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Lkraus3 · 01-16-2011, 11:20 PM

My boyfriend Jim, and I found our motorhome on E-bay. We had been out looking at campers, pop ups etc. We found this old motorhome and started bidding on it. We ended up winning!! ???OOPS!!

Purchase price: $2900, sight unseen!! Another OOPS!!

So we flew to LA on Sept. 25th (Jim's Birthday) and drove it back to Northern CA. It was about 100 degrees in LA that day. One of the rear AC units was working and hot air was blowing out from under the dash!! We stopped at a gas station bought a styrofoam cooler a bag of ice and a gallon of water!! Old Hamilton was filthy dirty with furry animal print curtains and brown fuzzy cloth glued to the walls of the bedroom!!

The thought of "what have we just done" kept going through my mind!! Jim had very little experience with a motor home. I have traveled all over the US in a motor home when my kids were small. But nothing this big and I didn't have to know any of the mechanics or how the heater, toilet or other systems worked!! So, our adventure is beginning! First was cleaning, and boy did I clean!! Then we took it to a local RV service center and had it inspected and lots of small stuff fixed, and replaced. Our first outing was a camping trip on New Years Eve. We drove over to Santa Cruz and camped at the Marina for 2 nights!! First night, the heater went off so it was a bit nippy when we woke up in the morning. But we got the heater to come back on, not sure how!! It was rainy off and on, but we had a blast! Drank cocktails and played games!! We also hung new mini blinds when we got to the camp ground.....picked them up at Walmart on the way down! LOL!! So we are in the process of fixing him up. We are so glad we found this web site and even better that we found a vintage group!! Now we don't call Hamilton old anymore, he is vintage. That just sounds so much more elegant!! Here are some photos of him, will post more later.

GOLDWINGER2 · 01-17-2011, 05:16 AM

Hello and welcome to the forum. Congrats on your purchase, i used to have
Pace Arrow similar to yours. They are pretty tough, just keep the roof sealed up. Did you get all of the A/C issues sorted out? I've been thru Los Banos in the summer, it's hotter than L.A., you will want the A/C working.
Have the date codes on the tires checked and look closely for cracking, a blowout can cause some serious damage under the coach. Have fun renovating and see you down the road.

J

blackf3504dr · 01-17-2011, 06:36 AM

Welcome ! Great looking "vintage RV", have fun with your new Motor home.

kball · 01-17-2011, 06:44 AM

Welcome. My wife and I are new here too, having just purchased an '83 Winnebago. Have fun. We sure are!!

Nick-B · 01-17-2011, 01:33 PM

Welcome, Lori & Jim!

Many happy travels and CHEERS!

hfbbb403 · 01-17-2011, 04:41 PM

Hi we are also new to here and rv's we are almost neighbors we live in Newman just up the road bought our 87 winnebago back in sept and have only used it once waiting for the weather to get a little better so I can work on it and get it ready for the spring if you need any help let me know the more i work on these things the more I learn
Brian

**JohnRR** · 01-17-2011, 04:51 PM

The mini blinds look like they worked out very well for you, I hope you enjoy it.

Outlaw45 · 01-17-2011, 09:55 PM

welcome, we are new too. oh the ownership of a vintage. we like ours alot. look here for our first trip in Ole' Koot over our new years and 12th aniv. it was so much fun, even with the problems. good luck.

Outlaw

Lkraus3 · 01-18-2011, 01:37 AM

I don't think it is a problem with the AC as much as it is with the heat that blows out under the dash! Any ideas??

Lkraus3 · 01-18-2011, 01:45 AM

Hi Brian,
Good to know we have a neighbor!! Lots of fix ups that we need to do!! We have used Hamilton a couple of times. One of the main reasons that we got it was so I could take it to work and stay over there when I am on call. I tried it last week, for 2 nights. No heat the second night because the coach batteries died! :( Other than that it was great!!

Outlaw,
I did read about Ole' Koot!! Sorry, but I had to laugh because some of your experiences sounded like some of ours!! Part of having a vintage I suppose!! We still like Hamilton and can't wait to start going in him!!

GOLDWINGER2 · 01-18-2011, 06:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lkraus3

I don't think it is a problem with the AC as much as it is with the heat that blows out under the dash! Any ideas??

One or more of the ducts have come loose. Get under the dash with a flash light and look for the large hoses that route the heat and cool air to the outlets. Another way is to hold a feather duster under the dash while to have the system on. When you move the duster around you will see the feathers move more and more, you found your leak.
J

Outlaw45 · 01-19-2011, 10:17 AM

thats ok that you laughed, better get used to doing that if you want to own one of these. it's just part of it all. just get yours in shape and have fun with it. glad you liked my report on Ole' Koot. we had a good time even with the prob's. enjoy and have fun.

Outlaw

kartvines · 01-20-2011, 06:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lkraus3

I don't think it is a problem with the AC as much as it is with the heat that blows out under the dash! Any ideas??

We also have the same year & model and we have the same problem, no dash air, also for reasons unknown the high on the fan doesn't work and shuts off when it is set to high, and I have not been able to find a repair for that.

If you stumble of a repair we would welcome the input, otherwise I guess we will have to take it to the "man" to get it repaired, but it seems that many of them do not have the information/skills to perform the repair in a timely fashion, and the hourly rate kills me.

whem2fish · 01-20-2011, 06:52 AM

when i lost high it was a bad connection on the relay
look under hood left side of the radiator for the fan relay has 5 wires to it it is about 1 x 2 in. box on cars i worked on there were contacts inside
mine just has wires coiled inside with a meter check power on each wire on diferent wires it will be here most likely not the switch but if needed check power at the switch
dave