richard5933

And a few more photos showing the back half of things...

We are nearing the end of the first stage of the updates/improvements we're making to our coach, so I thought it was time to post a few photos for others to see. We got this coach at the end of last fall, and it was a pleasant upgrade from our earlier 1964 coach. This coach was purchased in 1974 by the owner of Super Service Bus Company. He ordered it from GM without seats or restroom, and then had it sent directly from GM to Custom Coach in Ohio to be converted in his family's motor home. It saw only light use in the early years, and I believe spent most of its life in one of his company's garages. It came to us largely as you see it in the photos. Paint is original factory paint (in the Super Service livery colors) and the front upholstery is still original. I've reconfigured the rear parlor to have twin beds and a couch.

Agree that it's hard to say for certain without knowing what the mechanism looks like, but perhaps there is a place in the works where pieces of the framework pass by each other and it would be possible to drill a hole and insert a metal pin when you want to hold it still.

Oh...and I thought I was doing well when I got the new over-the-air antenna mounted... Thanks for helping me crawl into the current century.

Okay - as someone driving a vintage rig I was able to follow this thread until talk of a 'wally'. Anyone care to share?

Obviously there are exceptions to every rule. I do wonder if you presented that lower quote to the agent if they would have been able to match it. Odds are they'd rather have a tiny profit and a long-term customer than no customer at all. One difference for us is that our agent handle our homeowner's policy, our auto policies, our RV policy, and our two business policies. My guess is that having one agency for all the different insurance policies makes them more willing to push to get us better rates. No data to back that up, but it's been my impression the couple of times I've done comparisons.

We also have Progressive with a declared value of $60,000 and our premium is about $1200/yr. Given the fact that you're insuring a house with all the liability issues of a motor vehicle, and that you're insuring a motor vehicle with the value of a house, it doesn't sound out of bounds to me. If you have a relationship with an independent insurance agent have them shop around for a better rate. If you don't have a relationship with an independent agent, that would be the first thing I'd recommend. There are lots of company-specific places to get quotes, but if you work with an independent agent they have the ability to compare different company's offerings and make recommendations based on your needs and not on the sales goals of a specific carrier. We've been with the same agent for a over a decade and would never consider having a policy written directly from an insurance company again. When we had our accident last year, it was quite a blessing to have an agent on our side to help run interference with the carrier and work out a few problems. I'd be interested to find out if you're able to find less expensive coverage with the same benefits as you have with Progressive.

You might want to start by checking to see if your solar charge controller is connected and turned on. The panels usually connect to the charge controller, and this sends the charge to the batteries. There can be any number of circuit breakers or switches between, depending on your particular setup. Do you have the manual for the setup installed in your rig?

Electric or LP?

If you plan to leave the coach parked and not plugged in, it might be worth it to have manual on/off switches installed immediately next to the batteries (before any loads are connected) so that you can fully and totally shut things off. This will make it much easier to avoid problems. Or course, then you'll need to reset things like radio memory unless your radio is a newer one that retains settings without power. Not sure what else will need to be reset on a newer rig, so best to check your manual on that.

If the disconnect switch is 'on' then your battery is connected and power is being used. Power may be drawn from the engine battery as well if you have a 'battery bridge' (something designed to join the house/engine batteries for charging and/or starting with a weak battery). Do you have a manual for your coach? Perhaps there is information in the manual which would help figure this out?

I don't think it would be quicker or easier to replace the tank. So far, I've invested about 2 hours total to the tank repairs, and it looks like things will hold for now. I used the welding kit to close up the opened seam, and then added a wood brace to help take the side-ward pressure off the seam as we roll down the road. I wouldn't trust things to last for years, but they should be fine till the end of this season. Total investment in the plastic welding kit was about $75. To order tanks that will mate to the existing plumbing will take some careful measuring, and then I'll have to supply the company with detailed drawings. It's been more than a few days since my high school drafting class so that might take a few minutes longer than I'd like. Then I'll have to disconnect all the connections, reconnect, etc. etc. etc. I figure I'll spend about 3 hours prepping to place the order, and then another 3-4 hours installing them when they arrive. More if any of the black tank connections don't cooperate once they are opened. In the end I will get the tanks replaced, but given the cash flow getting all the other updates done this spring to the electronics bay I really need to let the budget rest for a while if I don't want to be traveling alone in the coach. It will be upwards of $1900 total for the tanks and expected plumbing parts.

Thanks for the note. I generally start all my searches for parts on the marine supply websites, not the RV sites. Custom Coach seemed to pull most of the house system parts from the marine world when they built out the coach, and I've found it best to start there looking for parts. You are correct, there are a number of AC/DC models out there. Our current unit is a Norcold DE 707, and I'm not really sure of the exact interior capacity but would guess that it's somewhere in the 5.5 to 6.0 cu ft range. It would have been easy to replace it with a smaller unit, but we really didn't want to lose capacity and down-size. The height is the biggest limiting factor, and there were only a couple of options out there. Unfortunately the basement a/c has its inside unit mounted above the fridge so we can't really grow upwards. It was clever what they did here - when it's hot enough to run the a/c it's also hot enough to cause problems for the fridge. The intake for the a/c shares the cavity with the fridge, and when the a/c is running it not only pulls air from the intake vent, it also pulls air up and around the fridge. This way there is a constant flow of air around the fridge whenever the a/c is on. I'm going to be adding another small 12v fan when I install the new fridge to be sure there is airflow even when the a/c is not running, like when we're boondocking. The Vitrifrigo DP150 was the closest to what we currently have in size, and will only require a slight modification. The height should fit in fine, and the width will require a small filler on each side. I was told by the sales guy at the marine supply who ordered this from us that this is a particularly oddball size which hasn't been used in years. Apparently this is the only unit out there that will basically slide it without having to do major mods to the cabinetry.

