rsbilledwards

Having been in the auto body and paint repair business for nearly forty years, now retired and having purchased a very nice 2001 Zanzibar, I found the information related to refinishing these coaches to be some what lacking and that may be an understatement. I was not able to find formulas or the color codes easily. I am sure many shops and second owners of older coaches have had this problem, particularly the Do It yourselfers. Yes the colors can be computer generated from samples but this takes time and occasionally costs money. The colors can be hand matched and this take considerable skill and time and will cost plenty. For those not in the know and with out the service packs originally supplied with each coach built by the original SAFARI coach folks information is very limited. The original OEM paint finish was Diamont, a polyester base coat/ clear coat product, a sub-sector finish by BASF. The German based BASF has been the leading producer of automotive topcoats world wide since the first Porsches were constructed in the 1950s. These finishes were custom formulated for SAFARI by Industrial Finishes, Inc , who by the way is still in business in Oregon. By having the last 6 numbers of the vin (vehicle Identification number) one can call Allied Recreation Groups information line (800 450 6336) and request the color codes for that particular vehicle. That page in their archived material will include the paint scheme as well. The base color of the coaches was white and the other colors placed upon that. Having the color codes will enable Industrial Finishes Inc to look up the appropriate formulas in quantities of a pint, quart and gallon. In theory one could take the stock color code to their local BASF Glasurti/Diamont dealer and order the required material. I called the local supplier and yes these formulas are available in the Diamont line . According to Industrial Finishes, Inc these formulas were not formulated into the other American or European paint lines. In a parting note to the Do It Yourself crowd. In order to achieve a finish that will last five years, a minimum of 2 mills of clear coat must be applied, a bit more if sanded and polished. An additional coat or two will greatly enhance the longevity, more than 2 extra will diminish the life of the clear coat. B

The simplest means of attaching: 3m molding tape 3/8 inch wide or similar. It is the one available at Home Depot with the orange tape. The actual sticky tape is white. Run this around the perimeter of the plate, pull the orange adhesive protector off and place it where you want. It will not come off until you work at it. B

Thank you Rich, it has been ordered as a result of your help. B

http://www.hannay.com/index.asp builds numerous electric reels for chords and hoses. B

Have a problem discovered while preforming a house battery change. There is a smaller flat wire tied into the positive post with the primary wire. It has 5 very light gage wires in it yellow black red green and white. I assume it goes back to the Heart 458. The yellow and white appear cut back and are on the outside. Black, red and green are long. red and green have wire showing. Problem is the connector just fell off when the wing nut was removed. Batteries were in a declining discharge condition indicating no incoming charge. Obviously this need a fix which t wires get tied into the terminal? B

This door as all of the doors on the coach you have and the Zanzibar I have can be made by a competent sheet metal shop and the paint work by your friendly body shop. Latches can be found in the vendors section of the FMCA magazine. You will have to hunt up the hinges. Bill

I am with JT, he and I want a reel that has a button not a handle. He also stated he had a hundred feet of 30 amp chord, heavy and the mechanical reels suggested have a big foot print and a capacity of "50" feet and a handle, no button. Our fearless, strong back, big guy Herman, just coils it close by the coach and "picks it up" and puts it in the coach storage unit. It is gonna take a pretty good size reel to take this load and a button. We are in this for the fun not the added work setting up and tearing down. I know the tree spraying and fertilizing industry has spray rigs that have electric reels for recoiling the hoses used. I will report back later on this. Thanks for taking the good natured ribbing with a smile Herman Hope to meet you in Redmond this summer. B

Camping World in Golden Colorado applied the latest update to my Norcold and as I later learned at the Safari Rally in Rapid City North Dakota when the refridge quit, they failed to remove the previous up date. The mobile repair fella that we called in Rapid City came out and took a look. Five minutes later the modification was gone, a magnet waved across the control unit, a click and all was running again. Now there is a heavy/strong magnet in the tool crib for the future reset. There is one problem with this fridge, it does not continue running while driving down the highway at highway speeds. It runs fine at speeds below 50. Any thoughts. Bill Edwards Denver

Hi there, We are new to this RV business and bought a beautiful 26,000 mile 2 owner 40' cat powered Safari Zanzibar. On our first outing, going up to Wyoming we went over a pretty good swail in the highway and had a pretty exciting ride as the coach "porpised" down the highway at 65 miles an hour. It finally settled down smooth as it could be with us wide eyed wondering what just happened. This coach has a torsion bar front suspension. What can be done to mitigate this the next time it meets an unexpected hump or a dip in the road. Could the shocks be weak or shot, does not feel like it and of course more difficult to check than our cars, can't bounce the corner. Thanks for the input Bill