American Coach: Projects on my 1997 American Dream

[zmotorsports]

After all of the years I have been wrenching it still amazes me to see this kind of shoddy work.

Granted in an emergency to get yourself out of the middle of nowhere a person will do (and I have done) unspeakable things to get out of a situation. But then do it correctly with the correct parts when you get back home.

However, in a shop environment when the customer is paying for the job to be done that is NOT the time to cut corners just because they will be gone and a good chance you won't see that person or vehicle ever again.

Mike.

[GlennLever]

Updates have gotten away from me so now to catch up I will have to post a couple in a row.

We will pick up after the interruption of the comment on the poor service from Conway Volvo Truck & Bus, 2654 W Henrietta Rd., Rochester, NY 14623.

The complete opposite of the support and service provided by Caledonia RV.

The generator had been removed.

The generator was separated from it's cradle and everything was cleaned. New hoses and belts were installed. A crack was found in the fuel pump so a new one was installed.





The unit was put back into the MH and moved outside and test run

[GlennLever]

Work continues on replacing all the old rope lights with new ones. We are also consolidating some of the 12 volt and 110 volt lights so that there are not so many switches to turn on and off.

All though I have shown this picture before I want to show what the rope light looked like without the channel, with just the hangers and how the rope drooped between the hangers.

So if you look carefully you can see that in this picture.



This picture shows the channels before they are installed.



This picture shows what the lights look like with the channel installed. Well worth the effort.

[JohnRR]

Very well worth the effort.

[GlennLever]

For lack of a better word I called this design on the front hood a bow tie. I hated it from the first time I saw it.



It is now gone, the hood and the lower valance (spoiler which was full of stone chips) were removed and take home.



We missed on the alignment of the strip but is is still better than the "bow tie".



The white spot in the "center" of the hood is the reflection of the widow in the garage door. That door is only three feet in front of the bus so I cannot get a straight on shot, but will do so later.


The white line now just goes straight across

[Eagle 9452]

Glen, been ready your post and thats one finelookin coach, i just figued out a few days ago that Fleetwood built on the Gillig chasy, i am a sure what you would call a bus nut on my second Silver Eagle, and have been searching out Country Coach Concepts, but the Gillig/Fleetwould just opens up more options,so anyway thanks for the post and pictures.

[GlennLever]

Originally Posted by Eagle 9452

Glen, been ready your post and thats one finelookin coach, i just figued out a few days ago that Fleetwood built on the Gillig chasy, i am a sure what you would call a bus nut on my second Silver Eagle, and have been searching out Country Coach Concepts, but the Gillig/Fleetwould just opens up more options,so anyway thanks for the post and pictures.

They were only in the RV game a short time. I would also be interested in what RVs were built on Gillig chassis

[GlennLever]

Sure would like to hear from the peanut gallery on what you have going on for projects in your MH. You will not hurt my feelings for hijacking the thread for a couple of posts.

We are closing in on the finish line here (going to the Gator Nationals the beginning of March). There are still lots of projects that have been started that need to be finished.

Because of the weather we have been thinking we might flip the trip around (go to the Nationals and then stop on the way back at Sun Coat Design to get the two fogged windows fixed.

As always there are more pictures and text on my web site at this link. 1997 American Dream

Are my eyes fooling me? I think we are closing in on the end of this marathon. The old carpet is coming out.



The carpet from the side walls has been removed and the carpet in the main lounge area has been pulled up.



The carpet in the ceder closet has been pulled up as well as in the bedroom





There were no shortage of staples, many , many , many staples were scraped up.



We keep finding the original owners wiring attempts. It is a wonder this coach never burned down. Do yourself a favor, if you do not know how to wire safely don't do it.



One couch, one table, one driver's seat, one passenger seat. An interesting discovery was made. I believe that this coach had two different floor plans, one with two opposing couches as we currently have and one with one couch on the driver's side and a work desk on the passenger side. It appears this couch originally had a desk on the passenger side as there are holes in the wall to hold the desk up and a power outlet, and phone outlet on that side. I actually like that floor plan better, and may look for the desk and chair that was originally in that position.

Anyone out there that has pictures of the 39 foot Dream with the desk configuration I would be interested in pictures



The new carpet pad is now going down



Now we get to see if the color choice was correct. I think we went a little to conservative on the pile. We got a high grade commercial carpet so that it would resist stains well and wear well, and it would have been nicer to get a more lush pile. Time will tell if we made the right decision.





