Delivery Day & The first Road Test.

Last Thursday I took off from work at lunch time, headed home to collect the girls and we were off to Orlando!   Took the Turnpike from Jupiter and we made it to the Co-op in 2.5 hours.  Thank you left lane airlines as we were flying low 😈.   All  went well as we went over all the work that had been done on the coach.  Isn't the new engine pretty?

In addition to the new engine, the fuel tanks were dropped and all new ethanol resistant lines were installed (along with an electric fuel pump for the Fuel Injection).   We also got a new sewer tank as the old black water tank leaked.   Ewww, stinky stuff!  Here is what the old two tank system looked like:

So out with the old, in with the new, we now have a single tank system with a Macerator (think poo chopping garbage disposal)

The macerator is alot easier to use than a stinky slinky (traditional RV dump hose).  You just pull the hose out and put it in the hole and flip a switch and no more stinky mess.

Here are the guys trying it out with clean water

After that, a short test drive and some quick lessons on the FI Tech Fuel Injection system and we were off as it was a quick round trip to go collect the coach!

We went and filled up with gas and headed out.....right into rush hour traffic.   It took over 45 minutes just to clear the Orlando traffic.  It seems our back road short cut out of town is a two lane nightmare at commute times....  The good news is, the coach ran great in the bad traffic and didn't over heat.  We got going and the rain caught up to us which slowed us down.  We also saw an accident where a bucket truck flipped in the median.   We ran that last 100 miles home on the interstate and the coach ran well at 60-65 turning about 2500 RPM.  I filled it up tonight and with sitting in traffic we got 10 MPG on the first half of tank.....

Lot's more to come about prep work for our trip (I have 3 days left in the evenings!).

Tomorrow is the BIG day!

After 5 motnths (1 day shy) tomorrow we will go retrieve the Pineapple.  New Engine and new sewer tank in the bottom.   Hadn't talked much about the sewer tanks but the Coachman built Birchavens (what we have) and Royales (26' models) had a black and grey tank in them.  Back in the '70s you were allowed to dump grey water on the road while you drove.  Not anymore.  In any event, we have swapped over to a single tank system which is better as the grey and black water mix which helps dilute the poo stench.

Here is a thread from the CO-OP where the motor was going in:

http://www.gmccoop.com/gmc-motorhome-our-skunkworks-steps-out/

Now yesterday, alot of action happened and the beast is alive:

http://www.gmccoop.com/gmc-motorhome-olds-350-lives-savoy-brown-delivery/


I'm sure there will be more tomorrow, and we will update with our own pics of the pick up and ride home.

Going to be an exciting couple of weeks as we are leaving in about a week to chase the Total Eclipse!  Stay tuned!

Engine Rebuild Update

Quick update on the new engine....It got installed in the coach today.

Click here for photos and details:

Engine Insertion

We can rebuild it, we have the technology......(hum theme to six million dollar man).

Well when we last left off, I had just dropped the Pineapple off in Orlando to get some work done.  Well......it's still there.  Turns out the driveability issues were that the engine was in it's death throes :(  Less than 100 PSI compression on 3 cylinders and the others well below the prescribed 150 PSI.  Basically the engine runs but makes no power to move it along.   I had hoped to get 10K miles out of the old tired girl, but only got 3K.....    Unfortunately since they quit making Oldsmobile 455s in the 1976, it's getting pretty tough to find one and to rebuild one is now about $7500 to get it done the right way.   Well folks, that is WAY over this working boys budget so a scheme was hatched.......

The 455 was replaced with a 403 for the last 2 years of production (well early 77 models got left over 455s until they ran out).  The 403 is a stout motor with really big pistons, but the same stroke length as a 350.  Hmmm, what if we built up a 350?   Short version of the story is that is what we did and for about 2/3 the cost of the 455 rebuild.    Was hoping to get it on a dyno, but that isn't going to happen right now as we are pressed for time to get it back together before the big road trip in August.

There she is on the run in stand.  Hopefully fired up tomorrow.  Once dialed in that quadrajet carb is coming off and a FI Tech fuel injection system will be taking up residence.  

More details to follow.    Oh and my wagon didn't make it to wagon fest.  We got OH SO CLOSE but it didn't happen.   It's home now, but has some issues that are keeping it from daily use status.  It likes to pop out of first gear which is really annoying.  That and few other issues like no reverse lights etc.
I lays rubber like a raped ape though..

Off to see the wizard!

Well didn't really go to OZ, but it was a surreal weekend.    Worked all day Friday, then after work went to an Art Gallery opening here in Delray with Lucy.  Really nice place, used to be a day spa so it had all these little rooms.  Well each room is rented by a different artist so it's are really neat concept.

Anyway, 90 minutes of high society and we rolled back to the house and I jumped in the GMC and started heading north.  My goal was Orlando and the GMC Co-op. I need to have the fuel tanks dropped and new ethanol resistant lines installed, as well as, when I fill her up she leaks.  Hoping it's just a loose hose as the leak is only there when filled all the way up and goes away after a gallon or so is burned.

The coach has been running rich and feels pretty boggy with the throttle response.  I messed around with the timing a bit which helped but something else it up.  It has been like this for the last 500 miles or so.   I got rolling into a 20-25 MPH headwind that was blowing me around.  I got her up to highway speed (65-70), and cruised along listening to the exhaust and hum of the motor.  

