Saturday, February 26, 2011

A Picky GMC Motorhome Owner

Ok, I love cars, everyone knows that. I picked it up from dad. He was not obsessive but he liked a nice ride. So, what is this that you are looking at? One clue, look at the driver's side valve cover. There is a signature plate there.

Now, back to mine. No blower or super charger on my aluminum intake. There will shortly be a TBI back on there though.

Ever wonder what the underside of a GMC Motorhome looks like? I am picky when it comes to the drivetrain of my vehichles. I think if they are clean they run and perform better. The engine on Teri's car, nice and clean with over 120k on it, looks new except for this desert dust that will come off when we get home. With everything under the coach clean I can see if I spring a leak. I had several leaks on this thing before John got hold of it. I don't expect any this time. Our old engine had 30 k on it when it popped. No leaks from the pan or tappet covers. This one with 7k on it leaked almost everywhere there was a gasket. I hated that and it was not an engine builder thing. In fact, I can't say our engine died because of an engine builder. I almost believe the # 8 bearing had some kind of defect. Oh well, I will never know for sure and will not worry about it.

Here is the new 1 ton GM front end on the driver's side.

The one on the passenger side. Blow up the picture and you can see the new lower control arm. It is made right.

Wish I had one of these lifts. Man, things could be kept clean so much easier.  Blaine Merrel has one and only 250 miles from me. He lets me use it when I am at his house. Thanks Blaine.If I have everything clean under here then a quick glance will help me notice any problems. I sure hate not being able to use the oil cooler in that aluminum radiator. Jim K. sent us an external one and John just got the hoses that will tie everything together. Two gauges I do not have in my dash, exhaust temperature and oil temperature. I am not really ready to be scared by the exhaust heat yet but I will be adding an engine oil temperature sending unit and gauge.

Here is a shot of the reaction arm tied to the rear disc setup. Have I told you that we have some real brakes now? Oh yea. I like just touching the brake pedal and knowing this beast is about to stop.
My plan was to have this coach ready for us to use for the next 20 years. I believe we have now accomplished that. While we are still working on the interior the running gear should now last us. We have modern stuff so I can get parts anywhere. I love the looks of the 1 ton 4 wheel drive bearing in the hub and the shiney new axles. While the old bearings were good, these will be better, and so massive compared to the little Toronado bearings. The larger front discs help the new rear discs, along with the reaction arm, in shutting this thing down in a hurry. I can buy those pads anywhere and never worry about maintenance on the old drums. I hated messing with those things.
We have friends who have invited us to supper tonight. Life is good.
Dan

2 Comments:

At February 26, 2011 at 4:44 PM , Blogger Unknown said...

Looks like an SVT Cobra Mustang. 2004-ish or thereabouts...

 
At February 27, 2011 at 3:15 AM , Blogger Travels of Gerald said...

Hey Dan Hope this take care of all your problems and you can get on the road again. I will keep a check on your travles.

 

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