Check back later to see the finished install. I had to leave before they were done.

[GlennLever]

It appears that the 1997 American Dream 39 AF had three different seating options.

Two opposing couches which is what mine has (although this diagram indicates one with two seats and both of mine have three)

One with one couch and on the other side two swivel chairs with a small table between them.

And finally one couch and on the other side a desk with a swivel chair. I believe at one time that was the setup in this couch because we found under the second couch a power outlet and a cable for a phone jack.

Does anyone one have pictures of this option? I will call Fleetwood and see if they know what configuration this couch originally had.

I think I like the desk setup and may call salvage yards to see if I can find it.

[GlennLever]

It has been found that this doodad on top of the engine was disconnected.



I suspect that when my meniscus ConWay was working on the engine it was disconnected / stepped on, while the work was being done on the exhaust manifold.

It looks to be a pressure sensor more than a shut of solenoid but could be either.




There was one wire laying there broken so a new end was put on it and connected to the doohickey.


It could be grounded through the unit but the second terminal certainly looks as if it had been protected from the elements making me believe that there was another wire connected to this gizmo.





Does anyone know what this is, what wires would be connected to it (pictures would be outstanding).

[GlennLever]

The lights are coming along, not done yet but getting closer. Here is the rope light in the bedroom. There are two shots, one with a flash and one without. The actual effect is somewhere between the two shots. There will be a piece of molding pit up in front of the rope light that goes across the top of the bed so the effect of the light is visible but the actual lights will not be seen.

First with out a flash



and now with




Next is the bathroom, again several shots with and without the flash and from two directions. There is one rope light up under the cabinet and another along the lip of the counter

With a flash



Now with out



and now from the doorway between the bathroom and the kitchen




And now a couple of flash and non flash pictures and from different directions of the kitchen and lounge area, looking forward from the bathroom to the drivers area





Note the accent lights in the window shade valances



and now from the edge of the counter with no flash with no flash




There is still more to install, my awning has a small florescent light in the grove of the awning. Power comes from a jack in the porch light on the side of the coach. It is next to useless at night and I have seen people put LED lights down the side of the coach under the awning. I find the light very bright to look at and it does not seem to illuminate the area. My idea is to remove the florescent light and replace it with a rope light inside the same grove. This is what it looks like now




I thought about getting additional florescent lights and filling the grove the full length of the awning, but found that that would not work as they would draw to much current.

It turned out that the grove was to large to hold the light in place, there were rubber stoppers to hold the florescent light from sliding down the track and they worked great for holding the rope light in the tube


We came up with a better idea of using clear tubing to slide the rope light through and then slid the tube into the grove. We just have to find the right clear tube. We will use the original cord to connect the rope light to the porch light for power.

[GlennLever]

This is what it looks like with lights on in the shop I think it will work out nice at night

[GlennLever]

Originally Posted by GlennLever

It has been found that this doodad on top of the engine was disconnected.



I suspect that when my meniscus ConWay was working on the engine it was disconnected / stepped on, while the work was being done on the exhaust manifold.

It looks to be a pressure sensor more than a shut of solenoid but could be either.




There was one wire laying there broken so a new end was put on it and connected to the doohickey.


It could be grounded through the unit but the second terminal certainly looks as if it had been protected from the elements making me believe that there was another wire connected to this gizmo.





Does anyone know what this is, what wires would be connected to it (pictures would be outstanding).

I got out to the shop today and the MH should be completed tomorrow.

I did not get a chance to call anyone, but did find the data plate.

It is directly under a line for the A/C compressor and has to be read upside down.

I took some shots with a camera and they came out better than I thought. They were upside down but I rotated them with picture editing.

The plate says it is a 6CTA, Ref # 53-34874-004 engine # 45358278, model C8.3-325, read that as 325 HP.

Looks like I have more engine then I thought! I thought it was a 300 HP. It seems this engine was used in marine applications and fire trucks

I googled the engine and it comes up with many references to Marine Diesel References, any ideas??????

Cummins 6CTA 8.3 Liter Marine Diesel Technical Specifications

[windydaboo]

Cheapest HP upgrade ever!