My initial goal for the evening was a rest area just past halfway into the trip.  Sure I could have rolled all the way up there, but being lazy, didn't want have to clean out the sewer tank in the morning before I left so the rest area was very attractive.  I figured if I got up and out by 6AM, Saturday, I could meet Jim at the shop for breakfast, grab a rental and be back in town by noon.  As I'm trying to finish up a transmission and rear end swap on my wagon before a car show in 2 weeks!

That's a pic of the new rear end waiting to go into my wagon with the old one in the foreground and my springs over there by the wall.

As I'm active on FB, I sent a message to a guy I had online chatted with a few times (a fellow GMC owner) and mentioned I'd be in his neck of the woods later and possibly want to meet at DQ for an ice cream and chat about coaches.  Well within a few minutes I had an invite to park in front of his house for the night. The GMC community is very tight knit with alot of great folks so I said sure, it'd be better than the rest area off the interstate.

Back to the travel story, I'm heading to the evenings destination and get off I95 in Vero Beach. While on the way up the throttle felt weak but I attributed it to the headwind.  Boy was I wrong!  As soon as I was on surface streets, throttle response was horrible.  It felt like I barely made the gas station.   As I've been getting about 5 MPG, I needed fuel to make the rest of the trip.  I threw in 15 gallons which was plenty and kept on as only 8 miles to go.. Well it would barely get out of the way but I limped it to the house.   It seemed to be better the faster I went but it was 40 mph speed limit....

Got to the house and couldn't back it up the driveway (inclined).  I just shut it off and told Bill it couldn't do it.  He offered for me to sleep inside as the coach was on an angle.... I grabbed my bottle of rum and followed him in.  Great couple they were and come to find out although we never met before are old friends that travel in another small tight knit tribe (surfers).

5:45 alarm came waaaaay too early, but I have a schedule to keep and a sketchy coach outside.   We had discussed at length the night before over rum what could be the matter, and had come up with it might be the fuel filter.  Bill had one and so first thing, tried to replace it.......but the hard fuel line hit the thermostat housing before it was backed out all the way.....As I didn't have a gasket for said housing at on me at 6AM, I tightened it back up and moved on to looking at the plugs.....Well my nice new tool kit has a spark plug socket in it......for the skinny ones.. Yep the 455 uses the larger plugs and neither myself or Bill had a socket to fit it.  What to do....

Fire it up and go down the street.  Magically it seems okay while the motor is cold...

Bill and his Coach.

Ok now what?  Go for it, what is the other option.  Bill gives me some coffee and off I go.  Before I even get back to the interstate (10 min), it's doing it again...Damn the torpedos, I know it'll run okay at speed.  I have to manually upshift to rev it out longer and get the power to speed up, but soon I'm humming down the highway ok again.   Now what?  Take the interstate the whole way and pay a toll which is stupid money for 6 wheels or stick with plan A and take a US federal highway and some local roads (more people around if there is an issue).

I stick with plan A and soon, like Punxsutawney Phil I'm looking at my shadow as I head west...

Right before I get to the turn off to Narcoossee she starts losing power and backfiring while I still have my foot in it.  Uh-oh.  I round the corner and start heading north and now I have more throttle response and it seems a little smoother....Weird.  The next 20 miles is fairly uneventful and I roll into the Co-op.  Jim comes running out and yells that I'm on 7 cylinders.  I tell him well  that's better than probably the 6 I was on for most of the trip....

He has me pull it around the back and says he'll have someone on fairly quick  and we discuss  the other work I need and we are off to the airport to pick up my ride home.

I'm back home in around 3 hours and off to work on my other car as planned.  (see pic above)

My wagon flying above my buddy's wagon at the shop.

Only 2 weeks before Wagonfest in Daytona!  Worked until 11PM from a 5:45 wake up and driving 300 miles.  I was bushed..... Slept until 10 this morning.   Still lots to do on my car though......

Camping

Hi there. Papa wanted me to write my own opinon on the Pineaaple,{What i call the Motorhome} so here we go.



So we left home around 1430, (We being my mother and I) and went kayaking. When we came back to the dock, the sun was setting, which means the Mosquitoes and the No-See-Ums or Sandflies were coming out.

Next day

Mama had to teach, so she had to leave EARLY and so it was just papa and I and so while Papa was finishing buffing the coach, I was reading. After he finished, we went kayaking to the swimming area (which was closed) and the concession stand. While we were paddling back, we saw an osprey nest and stopped at a little tiny beach that Mama and I stopped at yesterday. When we got back, I made some lunch and Papa went and took a shower. When I had just finished making our sandwiches, Mama walked in. So I quickly made her one, and we ate. We decided to take a bike ride over to the Kimbell Center, and Mama found out about this Photography adventure,and the prize was a small metal coin that had a scrub-jay on one side, and an eagle on the other. To get the coin you had to use a phone and figure out where the latitude and longitude put you. you had to get 3 out of 6 and the first one was in the building and the other was out front.

 There was a little button you could press to listen to the Scrub-jay's call

Scrub-jays eat a variety of things from acorns, as shown above,to the eggs of other birds.

So the 3rd picture is an osprey nest on kitching creek trail. We also got to see one of the parents guarding the nest, and one of the chicks popped its head up out of the nest before i got the camera out.

This is the pic with the nest AND the osprey lookout. It is in the middle of the picture on the bottom branch.

It looks like the other parent is in the nest with the chicks.

Next day

We went back to the Kimbell Center to claim our coins and i asked the ranger if he could bring Red, a Corn Snake, and so im just going to put all of the pictures that I took here.

This was right before he climbed onto my camera.

Well, thats it for my camping trip! Thanks for reading.