. Runs like a top… so leave it along… sorry can’t if you want me to say “I feel good you can go somewhere”. You just can’t … we pulled the transmission pan… thing rang great , hit all gears well. Look at the sludge and metal in the pan 
The baby was looking for a place to squat! The underside of the motor is all wet… she’s leaking from all ends 
Like I said, it’s been maintained well.. NAPA oil filter, replaced steering shock I mean there has been attention under here but it’s time! The holding tank is the original, you can tell by the white Thetfort gate valve. And it’s not leaking!!! Call the Smithsonian!!!!! 
Yep, it’s got a maserator but the 
plumbing is cumbersome… we’ll fix that when we put in his new tank.
In short we will be doing everything… as in it all. This coach needs to be reliable and it will be. Follow this project… you will be walking this path if you want to go somewhere and feel good about getting back!
Gotta go… see ya tomorrow and Ruby will be in the spotlight….