One other note about built-in GPS vs. stand-alone Garmin... In my car I paid about $1500 for the extra 'value' package to get the GPS built into the touch-screen media center. It was came with marginally ok maps and features. Problem was that the maps were only updated every 18 months or so, and that just wasn't going to work. The roads around here are in a constant state of construction and the 18-month update cycle caused the unit to send me to freeway ramps that no longer existed, roads that had long-ago been moved, and other problem areas. I ended up adding a Garmin to the car which gets new updates every few months. Same thing on our coach. I take the Garmin into the house every month and check for updates. If you do end up getting a combined unit, be sure to check the frequency and availability of map updates.

Or maybe just one of these : https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/flotool-measu-funnel-10704/89011616-p?c3ch=PLA&c3nid=89011616-P&adtype=pla_with_promotion&gclid=CjwKCAjw_tTXBRBsEiwArqXyMqPWaVsC821gyZjf6ZAhAboJLWK_VvbxqfsG3ZnCfAc_APx-gWKdfRoCH1gQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Sounds to me like a problem with the check valve in the fuel line that's allowing the fuel to flow back into the tank. Not sure where/if you model has a check valve, but the manual will hopefully have that information. If there is not one, it would not be that difficult to add one.

We recently upgraded the stereo in our coach to a new one and picked a unit with Bluetooth. That was easy, and any good auto sound shop should be able to handle that. Getting one with GPS also proved to be more difficult, and in the end I went with a stand alone Garmin 760 GPS. (I believe they've updated to a newer model since we bought ours) The main reason for choosing a stand alone GPS was that I wanted the ability to replace the GPS at a later date without having to replace the stereo with it. GPS technology seems to change and update much faster than for car stereos. The Garmin unit has the built-in RV features you're looking for - it's set up so that you enter the profile for your rig (weight, length, height, etc) and it programs routes for you with those factors in mind. I could not find a combined stereo/GPS unit that could do that.

Not sure about this. I've read more than a few threads on the FMCA forum about a/c units and the problems with them, including owners having to replace a/c units. Replacing a roof top unit is really quite simple and having to replace a gasket not difficult if you can find someone to help lift the unit. Whether an RV is new or 45 years old, there are always repairs to make and once they are out of warranty many people like to do things themselves.

The only thing that sealed our unit to the roof was the gasket that went around the perimeter of the 14" x 14" opening, and it took a bit of tightening to get the gasket to compress to the recommended point. If there is water getting past the main 14" x 14" gasket and the unit if properly tightened, then I'd suggest getting a new gasket and resealing the thing to the roof. Like any other gasket, they can (and do) dry out, get over compressed, or fail for a number of reasons. If your gasket is not sealing, no amount of caulking will properly fix the problem, and if you put caulking on the surface of the gasket itself it will make it nearly impossible to remove the unit later on when it's time to replace it.

Was hoping to post photos of the completed job today. Apparently it takes a long time to carpet a 35-foot bus. Who knew. Between the tight quarters and the constant rain things didn't get done today. Should be wrapped up tomorrow and I'll post a few pictures then.

Out with the shag, in with the new. Our new carpet installation is finally underway. Last stage of a long project.

Bottom line is that even if I got the exact right part (which is no longer available) I still have a 44 year old fridge with all that entails. It could last another 20 years or just 20 minutes. Rather than having it crap out at the worst possible time, I'll replace it on my schedule.

44"h x 23"w x 23"d Reconstruction not an option, nor is moving the a/c condenser unit above it.

UPDATE: I was able to get a Ranco universal refrigerator control from a local parts place for $70. It is installed and working, although the temperature differential is about 10 degrees between make and break on the circuit so the temp goes down to 35 and back up to 45 before turning on the compressor again. Probably would work short term, but the swing is too wide for safely keeping raw foods in my opinion. We've decided to spring for a new Vitrifrigo 12v/120v and install it. I got a pretty good price, but with shipping it's certainly more expensive than a residential. I like the efficiency of the 12v compressor units though so residential is out. Since I really don't want to cut apart all the cabinetry and relocated a basement air blower located above the refrigerator, there is really no choice but to find one that fits the opening. This was the only option that maximized capacity in the given space. For those curious, there is no LP in this fridge. It is 12v/120v only using a 12v compressor. Power consumption is low at 31 W (2.58A) - 12Vdc / 31 W (0.44A) - 115Vac .

There are a few sealants out there designed for aluminum wheels, some have better reviews than others. Do you have a truck shop in your area with a wheel detailing service? If so, perhaps they can recommend something (or even offer to apply it?)